Bateren Edict

The Bateren Edict (Bateren Tsuihorei) was issued by Toyotomi Hideyoshi in Chikuzen Hakozaki (currently Higashi-ku, Fukuoka City, Fukuoka Prefecture) on July 24, 1587, regarding Christian missionary activities and Nanban trade. Bateren is derived from the Latin patrem, which means father in the accusative case, or the Portuguese word padre. The original document is preserved within the 'Matsuura Family Documents' collection, housed at the Matsuura Historical Museum in Hirado City, Nagasaki Prefecture. The term 'Bateren Expulsion Edict,' which refers to an order issued to expel Christian missionaries, generally denotes a five-article document dated July 24, 1587, contained within the 'Matsuura Family Documents' (henceforth referred to as the 'expulsion edict'). However, it may also encompass an eleven-article memorandum, dated June 23, 1587, discovered in 1933 within the 'Goshuin Shishiki Kokaku,' an archival collection at the Jingu Library of Ise Jingu, necessitating careful distinction. This memorandum is referred to as either 'oboe' or 'kakusho' in historical records. Since the discovery of the eleven-article memorandum, extensive scholarly discussions have addressed the reasons for its discrepancies with the five-article expulsion edict and the interpretive significance of both documents.