Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 13.djvu/663

* MISSIONS. 591 MISSIONS. Constantinople until 1.5S0, when .Teromias II., the patriaieh of the latter see, was induced to in- stall the Patriarchate of Moscow. Buljiaria became Christian. 804-806. The Khan, Bogoris. first introduced Greek missionaries, and then appealed to Pope Nicholas I. The latter sent hira the famous "Replies to the Consulta- tions of the Bulgarians." Nevertheless, Bulgaria soon came under the sole jurisdiction of Con- stantinople; the land was subjected by the By- zantine emperors, and in 1388-03 the new Bul- garian realm was conquered by the Turks. The hoatlien JIa<i:;v'ars had taken possession after the end of the ninth century of what is now Hungary. All attempts at their conversion were fruitless until the victon,' of Otho the Great of Germany on the Lech, in 0.)5. Duke Gcjza ( 972-997 ), married to a Christian princess of his own race, asked Otho II. for missionaries; the bisliops Pilgrim of Passau and Wolfgang of Ee- genslmrg were sent to him. Gejza's son. Saint Stephen of Hungaiy (907-1038), was married to Gisela. the daughter of Henry II. He created the hierarchical system of Hungary, by founding (1000) the Arehicpiscopal See of Gran with ten sutl'ragan sees, as well as many Benedictine mon- asteries. Pope Sylvester II. (Gerbert) gave him the title of 'Apostolic' King, and is said to have sent him a golden cross and crovn (Crown of Snint Stephen). (4) JIissioNS i:^ N'oRTnE.STERN Europe. Political Conversion's. The power of Christen- dom was now too great to be longer resisted by the outlying heathen peoples. From Sweden went out at the same time the political subjection of Finland, and its conversion to Christianity. It was only in 1293 that the work could be looked on as accomplished. Esthonia. Livonia, and Courland saw Christian missionaries during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries follow in the tracks of the German merchants of Bremen and Liibeck. Here the heathen was fierce and reluctant : fortified monasteries protected the German Christians and the newly converted, un- til, in 1202, was founded the military order of the Brothers of the Sword {t^rhirfrthriifhT) or Knights Swordbearers. Its founder. Bishop Albert of Buxhowden, built the city of Eiga and set up therein his see. In 1237 the Brothers of the Sword were united with the Teutonic Knights of .Jerus.alem, and for sixty years both orders carried on an unceasing war- fare against the pagan inhabitants of the Baltic shore. Tlieir most diiTicult conquest was that of the Prussians. This most stubborn of the North- ern heathen-folk gave way only before the organ- ized and experienced knights of German Christen- dom and the moral and financial support of the Empire. In 1243 the Prussian territory was di- vided into four sees — Kulm. Ponierania. Krmland, Samland; in 12,55 they were placed under the jurisdiction of the Arehicpiscopal See of Eiga. The Lithuanians, temporarily cimvprtcd in 12.52, relapsed into heathenism. Their Grand Prince, Jagello, married in 13S0 the Polish Queen Hed- wig, by which act Poland and Litlniania were shortly made one politically. .Tagello was bap- tized, assuming the title of Ladislas II. Vilna was made an episcopal see. .and at a diet held there Christianity was declared the State religion. (ij) Missions in the Sixteenth CEXTtnY. (a) In THE Orient. The Portuguese sailors and the merchants were alwaj-s accompanied by missionaries. As earl- as I.J33 Goa was made an episcopal see. The unworthy conduct of the Europeans "as no small obslacde for the mis- sionaries when confronted with such religious systems as those of the Brahmans. Buddhists, and Jlohammedans. At the re(|uest of the King of Portugal, Saint Ignatius of Loyola destined for (he East Indies in 1540 Rodriguez and Saint Francis Xavier. The latter actually sailed in 1541 from Lisbon, an4 after some time spent in evangelizing the Europeans of Goa, turned liis attention to the heathen of Southern India. He preached in the Kingdom of Travancore, and went thence to Ma- lacca and the Moluccas, meeting evervwhere with gi'eat success. Soon his zeal urged him to under- take the conversion of .lapan, where he spent two years (1540-51). In the liope of hastening the conversion of Japan, he turned his attention next; to China, but died on the way on the island of San- cian. in November or December, 1552. His labors in the East Indies were continued by his .Jesuit brethren, especially by Robert Xobili. after 1606. The latter made himself one with the Indian aris- tocracy, accepted its prejudices, habits, and cus- toms, as far as seemed consistent with Christian- ity, and enjoyed a large measure of success. The Nestorian missions in China during the seventh and eighth centuries, and the Franciscan missions of the thirteenth and fourteenth, had no lasting results. In 1583 the .Jesuits obtained entrance, and for over a century exercised a moral supremacy in the Flowery Ivingdom. Matteo Rieei (1552-1610) rose to the highest otBcial position. His teaching, surveys, and maps were the adniiratioir of all China. Adam Schall of Cologne (1622) and Ferdinand Verbiest of the Low Countries (1659) won great fame for their Order as successors of Ricci. Un- der cover of their reputation for scholarship, they labored zealously for the spread of Christianity, quite in the spirit and manner of Robert Nobili. The opposition to this system of 'accommoda- tion' grew so strong that it was condemned in 1704, and the condemnation was confirmed forty years later (1744) by the Holy See. The Chris- tian comminiitics of .Japan were grievously per- secuted in 1587 and again from 1506 to 1637, when the Empire was strictly closed against all foreigners, with the exception, of Dutch traders. (b) In America. The original Spanish eon- quistadores were very inhuman toward all na- tions with whom they came in contact. The first Catholic priest ordained in the New World was a young Spanish lawyer, Bartolomeo dc las Ca- sas. He soon gave himself entirely to the work of saving the Indians from their barbarous oppres- sors; and before his death, in 1506. he had com- pelled the legislation which saved the remnants of the aboriginal tribes, at least on the main- land. Similarly, Saint Peter Cl.aver (died 1654) was tireless in the service of the unfortunate negro slaves of South America. Throughout the sixteenth century. Dominicans, Franciscans. Ca- puchins, and Augustinians labored with bound- less zeal in all the Spanish colonies. The .Jesuits were already in Brazil (1540). and soon had their missionaries iu all parts of South America. The famous "Reductions of Paraguay" are per- haps their greatest triumph. One of the most picturesque figures of that period is the Limerick Irishman. Thomas Filde. a .Jesuit, who died at .sunci6n in 1626. after spending forty years among the savages of Paraguay. In North