Joseph-Louis Coudé M.E.P. (4 October 1750 – 8 January 1785) was a French

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

missionary and bishop who served as Vicar Apostolic of Siam from 1782 to 1785.

Biography

Coudé was born on 4 October 1750 in

Auray Auray (; , or simply ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Morbihan Departments of France, department, Regions of France, administrative region of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany, northwestern France. Inhabitants of Auray are cal ...

, France. He entered the

Paris Foreign Missions Society The Society of Foreign Missions of Paris (, , MEP) is a Catholic Missionary order, missionary organization. It is not a religious institute, but an organization of secular clergy, secular priests and Laity, lay persons dedicated to missionary wo ...

missionary in 1772, and was ordained a priest in 1773. Coudé was sent to undertake mission work in

Siam Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

in 1773. In 1775, he was imprisoned for several months with Bishop Olivier-Simon Le Bon and Fr Garnault on the orders of King

Taksin King Taksin the Great (, , ) or the King of Thonburi (, ; ; Teochew: Dên Chao; 17 April 1734 – 7 April 1782) was the only king of the Thonburi Kingdom that ruled Thailand from 1767 to 1782. He had been an aristocrat in the Ayutthaya Kingdom ...

, after Christian officers refused to drink holy water prepared by Buddhist monks. In 1779, they were expelled from Siam. After leaving Siam, Coudé went to

Pondicherry Pondicherry, officially known as Puducherry, is the Capital city, capital and most populous city of the Puducherry (union territory), Union Territory of Puducherry in India. The city is in the Puducherry district on the southeast coast of Indi ...

, where he remained until 1781, and then travelled to 'Port of Queda' at the mouth of the Kedah River, on the west coast of the

Malay Peninsula The Malay Peninsula is located in Mainland Southeast Asia. The landmass runs approximately north–south, and at its terminus, it is the southernmost point of the Asian continental mainland. The area contains Peninsular Malaysia, Southern Tha ...

, where he was joined by Garnault. Here there was a large settlement of Christians, mostly Portuguese who had fled the persecution of Christians in Siam and sought refuge in the town, who were without any priest or a place of worship. Accordingly, Coudé requested permission from the Rajah of

Kedah Kedah (), also known by its honorific Darul Aman (Islam), Aman (دار الأمان; Arabic for 'The Safe Abode') and historically as Queda, is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia, located in the northwestern part of ...

to establish a church, and was granted the use of a large house for worship which he named 'St Michael's' church, where he proceeded to hold services in Portuguese and Siamese. In 1782, whilst on a visit to

Junk Ceylon Phuket province, Phuket is the largest island in modern Thailand, locating in Southern Thailand on the western coast in the Andaman Sea. Historically at the fringe of Thai sphere of influence, Phuket has a unique place in Thai history, as its natura ...

(present day

Phuket Phuket (; , , or ''Tongkah'') is one of the Southern Thailand, southern Provinces of Thailand, provinces (''changwat'') of Thailand. It consists of the island of Phuket, List of islands of Thailand, the country's largest island, and another 3 ...

), Coudé found letters from the Pope and Papal Bulls, dated 20 January 1782, appointing him 'Bishop of Siam and Queda' and

titular Bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

Rhesaina Rhesaina (Rhesaena) () or Resina (Ῥέσινα) was a city in the late Roman province of Mesopotamia Secunda and a bishopric that was a suffragan of Dara. Rhesaina (Rhesaena, Resaena – numerous variations of the name appear in ancient authors ...

. It was the first time that Keddah had officially been added to the Apostolic Vicariate of Siam. After the death of Taksin, Coudé availed himself of the religious toleration of his successor, and took the opportunity to visit

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...

where he arrived in June 1784. However, the Portuguese refused to recognise his powers although officially granted by Rome, and he decided to return to Kedah where he was due to be consecrated by Pigneau de Behaine, Bishop of

Cochinchina Cochinchina or Cochin-China (, ; ; ; ; ) is a historical exonym and endonym, exonym for part of Vietnam, depending on the contexts, usually for Southern Vietnam. Sometimes it referred to the whole of Vietnam, but it was commonly used to refer t ...

, who was stopping in the town to perform the service on his way to France. However, while returning overland from Bangkok to Kedah, Coudé contracted malaria and died in the church in Junk Ceylon on 15 January 1782, aged 34. He was buried at the church.

References

{{authority control 1750 births 1785 deaths French Roman Catholic bishops in Asia 18th-century French Roman Catholic bishops Apostolic vicars of Siam Roman Catholic missionaries in Thailand Paris Foreign Missions Society bishops People from Auray