The Jesuit Mission to New France Studies in the History of Christian Traditions General Editor Robert J. Bast Knoxville, Tennessee In cooperation with Henry Chadwick, Cambridge Paul C.H. Lim, Nashville, Tennessee Eric Saak, Liverpool Brian Tierney, Ithaca, New York Arjo Vanderjagt, Groningen John Van Engen, Notre Dame, Indiana Founding Editor Heiko A. Oberman† VOLUME 151 Studies in the History of The Jesuit Mission to Christian Traditions New France General Editor A New Interpretation in the Light of the Robert J. Bast Earlier Jesuit Experience in Japan Knoxville, Tennessee In cooperation with By Henry Chadwick, Cambridge Takao Abé Paul C.H. Lim, Nashville, Tennessee Eric Saak, Liverpool Brian Tierney, Ithaca, New York Arjo Vanderjagt, Groningen John Van Engen, Notre Dame, Indiana Founding Editor Heiko A. Oberman† VOLUME 151 LEIDEN • BOSTON 2011 This is an open access title distributed under the terms of the cc-by-nc License, which permits any non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited. An electronic version of this book is freely available, thanks to the support of libraries working with Knowledge Unlatched. More information about the initiative can be found at www.knowledgeunlatched.org. Cover illustration: Historic Map of New France. Partie de la Nouvelle France dedié a Monseigneur le Marquis de Seignelay, et Lonré, Baron de Sceaux; conseiller du Roy en tous ses conseils. Source: Library and Archives Canada/Credit: Hubert Jaillot/NMC 20685. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Abé, Takao. The Jesuit mission to New France : a new interpretation in the light of the earlier Jesuit experience in Japan / by Takao Abé. p. cm. — (Studies in the history of Christian tradition ; v. 151) Includes bibliographical references (p. ). ISBN 978-90-04-19285-0 (hardback : alk. paper) 1. Jesuits—Missions—New France. 2. Jesuits—Missions—Japan. 3. Canada—History— To 1763 (New France) 4. Indians of North America—Missions—History—17th century. 5. Jesuits—Missions—New France—Historiography. 6. Canada—History—To 1763 (New France)—Historiography. 7. Indians of North America—Missions—Historiography. I. Title. F1030.7.A34 2011 971—dc22 2010041728 ISSN 1573-5664 ISBN 978 90 04 19285 0 Copyright 2011 by Koninklijke Brill nv, Leiden, The Netherlands. This work is published by Koninklijke Brill nv. Koninklijke Brill nv incorporates the imprints Brill, Brill Hes & De Graaf, Brill Nijhoff, Brill Rodopi and Hotei Publishing. Koninklijke Brill nv reserves the right to protect the publication against unauthorized use and to authorize dissemination by means of offprints, legitimate photocopies, microform editions, reprints, translations, and secondary information sources, such as abstracting and indexing services including databases. Requests for commercial re-use, use of parts of the publication, and/or translations must be addressed to Koninklijke Brill nv. This book is printed on acid-free paper and produced in a sustainable manner. CONTENTS List of Illustrations ............................................................................. vii Introduction: Iberian and French Jesuits from an International Perspective ....................................................................................... 1 I. Review of Literature on the Jesuit Missions to Japan and New France .................................................................................. 17 A. Historiography of the Jesuit Mission to Japan ................ 17 B. Historiography of the Jesuit Mission to New France ..... 31 C. Towards a Synthesis of Historiographies .......................... 44 II. Interpreting Non-Christian Cultures: Jesuit Biases ............... 47 A. The Jesuit Interpretation of Japanese Culture .................. 48 B. The French Jesuit Interpretation of Native Culture ........ 61 C. Jesuit Biases in Interpreting Non-Christian Cultures ..... 78 III. Preaching, Winning Converts and Educating Them: Evolving Multifaceted Strategies .............................................. 81 A. Japan ........................................................................................ 82 B. New France ............................................................................. 101 C. A New Paradigm for the Missionary Strategy in New France ...................................................................................... 127 IV. Organising a Mission for a Christian Community: Missionary Réductions Reconsidered ....................................... 129 A. The Prototypes for Amerindian Réductions ...................... 130 B. A Comparison between Japan and Paraguay .................... 135 C. The Réductions in New France in Comparison with the Paraguayan and Japanese Models ....................................... 147 D. The International Evolution of Missionary Réductions 161 V. Accepting and Comprehending Christianity: Non-European Practice of the Religion .................................. 165 A. Problems of Historical Epistemology ................................ 165 vi contents B. Japanese Acceptance and Comprehension of Christianity ............................................................................. 168 C. Amerindian Acceptance and Comprehension of Christianity ............................................................................. 179 Conclusion: The French Jesuit Mission Revisited ......................... 201 Bibliography of Works Cited ............................................................ 209 Appendices ........................................................................................... 221 Index ..................................................................................................... 229 vi contents B. Japanese Acceptance and Comprehension of Christianity ............................................................................. 168 C. Amerindian Acceptance and Comprehension of LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Christianity ............................................................................. 179 1. World Map ................................................................................. 13 Conclusion: The French Jesuit Mission Revisited ......................... 201 2. Map of Kyushu, Japan .............................................................. 14 3. Map of New France ................................................................... 15 Bibliography of Works Cited ............................................................ 209 4. First Ursuline Nuns with Native Pupils at Quebec ............. 86 Appendices ........................................................................................... 221 5. Seventeenth-Century Japanese Folding Screens ................... 87 Index ..................................................................................................... 229 6. Huron Houses in Sainte Marie (replicas) .............................. 124 7. Church Building in Sainte Marie (a replica) ........................ 125 8. Altar for Native Converts in Sainte Marie (a replica) ......... 126 9. Japanese Mould for Medals and Crucifixes in the Late Sixteenth or Early Seventeenth Century ................................ 177 10. Seventeenth-Century Image of Native Women and Children Praying to God .......................................................... 186 INTRODUCTION: IBERIAN AND FRENCH JESUITS FROM AN INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE If interpreted in a broader international framework beyond North America rather than just within the regional history of New France, will the existing historical paradigms of the Jesuit missionary activity to Amerindians remain intact? This is the thematic issue that underlies this cross-cultural study. The Jesuit mission in seventeenth-century New France will be analysed as a series of incidents that developed, not simply as a domestic occurrence of North America, but out of the earlier mission of Father Francisco de Xavier in Japan. In this analysis, the Christian mission in Japan will be used as a tool to revise the cur- rently accepted historical interpretations of the French Jesuit mission. Through a diachronic global comparison encompassing the period from the mid-sixteenth century to the mid-seventeenth century, this investigation attempts to add a new revisionist perspective to the con- ventional understanding of the New France mission. More than half a century before French missionaries landed in North America in the early seventeenth century, another Jesuit group had already arrived in Japan. In 1549, the party of Father Xavier arrived at Kagoshima, on the southern tip of Japan. Among his accomplishments, French-educated Xavier had helped to establish the Society of Jesus [SJ] in Paris in 1534. Father Xavier’s contact with Japan was but the first of many such visits. Iberian Jesuits from Portugal, Spain and Italy, under the patronage of the king of Portugal, followed. Although the Jesuit mis- sion to Japan experienced some success during the second half of the sixteenth century, strict legislation promulgated by the Japanese central authorities eliminated the Christian missions in the early seventeenth century. Meanwhile, as the Iberian mission was ending in Japan, the French Jesuits were beginning their own mission to New France. To understand the mission in New France, it must be discussed within both colonial North American and international contexts. Similarly the mission in Japan must be considered within the context of Iberian colo- nialism in this Asian country as well