Juan Fernández (missionary)
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Juan Fernández (1526? at Cordova – 12 June 1567 in Japan) was a Spanish
Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...
lay brother Lay brother is a largely extinct term referring to religious brothers, particularly in the Catholic Church, who focused upon manual service and secular matters, and were distinguished from choir monks or friars in that they did not pray in choi ...
and missionary. He was the first European to write a grammar and lexicon of the
Japanese language is the principal language of the Japonic languages, Japonic language family spoken by the Japanese people. It has around 123 million speakers, primarily in Japan, the only country where it is the national language, and within the Japanese dia ...
.


Early life

Fernández was born Juan Fernandez de Oviedo in the Spanish city of Cordoba in 1526. Before his entry into the
Society of Jesus The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rome. It was founded in 1540 ...
(Jesuits), young Fernández was a Spanish hidalgo and went by the gentry appellation of Juan of Cordoba. The
Francis Xavier Francis Xavier, Jesuits, SJ (born Francisco de Jasso y Azpilicueta; ; ; ; ; ; 7 April 15063 December 1552), venerated as Saint Francis Xavier, was a Kingdom of Navarre, Navarrese cleric and missionary. He co-founded the Society of Jesus ...
biographer, George Schurhammer, S.J. wrote of Fernandez that he was "a sophisticated young man who he lacked a formal education, but had fine mind". He lived in
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, then one of Europe's most flourishing cities, where his brother was a rich merchant who owned a business that sold expensive silks and velvets on the fashionable Rue Novo do Mercadores. By all accounts, Fernández lived a comfortable life as was expected since as a caballero hidalgo, it was necessary for him to abstain from occupations that were considered less than noble. The nature of the Spanish social structure was such that the gentry were expected to live life nobly, if they had the means to do so. Because of the family's wealth, young Juan of Cordoba was able to do just that. However, in his early twenties, these social distinctions were about to become meaningless and his life was to turn in another direction.


Conversion

A fateful event changed his life forever when a friend invited him to visit a church to "hear some excellent music". Instead, Fernández listened to a fiery sermon by the Jesuit priest, Francisco Estrada, on the
Passion of Christ The Passion (from latin language, Latin , "to suffer, bear, endure") is the short final period before the death of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, described in the four canonical gospels. It is commemorated in Christianity every year during Holy ...
. Schurhammer describes the scene as being attended by some two hundred of the city’s most prominent men, and, " en it was ended, the lights were extinguished and the men in the church began to scourge themselves". The ceremony so affected Fernández, that soon thereafter he aspired to religious life and before too long he asked to be admitted to the Society of Jesus, only not as a priest, but as a temporal coadjutor or a lay brother in 1547. In a letter of 20 January 1548, written from
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to Simon Rodrigues, Francis Xavier asked that more priests be sent to India and at the same time, described the physical and personal attributes necessary for missionary life in the Far East, writing, "I also earnestly beseech you for the love and service of God our Lord that when you arrange for the sending of some of the Society who are not preachers to these regions of India to convert the infidels, they be persons who have been well tried in the Society and have had many experiences in gaining victories over themselves during the course of some years, and that they not be of poor health, since the labors in India require physical strength, even though spiritual strength is more important." Simon Rodrigues must have concluded that the young brother was well suited for missionary work because, on 3 September 1548, Brother Fernández arrived in
Goa Goa (; ; ) is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is bound by the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north, and Karnataka to the ...
(the capital of the
Portuguese India The State of India, also known as the Portuguese State of India or Portuguese India, was a state of the Portuguese Empire founded seven years after the discovery of the sea route to the Indian subcontinent by Vasco da Gama, a subject of the ...
) from Portugal aboard the São Pedro in the company of several of his Jesuit brethren.


Missionary work in Japan

In 1549, Fernández would accompany Francis Xavier and Father Cosme de Torres (1506–1576) on the first Christian mission to
Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
which by its very nature was the first substantial cultural exchange between Europe and Japan. The early Jesuit missionaries arrived in Japan on 15 August 1549, on the Feast of the Assumption, and spent their first year in
Kagoshima , is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 583,966 in 285,992 households, and a population density of 1100 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Etymology While the ...
, a port city on the southern tip of the island nation. There the first Japanese Christian community was formed and the Jesuits focused on learning the Japanese language and creating crude Christian books written in Japanese characters that explained basic tenets of Christian doctrine. The Jesuits moved on from Kagoshima and Xavier planned to convert to Christianity the
emperor of Japan The emperor of Japan is the hereditary monarch and head of state of Japan. The emperor is defined by the Constitution of Japan as the symbol of the Japanese state and the unity of the Japanese people, his position deriving from "the will of ...
, which they hoped would result in a Constantine-style conversion of the entire island nation. Xavier believed also that since the Japanese held reason in high esteem, the Japanese would reason for themselves that becoming Christians would be the correct thing to do. Xavier anticipated that Japan would be the easiest Asian nation to convert. Jesuit missionaries later in the sixteenth century had high hopes that the complete conversion of Japan would counterbalance the defection of England from the comity of Catholic nations. However, the mission to the emperor was unsuccessful since he spoke to no one except the most prominent members of Japanese society and instead the Jesuits turned their focus on the individual Christian conversion of the ''
daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji era, Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and no ...
s'', or Japanese warlords. In a letter from
Portuguese Malacca Portuguese control of Malaccaa city on the Malay Peninsulaspanned a 130 year period from 1511 to 1641 as a possession of the Portuguese East Indies. It was captured from the Malacca Sultanate as part of Portuguese attempts to gain control of ...
, dated 20 June 1549, Francis Xavier begs the prayers of the
Goa Goa (; ; ) is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is bound by the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north, and Karnataka to the ...
brethren for those about to start on the Japanese mission, mentioning among them Juan Fernández. On their arrival in Japan Juan was active in the work of evangelizing. In September 1550, he accompanied Francis Xavier to
Hirado is a city located in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 28,172, and a population density of 120 people per km2. The total area of the city is Geography Hirado City occupies the northern part of Nagasaki P ...
, thence to Yamaguchi, and on to
Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...
. They returned to Yamaguchi, where he was left with Father Cosme de Torres in charge of the Christians when Francis Xavier started for China. There was in the records of the Jesuit college at
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a lengthy document, professed to be the translation of an account rendered to Francis Xavier by Fernández of a controversy with the Japanese on such questions as the nature of God, creation, the nature and immortality of the soul. The success of Brother Fernández on this occasion in refuting his Japanese adversaries resulted in the ill will of
Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
priests, who stirred up a rebellion against the local ''daimyō'', who had become a Christian. The missionaries were concealed by the wife of one of the nobles until they were able to resume their work of preaching. Francis Xavier says in one of his letters: :"Joann Fernández though a simple layman, is most useful on account of the fluency of his acquaintance with the Japanese language and of the aptness and clearness with which he translates whatever Father Cosmo suggests to him." His humility under pressure impressed all and on one occasion resulted in the conversion of a young Japanese doctor, who later became a Jesuit.


Death and legacy

In 1567, Brother Fernández died in
Hirado is a city located in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 28,172, and a population density of 120 people per km2. The total area of the city is Geography Hirado City occupies the northern part of Nagasaki P ...
, eighteen years after his arrival in Japan at the age of forty-one. Father Cosme de Torres who died in Shiki on the island of Amakusa on 2 October 1570, whom the Xavier biographer, Theodore Maynard, credits with saying of his fellow missionary: "If Japan has to thank Father Xavier for having brought her the faith, she has to thank Brother Fernández for its conservation after the departure of the saint."


See also

* Chronology of European exploration of Asia


References

;Attribution * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fernandez, Juan 1567 deaths 16th-century Spanish Jesuits Year of birth unknown Spanish Roman Catholic missionaries Roman Catholic missionaries in Japan Year of birth uncertain