Charles-Thomas Maillard de Tournon (December 21, 1668 – June 10, 1710), also known as Carlo Tommaso, was a

papal legate 300px, A woodcut showing Henry II of England greeting the pope's legate. A papal legate or apostolic legate (from the ancient Roman title ''legatus'') is a personal representative of the pope to foreign nations, or to some part of the Catholic ...

and

cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

to the

East Indies The East Indies (or simply the Indies), is a term used in historical narratives of the Age of Discovery. The Indies refers to various lands in the East or the Eastern hemisphere, particularly the islands and mainlands found in and around t ...

and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

Biography

Tournon was born of a noble

Savoy Savoy (; frp, Savouè ; french: Savoie ) is a cultural-historical region in the Western Alps. Situated on the cultural boundary between Occitania and Piedmont, the area extends from Lake Geneva in the north to the Dauphiné in the south. Savo ...

ard family at

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

on 21 December 1668; died in confinement at

Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...

, 8 June 1710. After graduating in canon and civil law he went to Rome where he gained the esteem of

Clement XI Pope Clement XI ( la, Clemens XI; it, Clemente XI; 23 July 1649 – 19 March 1721), born Giovanni Francesco Albani, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 23 November 1700 to his death in March 1721. Clement XI w ...

, who on 5 December 1701, appointed him

legate a latere 300px, A woodcut showing Henry II of England greeting the pope's legate. A papal legate or apostolic legate (from the ancient Roman title ''legatus'') is a personal representative of the pope to foreign nations, or to some part of the Catholic ...

to the

and the

Qing Empire The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

of China. The purpose of this legation was to establish harmony among the missionaries there; to provide for the needs of these extensive missions; to report to the Holy See on the general state of the missions, and the labours of the missionaries and to enforce the decision of the

Holy Office The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) is the oldest among the departments of the Roman Curia. Its seat is the Palace of the Holy Office in Rome. It was founded to defend the Catholic Church from heresy and is the body responsible f ...

against the further toleration of the so-called

Chinese rites The Chinese Rites controversy () was a dispute among Roman Catholic missionaries over the religiosity of Confucianism and Chinese rituals during the 17th and 18th centuries. The debate discussed whether Chinese ritual practices of honoring fami ...

among the native Christians. These rites consisted chiefly in offering sacrifices to

Confucius Confucius ( ; zh, s=, p=Kǒng Fūzǐ, "Master Kǒng"; or commonly zh, s=, p=Kǒngzǐ, labels=no; – ) was a Chinese philosopher and politician of the Spring and Autumn period who is traditionally considered the paragon of Chinese sages. C ...

and the ancestors, and in using the Chinese names ''

Tiān ''Tiān'' () is one of the oldest Chinese terms for heaven and a key concept in Chinese mythology, philosophy, and religion. During the Shang dynasty (17th―11th century BCE), the Chinese referred to their supreme god as '' Shàngdì'' (, "Lor ...

'' (heaven) and '' Shàngdì'' (supreme emperor) for the God of the Christians. On 27 December 1701, the Pope consecrated Tournon bishop in the Vatican Basilica, with the title of

Patriarch of Antioch Patriarch of Antioch is a traditional title held by the bishop of Antioch (modern-day Antakya, Turkey). As the traditional "overseer" (ἐπίσκοπος, ''episkopos'', from which the word ''bishop'' is derived) of the first gentile Christian c ...

. The legate left Europe on the French royal vessel ''Maurepas'' on 9 February 1703, arriving at

Pondicherry Pondicherry (), now known as Puducherry ( French: Pondichéry ʊdʊˈtʃɛɹi(listen), on-dicherry, is the capital and the most populous city of the Union Territory of Puducherry in India. The city is in the Puducherry district on the sout ...

in India on 6 November 1703. On 23 June 1704, Tournon issued at this place the decree ''Inter graviores'', summarily forbidding the missionaries under severe censures to permit the further practice of the

Malabar rites Malabar rites is a conventional term for certain customs or practices of the natives of South India, which the Jesuit missionaries allowed their Indian neophytes to retain after conversion but which were afterwards prohibited by Rome. The mission ...

. On 11 July 1704, Tournon set sail for China by way of the

Philippine Islands The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

, arriving at

in China, 2 April, and at

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

on 4 December 1705. The

Kangxi Emperor The Kangxi Emperor (4 May 1654– 20 December 1722), also known by his temple name Emperor Shengzu of Qing, born Xuanye, was the third emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the second Qing emperor to rule over China proper, reigning from 1661 to 1 ...

received him kindly at first, but upon hearing that he came to abolish the Chinese rites among the native Christians, he demanded from all missionaries on pain of immediate expulsion a promise to retain these rites. At Rome, the Holy Office had meanwhile decided against the rites on 20 November 1704, and being acquainted with this decision, the legate issued a decree at

Nanjing Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...

on 25 January 1707, obliging the missionaries under pain of

excommunication Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to end or at least regulate the communion of a member of a congregation with other members of the religious institution who are in normal communion with each other. The purpose ...

''latae sententiae'' to abolish these rites. Hereupon, the Kangxi Emperor ordered Tournon to be imprisoned at Macau and sent some Jesuit missionaries to Rome to protest against the decree. Tournon died in prison, shortly after being informed that he had been created cardinal on 1 August 1707. Upon the announcement of his death at Rome, Clement XI highly praised him for his courage and loyalty to the Holy See and ordered the Holy Office to issue a Decree (25 September 1710) approving the acts of the legate. Tournon's remains were brought to Rome by his successor, Carlo Ambrogio Mezzabarba, and buried in the church of the

Propaganda Fide Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded ...

on 27 September 1723.

Essential bibliography

* Crescimbeni, Giovan Mario (1774). "Ristretto della vita del Cardinal Carlo Tommaso Maillard de Tournon, Torinese," i
''Le vite degli arcadi illustri''
III, Roma 1714, pp. 1-19. * Dell'Oro, Giorgio (1998). "Oh quanti mostri si trovano in questo nuovo mondo venuti d'Europa: vita e vicissitudini di un ecclesiastico piemontese tra Roma e Cina: Carlo Tommaso Maillard de Tournon 1668-1710," in: ''Annali di storia moderna e contemporanea'', 1998, anno IV, n. 4. * Di Fiore, Giacomo
“Maillard de Tournon, Carlo Tommaso”
in ''Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani'', Vol. 67, ediz. Istituto Treccani, Roma, 2007. * Jenkins Robert C., ''The Jesuits in China'', David Nutt, London 1894. * Malatesta, E.J. (1994). '"A fatal clash of wills: the condemnation of the Chinese rites by the papal legate Carlo Tommaso Maillard de Tournon," in: ''Monumenta Serica'', monograph series, XXXIII (1994), pp. 211-245. * Ott, Michael, "Charles-Thomas Maillard de Tournon," in ''The Catholic Encyclopedia'', Vol. 15, New York, 1912. * Passionei, Domenico ttributed(1761)''Memorie storiche della legazione e morte dell'eminentiss. Monsignor cardinale di Tournon esposte con munumenti rari ed autentici non piu dati alla luce''. Venezia, 1761-1762, in 8 volumes. * Rouleau, Francis A. S.J., "Maillard de Tournon Papal Legate at the Court of Peking, the first imperial audience (31 December 1705)" in ''Archivum Historicum Societatis Iesu'', Vol. XXXI, Romae, Institutum Historicum Societatis Jesu, 1962, pp. 264- 321.

References

*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tournon, Charles-Thomas Maillard de 1668 births 1710 deaths 18th-century Italian cardinals Diplomats of the Holy See Clergy from Turin Latin Patriarchs of Antioch Diplomats from Turin

Biography

Essential bibliography

See also

References