Madre Deus Incident

Name given to the incident occurred in Nagasaki in 1610 and that involved André Pessoa, captain-major of the Nossa Senhora da Graça carrack ship, also known as Madre de Deus, and the Japanese authorities. It all started in Macau in 1608 when a junk from Arima Harunobu, the Arima daimyo, was forced to spend the winter in Macau. Together with the crew from another Japanese ship, the sailors caused some tumults in the town. The municipal authorities tried to appease the situation, but it got out of hand and André Pessoa, as captain-major, was forced to intervene. About 40 Japanese sailors died in the quarrel, while 50 more were imprisoned and forced to sign a document where they acknowledged their guilt. When Pessoa reached Japan in July 1609 he showed this declaration to the Nagasaki bugyo, who advised him not to mention the affair to Tokugawa Ieyasu when of his annual visit. The captain-major's delegation, lead by Mateus Leitão, was favourably welcomed by the bakufu and the affair was not mentioned. But with the arrival of the survivors the situation got worse; when the Arima daimyo found out about it he let Ieyasu know. Weary by the fact that the Portuguese had not informed him, and in order to allow him to explain the situation, he summoned Pessoa to his court; Pessoa declined the invitation, which aggravated the situation. Arima Harunobu was then told to solve the affair and left for Nagasaki, where he deployed several schemes to attract the captain-major from out of the vessel. Because Pessoa always refused to leave the ship, the daimyo then sent about 1.200 men in several vessels in order to besiege the Portuguese ship. Pessoa repelled the attacks for 3 days, but on 6th January, during the fight, a stray bullet originated a fire on board of the Nossa Senhora da Graça. The fire spread quickly and Pessoa, realising there was no way out, quickened it by setting the ship's gunpowder magazine ablaze. A tremendous explosion ensued, an explosion that shook the foundations of Nagasaki's houses; the ship split in two and sank.

Bibliography:
BOXER, Charles, "The Affair of the "Madre de Deus" A chapter in the History of the Portuguese in Japan", Separata de Transactions and Proceedings of the Japan Society of London, vol. 26, 1929, pp. 4-89 e Antes quebrar que torcer ou o Pundonor português em Nagasáqui, 3-6 de Janeiro de 1610, Macau, 1950. COOPER, Michael, Rodrigues, o intérprete. Um Jesuíta na China e no Japão, Lisboa, Quetzal Editores, 2003 (2ª ed.).

Translated by: Maria das Mercês Pacheco