The End of the Missionary ‘Enterprise’

Abstract

Chapter 11 discusses the first anti-Christian decree of 1612, which was followed in 1614 with a general prohibition. The apparent disregard for suffering and death displayed by Christians at their executions was taken as further proof of insubordination to legitimate authority and the spreading of an ‘evil teaching’. Spain’s lack of enthusiasm for trade with the shogunate prompted the Japanese to suspect that Spain was actually plotting to invade Japan in the same way it had conquered the Americas and the Philippines. The Jesuit provincial superior, Mateus de Couros, was a keen observer of these developments and compiled a detailed report in 1621, explaining the ‘principle causes’ for the ongoing persecution, including the fear of civil and religious disturbances. The Spanish Jesuit Pedro Morejón further recounts how the presence of Japanese Christian troops fighting in support of Toyotomi Hideyori at the battle of Osaka in 1614–1615 enraged Tokugawa Ieyasu and Hidetada.

Matched Nanban terms

• people Tokugawa Ieyasu

Provenance

• openalex (W4283257419)
  2026-04-30T19:58:45.325903+00:00

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