Tenshō embassy

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"Newe Zeyttung aus der Insel Japonien" (Augsburg 1586) with the four royal ambassadors.
Above: Nakaura Julião (left), Father Mesquita, Itō Mancio (right).
Below: Hara Martinho (left), Chijiwa Miguel (right) ( Kyōto University collection )
Portrait of Itō Mancio by Domenico Tintoretto, 1585 (Collection of the Fondazione Trivulzio, Milan)
Audience with Pope Gregory XIII. on March 23, 1585. Woodblock print from 1596.
The same audience in a painting from 1655.
Message from the Viceroy of the Portuguese-Indian Duarte de Menezes to Toyotomi Hideyoshi (April 1588)

Tenshō Embassy is the first Japanese embassy to Europe named after the Tenshō era (1573–1592) . She had a great influence on the early image of Japan in the West.

Planning and participants

The idea of ​​sending an embassy to Europe came from Alessandro Valignano , who as a visitor to the Society of Jesus was concerned with the analysis of the situation in Japan and the future course. Valignano hoped that meeting a group of educated Japanese in Europe would stimulate interest in and support for the Japan Mission. At the same time, after their return, the Japanese participants were supposed to tell their compatriots about the splendor and power of Europe, especially the Church and the Pope. Valignano won the support of three baptized regional rulers in Kyushu , Ōmura Sumitada (1533–1587, “Dom Bartolomeu”), Ōtomo Sōrin (1530–1587, “Dom Francisco”) and Arima Harunobu (1567–1612, “Dom Protasio”). These were referred to as kings in the missionary letters and writings. Because of the stresses and strains of the long journey and considering their tasks after their return, four young people of noble origin were selected. Itō Mancio ( 伊 東 マ ン シ ョ , 1559-1612), who had family ties to the Christian ruler of the province of Bungo Ōtomo Sōrin, acted as spokesman . There were also Chijiwa Miguel ( 千 々 石 ミ ゲ ル , 1569–1633), Nakaura Julião ( 中 浦 ジ ュ リ ア ン 1568–1633) and Hara Martinho ( 原 マ ル チ ノ , 1569–1629). They too came from the relatives of the above regional rulers. All four were students of the Jesuit seminary in Arima, spoke Portuguese and had some knowledge of Latin. Hara in particular gave several Latin eulogies and lectures.

On February 20, 1582, the 10th year of the Tenshō era according to the Japanese calendar , they left the port of Nagasaki on a Portuguese merchant ship . As the leader of the group, Father Diogo de Mesquita took over their further training and preparation during the trip. Whenever there was time and opportunity, they studied language, made music, learned chess and received theological instruction. They reached Macau on March 9th . From there on December 20, 1583, via Malacca to Goa , the Portuguese base on the west coast of India. Valignano stayed here to attend to other tasks.

Journey through Catholic Europe

Mesquita and the four left Goa in February 1584. This stage was also full of dangers; 32 people died during the crossing. On August 10, 1584, the tour group reached Lisbon , where they were initially housed in the Igreja de São Roque . Of course, they met the Archbishop of Lisbon. Shortly afterwards they were invited by Albrecht VII of Austria , who, as regent of the Spanish Netherlands , had a residence in Sintra . On the eight-month trip to Rome there were further encounters with important personalities. In Spain they visited Talavera de la Reina , Toledo and finally Madrid , where they were received by Philip II , King of Spain and Portugal. From Alicante we continued by ship via Mallorca to Livorno and Pisa . Here she received Francesco I de 'Medici , whose wife Bianca Cappello organized a special ball. In Florence they stayed at the Palazzo Vecchio . They reached Rome on March 22nd.

The audience on March 23, 1585 with Pope Gregory XIII. was considered the highlight of the trip. Nakaura, who was ill, was unable to attend the ceremony. The group marched through Rome in procession. 300 gun salutes were heard from Castel Sant'Angelo . Large crowds filled St. Peter's Square and the surrounding area. The audience took place in the Sala Regia , which was normally reserved for high-ranking rulers. In woodcuts in contemporary printed works and later paintings, therefore, one only sees three magnificently dressed Japanese throwing themselves at the Pope's feet. On April 3, there was a private audience at which the Pope was honored with a Japanese screen ( byōbu ) that showed the magnificent castle of Oda Nobunaga in Azuchi . Gregor, who had given Itō the honorary citizenship of the city and the Order of the Golden Spur ("Ordine dello Speron d'oro"), fell ill two days later and died on April 10th. Nakaura was still ill, but his companions were able to attend the coronation of Gregor's successor Sixtus V. Sixtus also took great care of its guests from the Far East. They received money for the journey home, for the missionary work in Japan, gifts for the three Japanese "kings" and letters of recommendation for their journey through Europe.

On June 3, 1585, they began their return journey, which took them to Barcelona via Venice , Verona and Milan . They reached Lisbon on November 25th. They left Portugal on April 13, 1586 and landed in Goa on May 29 of the following year. There was a reunion with Valignano, but they had to wait almost two years before they could continue their journey. After eight long years, the four ambassadors finally reached Japan again on July 21, 1590, laden with gifts. Valignano accompanied them, this time as envoy of the Viceroy of India, to Toyotomi Hideyoshi , who just that year had secured his rule over the whole country.

After returning

The ambassadors had visited 70 cities in Europe, got to know two popes, cardinals, archbishops, a king and numerous nobles, and saw more of the world than any of their compatriots ever before. But they now encountered a completely new situation. Her mentors Ōtomo Sōrin and Ōmura Sumitada, who both had to submit to the general Toyotomi Hideyoshi , died in 1587. A month later, the latter issued an edict to expel the missionaries in order to control the Christian rulers of the island of Kyushu more effectively. Although the matter petered out, the anti-Christian mood among the rulers grew even after Toyotomi's death and worsened after the establishment of the Tokugawa rule under the Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu .

Chijiwa Miguel turned away from Christianity but had occasional encounters with missionaries. He died in Nagasaki on January 23, 1633. Itō, Hara and Nakaura were ordained priests in 1608. Itō died of illness in Nagasaki four years later. In the same year Hara was expelled from the country. Diogo de Mesquita, who headed the seminary in Nagasaki from 1598 to 1611, died in November 1614 on the city beach a few days before Hara's departure. Hara lived as a priest in Macau until his death in 1629. His bones were buried together with those of Valignano under St. Paul's Church (Catedral de São Paulo). Only Nakaura remained in the country after 1614, escaped persecution in hiding and looked after the local Christians with great difficulty. In 1633 he, too, was taken prisoner and died a martyr's death after four days of torture. He was beatified on November 24, 2008 .

The reputation of the returnees among Japanese Christians and in the Societas Jesu was high, but the hoped-for influence of Valignano on Japan did not materialize at a time of increasingly severe persecution of Christians. They had also spent important years of their socialization outside of Japan, so that they lacked the local educational background and the experience of difficult dealing with those in power who no longer showed any interest in Christianity.

Contemporary reports

The sensation in Europe was great. Between 1585 and 1593 there were 78 books and treatises about her visit. Among the early authors, Guido Gualtieri (1560–1636) achieved a great influence with his Relationi della venuta degli ambasciatori giapponesi (Venice, 1586). The most revealing source on the four's view of Europe and the intentions of the mission was written by the Macau-based Jesuit Duarte de Sande. Based on the notes of the embassy, ​​he published a book in 1590 on the "Journey of the Japanese Legates to the Roman Curia" ( De Missione Legatorum Iaponensium ad Romanam Curiam ). This should serve as the basis for translations into other European languages ​​and also into Japanese. At Valignano's suggestion, he chose the dialogue form. However, there was no longer a Japanese translation.

literature

  • Boxer, Charles R .: The Christian Century in Japan 1549-1650 . Berkeley, Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1967 ( ISBN 1-85754-035-2 )
  • Cooper, Michael: The Japanese Mission to Europe, 1582–1590: The Journey of Four Samurai Boys Through Portugal, Spain and Italy . Folkestone, Kent: Global Oriental, 2005 ( ISBN 1-901903-38-9 )
  • Cooper, Michael: Spiritual saga, the Japanese mission to Europe . 2006. Retrieved from Francis Britto's All About Francis Xavier ( digitized version )
  • Kapitza, Peter : Japan in Europe: Japan in Europe - texts and image documents on European knowledge of Japan from Marco Polo to Wilhelm von Humboldt . Munich: Iudicium Verlag, 1990.
  • Moran, JF: The Japanese and the Jesuits . London: Routledge, 1993, pp. 6-19.
  • (Exhibition catalog) Sekai to Nihon - Tenshō to Keichō no shisetsu ( 世界 と 日本 ： 天正 と 慶 長 の 使節 The World and Japan: the Tenshō and Keichō Legations), Sendai City Museum, 1995.
  • Pinto, António Guimarães: Adenda ao livro De missione legatorum Iaponensium, de Duarte de Sande: As Orationes de Gaspar Gonçalves e de Martinho Hara . Maia: Sersilito, 2016. Digitized
  • Romano, Antonella: 1585 - la première rencontre de l'Europe avec le Japon . L'Histoire, No. 456 (2019), pp. 62-67.
  • Schütte, Joseph Franz: Valignano's mission statement for Japan . Edizioni di Storia e Letteratura 1951–1958 (1st vol., 1st part, 1st vol., 2nd part)
  • Taida, Ichiro: The earliest history of European language education in Japan: focusing on Latin education by Jesuit missionaries . Classical Receptions Journal, Vol 9, No. 4 (2017), pp. 566-586.

Web links

Commons : Tenshō Legation  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ "Newe Zeyttung off the island of Japan. Retract and contra the four youths and royal ambassadors outside of Japon as they arrive at Mayland and July 25th and then move again on August 3rd. "
  2. ^ From Marc [o] Antonio Ciapis Compendio delle heroiche et gloriose attioni, et santa vita di Papa Greg. XIII. , Rome 1596, p. 82.
  3. ^ From: Sekai to Nihon , p. 165.
  4. ^ Cooper (2006), pp. 1, 3; Moran (1993), pp. 6-9, 14f .; Taida (2017)
  5. ^ Cooper (2006), pp. 1, 3
  6. ↑ Moran (1993), p. 9
  7. ↑ Cooper (2006), pp. 3, 4; Moran (1993), p. 9
  8. ↑ Moran (1993), p. 10
  9. ↑ Cooper (2006), pp. 4-6; Moran (1993), p. 11
  10. ^ Cooper (2006), p. 7
  11. ↑ Boxer (1967), pp. 144-152
  12. ↑ Moran (1993), pp. 18f.
  13. ↑ Cooper (2006), pp. 8f.
  14. ↑ Excerpts in German in Kapitza (1990), I, pp. 199–226

Remarks

  1. ↑ The speech given in Goa was printed in 1588: Oratio habita a Fara D. Martino, Iaponio, suo et sociorum nomine, cum ab Europa redirent, ad Patrem Alexandrum Valignanum, Visitatorem Societatis IESV, Goae in D. Pauli Collegio, pridie Non. Iunii, Anno Domini 1587. Text and description in Pinto (2016)