Japanese travellers in sixteenth-century Europe : a dialogue concerning the mission of the Japanese ambassadors to the Roman Curia (1590)

In 1582 Alessandro Valignano, the Visitor to the Jesuit mission in the East Indies, sent four Japanese boys to Europe. Until the arrival of the embassy in Europe, the Euro-Japanese encounter had been almost exclusively one way: Europeans going to Japan. This book is an account of their travels, their long journeys out and back, and the 20 months in Europe being received by popes and kings. It was published in Macao in 1590 with the title De Missione Legatorvm Iaponensium ad Romanum curiam. The present edition is the first complete version of this rich, complex and impressive work to appear in English, and is accompanied with maps and illustrations of the mission, and an introduction discussing its context and the subsequent reception of the book. THE HAKLUYT SOCIETY, a registered charity, has for its object the advancement of knowledge and education, particularly in relation to the understanding of world history. This it does by the publication of scholarly editions of primary sources on the ‘Voyages and Travels’ undertaken by individuals from many parts of the globe. These include early accounts dealing with the geography, ethnology and natural history of the regions visited. Such texts, many previously available only in manuscript or in unedited prints in other languages, are the essential records of the initial stages of inter-continental and inter-cultural encounter. Established in 1846, the Society has to date published over 350 volumes. All editions are published in English. Although a substantial number of the Society’s past editions relate to British ventures, with documentary sources in English, the majority concern non-British enterprises and are based on texts in languages other than English. Material originally written in Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, French or Dutch has regularly appeared, material in Russian, Greek, Latin, Ethiopic, Chinese, Persian or Arabic occasionally. All editions contain scholarly annotation. This, together with an introduction, is designed with two aims in mind. The first is to give both the general reader and the student a degree of assistance in the elucidation of the material presented. The second is to provide guidance on the relevance of the episodes described, within the context of global development and world history. Volumes are normally furnished with maps and contemporary illustrations, often generously. Volumes are produced in a standard binding and are widely acknowledged to achieve a high standard of typographic presentation, matching their scholarship. An annotated listing of all The Hakluyt Society’s publications 1847–1995 is included in the anniversary volume, Compassing the Vaste Globe of the Earth, issued in 1996. This list is also available on the Soc Cover 1 Series Page 2 Title 6 Copyright 7 Dedication 8 CONTENTS 10 Figures and Maps 13 Preface 16 Acknowledgements 17 Abbreviations 18 A Note on Currency 19 Romanization of Japanese and Chinese Names 20 INTRODUCTION 24 Background to De Missione 24 Objectives of the Embassy and the Individuals Chosen 29 Publication of De Missione 38 Authorship of De Missione 43 Sources of De Missione 43 Contextualizing De Missione 46 Evaluating De Missione and the Tenshō Embassy 49 The Boys after their Return to Japan 51 Conclusion 54 A DIALOGUE CONCERNING THE MISSION OF THE JAPANESE AMBASSADORS TO THE ROMAN CURIA 56 Imprimatur 58 Nihil obstat 59 Alessandro Valignano of the Society of Jesus to the pupils of the Japanese seminaries 60 Duarte de Sande to Claudio Aquaviva, Superior General of the Society of Jesus 61 Contents of these Colloquia 63 Colloquium I: The reasons for the Japanese embassy 66 Colloquium II: The journey from Japan to Macao, the gateway to China, and from there to the Straits of Singapore 74 Colloquium III: The approach to the city of Malacca, in the Golden Chersonese, and from there to the city of Cochin, in Nearer India 85 Colloquium IV: The coming of the Portuguese to India, and the spread of the Portuguese empire 94 Colloquium V: About the Indian race, and the houses of the Society in India 103 Colloquium VI: The Voyage from India to Portugal 115 Colloquium VII: About the things of Europe in general, and firstly of the sacred or ecclesiastical monarchy, and other lower ranks 130 Colloquium VIII: About the secular monarchy, and various dignities belonging to it 145 Colloquium IX: Of the splendour and opulence of the kings and rulers of Europe in what concerns the treatment of the body, food, and accommodation, and of their great costs and expenses 155 Colloquium X: Of the multitude of servants and the pomp which the princes of Europe use at home and abroad 165 Colloquium XI: About the agreeable and honourable exercises which the nobles of Europe engage in, and of the noble education of their children 172 Colloquium XII: The arrangements and customs of Europeans with regard to the administration of kingdoms and republics 182 Colloquium XIII: Of the wars which are usually waged in Europe, the way of setting up an army, and land battles 194 Colloquium XIV: Of the naval battles in which they usually engage in Europe 204 Colloquium XV: Of the size of the cities, the splendour of the churches, and the magnificence of other buildings 214 Colloquium XVI: Reverting to the account of the journey, with a description of Lisbon, capital of the kingdom of Portugal 223 Colloquium XVII: Which gives an account of the things which took place in Lisbon, and then in Évora and Vila Viçosa, and then proceeds into the kingdom of Castile, to Toledo and to Mantua Carpetana or Madrid 245 Colloquium XVIII: Of the power of King Philip of Spain, and the oath by which the nobles of the kingdom swore allegiance to his son as his successor, and of the visit which the ambassadors made to both 257 Colloquium XIX: Of various works built by King Philip, especially the work of the Escorial, and of the approach to the city of Alón or Alicante 267 Colloquium XX: The voyage from Spain to Italy, the visit to the grand duke of Tuscany, and things noted in Pisa and Florence 278 Colloquium XXI: Of the delights and pleasures of the Pratolino villa of the duke of Tuscany, and of things observed at Siena, Viterbo, and on the remainder of the journey to Rome 286 Colloquium XXII: Of the entrance into the celebrated city of Rome, and the audience with the Supreme Pontiff Gregory XIII, and of the sacred palace and the most august church of St Peter 296 Colloquium XXIII: Continues with things noted at the pope’s solemn masses and elsewhere 306 Colloquium XXIV: Of what took place in Rome up until the death of Pope Gregory XIII 323 Colloquium XXV: How the funeral of a pope is carried out, and the way in which another pope is chosen, and to what great and universal applause Sixtus V was proclaimed pope 332 Colloquium XXVI: The cavalcade with which the pope made his way to the church of St John Lateran, and the ambassadors, invested with the insignia of knighthood, departed the city; and of the most noble city of Naples, and the church of the Blessed Virgin of Loreto 340 Colloquium XXVII: The journey through other cities, especially Ancona, Bologna, Ferrara, and Venice, and the things seen there 352 Colloquium XXVIII: Gives an account of notable things observed in Venice, and of the honour with which the Japanese ambassadors were treated by its august Senate 364 Colloquium XXIX: More about things in Venice, but also dealing with the access of the ambassadors to other cities, principally Padua, Verona, Mantua, Cremona, and Milan, and the rejoicing with which they were received in them 380 Colloquium XXX: More about things noted in Milan and in Pavia, and about their entry into the city of Genoa and the voyage to Spain 396 Colloquium XXXI: Of the city of Coimbra and the famous college of the Society there, the generous treatment extended to the ambassadors in Lisbon, by order of King Philip, with regard to the voyage to India, and the reasons for the wealth of Europe 412 Colloquium XXXII: The Voyage from Portugal to India, and from India to the Kingdom of China 424 Colloquium XXXIII: The kingdom of China, its customs and administration 439 Colloquium XXXIV: A summary description of the whole world, and a statement as to which is its principal and noblest part 461 BIBLIOGRAPHY 474 INDEX 494 Japanese,embassy;,administration,of,kingdoms,and,republics;,Alessandro,Valignano,of,the,Society Japanese embassy,administration of kingdoms and republics,Alessandro Valignano of the Society In 1582 Alessandro Valignano, the Visitor to the Jesuit mission in the East Indies, sent four Japanese boys, two of whom represented important Christian daimyo in western Japan, to Europe. This book is an account of their travels. The boys left Japan on 20 February 1582 and disembarked in Lisbon on 11 August 1584. They then travelled through Portugal, Spain and Italy as far as Rome, the highpoint of their journey, before returning to Lisbon to begin the long voyage home on 13 April 1586. They reached Nagasaki on 21 July 1590, amidst great rejoicing, more than eight years after their departure. During their travels in Europe they had audiences and less formal meetings with Philip II, king of Spain and Portugal, and with popes Gregory XIII and Sixtus V, and were received by many of the most important political, ecclesiastical and social figures in the places they visited. Until the arrival of the embassy in Europe, the Euro-Japanese encounter had been almost exclusively one way: Europeans going to Japan. The embassy was an integral part of Valignano's strategy for advancing the Jesuit mission in Japan. The boys chosen were intended to personify Jesuit success in Japan, raise awareness of Japan in Europe amongst the clerical and secular elites, and demonstrate conclusively that what the Jesuits had been writing about Japan since their arrival there in 1549 was not a fabrication. The embassy was further intended to impress upon the boys the glory, unity, stability and splendour of Christian Europe, so that they might report favourably about their experiences on their return, and counter what Valignano believed were the negative impressions of Europe left by Portuguese merchants and seamen in Japan. As part of this plan, a book consisting of thirty-four colloquia detailing the boys'travels was compiled and translated into Latin under Valignano's supervision. It was published in Macao in 1590 with the title De Missione Legatorvm Iaponensium ad Romanum curiam. Valignano anticipated that it would become a standard text in Jesuit seminaries in Japan. The present edition is the first complete version of this rich, complex and impressive work to appear in English, and is accompanied with maps and illustrations of the mission, and an introduction discussing its context and the subsequent reception of the book. In 1582 Alessandro Valignano, the Visitor to the Jesuit mission in the East Indies, sent four Japanese boys, two of whom represented important Christian daimyo in western Japan, to Europe. This book is an account of their travels. The boys left Japan on 20 February 1582 and disembarked in Lisbon on 11 August 1584. They then travelled through Portugal, Spain and Italy as far as Rome, the highpoint of their journey, before returning to Lisbon to begin the long voyage home on 13 April 1586. They reached Nagasaki on 21 July 1590, amidst great rejoicing, more than eight years after their departure. During their travels in Europe they had audiences and less formal meetings with Philip II, king of Spain and Portugal, and with popes Gregory XIII and Sixtus V, and were received by many of the most important political, ecclesiastical and social figures in the places they visited. Until the arrival of the embassy in Europe, the Euro-Japanese encounter had been almost exclusively one way: Europeans going to Japan. The embassy was an integral part of Valignano's strategy for advancing the Jesuit mission in Japan. The boys chosen were intended to personify Jesuit success in Japan, raise awareness of Japan in Europe amongst the clerical and secular elites, and demonstrate conclusively that what the Jesuits had been writing about Japan since their arrival there in 1549 was not a fabrication. The embassy was further intended to impress upon the boys the glory, unity, stability and splendour of Christian Europe, so that they might report favourably about their experiences on their return, and counter what Valignano believed were the negative impressions of Europe left by Portuguese merchants and seamen in Japan. As part of this plan, a book consisting of thirty-four colloquia detailing the boys' travels was compiled and translated into Latin under Valignano's supervision. It was published in Macao in 1590 with the title De Missione Legatorvm Iaponensium ad Romanum curiam. Valignano anticipated that it would become a standard text in Jesuit seminaries in Japan. The present edition is the first complete version of this rich, complex and impressive work to appear in English, and is accompanied with maps and illustrations of the mission, and an introduction discussing its context and the subsequent reception of the book