The work delves into a significant chapter in Jesuit missionary history. This book recounts the bold efforts of Blessed Rudolf Acquaviva and his four companions who traveled to the court of Akbar, the Mughal emperor, in 16th-century India, driven by a mission to spread Christianity.
Goldie's narrative is both a historical chronicle and a tribute to the missionaries' spiritual dedication. He captures the extraordinary journey that brought Acquaviva and his companions-Alfonso Pacheco, Pedro Berno, Antonio Francisco, and Francisco Aranha-from Portugal to India, and eventually to Akbar's court in Fatehpur Sikri. The book illuminates the challenges they faced as they sought to bridge vastly different religious and cultural worlds, striving to engage Akbar's interest in Christianity while respecting the intricacies of his court and Hindu, Muslim, and other religious communities in India.
Goldie emphasizes the complex interplay of faith and diplomacy, shedding light on how the Jesuits navigated their role as both missionaries and emissaries of Western thought. Akbar's curiosity about various religions initially granted them a unique position; however, political tensions and resistance to religious conversion in the region created dangers that would ultimately lead to their martyrdom in 1583.
Francis Goldie, a prominent Jesuit historian and author, wrote The First Christian Mission to the Great Mogul: The Story of Blessed Rudolf Acquaviva - and of His Four Companions in Martyrdom of the Society of Jesus. Goldie was known for his deep understanding of Jesuit history and his dedication to documenting the lives and missions of Jesuit figures, particularly those who faced persecution or martyrdom. His works often highlight the profound dedication and spiritual resilience of Jesuit missionaries in foreign lands, bringing to light their sacrifices and their contributions to cultural and religious exchanges between East and West.
THE history of the lives and martyrdom of the five Martyrs of Salsette has been frequently told in other tongues than our own with more or less fulness. Father Sacchini, the historian of the Society, wrote their Life in the beginning of 1700, which, though existing in MS., has never been published separately; but it appears almost in its entirety in his Historia Societatis Jesu, pt. iii. 1. iv. nn. 1-24; pt. iv. 1. viii. nn. 206-280; pt. v. n. 202, and nn. 177-223. Bartoli wrote of our Martyrs separately in his Missione al Gran Mogor, and in his posthumous work, Uomini e fatti della Compagnia di Gesù, 1. iv. cc. 22-24.1 Alegambe, in his Mortes illustres eorum de Societate Jesu, &c., which appeared in 1657, gives a full account, frequently quoted in these pages.
Other narrations are given in Tanner's Societas Jesu usque ad sanguinis et vitæ profusionem militans, 1567; in Ferdinand Guerreiro's Relacam annual das Cousas que fizeram os Padres da Companhia de Jesus nas partes da India Oriental nos annos de 1600 1601, Lisbon, 1603; the substance of which is given in French by Peter Dujarric, J.S., Histoires des choses plus memorables, &c., 1611, which again is translated into Latin by Matthias Martinez, Cologne, 1615. Guerreiro would seem to have had access to a diary or to letters of Blessed Rudolf. Many other writers of later date treat the subject: Bartholomew Guerreiro, S.J., in his high-flown Gloriosa Coroa d'esforçados religiosos da Companhia de Jesus, Lisbon, 1642; and Antony Franco, S.J., in his Imagem da Virtude em o Noviciado da Companhia de Jesus no Real Collegio de Coimbra, Coimbra, 1719, and in his Annus Gloriosus, Vienna, 1720. But Father Francis de Souza's Oriente Conquistado a Jesus Christo pelos Padres da Companhia de Jesus da Provincia de Goa, Lisbon, 1710,1 has an exceptional value both for its general information and for its detailed account of Blessed Rudolf's journey to Fatehpur-Sikri, and of the martyrdom, evidently taken from first-hand sources.
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