Alessandro Valignano

Alessandro Valignano

Augsburger "Zeitung" (1586) with a report on the arrival of four Japanese youths under the direction of Father Mesquita (collection of the University of Kyoto )

Right section 1 and 2: Jesuits (black) and Franciscans (brown) welcoming the captain of the annual merchant ship from Macau (Japanese screen, around 1600)

Message from the Viceroy of the Portuguese-Indian Duarte de Menezes to Toyotomi Hideyoshi (April 1588)

Alessandro Valignano (* early February 1539 in Chieti ; † January 20, 1606 in Macau ) was an Italian Jesuit who, as the Society's visitor , supervised and controlled missionary work in the Far East , especially in Japan .

Life

Upbringing and early career

Valignano's father was a Neapolitan aristocrat with good connections to Gianpetro Carafa, later Pope Paul IV. He studied law at the University of Padua and obtained the title of doctor in 1557, at the age of 19 . In the same year he entered the clergy and received the tonsure in the Cathedral of Chieti. Two years later he became a canonicus . In 1555 Carafa was elected Pope, so that the young Valignano could hope for a career in the Church, but Paul IV died in 1559. There followed troubled years about which there is little information. At the end of 1562 he was accused in Venice of inflicting a sword wound on a Franciscina Throna. He was imprisoned until the end of the process, which was concluded by the intercession of Cardinal Carlo Borromeo in March 1564. Even later, his quick-tempered character shines through in comments from contemporaries.

Rapid rise in the Society of Jesus

At the end of May 1566 he joined the Society of Jesus in Rome . The motivation for this decisive step is unclear. First he studied philosophy and physics (1567–1668) at the Collegio Romano with Hieronymus de Gregoriis and the Bamberg mathematician Christophorus Clavius , then metaphysics and theology. He was ordained a priest in February 1570. Theological studies continued until 1572. During these years he must have attracted the goodwill of his superiors, because in 1573, after only seven years, he was appointed visitor of the missions of East India.

India

In September 1573 he left Italy and in March 1574 he moved from Lisbon to Goa , the Portuguese base in India. From here he should supervise the work of the missionaries in India, China and Japan and, if necessary, reorganize the structures and procedures. In Asia the missionaries had to deal with ancient high cultures and complex belief systems that could not be subjected to violence. In the course of the years the concept developed that native traditions were left as long as they did not touch parts of Christian teachings relevant to faith ( accommodation ).

Macau

In 1578 he came to Macau for the first time , where he became aware of the huge linguistic and cultural hurdles that were preventing the spread of Christianity in China. At his request, Michele Ruggieri was transferred to Macau to take up language and country studies. Matteo Ricci followed in 1582 . Today, both are considered pioneers in European China .

Japan

In 1579 Valignano set out on the first inspection trip to Japan. He stayed here until 1582. A second trip took place from 1590 to 1592. From 1598 to 1603 he again devoted himself to the problems of the country. After the landing of the pioneer Francisco de Xavier in the summer of 1549, numerous optimistic letters ( cartas ) came from Japan for several decades . But here too there were linguistic and cultural problems, and the country was still ravaged by violent hegemonic struggles. Although the vice- provincial of the Society of Jesus in Japan, Francisco Cabral , had converted some sovereigns to Christianity during his nine years, he rejected the training of Japanese priests as well as any form of cultural adaptation. After heated arguments, he was dismissed from office. Valignano commissioned Luis Frois, who has been missionary to Japan for many years, to write a history of the mission in Japan and also had a “tractatus” written in brief sentences about the differences between Japanese and Europeans. He requested a printing press to print reference books and missionary materials. He also founded seminaries in Arima and Azuchi to train Japanese priests .

He also organized a trip to Europe for four comparatively high-ranking Japanese youths, who were supposed to experience the religious and cultural achievements there and at the same time give Europeans an impression of the high cultural level of the Japanese. Valignano was on board when this Tenshō embassy sailed to Goa in 1582, from where she continued to travel with Father Diego de Mesquita. When the Mission returned in 1590, Valignano moved with them to Japan. On the occasion of this trip, as the official envoy, he also brought a message from the Viceroy of India.

No less important was a printing press with movable type that he carried with him. This was initially stationed in Amakusa, but was then brought to Nagasaki. Until the beginning of the 17th century. one printed catechisms, translations and not least two dictionaries, of which the Vocabulario da Lingoa de Iapam (Nagasaki, 1603/4) is considered a milestone in lexicography. In 1580 there were 200 churches, 85 Jesuits, 20 non-ordained brothers and around 100 acolytes and other assistants in Japan. A decade later there were already 136 Jesuits. The construction and maintenance of the churches and seminars as well as the production of printed matter led to a growing need for financial resources. Now, thanks to the mediation of the missionaries, Portuguese merchant ships from Macau called at Japanese ports every year, which were subordinate to baptized regional rulers. The long-distance trade in Chinese silk , medicinal products, cotton , etc., which was lucrative for both sides , also secured considerable income for the Jesuits. Nagasaki , in particular , a small fishing village at the time that the sovereign Ōmura Sumitada had left to the company, developed into a main transshipment port, through which the Jesuits, to the growing displeasure of their superiors in Macau, Goa and Europe, became more and more entangled in commercial transactions. In 1587, the general Toyotomi Hideyoshi carried out a campaign to subjugate the largely Christian regional rulers of Kyushu. To strengthen control of the island, he issued an edict to expel the missionaries in the same year, but this was not implemented in practice. Nevertheless, displeasure remained with the economic activities of the Portuguese as well as the Christian mission. Over the decades, further edicts followed, which were enforced more strictly, especially after the establishment of the Tokugawa rule under the Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu , until the last Portuguese and Spanish were expelled from the country in 1639 and Christianity was banned. Valignano, who was still experiencing the mounting difficulties during the 1990s, died in Macau in 1606.

Valignano in literature and film

In 1966 the Japanese writer Endō Shūsaku published the novel Silence , which takes place in the forties of the 17th century. Endo, who had researched the history of Christianity in Japan, lets the apostate Cristóvão Ferreira and other historical figures perform here. Among them we also find the figure Valignanos, postponed by many decades. In Martin Scorsese's film Silence (2016) he is played by Ciarán Hinds .

Fonts

• Alessandro Valignano, Valentino Carvalho: De rebus in Japoniae regno, post mortem Taicosamae, japonici monarchae, gestis epistolae duae ad rp Claudium Aquavivam Societatis praepositum generalem: X. octobr. ann. MDXCIX. et XXV. februa. ann. M.DCI. datae . Mainz 1603 ( digitized version )
• Alessandro Valignano: Historia del principio y Progresso de la Compañía de Jesus en las Indias Orientales (1542-64) . 1584.
• Alessandro Valignano: Catechism christianae fidei . Lisbon: Antonius Riberius, 1586.

literature

• CR Boxer: The Christian Century in Japan. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1951.
• JM Braga: The Panegyric of Alexander Valignano, SJ In: Monumenta Nipponica, Vol. 5, No. 2. (1942), pp. 523-535.
• Rui Manuel Loureiro: Alessandro Valignano and the Christian Press in Japan . In: Revista de Cultura, No. 19 (2006), pp. 135-153.
• JF Moran: Alessandro Valignano in sixteenth-century Japan . London: Routledge, 1993.
• Dorotheus Schilling: The school system of the Jesuits in Japan (1551-1614) . Munster 1931.
• Josef Franz Schütte: Valignano's Mission Principles for Japan. St. Louis: Institute of Jesuit Sources, 1980.
• Claudia von Collani:  Valignano, Alessandro SJ. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 12, Bautz, Herzberg 1997, ISBN 3-88309-068-9 , Sp. 1092-1096.

Remarks

1. ↑ On the question of the date of birth see Schütte (1980), Part 1, pp. 30f.
2. ↑ De Mesquita (1554-1614) was a Portuguese Jesuit who served as an interpreter for Valignano.
3. ↑ All four came from families of regional rulers of Kyushu Island. They were chosen to give testimony of the splendor and glory of Europe and especially of their audience with the Pope on their return.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Schütte (1980), Part 1, pp. 31-33.
2. ↑ Schütte (1980), Part 1, p. 69.
3. ↑ Schütte (1980), Part 1, pp. 33-35, 44-47.
4. ↑ Schütte (1980), Part 1, pp. 36, 56, 114ff., 124f.
5. ↑ Loureiro (2006)