The Samurai and the Cross

M. Antoni J. Ucerler, S.J., is the Director of the Ricci Institute for Chinese-Western Cultural History and Provost's Fellow at Boston College. He has also taught at Sophia University in Tokyo, Georgetown University, the University of San Francisco, and the University of Oxford, where he is an Associate Fellow of Campion Hall. His interests and publications focus on the history of Christianity in Japan and the global histories of East Asian engagement with Europe in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. He is also Co-Editor in Chief of the Brill monograph series, Studies in the History of Christianity in East Asia.

The monograph successfully resets the history of the Jesuit enterprise in Japan in its conflicts and challenges, leading to a significant reassessment of how their efforts, decisions, and strategies are understood...The Samurai and The Cross is an excellent guide for those interested in the intellectual work of Jesuits in Japan.

• AcknowledgementsList of AbbreviationsList of IllustrationsIntroduction Part I: Re-inventing ChristianityChapter 1: Aristotle and Aquinas come to JapanChapter 2: Japanese Cases of ConscienceChapter 3: Jesuit Casuistry: from Rome to Nagasaki Part II: Re-imagining the EnterpriseChapter 4: The Politics of AccommodationChapter 5: Alonso Sánchez' and his 'Empresa de China'Chapter 6: The Cross, the Sword, & 'Just War'Chapter 7: Gómez vs. Sánchez: 'Compel them to enter'? Part III: Re-interpreting 'Reason of State'Chapter 8: Jesuit Debates on Japanese 'Reason of State'Chapter 9: The Mechanics of Jesuit ObedienceChapter 10: Japanese Reactions to Christian 'Reason of State'Chapter 11: The End of the Missionary 'Enterprise'Chapter 12: Temporal vs. Spiritual Conquest Epilogue: Some Further Reflections AppendicesNotesSelect BibliographyGlossaryIndex