A Vietnamese Moses: Philiphe Binh and the Geographies of Early Modern Catholicism

George E. Dutton

Open Access Published by University of California Press 2016

A Vietnamese Moses

Philiphe Binh and the Geographies of Early Modern Catholicism

George E. Dutton

https://doi.org/10.1515/9780520966697

Overview
Contents

About this book

A free ebook version of this title is available through Luminos, University of California Press’s Open Access publishing program. Visit www.luminosoa.org to learn more.

A Vietnamese Moses is the story of Philiphê Binh, a Vietnamese Catholic priest who in 1796 traveled from Tonkin to the Portuguese court in Lisbon to persuade its ruler to appoint a bishop for his community of ex-Jesuits. Based on Binh’s surviving writings from his thirty-seven-year exile in Portugal, this book examines how the intersections of global and local Roman Catholic geographies shaped the lives of Vietnamese Christians in the early modern era. The book also argues that Binh’s mission to Portugal and his intense lobbying on behalf of his community reflected the agency of Vietnamese Catholics, who vigorously engaged with church politics in defense of their distinctive Portuguese-Catholic heritage. George E. Dutton demonstrates the ways in which Catholic beliefs, histories, and genealogies transformed how Vietnamese thought about themselves and their place in the world. This sophisticated exploration of Vietnamese engagement with both the Catholic Church and Napoleonic Europe provides a unique perspective on the complex history of early Vietnamese Christianity.

Author / Editor information

Dutton George E. :

George E. Dutton is Professor of Vietnamese History in the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures and Director of the Center for Southeast Asian Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Illustrations Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
Acknowledgments Publicly Available Download PDF	xi
Introduction Open Access Download PDF	1
1. Philiphê Bỉnh and the Catholic Geographies of Tonkin Open Access Download PDF	23
2. A Catholic Community in Crisis Open Access Download PDF	46
3 Journeys Macao, Goa, and Lisbon Open Access Download PDF	65
4 Arrival in Lisbon and First Encounters Open Access Download PDF	98
5 Invoking the Padroado Bỉnh and Prince Dom João Open Access Download PDF	119
6 Waiting for Bỉnh in Tonkin and Macao Open Access Download PDF	159
7 Life in Lisbon and the Casa do Espirito Santo, 1807–33 Open Access Download PDF	182
8 The Tales of Philiphê Bỉnh Open Access Download PDF	218
Epilogue Open Access Download PDF	260
Appendix 1: Time Line Open Access Download PDF	267
Appendix 2: Cast of Characters Open Access Download PDF	271
Appendix 3: Texts Used by Bỉnh in His Writing Projects Open Access Download PDF	277
Abbreviations Open Access Download PDF	279
Notes Open Access Download PDF	281
Bibliography Open Access Download PDF	315
Index Open Access Download PDF	327