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OS JESUÍTAS E A NOBREZA CRISTÃ DO SUL DO JAPÃO耶穌會士與日本南方的貴族基督徒

The article examines the missionary strategy of the Society of Jesus in Japan (16th–early 17th centuries), arguing that the success and durability of the Jesuit presence in the southern archipelago depended less on an immediate "general conversion" and more on the gradual conquering of the warrior n...

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Published in:Review of Culture
Main Author: Madalena Ribeiro
Format: Articles
Published: Instituto Cultural de Macau January 2009
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Articles
Online Access:https://www.icm.gov.mo/rc/viewer/pdfViewerParts/40029/3625
Summary:The article examines the missionary strategy of the Society of Jesus in Japan (16th–early 17th centuries), arguing that the success and durability of the Jesuit presence in the southern archipelago depended less on an immediate "general conversion" and more on the gradual conquering of the warrior nobility (buke). Building on Ignatius of Loyola's directives, which envisaged the establishment of close relations with political-social elites without the Jesuits seeking benefits for themselves, the author maintains that the missionaries adapted this model to the context of the sengoku period and the exclusivist nature of the Christian message. The methodology consists of a critical reading of Jesuit documentation, articulated with an analysis of local social and military dynamics, with special attention to kinship networks among warrior lineages. It concludes that family ties between Christian and non-Christian lineages could produce divergent effects: in some cases, they facilitated the expansion of Christianity into new domains; in others, they allowed only individual Christianization or the broadening of conversions without territorial consolidation. The comparison of episodes such as Hirado (Hizen province) and the frustration/decline observed in Yamaguchi and Kagoshima exemplifies the contingent and processual character of the "Christianization of elites" as a condition for the mission.
ISSN:1682-1106

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