The Bateren Edict (Bateren Tsuihorei) was issued by Toyotomi Hideyoshi in Chikuzen Hakozaki (currently Higashi-ku, Fukuoka City, Fukuoka Prefecture) on July 24, 1587, regarding Christian missionary activities and Nanban trade. Bateren is derived from the Latin patrem, which means father in the accusative case, or the Portuguese word padre.
The original document is preserved within the 'Matsuura Family Documents' collection, housed at the Matsuura Historical Museum in Hirado City, Nagasaki Prefecture. The term 'Bateren Expulsion Edict,' which refers to an order issued to expel Christian missionaries, generally denotes a five-article document dated July 24, 1587, contained within the 'Matsuura Family Documents' (henceforth referred to as the 'expulsion edict'). However, it may also encompass an eleven-article memorandum, dated June 23, 1587, discovered in 1933 within the 'Goshuin Shishiki Kokaku,' an archival collection at the Jingu Library of Ise Jingu, necessitating careful distinction. This memorandum is referred to as either 'oboe' or 'kakusho' in historical records. Since the discovery of the eleven-article memorandum, extensive scholarly discussions have addressed the reasons for its discrepancies with the five-article expulsion edict and the interpretive significance of both documents.
Background Jesuit missions and leaders in Japan Francisco Xavier (1549–1551), the mission's founder, introduced Christianity in Kyushu, establishing its foundation. Cosme de Torres (1551–1570) led as de facto Superior, expanding the mission until his death. Francisco Cabral (1570–1581), as Superior, enforced rigid policies, causing cultural friction, and was dismissed by Alessandro Valignano in 1581. Gaspar Coelho (1581–1590) succeeded Cabral as Superior, managing relations with Japanese authorities until his death. Alessandro Valignano (1573–1606), appointed Visitor of the East Indies in 1573, held supreme authority over East Asia's Jesuit missions, until his death in 1606. Visiting Japan three times (1579–1583, 1590–1592, 1598–1603), he championed cultural adaptation and founded St. Paul's College in Macao (1594) to train Japanese clergy.
Nagasaki's formation and Christian settlement Nagasaki's development as a significant port city in Japan was closely tied to the arrival of Christianity and Portuguese trade. Initially an unpopulated promontory covered with wild thickets, Nagasaki was selected around 1570 by Jesuit missionaries, with the support of the Christian daimyo Ōmura Sumitada (Don Bartolomeu), for its natural advantages as a port, including a narrow promontory that provided visual defense of the bay entrance. Sumitada, the first Japanese daimyo to convert to Catholicism, invited Jesuits to settle in Yokoseura in the early 1560s, where a church was built, and Portuguese ships visited in 1562 and 1563. However, Yokoseura was destroyed in 1563 by anti-Christian groups and jealous merchants, prompting the Jesuits to seek a new location.Portuguese "discovery" and "naming" of the Formosa Island, 1510-1624: A history based on maps, rutters and other documents, Paul Kua, Anais de História de Além-Mar XXI (2020): pp. 323-324.Curvelo, Alexandra, and Angelo Cattaneo. Interactions Between Rivals: The Christian Mission and Buddhist Sects in Japan (c. 1549-c. 1647). Peter Lang International Academic Publishers, 2021. p. 48. Nagasaki was chosen, and Sumitada offered to donate the land to the Jesuits to establish a settlement for displaced Christians, many of whom were exiles from other regions due to religious persecution or wars, granting perpetual usage rights and extraterritorial privileges in return for securing permanent port customs and entry taxes, with designated officials stationed to oversee their collection.Alejandro Valignano S. I. Sumario des las Cosas de Japon(1583). Adiciones de l sumario de Japon (1592). editados por jose Luis Alvarez-Taladriz. Tokyo 1954. Introduction. p. 70.
By 1579, Nagasaki had grown from a village of 400 houses to a town of 5,000 by 1590, and 15,000 by the early 17th century, becoming a hub for Portuguese trade and Catholic activity, with multiple parishes established to meet spiritual needs.The Founding of the Port of Nagasaki and its Cession to the Society of Jesus, Diego Pacheco, Monumenta Nipponica, 1970, Vol. 25, No. 3/4 (1970), pp.307-308.FUSION URBAN PLANNING IN THE 16TH CENTURY. JAPANESE AND PORTUGUESE FOUNDING NAGASAKI, Cristina Castel-Branco, Margarida Paes, Technical University of Lisbon, BPJS, 2009, 18/19, 67-103, p. 89.FUSION URBAN PLANNING IN THE 16TH CENTURY. JAPANESE AND PORTUGUESE FOUNDING NAGASAKI, Cristina Castel-Branco, Margarida Paes, Technical University of Lisbon, BPJS, 2009, 18/19, 67-103, p. 87-88, The Jesuits, led by Valignano, accepted Ōmura's donation to establish a secure base for their mission and facilitate Portuguese trade. Valignano saw Nagasaki's strategic value for supporting displaced Christians and funding missionary activities.The Founding of the Port of Nagasaki and its Cession to the Society of Jesus, Diego Pacheco, Monumenta Nipponica, 1970, Vol. 25, No. 3/4 (1970), p. 316. The donation was accepted conditionally, allowing the Jesuits to withdraw if needed, reflecting caution due to Japan's political instability and the non-binding nature of Japanese donations, which could be revoked by lords or their successors.The Founding of the Port of Nagasaki and its Cession to the Society of Jesus, Diego Pacheco, Monumenta Nipponica, 1970, Vol. 25, No. 3/4 (1970), pp. 319-320.
In 1582, Gaspar Coelho, upon his appointment as the Superior of the Jesuit mission in Japan, promptly initiated the construction of fusta ships. The funding for this endeavor was reportedly secured from Portuguese merchants residing in Nagasaki, primarily allocated to the construction of vessels equipped for towing, intended for the towing of carrack ships upon their arrival.Hesselink, Reinier H. The Dream of Christian Nagasaki: world trade and the clash of cultures, 1560-1640. McFarland, 2015. pp. 69-70. Furthermore, the fusta vessels are presumed to have also functioned as a means of transporting fresh supplies, such as water, food, and firewood, to Nagasaki.Hesselink, Reinier H. The Dream of Christian Nagasaki: world trade and the clash of cultures, 1560-1640. McFarland, 2015. pp. 70-71. As a consequence of the destruction of Christian refugee homes and a monastery in Yokoseura by anti-Christian forces in 1563, the Jesuits were compelled to relocate to Nagasaki.Cartas que os Padres e Irmaos da Companhia da Iesus, que andao nos Reynos de lapao escreverao aos da mesma Companhia da India, e Europa, desde anno de 1549 ate 1580. Primeiro Tomo, Evora 1598.f.151v. Following this relocation, it is posited that, in order to strengthen the defenses of the trading port, the Jesuits assigned fusta ships the task of patrolling Nagasaki Bay and the outer coastal regions of the Nagasaki Peninsula.
The Nagasaki Misericórdia (almshouse) was formally instituted in 1583 through the election of officers and the establishment of a hospital.Oliveira, João Paulo Costa. "The Misericórdias among Japanese Christian Communities in the 16th and 17th centuries." Bulletin of Portuguese-Japanese Studies 5 (2002): 67-79. p.76 This charitable institution managed a secondary facility outside the city for leprosy patients, underscoring the profound impact of Christian practices in a Japan that lacked hospitals prior to Portuguese arrival. Jesuit Luis Fróis recorded that this facility served individuals considered “repugnant” by Japanese society.Oliveira, João Paulo Costa. "The Misericórdias among Japanese Christian Communities in the 16th and 17th centuries." Bulletin of Portuguese-Japanese Studies 5 (2002): 67-79. p.77. This endeavor exemplified the innovative introduction of Christian charitable principles, offering a novel framework for Japanese social welfare. Moreover, the establishment of an almshouse in Hirado as early as 1561, with officers actively collecting donations, attests to the early adoption of the Misericórdia system across Japan and the deep integration of Christian charitable ideals into local communities.Oliveira, João Paulo Costa. "The Misericórdias among Japanese Christian Communities in the 16th and 17th centuries." Bulletin of Portuguese-Japanese Studies 5 (2002): 67-79. p.73
Through their operation of hospitals for the poor and critically ill, the Jesuit order deepened engagement with marginalized communities, resulting in their categorization as impure. Historian George Ellison observes that, despite being driven by profound compassion, the missionaries’ actions yielded unintended social consequences. While these hospitals gained favor among the destitute, the elite distanced themselves from the missionaries, citing fears of "contamination".Elison, George (1973): Deus Destroyed: The Image of Christianity in Early Modern Japan. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. pp. 85-86 This concept of "contamination" was less about physical disease transmission and more about anxieties over social and symbolic impurity associated with the missionaries. In environments frequented by leprosy or scurvy patients, Jesuit missionaries were perceived as vectors of impurity, risking their portrayal as tainted entities or sources of defilement in the eyes of aristocratic patrons.Elisonas, Jurgis (2000): The Jesuits, the Devil, and Pollution in Japan: The Context of a Syllabus of Errors. In: Bulletin of Portuguese/Japanese Studies 1 (December), p. 24. Consequently, they faced the danger of being situated as loci of impurity. In Japanese history, the purity-impurity dichotomy has recurrently served as a logic of domination rooted in hierarchical structures. Though its specific manifestations shift across time and context, this binary consistently sustains mechanisms of control and exclusion.Guillaume, Xavier. “Misdirected Understandings: Narrative Matrices in the Japanese Politics of Alterity Toward the West.” Contemporary Japan, Volume 15, Issue 1. Japanstudien: Jahrbuch des Deutschen Instituts für Japanstudien 15 (2003): p. 93.Ohnuki-Tierney, Emiko (1984): Illness and Culture in Contemporary Japan: An Anthropological View. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 47. Unwittingly, the Jesuits positioned themselves within the subordinate domain of impurity.
Slavery in 16th century Japan and Jesuit responses