The Samurai Who Became A Roman Citizen

For two months, they were in the Pacific. The samurai Hasekura Tsunenaga, the Franciscan friar Luis Sotelo, and around 180 other Japanese, Portuguese, and Spanish men, many of whom had never been in the open ocean before, had never experienced its great tempests and storms. I guess there's a first time for everything. The Keicho embassy, as it was called later, left Japan on October 28th, 1613, heading east aboard the San Juan Bautista. On December 26th, almost two months later, they finally sighted land at Cape Mendocino, 200 miles north of what is now San Francisco. If they stopped here, they did so briefly to restock before continuing down the coast to their official destination, Acapulco, a vital port city in what is modern-day Mexico, but what was then a colony of Imperial Spain called New Spain. By the time Hasekura arrived in January 1614, the Spanish had controlled the region for almost a century, ever since the conquest of Hernán Cortés brought about the fall of the Aztec Empire. Acapulco was an important part of a mature imperial system of trade connecting New Spain to the Philippines, another Spanish colony. But the administration of New Spain wasn't run from Acapulco. It was run from Mexico City further inland. And that is where Hasekura aimed to go. But before he disembarks, let's remind ourselves of the goals of this embassy. Goals devised by the embassy's main sponsor, Date Masamune, the feudal lord of Sendai, with the blessing of the Shogun and the help of Sotelo. They were twofold. First, to get the Spanish King Philip III to authorize trade between Japan and New Spain, and second, to get Pope Paul V to authorize the sending of more missionaries, Franciscan ones, if Sotelo had his way, to Date's domain. Now, achieving these goals was always going to be an uphill battle. As I showed in the previous video, Christianity was on the back foot in Japan. When Tokugawa Ieyasu became Shogun in 1603, he was initially pragmatically tolerant of the foreign religion in part because he held out hopes for and worked toward a trading relationship with the Spanish. But by the time the Keicho embassy left 10 years later, he had made little progress on the trade front while becoming increasingly convinced that Christianity was a threat to his political control. In 1612, he issued an edict prohibiting Christianity on Tokugawa lands, which comprised around a third of the country. The fact that Ieyasu sanctioned Date Masamune's embassy shows that he was still open to trade talks as late as 1613, but the window was closing fast. All that said, the two leaders of Date's embassy still had hope. And they carried that hope first to Mexico City, where Hasekura arrived in March 1614, then onto Veracruz, where a smaller group of around 30 boarded a Spanish ship and sailed into the Atlantic. They stopped for a month in Cuba before reaching the Spanish port city of Sanlúcar de Barrameda in October. From here, the embassy proceeded to Seville, Sotelo's hometown, then to Madrid, where Hasekura was granted a formal audience with King Philip III on January 30th, 1615. There was only one problem. By the time Hasekura arrived in Madrid, the king had already made up his mind about Date's proposals. His embassy played an important part in that decision, just not in the way they thought. Let's go back to about here. As I said earlier, in the years before the Keicho embassy, the Shogun had made overtures to the Spanish court asking for direct trade with the port in Acapulco, as well as navigational and shipbuilding knowledge. King Philip and his advisers were wary of these requests for a few reasons. As it stood, Spain held an effective monopoly on trade in the Pacific, and that trade ran exclusively through Acapulco and Manila. It took them decades to figure out a safe route across the ocean, especially in the eastbound direction. And this information was as tightly guarded as a state secret. Giving Japan access to the Pacific would risk turning this exclusive imperial corridor into a shared commercial space. It would bypass and thus weaken Manila. It could potentially open the American coasts to new threats of piracy. And it would set a precedent that Spain didn't want to set. But there were potential benefits, too. By engaging with Japan in a limited way, they could integrate the Japanese into the imperial system, maintaining control while expanding their global influence and boxing out European rivals like the English and the Dutch. A direct route would also provide easier access for Catholic missionaries. After long deliberations, Philip finally decided to allow one ship per year to make the round trip from Acapulco to Japan and back, but with a few important caveats. The ship had to be a Spanish ship. It had to be crewed by only the Spanish, and Japanese merchants would not be permitted to come to New Spain. The king made his decision in the summer of 1613. Just a few months later, a 500-ton Japanese-built ship showed up uninvited at Acapulco, partly crewed by Japanese sailors and carrying a number of Japanese merchants with Japanese goods. As Joshua B. notes, the arrival of the San Juan Bautista vindicated all of Spain's anxieties. What the members of the Keicho embassy couldn't know is that the first goal of their mission had already been achieved before they even left Japan, and that the embassy itself would put that success in jeopardy. What happened next didn't help. Upon landing in Acapulco, a number of Japanese beat and stabbed one of their own Spanish passengers, Sebastián Vizcaíno. According to a local witness, Vizcaíno was a colorful and prickly character, an explorer and diplomat who did not like Sotelo and proceeded to air his grievances in a scathing letter to King Philip. He accused the Japanese of stealing gifts from the shogun that he was personally entrusted to deliver to the king. The Japanese alleged the opposite, that Vizcaíno tried to steal the gifts and that's why they beat him up. In his letter, Vizcaíno warned the Spanish not to trust Sotelo and suggested that the embassy was just a pretense to send Japanese goods to Spain. Spanish officials were confused and dismayed by these internal conflicts, and that only soured their appetite for trade even more. And to make matters even worse, the arrival of the San Juan Bautista also brought reports of increasing Christian persecution in Japan. It was not a good look. As Bats says, this fracture pointed to a deeper problem. Even though the Keicho embassy was sanctioned by Ieyasu, Japan's ruler kept his distance from it. It was organized by Date. The representatives were his, so were the gifts. The Spanish knew that Date was not the ruler of Japan. So, his ambassadors really didn't have the legitimacy or authority to make deals with a monarch. Eventually realizing this, Sotelo shifted his strategy. He leaned into the second goal and did everything he could to show that the Japanese were eager to join the Catholic faith. In Mexico City, around 60 of the Japanese passengers were baptized. Hasekura held back until he reached Madrid, where his own spiritual rebirth could have its greatest effect. The samurai was eventually baptized on February 17th, 1615, in the church of the Discalced Nuns in the presence of His Majesty the King. Was Hasekura's conversion genuine or opportunistic? Did he really believe, or did he do it merely to help the mission achieve its economic goals? I don't think we'll ever really know for sure. But what we do know is that his conversion did not change Philip's mind. The Spaniards were courteous to the Keicho embassy, but before long they were eager to be rid of them. So the mission moved east again to Barcelona, where they boarded another ship and sailed first to Sanremo, then to Genoa, and finally to Civitavecchia, the port of Rome, where they landed on October 18th, 1615. From here, they made their way inland to the Eternal City, arriving at 11:30 p.m. on October 25th and proceeded directly to the Quirinal Palace of the Pope where...

storms. I guess there's a first time for everything. The Kaicho embassy, as it was called later, left Japan on October 28th, 1613, heading east aboard the San Juan Batista. On December 26th, almost 2 months later, they finally cighted land

at Cape Menoscino, 200 m north of what is now San Francisco. If they stopped here, they did so briefly to restock before continuing down the coast to their official destination, Akapulkco, a vital port city in what is modern-day

Mexico, but what was then a colony of Imperial Spain called New Spain. By the time Hakura arrived in January 1614, the Spanish had controlled the region for almost a century, ever since the conquest of Ernan Cortez brought about

the fall of the Aztec Empire. Aapulco was an important part of a mature imperial system of trade connecting New Spain to the Philippines, another Spanish colony. But the administration of New Spain wasn't run from Aapulco. It was run from Mexico City further inland.

And that is where Hakura aimed to go. But before he disembarks, let's remind ourselves of the goals of this embassy.

goals devised by the embassy's main sponsor, Date Masamune, the feudal lord of Sai, with the blessing of the Shogun and the help of Sautello. They were twofold. First, to get the Spanish King Philip III, to authorize trade between

Japan and New Spain, and second, to get Pope Paul V to authorize the sending of more missionaries, Franciscan ones, if Sautello had his way, to D's domain.

Now, achieving these goals was always going to be an uphill battle. As I showed in the previous video, Christianity was on the back foot in Japan. When Tokugawa Yasu became Shogun in6003, he was initially pragmatically tolerant of the foreign religion in part

because he held out hopes for and worked toward a trading relationship with the Spanish. But by the time the Kaicho embassy left 10 years later, he had made little progress on the trade front while becoming increasingly convinced that

Christianity was a threat to his political control. In 1612, he issued an edict prohibiting Christianity on Tokugawa lands, which comprised around a third of the country. The fact that Yasu sanctioned Dante Masamune's embassy shows that he was still open to trade

talks as late as 1613, but the window was closing fast. All that said, the two leaders of Dante's embassy still had hope. And they carried that hope first to Mexico City, where Hakura arrived in March 1614, then onto Vera Cruz, where a

smaller group of around 30 boarded a Spanish ship and sailed into the Atlantic. They stopped for a month in Cuba before reaching the Spanish port city of San Lucar de Barameda in October. From here, the embassy proceeded to Sevilla, Sautello's

hometown, then to Madrid, where Hakura was granted a formal audience with King Philip III on January 30th, 1615. There was only one problem. By the time Hakura arrived in Madrid, the king had already made up his mind about D's proposals.

His embassy played an important part in that decision, just not in the way they thought. Let's go back to about here. As I said earlier, in the years before the Kaicho embassy, the Shogun had made overures to the Spanish court asking for

direct trade with the port in Aapulco, as well as navigational and shipbuilding knowledge. King Phillip and his advisers were wary of these requests for a few reasons. As it stood, Spain held an effective monopoly on trade in the

Pacific, and that trade ran exclusively through Akapulco and Manila. It took them decades to figure out a safe route across the ocean, especially in the eastbound direction. And this information was as tightly guarded as a state secret. Giving Japan access to the

Pacific would risk turning this exclusive imperial corridor into a shared commercial space. It would bypass and thus weaken Manila. It could potentially open the American coasts to new threats of piracy. And it would set a precedent that Spain didn't want to

set. But there were potential benefits, too. By engaging with Japan in a limited way, they could integrate the Japanese into the imperial system, maintaining control while expanding their global influence and boxing out European rivals like the English and the Dutch. A direct

route would also provide easier access for Catholic missionaries. After long deliberations, Philip finally decided to allow one ship per year to make the round trip from Aapulco to Japan and back. but with a few important caveats.

The ship had to be a Spanish ship. It had to be crewed by only the Spanish and Japanese merchants would not be permitted to come to New Spain. The king made his decision in the summer of 1613.

Just a few months later, a 500 ton Japanese-built ship showed up uninvited at Aapulco, partly crewed by Japanese sailors and carrying a number of Japanese merchants with Japanese goods.

As Joshua Bats notes, the arrival of the San Juan Batista vindicated all of Spain's anxieties. What the members of the Kaicho embassy couldn't know is that the first goal of their mission had already been achieved before they even

left Japan, and that the embassy itself would put that success in jeopardy. What happened next didn't help. Upon landing in Aapulco, a number of Japanese beat and stabbed one of their own Spanish passengers, Sebastian Viscano. According to a local witness, Viscano was a

colorful and prickly character, an explorer and diplomat who did not like Sautello and proceeded to heir his grievances in a scathing letter to King Philip. He accused the Japanese of stealing gifts from the shogun that he was personally entrusted to deliver to

the king. The Japanese alleged the opposite that Visco tried to steal the gifts and that's why they beat him up.

In his letter, Viscano warned the Spanish not to trust Sotello and suggested that the embassy was just a pretense to send Japanese goods to Spain. Spanish officials were confused and dismayed by these internal conflicts and that only soured their appetite for

trade even more. And to make matters even worse, the arrival of the San Juan Batista also brought reports of increasing Christian persecution in Japan. It was not a good look. As Bat says, this fracture pointed to a deeper

problem. Even though the Kaicho embassy was sanctioned by Yasu, Japan's ruler kept his distance from it. It was organized by Date. The representatives were his, so were the gifts. The Spanish knew that Date was not the ruler of

Japan. So, his ambassadors really didn't have the legitimacy or authority to make deals with a monarch. Eventually realizing this, Sautello shifted his strategy. He leaned into the second goal and did everything he could to show that the Japanese were eager to join the

Catholic faith. In Mexico City, around 60 of the Japanese passengers were baptized. Hasakura held back until he reached Madrid, where his own spiritual rebirth could have its greatest effect.

The samurai was eventually baptized on February 17th, 1615 in the church of the discouse nuns in the presence of his majesty the king. Was Hassakura's conversion genuine or opportunistic? Did he really believe or did he do it merely

to help the mission achieve its economic goals? I don't think we'll ever really know for sure. But what we do know is that his conversion did not change Philip's mind. The Spaniards were courteous to the Kaicho embassy, but

before long they were eager to be rid of them. So the mission moved east again to Barcelona where they boarded another ship and sailed first to Sanrope then to Genoa and finally to Cividvecia the port of Rome where they landed on October

18th 1615. From here they made their way inland to the eternal city arriving at 11:30 p.m. on October 25th and proceeded directly to the Kural Palace of the Pope where Hasakura kissed the feet of his holiness sometime after midnight. The

embassy had made it to the heart of Christrysendom on Earth. On October 29th, 2 years and a day after they left Japan, Hakura and his entourage processed on horseback through the streets of Rome in great fanfare and fancy dress, accompanied by Roman nobles

through streets and piazas filled with cheering crowds eager to see the ambassador from the other side of the world. And a few days later, Hasakura, the samurai from Japan, was made an official citizen of the eternal city.

This papal march was the greatest triumph of the Kaicho embassy, but it was a symbolic one. In the end, symbolic successes were the only kind they could achieve. The Pope would not or could not make any official determination on the

embassy's requests. He deferred to the Spanish crown. After what he'd seen, Philip shut down the possibility for direct trade and authorized a handful of more missionaries to be sent from Manila if and only if the officials there deemed it worthwhile. Oh, and so would

not be made the bishop of Japan. What the embassy didn't know is that shortly after they crossed the Pacific in February of 1614, Yasu issued a comprehensive expulsion edict ordering all missionaries to leave Japan and the destruction of all Christian

institutions. It was effectively the end of Christianity in the country and it dashed all of Sautello's hopes. It turns out that Hasakura never actually visited Venice, where the Iwakura embassy found his mysterious letters. He was writing to Venice for financial aid. See, the

mission's European benefactors were only willing to give so much. After dragging their feet for months, hoping for a miracle, the money dried up, and the Kaicho embassy returned the way they came. Interestingly, a small group of Japanese actually stayed on in Sevilla.

Their descendants live there to this day with the surname Hapon. In early 1618, Hakura and Sautello departed New Spain on the San Juan Batista, arriving in the Philippines in June. Here they were held for a year and a half before Hasakura

managed to get back to a greatly changed Japan in 1620 making his way gradually to his home in Sai where he told the story of his long journey to Date and presented him with this painting of Pope Paul V. He had little else to show for

all his years away. For Sautello, the prospect of returning to Japan meant certain death. He knew this and he went back anyway. Smuggled on a Chinese trading boat. He wanted to be a martyr and that's what he became. After being

captured in Nagasaki, he spent the last 2 years of his life in a 2 m square cage with two other prisoners. A cage placed in a dark and fedded spot because of which it was swarming with worms, serpents, and other unclean reptiles and

poisonous animals. And on August 25th, 1624, he was burned at the stake. What ultimately happened to Hasakura is less clear. Yasu had died in 1616, and his son, Tokugawa Heritata, persecuted Christians with an even greater zeal.

Date read the writing on the wall and fell in line. Of course, Hakura was now a Christian, and that put him in great danger. Some say he recanted his new faith, others that he practiced it in secret. Again, we'll never really know

for sure. In 1622, it's reported that Hakura died from an illness after which, as we know, his name fell out of history for over two centuries. This Japanese samurai, ambassador of Date Masamune, baptized in the sight of a foreign king,

a citizen of Rome, a traveler of the wide world, a man whose remarkable life is no longer forgotten.

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