ōmura gave him so much — Wikipedia

Ōmura summitada ( Juntada Omura , Ōmura summitada ^? , born in 1533 and died on June 23, 1587 ) is a daimyo (Japanese Lord) of the Sengoku period ^{[ first ]} . He is known for having been the first daimyo to convert to Christianity ^{[ 2 ]} , following the arrival of Portuguese merchants and Jesuit missionaries on the Japanese archipelago in the middle of the XVI ^{It is} century. During his baptism, he took the name of “Barthélemy” and was called by the missionaries “Dom Barthélemy ^{[ first ]} ». He made several territorial and port concessions to the Portuguese Jesuits, including Nagasaki ^{[ 3 ]} .

Ōmura Sumitada was born in 1533, son of Arima Haruzumi, lord of Shimabara, and his wife, a daughter of ōmura Sumiyoshi. His childhood name is Shōdōmaru (勝童丸). At the age of 5, he was adopted by his uncle ōmura Sumisaki and took the head of the ōmura family in 1550. As Sumisaki has no legitimate heirs and the ōmura clan has his origins in the family line of the family line Arima, Sumisaki readily adopts the young Shodomaru, who takes the name of “Sumitada” at the time of his succession.

Following his succession, he immediately faced a multitude of pressures, the most important of which is the attack on Ryūzōji Takanobu of Hizen-Saga. Sumitada finds the answer to her problems in Christianity. In 1561, after the assassination of foreigners in Hirado (in the Hirado clan area), the Portuguese began to seek other ports where they could trade.

In response to their research, Sumitada offers them refuge in its field in Yokose-Ura. This approach made a great impression on the Portuguese, and in particular on the Jesuits who readily accept this offer. Shortly after, in 1563, Sumitada and his vassals became Christians and Sumitada was baptized by the father of Torres: he took the Christian name “Barthélemy”. However, Sumitada is radical in his faith and shaves Buddhist temples and Shintoist sanctuaries, disfigures the tombs of his ancestors, and because he imposes Christianity on his obligatory and the people of his domain, he runs the serious risk of A general uprising.

Goto Takaakira, illegitimate son of ōmura Sumisaki who hates Sumitada, led an uprising and fire Yokoseura, which puts an end to foreign trade. Consequently, in 1570, Sumitada opened the port of Nagasaki to the Portuguese and encouraged its development. When the Ryūzōji attacked Nagasaki in 1578, the Portuguese helped Sumitada repel them. Following this event, the June 9, 1580 , Sumitada gives Nagasaki “life” to the Company of Jesus.

Following the Toyotomi Hideyoshi campaign against the Shimazu clan, the ōmura are confirmed in their properties but Nagasaki is taken up with the Jesuits and transformed into chokkatsu-ryo , or direct land ownership, of the Toyotomi administration.

Sumitada transmits the state administration to her son, ōmura Yoshiaki, and retires in a residence in Sakaguchi. He dies there of tuberculosis there June 23, 1587 .

There is also a certain event well known until today about which the Portuguese Jesuit Father Luís Fróis writes:

“As Omura Sumitada goes to war, it turns out that he passes before an idol named Marishiten, who is their god of battles. When they pass, they bow and worship it and the pagans who are on horseback sets off as a sign of respect. The idol has a rooster on the head. As the Daimyo arrives with his squadron, he made his men arrested and ordered them to take the idol and burn it with the temple set; Then he takes the rooster and gives him a sword, saying: “Oh, how many times have you betrayed me!” After everything was burned, he erects a very beautiful cross in the same place, and after he and his men showed him very deep respect, they continue their way to the war. »»

– Extract from The Samurai Sourcebook .

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