From Patronage To The Right Of Preaching

In the Age of Discovery in the 16th century,Spain and Portugal became the pioneers to open up new routes in the world and expand overseas.At the same time,the right of Catholic Pope was weakened due to the Protestant Reformation,therefore,Catholic needed to rely on on the support of Spainish royal family and Portuguese royal family to spread the Catholicism and universal belief to East Asia including China,Japan and other places.With the continuous expansion of overseas5there was always a conflict of world's jurisdiction between Spain and Portugal.To coordinate the conflict to ensure the succese of religious propagation,Catholic Pope repeatedly enacted liberties to delimit the boundary.In 1493,Inter caetera was delineated by Pope Alexander ?,which divided the world into two parts,granting to Spain all lands to the "west and south" of a pole-to-pole line 100 leagues and granting to Portugal the east part.The Holy See demanded the two countries to take some religious duties(such ad providing funding and logistical support for the missionaries),at the same time,they owened appropriate religious privileges(such as nomination of bishops),the combination of powers and duties was called Patronage.In 1529,the Holy See established the diocese of Goa in Portuguese India to manage the Catholic missionary career including Japan,China and the Southeast Asia.Because Inter caetera remained unclear to the other side of the globe,therefore,Spain and Portugal competed for the Patronage of this area.Japan and China located in this area,so the competition for Patronage of China and Japan became the key problem.Based on the background above,different Catholic religious orders under the support of different countries,especially Jesuits under the support of the Portuguese royal family and Mendicant Friars,concentrating on Franciscans,under the support of the Spanish royal family reached a community with different countries in consideration of own religious order's interests,they competed for the right of preaching,especially in Japan and China.The missionaries from different countries in Catholic religious orders were caught in the complex conflicts of national interests and religious obligations.In the East Indies,Valignano as the Pter Visitator,was the focus in these complex contradictions and struggles,he not only needed to balance and reconcile different factions and opinions in Jesuit,and also needed to consider the personal interests,the interests of religious and countries,made an effort to resolve conflicts.He had to consider and solve practical problems according to the realities in the missionary area.Given the research on this issue has not been yet fully discussed,this paper attempts to reveal the complex and contradictory relationships between different interest groups,concentrating on the complex situation what the Pter Visitator,Valignano had to face with,and the adjustment of his considerations and desicions under the background of East Indies in the Age of Discovery,centering on the basic clue of Patronage and the right of preaching.