SOAS Research Online

Abstract

This dissertation examines the development of Christianity in Vietnam in the period 1682-1709. It was a critical test period which determined whether the seeds which had been sown in previous years would take root. I examine how Christianity took root and present a thesis that underlying the success of the Vicars Apostolic was a policy of Accommodation, i.e. adjustment of Christianity to Vietnamese culture and institutions. In the Introduction I (1) define Accommodation; (2) examine the Vietnamese background; (3) trace the European origins including papal disagreements with the Jesuits and Portugal; (4) survey the archival materials; and (5) give reasons for the importance of this study. I have divided the dissertation into two parts. Part One examines the events from the standpoint of a general policy of Accommodation. Chapter One deals with the Vicars Apostolic themselves, their European assistants, and discusses the Jesuit problem. Chapters Two and Three examine the favorable and unfavorable reactions by the Court. Chapter Four gives the statistics of the Christian communities and their locations, the numbers of converts, and the approximate strength of the Christian Faith. Part Two examines the events from the standpoint of the details of Accommodation. In Chapter Five, I appraise the Vietnamese priests-their training, who they were, and lay assistants. Chapter Six deals with the details of Christianity in the communities, and the work of the Christian clergy and laity in them. Chapter Seven discusses the integration of the major Vietnamese cults into the Christian fabric. In the final Chapter, Eight, I give my conclusions. Christianity succeeded because of the Accommodation policies.