WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.679 I want to start today by putting you in a very 00:00:01.679 --> 00:00:06.339 specific place. It's a place that smells of saltwater, 00:00:06.540 --> 00:00:10.599 wet reeds, and just desperation. We're on Changchuan 00:00:10.599 --> 00:00:12.580 Island, about 14 kilometers off the southern 00:00:12.580 --> 00:00:15.939 coast of China. The date is December 3rd, 1552. 00:00:16.489 --> 00:00:18.730 It is a bleak setting. And you have to remember, 00:00:18.850 --> 00:00:21.550 this isn't some tropical paradise. It's a smuggling 00:00:21.550 --> 00:00:24.609 outpost. It's winter. The wind is just cutting 00:00:24.609 --> 00:00:27.269 through the walls of this tiny, hastily constructed 00:00:27.269 --> 00:00:30.750 hut. And inside that hut, lying on a mat, is 00:00:30.750 --> 00:00:32.880 a man who is, I mean, he's... arguably one of 00:00:32.880 --> 00:00:34.700 the most famous figures in European history. 00:00:35.020 --> 00:00:37.600 Yet he is dying in almost total obscurity. He's 00:00:37.600 --> 00:00:41.219 46 years old. He's delirious with fever. And 00:00:41.219 --> 00:00:43.880 he is staring out of the ocean waiting for a 00:00:43.880 --> 00:00:46.219 boat that he must know, you know, deep down is 00:00:46.219 --> 00:00:48.219 never going to come. That image strikes such 00:00:48.219 --> 00:00:50.119 a chord because of the contrast. It's just so 00:00:50.119 --> 00:00:52.060 powerful. You have this man, Francis Xavier, 00:00:52.380 --> 00:00:54.500 who is known to history as the Apostle of the 00:00:54.500 --> 00:00:57.060 Indies. He's a giant. He co -founded the Jesuits. 00:00:57.100 --> 00:00:59.259 His name is on the front of universities in Ohio, 00:00:59.659 --> 00:01:01.619 high schools in New York, cathedrals in Australia. 00:01:02.100 --> 00:01:05.359 But in this moment, he's just a sick man in the 00:01:05.359 --> 00:01:07.560 dirt, accompanied only by a Chinese interpreter 00:01:07.560 --> 00:01:10.640 named Antonio and a servant from Malabar. It's 00:01:10.640 --> 00:01:13.469 such a lonely end. But the journey to that hut 00:01:13.469 --> 00:01:16.310 is what we are deep diving into today. Because 00:01:16.310 --> 00:01:19.629 to get from a castle in Spain to a reed hut off 00:01:19.629 --> 00:01:22.489 the coast of China, Francis Xavier had to live 00:01:22.489 --> 00:01:25.560 about 10 different lives. And that is the key 00:01:25.560 --> 00:01:27.340 theme for this discussion, I think. It's not 00:01:27.340 --> 00:01:29.840 just a travelogue, you know, a list of places 00:01:29.840 --> 00:01:32.299 he went. It is a case study in adaptability. 00:01:32.700 --> 00:01:35.840 Francis Xavier was the ultimate improviser. He 00:01:35.840 --> 00:01:38.819 was a man who constantly had to rewrite his own 00:01:38.819 --> 00:01:41.200 operating manual. Every single time he thought 00:01:41.200 --> 00:01:42.659 he had figured out how to be a missionary, he 00:01:42.659 --> 00:01:44.379 would move to a new culture that just told him. 00:01:44.760 --> 00:01:47.079 Everything you know is wrong. I love that framing. 00:01:47.280 --> 00:01:49.579 It's all about the pivot. How do you go from 00:01:49.579 --> 00:01:53.299 debating philosophy in Paris to ringing a bell 00:01:53.299 --> 00:01:56.239 in the streets of India to, I mean, wearing silk 00:01:56.239 --> 00:01:58.599 robes in Japan? And how do you do it all when 00:01:58.599 --> 00:02:00.200 you were never even supposed to be the guy in 00:02:00.200 --> 00:02:02.879 charge in the first place? Because that's the 00:02:02.879 --> 00:02:05.400 twist we'll get to. Xavier was the backup plan. 00:02:05.579 --> 00:02:08.840 The famous plan B. So, OK, let's rewind. We need 00:02:08.840 --> 00:02:10.580 to understand the raw material before we see 00:02:10.580 --> 00:02:13.259 how it was shaped. We're going back to 1506. 00:02:14.090 --> 00:02:16.669 To the kingdom of Navarre. Yes. And we have to 00:02:16.669 --> 00:02:19.189 be careful not to just say Spain. Navarre was 00:02:19.189 --> 00:02:22.129 its own independent kingdom straddling the Pyrenees. 00:02:22.509 --> 00:02:25.169 And Francis wasn't born Francisco Xavier. He 00:02:25.169 --> 00:02:27.270 was born Francisco de Jasso y his piliqueta. 00:02:27.830 --> 00:02:30.389 And he was not born in a hut. No, the source 00:02:30.389 --> 00:02:33.030 material really emphasizes this. He was born 00:02:33.030 --> 00:02:35.490 in the castle of Xavier. This is absolutely crucial 00:02:35.490 --> 00:02:38.129 for his psychology. He was born into the high 00:02:38.129 --> 00:02:40.349 nobility. I mean, his father, Juan de Jasso, 00:02:40.349 --> 00:02:42.689 wasn't just some rich guy. He was a doctor of 00:02:42.689 --> 00:02:44.949 law and the finance minister to the king of Navarre. 00:02:45.250 --> 00:02:47.990 His mother was the sole heiress to the castle. 00:02:48.189 --> 00:02:50.729 Wow. So Francis grew up surrounded by stone walls, 00:02:50.949 --> 00:02:54.449 towers, servants, and a sense of, you know, invincibility. 00:02:54.729 --> 00:02:56.789 He was a child of privilege. Absolute privilege, 00:02:57.150 --> 00:03:00.110 but also military power. His family was deeply, 00:03:00.210 --> 00:03:02.150 deeply involved in the defense of the realm. 00:03:02.750 --> 00:03:05.770 But as so often happens in history, geography 00:03:05.770 --> 00:03:08.409 is destiny. Navarre was just squeezed between 00:03:08.409 --> 00:03:11.530 two giants, France and the rising power of Castile 00:03:11.530 --> 00:03:13.990 and Aragon, what we now think of as Spain. And 00:03:13.990 --> 00:03:18.050 the bubble bursts. Violently. In 1512, when Francis 00:03:18.050 --> 00:03:21.590 is just six years old, Ferdinand of Aragon invades. 00:03:21.710 --> 00:03:24.939 This is an annexation. It's a conquest. The Xavier 00:03:24.939 --> 00:03:28.080 family naturally backs the legitimate king of 00:03:28.080 --> 00:03:30.479 Navarre, which turns out to be the losing side. 00:03:30.659 --> 00:03:33.879 So the war comes home. Literally. It destroys 00:03:33.879 --> 00:03:36.099 the home. This is the first major trauma of his 00:03:36.099 --> 00:03:38.460 life, no question. After a failed uprising in 00:03:38.460 --> 00:03:41.120 1516, the Spanish governor, a man named Cardinal 00:03:41.120 --> 00:03:43.840 Cisneros, decides to break the spirit of the 00:03:43.840 --> 00:03:46.699 Navarrese nobility for good. He orders the sliding 00:03:46.699 --> 00:03:49.439 of the castles. Sliding? That sounds so polite, 00:03:49.479 --> 00:03:51.680 but it wasn't, was it? Not at all. It means military 00:03:51.680 --> 00:03:53.780 castration. It's a brutal term. Soldiers arrived 00:03:53.780 --> 00:03:55.699 at the castle of Xavier. They tore down the outer 00:03:55.699 --> 00:03:57.539 defensive walls. They filled in the moat so it 00:03:57.539 --> 00:03:59.699 couldn't be defended. They smashed the towers. 00:03:59.800 --> 00:04:01.599 They literally lowered the height of the keep 00:04:01.599 --> 00:04:03.759 by half. I'm just picturing a 10 -year -old France. 00:04:03.949 --> 00:04:06.909 watching this, watching his family's symbol of 00:04:06.909 --> 00:04:10.090 power and identity being dismantled stone by 00:04:10.090 --> 00:04:12.770 stone. It turned a fortress into a farmhouse. 00:04:12.990 --> 00:04:16.629 It was a calculated public humiliation. And right 00:04:16.629 --> 00:04:19.389 in the middle of all this, his father dies. His 00:04:19.389 --> 00:04:21.569 brothers are off fighting a guerrilla war in 00:04:21.569 --> 00:04:23.949 the mountains. The family is stripped of its 00:04:23.949 --> 00:04:26.009 military capability and its political future 00:04:26.009 --> 00:04:29.810 is just gone. So if you're Francis and you're 00:04:29.810 --> 00:04:32.050 growing up in the ruins of this castle, what 00:04:32.050 --> 00:04:34.350 does that do to your ambition? You can't be a 00:04:34.350 --> 00:04:36.949 general anymore. You can't be a finance minister 00:04:36.949 --> 00:04:39.149 to a king who doesn't exist anymore. You look 00:04:39.149 --> 00:04:41.129 for another ladder. And for a young nobleman 00:04:41.129 --> 00:04:44.170 with no military future, the church was the traditional 00:04:44.170 --> 00:04:46.589 path to power. And I mean power in the worldly 00:04:46.589 --> 00:04:48.850 sense. You could become a bishop, a cardinal, 00:04:48.949 --> 00:04:51.290 a diplomat. You could restore the family honor 00:04:51.290 --> 00:04:53.910 through the ecclesiastical hierarchy. So he packs 00:04:53.910 --> 00:04:56.029 his bags and heads to Paris. The University of 00:04:56.029 --> 00:04:59.230 Paris, 1525. The intellectual center of the Western 00:04:59.230 --> 00:05:02.350 world. And Francis completely reinvents himself. 00:05:02.860 --> 00:05:05.180 He arrives at the College St. Barbe, and he is 00:05:05.180 --> 00:05:07.639 just determined to succeed. But not as a saint. 00:05:07.800 --> 00:05:09.759 Oh, definitely not. The accounts from this time 00:05:09.759 --> 00:05:13.180 describe him as worldly. He was ambitious, very 00:05:13.180 --> 00:05:16.060 proud of his noble lineage, and apparently quite 00:05:16.060 --> 00:05:18.240 the athlete. An athlete. A high jumper. A high 00:05:18.240 --> 00:05:20.759 jumper. You're kidding. It's a funny detail, 00:05:21.019 --> 00:05:24.279 isn't it? But it fits the profile. He was physically 00:05:24.279 --> 00:05:27.660 gifted, energetic, charismatic. He apparently 00:05:27.660 --> 00:05:30.160 spent money he didn't really have just to keep 00:05:30.160 --> 00:05:32.399 up appearances. He was trying to prove he was 00:05:32.399 --> 00:05:34.600 still a somebody, despite what happened to his 00:05:34.600 --> 00:05:36.920 castle. And the universe plays a joke on him. 00:05:36.959 --> 00:05:39.199 It assigns him a roommate. Two roommates, actually. 00:05:39.240 --> 00:05:40.939 He's sharing lodgings with his friend Pierre 00:05:40.939 --> 00:05:44.100 Favre. And then a new student moves in, an older 00:05:44.100 --> 00:05:47.160 man named Ignatius of Loyola. And this dynamic, 00:05:47.420 --> 00:05:48.939 I mean, you couldn't write it. It's cinematic. 00:05:49.279 --> 00:05:53.000 You have Francis, 23 years old, young, athletic, 00:05:53.360 --> 00:05:57.850 arrogant, and then Ignatius. 38, limping from 00:05:57.850 --> 00:06:00.790 an old war wound and completely utterly obsessed 00:06:00.790 --> 00:06:03.649 with God. It was a clash of cultures, a total 00:06:03.649 --> 00:06:06.009 clash. Ignatius had been a soldier, a real one. 00:06:06.290 --> 00:06:09.430 He had his leg shattered by a cannonball at the 00:06:09.430 --> 00:06:12.009 Battle of Pamplona. And during his long recovery, 00:06:12.110 --> 00:06:15.410 he had this massive spiritual conversion. So 00:06:15.410 --> 00:06:17.529 he came to Paris not to climb the ladder, but 00:06:17.529 --> 00:06:20.430 to learn theology so he could serve souls. He 00:06:20.430 --> 00:06:22.930 was intense. He was austere. And Francis hated 00:06:22.930 --> 00:06:25.389 him. Oh, he couldn't stand him. The sources say 00:06:25.389 --> 00:06:27.910 Francis actually regarded Ignatius as a joke. 00:06:28.089 --> 00:06:31.129 He mocked him. He was sarcastic about Ignatius's 00:06:31.129 --> 00:06:32.990 efforts to guide other students spiritually. 00:06:33.230 --> 00:06:36.009 You can just hear the sneer in the history books. 00:06:36.350 --> 00:06:38.430 Francis probably thought, who is this washed 00:06:38.430 --> 00:06:40.350 up cripple trying to tell me how to live my life? 00:06:40.509 --> 00:06:44.089 It's the classic cool guy versus the religious 00:06:44.089 --> 00:06:47.730 nerd dynamic. Yeah. So how did Ignatius crack 00:06:47.730 --> 00:06:50.470 the armor? Because Francis Xavier does not sound 00:06:50.470 --> 00:06:52.439 like an easy sell. It was a war of attrition. 00:06:52.519 --> 00:06:54.399 It definitely helped that their buffer, their 00:06:54.399 --> 00:06:56.699 friend Pierre Favre, left for a while to visit 00:06:56.699 --> 00:06:59.639 family. That left Francis alone with Ignatius. 00:06:59.920 --> 00:07:03.040 Basically. And Ignatius was incredibly emotionally 00:07:03.040 --> 00:07:05.180 intelligent. He didn't just come in preaching. 00:07:05.379 --> 00:07:08.040 He saw that Francis was vain and needed validation. 00:07:08.759 --> 00:07:11.759 So Ignatius praised him. He actually helped Francis 00:07:11.759 --> 00:07:14.319 financially when Francis blew through his allowance. 00:07:14.500 --> 00:07:17.000 He killed him with kindness. And then once the 00:07:17.000 --> 00:07:19.879 defenses were down, he deployed the weapon. He 00:07:19.879 --> 00:07:22.740 kept asking one question over and over again. 00:07:22.899 --> 00:07:25.040 What will it profit a man? What will it profit 00:07:25.040 --> 00:07:27.439 a man to gain the whole world and lose his own 00:07:27.439 --> 00:07:30.079 soul? Which is such a direct attack on Francis's 00:07:30.079 --> 00:07:32.699 entire project. Francis was there specifically 00:07:32.699 --> 00:07:35.720 to gain the world. Yeah. To get that status back. 00:07:35.920 --> 00:07:38.220 Exactly. Ignatius was holding up a mirror. He 00:07:38.220 --> 00:07:39.779 was saying, OK, Francis, let's play this out. 00:07:39.959 --> 00:07:41.740 Let's say you get the bishopric. Let's say you 00:07:41.740 --> 00:07:44.379 store the castle. Yeah. Then you die. Then what? 00:07:44.540 --> 00:07:47.839 It took time. But the logic and the sheer sincerity 00:07:47.839 --> 00:07:50.920 of Ignatius' life eventually broke through. Francis 00:07:50.920 --> 00:07:53.500 surrendered. The ambition didn't disappear. It 00:07:53.500 --> 00:07:56.060 just changed targets. Instead of conquering the 00:07:56.060 --> 00:07:58.680 world for the house of Xavier, he would conquer 00:07:58.680 --> 00:08:00.980 it for Christ. And that leads to this incredible 00:08:00.980 --> 00:08:05.259 scene in the crypt. August 15, 1534. The crypt 00:08:05.259 --> 00:08:08.500 of Saint -Denis on Montmartre. This is the foundational 00:08:08.500 --> 00:08:12.750 moment. Seven students. Ignatius, Francis, Pierre 00:08:12.750 --> 00:08:15.230 Favre, and four others gather there in secret. 00:08:15.430 --> 00:08:18.949 They take vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. 00:08:19.350 --> 00:08:22.490 This is the nucleus of what becomes the Society 00:08:22.490 --> 00:08:25.209 of Jesus, the Jesuits. But here's the thing that 00:08:25.209 --> 00:08:27.649 always surprises me. They take these vows. They 00:08:27.649 --> 00:08:30.370 form this brotherhood. Yeah. But they aren't 00:08:30.370 --> 00:08:33.690 planning to go to India or Japan. Not even close. 00:08:33.929 --> 00:08:37.409 No. If you had asked Francis Xavier in 1534 where 00:08:37.409 --> 00:08:39.309 he would end up, he would have said Jerusalem. 00:08:39.960 --> 00:08:42.779 The plan was to go to the Holy Land. They wanted 00:08:42.779 --> 00:08:45.019 to convert the infidels on the ground where Jesus 00:08:45.019 --> 00:08:48.299 walked. It was a very medieval, almost crusade 00:08:48.299 --> 00:08:50.519 -like aspiration. So they weren't thinking globally 00:08:50.519 --> 00:08:52.559 yet. Their vision was very narrow, very focused 00:08:52.559 --> 00:08:54.379 on the Middle East. Correct. And they actually 00:08:54.379 --> 00:08:56.820 tried to go. They all traveled to Venice, waiting 00:08:56.820 --> 00:08:59.379 for a ship to take them. But a war broke out 00:08:59.379 --> 00:09:01.379 between Venice and the Ottoman Empire, which 00:09:01.379 --> 00:09:03.740 meant no ships were sailing. Oh, man. They waited 00:09:03.740 --> 00:09:05.840 a year. Nothing. So they're stuck in a holding 00:09:05.840 --> 00:09:09.000 pattern. And... This is the first great pivot 00:09:09.000 --> 00:09:10.440 for the group. They couldn't go to Jerusalem, 00:09:10.559 --> 00:09:12.460 so they went to Rome and offered their services 00:09:12.460 --> 00:09:14.799 directly to the pope. They basically said, we 00:09:14.799 --> 00:09:17.220 had a plan. It failed. Send us wherever you need 00:09:17.220 --> 00:09:20.320 us. And in 1540, the pope says, OK, I approve 00:09:20.320 --> 00:09:22.879 your order. And almost simultaneously, a letter 00:09:22.879 --> 00:09:25.559 arrives from the king of Portugal. King John 00:09:25.559 --> 00:09:28.460 III. He has this massive, sprawling maritime 00:09:28.460 --> 00:09:31.700 empire in the east, but it has a spiritual problem. 00:09:31.940 --> 00:09:33.919 He's hearing these reports that the Portuguese 00:09:33.919 --> 00:09:36.820 settlers are living lives of absolute debauchery 00:09:36.820 --> 00:09:39.320 and the work of evangelization is completely 00:09:39.320 --> 00:09:42.879 stalled. He needs shock troops. He asks the pope 00:09:42.879 --> 00:09:45.419 for missionaries. And the pope turns to Ignatius. 00:09:45.559 --> 00:09:48.269 Now, Ignatius has his guys. Who does he pick? 00:09:48.409 --> 00:09:51.029 He picks his best. He chooses Nicolas Bobadilla 00:09:51.029 --> 00:09:53.809 and Simón Arbríguez. These are the guys for the 00:09:53.809 --> 00:09:56.929 job. Tough, experienced. And Francis Xavier is 00:09:56.929 --> 00:09:59.090 not on that list. He is not. Francis was serving 00:09:59.090 --> 00:10:01.190 as the secretary for the new order. He was handling 00:10:01.190 --> 00:10:04.090 the correspondence. He was the admin guy. He 00:10:04.090 --> 00:10:06.230 was essential to the bureaucracy in Rome. So 00:10:06.230 --> 00:10:08.610 the bags are packed. The Portuguese ambassador 00:10:08.610 --> 00:10:10.669 is waiting. The whole mission is ready to go. 00:10:11.070 --> 00:10:15.029 And then catastrophe. Nicolas Bobadilla gets 00:10:15.029 --> 00:10:19.500 sick. very sick the sources are a bit vague but 00:10:19.500 --> 00:10:22.220 he's totally dead ridden he absolutely cannot 00:10:22.220 --> 00:10:24.960 endure a six -month sea voyage it would kill 00:10:24.960 --> 00:10:27.500 him this is the moment The plan B moment. It 00:10:27.500 --> 00:10:29.899 is. The ambassador is literally about to leave 00:10:29.899 --> 00:10:32.899 Rome. Ignatius has no time to vet anyone else. 00:10:33.019 --> 00:10:35.940 He calls Francis into his office. You can imagine 00:10:35.940 --> 00:10:38.779 the heavy heart Ignatius loved Francis, and he 00:10:38.779 --> 00:10:40.639 knew that sending him to India meant they would 00:10:40.639 --> 00:10:42.940 never, ever see each other again. And he just 00:10:42.940 --> 00:10:45.519 says, what, you're up? He simply said, Bobadilla 00:10:45.519 --> 00:10:48.919 cannot go. You must go. And Francis. He reportedly 00:10:48.919 --> 00:10:51.840 said, here I am. That's it. He patched his old 00:10:51.840 --> 00:10:55.039 cassock, grabbed his breviary, a catechism, and 00:10:55.039 --> 00:10:57.320 a single book of instructions, and he left the 00:10:57.320 --> 00:10:59.360 next day. It gives you chills because if Bobadil 00:10:59.360 --> 00:11:02.000 doesn't eat a bad shrimp or catch a fever, Francis 00:11:02.000 --> 00:11:04.019 Xavier stays in Rome. We don't get the letters 00:11:04.019 --> 00:11:06.139 from Japan. We don't get the global network. 00:11:06.340 --> 00:11:08.600 The entire history of the Catholic Church in 00:11:08.600 --> 00:11:11.259 Asia hinges on a stomachache. It's the ultimate 00:11:11.259 --> 00:11:13.740 lesson in contingency. The greatest missionary 00:11:13.740 --> 00:11:16.460 of the modern era was a substitute teacher. So 00:11:16.460 --> 00:11:19.059 he goes. He travels overland to Lisbon, stays 00:11:19.059 --> 00:11:21.360 there for a while, and finally departs on his 00:11:21.360 --> 00:11:25.279 35th birthday, April 7th, 1541. He is now the 00:11:25.279 --> 00:11:28.440 Apostolic Nuncio to the East. Which is a very 00:11:28.440 --> 00:11:30.740 lofty title. It means he is the Pope's personal 00:11:30.740 --> 00:11:33.159 representative in the entire East. But as he's 00:11:33.159 --> 00:11:35.100 about to find out, titles don't stop scurvy, 00:11:35.159 --> 00:11:37.559 and they certainly don't stop pirates. The journey 00:11:37.559 --> 00:11:39.659 itself is a complete nightmare. It takes over 00:11:39.659 --> 00:11:43.659 a year. He finally arrives in Goa in May 1542. 00:11:45.399 --> 00:11:47.659 I want to unpack Goa. Yeah. Because when we say 00:11:47.659 --> 00:11:49.620 missionary rise in India, we assume he starts 00:11:49.620 --> 00:11:51.879 preaching to the locals. But that wasn't his 00:11:51.879 --> 00:11:54.320 initial target at all, was it? No. His primary 00:11:54.320 --> 00:11:56.679 mission, his first job, was to fix the Europeans. 00:11:56.820 --> 00:11:59.240 We have to de -romanticize Portuguese India here. 00:11:59.340 --> 00:12:01.679 This wasn't a colony of pious pilgrims. It was 00:12:01.679 --> 00:12:03.919 a trading post staffed by what the contemporary 00:12:03.919 --> 00:12:06.700 sources describe as riffraff. Riffraff. You had 00:12:06.700 --> 00:12:09.059 convicts released from jail to serve in the army. 00:12:09.220 --> 00:12:11.419 You had disaffected nobility trying to make a 00:12:11.419 --> 00:12:14.080 quick fortune, adventurers, mercenaries. It was 00:12:14.080 --> 00:12:16.610 like a Wild West boomtown. Exactly. The moral 00:12:16.610 --> 00:12:19.529 situation was described as scandalous and undisciplined. 00:12:19.730 --> 00:12:22.110 The Portuguese men were taking multiple local 00:12:22.110 --> 00:12:24.389 women as concubines. They were enslaving people. 00:12:24.629 --> 00:12:26.809 They were ignoring math. They were essentially 00:12:26.809 --> 00:12:29.710 living as petty warlords. The king of Portugal 00:12:29.710 --> 00:12:32.789 was deeply embarrassed. He sent Xavier to be 00:12:32.789 --> 00:12:36.129 the sheriff. But Xavier shows up. He's just one 00:12:36.129 --> 00:12:38.450 guy in a tattered robe. He can't arrest anyone. 00:12:38.789 --> 00:12:41.149 So how do you clean up an entire city of rough 00:12:41.149 --> 00:12:43.570 men like that? This is where we see his emotional 00:12:43.570 --> 00:12:46.649 intelligence again. He doesn't start by screaming 00:12:46.649 --> 00:12:48.970 from the pulpit and condemning everyone. He starts 00:12:48.970 --> 00:12:51.470 with service. He moves into the royal hospital. 00:12:51.649 --> 00:12:54.470 He spends his days washing the sores of lepers 00:12:54.470 --> 00:12:57.049 and sick soldiers. He sleeps on the floor next 00:12:57.049 --> 00:12:59.210 to the dying. He earns their respect through 00:12:59.210 --> 00:13:02.509 pure grit. Precisely. It's very hard to mock 00:13:02.509 --> 00:13:05.029 a man who is wiping up your vomit. And then once 00:13:05.029 --> 00:13:06.850 he has their attention, he uses what we call 00:13:06.850 --> 00:13:09.419 the bell ringer method. I love this detail. He 00:13:09.419 --> 00:13:12.600 realized the adult men were cynical and hard 00:13:12.600 --> 00:13:15.100 to reach. So he went for the next generation. 00:13:15.659 --> 00:13:18.000 He would literally walk through the streets of 00:13:18.000 --> 00:13:21.120 Goa ringing a handbell. The noise attracted the 00:13:21.120 --> 00:13:24.500 children, the curious, and the servants. Once 00:13:24.500 --> 00:13:26.419 he had a crowd, he'd lead them to the church 00:13:26.419 --> 00:13:29.179 and teach them songs, prayers, and the catechism. 00:13:29.299 --> 00:13:31.970 He weaponized the children. In a way, yes. These 00:13:31.970 --> 00:13:33.909 kids would go home and sing the prayers at the 00:13:33.909 --> 00:13:35.970 dinner table. They would ask their parents questions. 00:13:36.509 --> 00:13:38.590 They would essentially shame their parents into 00:13:38.590 --> 00:13:41.509 piety. It was a grassroots, bottom -up strategy. 00:13:41.850 --> 00:13:44.669 And it actually worked. The atmosphere in Goa 00:13:44.669 --> 00:13:47.629 began to shift. But Goa was just the headquarters. 00:13:47.909 --> 00:13:50.009 The real frontier was south, wasn't it? The Pearl 00:13:50.009 --> 00:13:52.850 Fishery Coast. Right, Cape Comorin. This is where 00:13:52.850 --> 00:13:55.389 he encounters the Puravas. And this part of the 00:13:55.389 --> 00:13:57.409 story requires some nuance because it touches 00:13:57.409 --> 00:13:59.730 on the complex politics of conversion. Right. 00:14:00.110 --> 00:14:02.090 Because the Puravas were already baptized when 00:14:02.090 --> 00:14:05.429 Xavier arrived. Yes, about 20 ,000 of them, which 00:14:05.429 --> 00:14:08.169 is a huge number. But it wasn't a sudden spiritual 00:14:08.169 --> 00:14:11.009 awakening. About 10 years prior, the Puravas 00:14:11.009 --> 00:14:13.889 were being decimated by Arab fleets and local 00:14:13.889 --> 00:14:16.450 Hindu warlords who all wanted to control the 00:14:16.450 --> 00:14:18.710 valuable pearl beds. They were getting crushed. 00:14:18.990 --> 00:14:21.690 They were desperate. So they asked the Portuguese 00:14:21.690 --> 00:14:24.730 for protection. And the Portuguese said, we will 00:14:24.730 --> 00:14:27.090 bring the gunboats if you become Christians. 00:14:27.370 --> 00:14:30.759 It was a transaction. Baptism for battleships. 00:14:30.840 --> 00:14:32.960 That's a crude way to put it, but it's accurate. 00:14:33.200 --> 00:14:36.519 The Paravas agreed. They got baptized en masse. 00:14:36.799 --> 00:14:39.080 The Portuguese navy chased away the Arabs. But, 00:14:39.100 --> 00:14:42.799 and here is the massive catch, nobody stayed 00:14:42.799 --> 00:14:46.259 behind to teach them anything. So Xavier arrives 00:14:46.259 --> 00:14:48.899 10 years later to find this huge population of 00:14:48.899 --> 00:14:51.539 Christians who don't know who Jesus is, don't 00:14:51.539 --> 00:14:53.639 know the creed, and are still practicing all 00:14:53.639 --> 00:14:55.759 their traditional rituals. But his job wasn't 00:14:55.759 --> 00:14:58.480 to convert them. It was to inform them. to actually 00:14:58.480 --> 00:15:00.559 teach them what they'd signed up for. And it 00:15:00.559 --> 00:15:03.279 was grueling, back -breaking work. He didn't 00:15:03.279 --> 00:15:06.120 speak Tamil. He describes this agonizing process 00:15:06.120 --> 00:15:08.480 of trying to translate the prayers with the help 00:15:08.480 --> 00:15:10.440 of some locals who knew a tiny bit of Portuguese. 00:15:10.899 --> 00:15:13.379 He would stand for hours and hours reciting, 00:15:13.379 --> 00:15:15.580 baptizing new infants until his arm was physically 00:15:15.580 --> 00:15:17.620 paralyzed from the repetition. And it wasn't 00:15:17.620 --> 00:15:19.720 safe. I think people forget the physical danger 00:15:19.720 --> 00:15:23.120 involved. It was incredibly dangerous. The local 00:15:23.120 --> 00:15:25.340 Brahmins and the rulers who had lost control 00:15:25.340 --> 00:15:28.700 of the pearl divers were furious. They saw Xavier 00:15:28.700 --> 00:15:31.740 as an agent of Portuguese imperialism. which, 00:15:31.840 --> 00:15:34.200 to be fair, he was. There were multiple attempts 00:15:34.200 --> 00:15:36.960 on his life. His hut was burned down. There's 00:15:36.960 --> 00:15:38.879 a famous account where he had to hide in the 00:15:38.879 --> 00:15:41.740 branches of a large tree while armed men searched 00:15:41.740 --> 00:15:43.600 the ground below for him. The warrior priest 00:15:43.600 --> 00:15:46.120 imagery is strong here. Yeah. He's running, hiding, 00:15:46.259 --> 00:15:48.539 preaching. And importantly, he was living with 00:15:48.539 --> 00:15:51.440 the poor. Unlike later Jesuits who would focus 00:15:51.440 --> 00:15:54.039 on the elites, Xavier was eating rice and water 00:15:54.039 --> 00:15:56.240 with the pearl divers. He slept on the sand. 00:15:56.600 --> 00:15:58.879 This gave him immense credibility with the lower 00:15:58.879 --> 00:16:01.450 caste, but it also cemented... a certain image 00:16:01.450 --> 00:16:03.450 of what a missionary was supposed to look like. 00:16:03.870 --> 00:16:07.649 Poor, humble, suffering. Keep that image in mind, 00:16:07.690 --> 00:16:09.590 the poor priest, because that is going to become 00:16:09.590 --> 00:16:12.210 a huge problem for him later. But first he keeps 00:16:12.210 --> 00:16:16.110 moving east. He's just restless. He had a divine 00:16:16.110 --> 00:16:19.590 restlessness. In 1545, he heads to Malacca. This 00:16:19.590 --> 00:16:22.350 is modern -day Malaysia. It was the great crossroads 00:16:22.350 --> 00:16:24.629 of trade between India, China, and the Spice 00:16:24.629 --> 00:16:27.289 Islands, a truly global city. And here we get 00:16:27.289 --> 00:16:29.870 a glimpse of Xavier as a military asset. The 00:16:29.870 --> 00:16:32.320 Pirate Battle. This feels like it belongs in 00:16:32.320 --> 00:16:35.879 an action movie. It really does. In 1547, the 00:16:35.879 --> 00:16:39.039 Essenese from Sumatra launched a surprise attack 00:16:39.039 --> 00:16:42.399 on Malacca. It was a massive raid. The Portuguese 00:16:42.399 --> 00:16:46.059 garrison was demoralized and heavily outnumbered. 00:16:46.059 --> 00:16:47.960 They were ready to just hole up in the fortress 00:16:47.960 --> 00:16:50.879 and wait it out. And Xavier intervenes. He went 00:16:50.879 --> 00:16:54.200 to the church. preached this fiery sermon, and 00:16:54.200 --> 00:16:56.500 essentially shamed and inspired the Portuguese 00:16:56.500 --> 00:16:59.620 to go out and fight. He prophesied victory. He 00:16:59.620 --> 00:17:02.159 rallied the troops. They sailed out to the Perlis 00:17:02.159 --> 00:17:05.319 River and won a decisive, shocking victory against 00:17:05.319 --> 00:17:07.519 the pirate fleet. So now he's a war hero too. 00:17:07.859 --> 00:17:10.599 But Malacca is significant for another much bigger 00:17:10.599 --> 00:17:13.039 reason. This is where the trajectory of his entire 00:17:13.039 --> 00:17:16.420 life changes completely. He meets a man. December 00:17:16.420 --> 00:17:20.119 1547, he meets Anjuru. Anjuru is Japanese. But 00:17:20.119 --> 00:17:22.660 he's not a diplomat or a merchant. He's a fugitive. 00:17:22.839 --> 00:17:25.380 He is on the run. The story is that Anjiro had 00:17:25.380 --> 00:17:27.960 killed a man in Japan, possibly in a duel or 00:17:27.960 --> 00:17:30.240 a feud, and had to flee to save his own life. 00:17:30.400 --> 00:17:32.880 And he was just tortured by guilt. He had heard 00:17:32.880 --> 00:17:35.039 these rumors of a holy man from the West who 00:17:35.039 --> 00:17:37.640 could offer absolution. I find this so fascinating. 00:17:38.059 --> 00:17:41.059 The door to Japan was opened by a murderer seeking 00:17:41.059 --> 00:17:43.619 redemption. History loves irony, doesn't it? 00:17:43.819 --> 00:17:46.380 Anjiro managed to communicate with Xavier, likely 00:17:46.380 --> 00:17:49.470 using a mix of broken Portuguese and Malay. He 00:17:49.470 --> 00:17:51.529 described his homeland, but he didn't describe 00:17:51.529 --> 00:17:54.390 it as a land of savages or simple fisher folk. 00:17:54.609 --> 00:17:57.109 He described a highly sophisticated, complex 00:17:57.109 --> 00:18:00.069 society. What did he tell Xavier? What was the 00:18:00.069 --> 00:18:02.750 pitch? He told him about the honor code, the 00:18:02.750 --> 00:18:06.470 literacy, the universities run by monks, the 00:18:06.470 --> 00:18:09.730 rule of law. Xavier was completely captivated. 00:18:09.750 --> 00:18:11.710 He asked the Portuguese merchants about it, and 00:18:11.710 --> 00:18:13.309 they confirmed it. They said the Japanese were 00:18:13.309 --> 00:18:15.630 very reasonable people, and he would do great 00:18:15.630 --> 00:18:18.569 service there. So he asks Anjuru the key question. 00:18:18.769 --> 00:18:21.509 He asks, if I went to Japan, would the people 00:18:21.509 --> 00:18:23.710 become Christians? And Anjuru's answer was very 00:18:23.710 --> 00:18:26.910 specific, and it was a warning. It was. He said, 00:18:27.009 --> 00:18:28.890 they will not become Christians immediately. 00:18:29.130 --> 00:18:31.109 They are a people who ask questions. They will 00:18:31.109 --> 00:18:33.490 look at your conduct. If your answers satisfy 00:18:33.490 --> 00:18:36.210 their reason and your conduct matches your words, 00:18:36.369 --> 00:18:38.710 then they will believe. That is a direct challenge. 00:18:38.910 --> 00:18:40.990 He's saying, you can't just ring a bell here. 00:18:41.109 --> 00:18:44.269 You have to win the debate. Exactly. Xavier realized 00:18:44.269 --> 00:18:46.750 this was a different league entirely. India was 00:18:46.750 --> 00:18:49.369 about charity and ritual. Japan would be about 00:18:49.369 --> 00:18:51.710 intellect and philosophy. He decided he had to 00:18:51.710 --> 00:18:54.809 go. He baptized Anjiru, who took the name Paulo 00:18:54.809 --> 00:18:57.809 de Santa Fe, and used him as his guide and interpreter. 00:18:58.109 --> 00:19:01.769 So, 1549, he lands in Kagoshima on the southern 00:19:01.769 --> 00:19:04.450 island of Kyushu, the first Jesuit in Japan. 00:19:04.779 --> 00:19:07.119 And this begins the most critical phase of his 00:19:07.119 --> 00:19:09.640 adaptability because almost immediately everything 00:19:09.640 --> 00:19:12.039 starts to go wrong. Let's talk about the language 00:19:12.039 --> 00:19:15.380 because Xavier didn't speak Japanese and Anjuru 00:19:15.380 --> 00:19:18.160 wasn't a theologian, was he? No, Anjuru was a 00:19:18.160 --> 00:19:21.119 warrior and a merchant. A good man, but not a 00:19:21.119 --> 00:19:23.779 scholar. He tried to translate Catholic concepts 00:19:23.779 --> 00:19:26.720 into Japanese concepts, and this led to the famous 00:19:26.720 --> 00:19:29.500 Dainichi disaster. Unpack that for us. What exactly 00:19:29.500 --> 00:19:32.140 happened? Well, Xavier needed a word for God, 00:19:32.299 --> 00:19:35.759 a singular, all -powerful creator. Anjiro, trying 00:19:35.759 --> 00:19:38.079 to be helpful, suggested the word Dainichi. To 00:19:38.079 --> 00:19:40.220 Xavier, it was just a word, so he started preaching 00:19:40.220 --> 00:19:42.759 in the streets, crying out, Worship Dainichi. 00:19:42.920 --> 00:19:45.240 The truth is in Dainichi. But to the Japanese, 00:19:45.480 --> 00:19:47.319 Dainichi meant something very, very specific. 00:19:47.700 --> 00:19:51.130 Oh, yeah. Dainichi is the central deity of Shingon 00:19:51.130 --> 00:19:53.869 Buddhism, the Great Sun Buddha. It represents 00:19:53.869 --> 00:19:56.609 the cosmic truth, the essence of the universe. 00:19:56.869 --> 00:20:00.390 It is absolutely not a personal creator god who 00:20:00.390 --> 00:20:03.839 judges sin. So when Xavier's yelling this, the 00:20:03.839 --> 00:20:06.519 Buddhist monks aren't angry. They're happy. They 00:20:06.519 --> 00:20:09.220 loved it. They welcomed Xavier into their temples. 00:20:09.240 --> 00:20:12.059 They thought, look at this. A wise man from India, 00:20:12.259 --> 00:20:15.019 which they saw as the birthplace of the Buddha, 00:20:15.180 --> 00:20:18.019 has come to preach a new sect of Shingon. They 00:20:18.019 --> 00:20:19.960 thought he was one of them. It's a total comedy 00:20:19.960 --> 00:20:22.640 of errors. He thinks he's converting them. They 00:20:22.640 --> 00:20:24.640 think he's agreeing with them. It took months 00:20:24.640 --> 00:20:27.720 for Xavier to realize the misunderstanding. When 00:20:27.720 --> 00:20:29.339 he finally figured out that Dainichi implied 00:20:29.339 --> 00:20:31.599 a pantheistic universe rather than a Christian 00:20:31.599 --> 00:20:34.839 creator, he was horrified. He had to pivot hard. 00:20:35.140 --> 00:20:37.500 What did he do? He stopped using the word completely. 00:20:37.700 --> 00:20:40.200 He switched to Durusu, which is just a Japanese 00:20:40.200 --> 00:20:43.099 phonetic approximation of the Latin deus, and 00:20:43.099 --> 00:20:45.279 he had to go back and explain, no, no, Dainichi 00:20:45.279 --> 00:20:47.500 is not God. Dainichi is actually a deception. 00:20:47.900 --> 00:20:50.660 Oof. That must have gone over well. It destroyed 00:20:50.660 --> 00:20:52.900 his relationship with the monks. They felt trick, 00:20:53.079 --> 00:20:55.819 betrayed. They went from being his hosts to his 00:20:55.819 --> 00:20:58.859 bitter enemies. But it taught Xavier a valuable 00:20:58.859 --> 00:21:01.119 lesson. You cannot just copy -paste concepts. 00:21:01.420 --> 00:21:03.460 You have to understand the deep culture. But 00:21:03.460 --> 00:21:05.859 language wasn't the only pivot. He also had to 00:21:05.859 --> 00:21:07.839 change his wardrobe, right? This is the visual 00:21:07.839 --> 00:21:10.720 pivot. Remember how in India his power came from 00:21:10.720 --> 00:21:12.980 his poverty? He wore tattered robes. He walked 00:21:12.980 --> 00:21:15.299 bare -fry. That was the sign of a holy man there. 00:21:15.900 --> 00:21:18.880 But in feudal Japan. In feudal Japan, appearances 00:21:18.880 --> 00:21:22.019 were rigidly codified. Poverty was associated 00:21:22.019 --> 00:21:25.279 with impurity with the lower classes. When Xavier 00:21:25.279 --> 00:21:27.819 arrived in his rags looking like a beggar, he 00:21:27.819 --> 00:21:30.279 was treated with utter disdain. He tried to get 00:21:30.279 --> 00:21:32.920 a meeting with the daimyo, the warlord of Satsuma, 00:21:33.079 --> 00:21:35.259 but he was ignored. He looked like a vagrant. 00:21:35.380 --> 00:21:38.079 So he realizes his brand is completely failing. 00:21:38.259 --> 00:21:40.619 He reads the room. He realizes that to get respect, 00:21:40.680 --> 00:21:43.140 he has to play by Japanese rules. So when he 00:21:43.140 --> 00:21:45.099 travels to Yamaguchi to meet the ruler there, 00:21:45.259 --> 00:21:48.099 he orchestrates a total transformation. A makeover. 00:21:48.240 --> 00:21:50.839 It's a full makeover. He ditches the rags. He 00:21:50.839 --> 00:21:53.680 puts on a fine cassock, a surplus, and a stole. 00:21:54.339 --> 00:21:57.000 He gathers his attendants, about 30 of them, 00:21:57.099 --> 00:22:00.940 and dresses them in their best clothes. He presents 00:22:00.940 --> 00:22:03.799 himself not as a humble monk, but as the ambassador 00:22:03.799 --> 00:22:06.500 of the great Portuguese empire. And he brings 00:22:06.500 --> 00:22:09.490 gifts, too. High -tech gifts, a striking clock, 00:22:09.710 --> 00:22:12.869 a musical instrument, eyeglasses, mirrors, things 00:22:12.869 --> 00:22:15.529 the Japanese had never seen before. He was bringing 00:22:15.529 --> 00:22:18.579 wonder. And the result. The doors flew open. 00:22:18.940 --> 00:22:21.839 The daimyo was incredibly impressed. He granted 00:22:21.839 --> 00:22:24.380 Xavier permission to preach. Xavier realized 00:22:24.380 --> 00:22:26.819 that evangelical poverty was a cultural barrier 00:22:26.819 --> 00:22:29.180 in Japan, so he just discarded it. That is the 00:22:29.180 --> 00:22:31.539 definition of adaptability. He kept the core 00:22:31.539 --> 00:22:34.240 message, but he completely changed the packaging. 00:22:34.319 --> 00:22:36.400 But even with the fancy clothes, the intellectual 00:22:36.400 --> 00:22:38.930 battle was tough. You mentioned Anjuru's warning 00:22:38.930 --> 00:22:41.309 about questions. The Japanese bombarded him with 00:22:41.309 --> 00:22:43.029 questions, and they weren't easy ones. They hit 00:22:43.029 --> 00:22:45.569 him with the classic problem of evil. Which is? 00:22:45.789 --> 00:22:48.849 They asked, if your God is good and all -powerful 00:22:48.849 --> 00:22:50.990 and created everything, why did he create the 00:22:50.990 --> 00:22:53.190 demons? Why did he create hell? If he's good, 00:22:53.289 --> 00:22:55.769 why is there evil? I mean, that's a question 00:22:55.769 --> 00:22:58.049 theologians still struggle with today. And they 00:22:58.049 --> 00:23:00.230 asked a very personal one, one that really hit 00:23:00.230 --> 00:23:02.990 home. If this truth is necessary for salvation, 00:23:03.839 --> 00:23:06.460 Why did God leave our ancestors in darkness for 00:23:06.460 --> 00:23:10.119 so long? Are our beloved ancestors in hell? Oof. 00:23:10.779 --> 00:23:12.880 That's a deal breaker question, isn't it? Is 00:23:12.880 --> 00:23:15.799 my grandmother in hell? And Xavier, bound by 00:23:15.799 --> 00:23:17.619 the theology of the time, basically had to say 00:23:17.619 --> 00:23:21.400 yes. The Japanese found this absolutely repulsive. 00:23:21.599 --> 00:23:24.099 They said, what kind of cruel God would create 00:23:24.099 --> 00:23:27.460 people just to damn them for ignorance? Xavier 00:23:27.460 --> 00:23:29.440 wrote back to Rome saying that these people were 00:23:29.440 --> 00:23:31.119 the delight of his heart because they were so 00:23:31.119 --> 00:23:33.640 rational, but they completely exhausted him. 00:23:33.759 --> 00:23:36.400 He couldn't rely on authority. He had to use 00:23:36.400 --> 00:23:39.339 logic. He spends over two years in Japan. He 00:23:39.339 --> 00:23:41.619 establishes communities in Hirado, Yamaguchi, 00:23:41.740 --> 00:23:44.700 and Bungo. It's a success, but it's an unfinished 00:23:44.700 --> 00:23:47.700 success. because he realizes something fundamental 00:23:47.700 --> 00:23:50.400 about the Japanese worldview. He realizes that 00:23:50.400 --> 00:23:53.740 Japan looks up to China. For them, China was 00:23:53.740 --> 00:23:56.059 the big brother, the source of wisdom, writing, 00:23:56.220 --> 00:23:59.160 and religion. So Xavier starts to think strategically. 00:23:59.319 --> 00:24:01.980 He thought, if I can convert China, the Japanese 00:24:01.980 --> 00:24:04.259 will say, well, if the wise Chinese are doing 00:24:04.259 --> 00:24:06.819 it, it must be the right thing to do. The kingpin 00:24:06.819 --> 00:24:09.900 strategy. Yeah. To win Japan, he has to win China 00:24:09.900 --> 00:24:13.690 first. So the target shifts again. In 1552, he 00:24:13.690 --> 00:24:15.710 leaves Japan and sets his sights on the Ming 00:24:15.710 --> 00:24:18.670 Empire. But there's a problem. A big problem. 00:24:18.750 --> 00:24:21.609 China is closed. Hermetically sealed. The Ming 00:24:21.609 --> 00:24:24.130 dynasty had strictly forbidden foreigners from 00:24:24.130 --> 00:24:26.890 entering the mainland. The penalty was imprisonment 00:24:26.890 --> 00:24:29.890 or death. But Xavier loves a loophole. What was 00:24:29.890 --> 00:24:32.450 his plan this time? He decided to go legal. He 00:24:32.450 --> 00:24:34.289 would organize an official Portuguese embassy. 00:24:34.670 --> 00:24:37.509 He enlisted his friend, a wealthy merchant named 00:24:37.509 --> 00:24:40.069 Diogo Pereira. Pereira would be the ambassador, 00:24:40.269 --> 00:24:43.029 bearing gifts and tribute for the emperor. Xavier 00:24:43.029 --> 00:24:45.869 would go along as the apostolic nuncio. It was 00:24:45.869 --> 00:24:49.410 a perfect cover. Legitimacy. Diplomacy. It should 00:24:49.410 --> 00:24:51.670 have worked. It would have worked, but then human 00:24:51.670 --> 00:24:54.150 nature got in the way. Just pure pettiness. We're 00:24:54.150 --> 00:24:56.900 back in Malacca. They arrive in Malacca to refit 00:24:56.900 --> 00:24:59.420 their ship, the Santa Cruz, and they run into 00:24:59.420 --> 00:25:02.059 the captain of Malacca, a man named Alvaro de 00:25:02.059 --> 00:25:05.119 Ati da Gama. Da Gama. That's a famous name. He 00:25:05.119 --> 00:25:08.380 was the son of the legendary Vasco da Gama, but 00:25:08.380 --> 00:25:11.920 he was not a hero. He was a small -minded bureaucrat 00:25:11.920 --> 00:25:15.279 with a grudge. Apparently, he hated Diogo Pereira, 00:25:15.359 --> 00:25:17.839 and when he saw Pereira arriving with this fancy 00:25:17.839 --> 00:25:20.980 title of ambassador to China, he just got jealous. 00:25:21.240 --> 00:25:23.680 So he pulls rank. He sabotaged the whole thing. 00:25:23.819 --> 00:25:26.440 He seized the ship. He confiscated the gifts 00:25:26.440 --> 00:25:28.660 that were meant for the emperor. He stripped 00:25:28.660 --> 00:25:31.079 Pereira of his title. He forced the crew to resign. 00:25:31.380 --> 00:25:35.019 It was pure, vindictive sabotage. That is devastating. 00:25:35.420 --> 00:25:37.799 Sabotaged by your own countrymen out of nothing 00:25:37.799 --> 00:25:40.640 but spite. Xavier was furious. He actually produced 00:25:40.640 --> 00:25:42.680 his documents proving he was the papal nuncio 00:25:42.680 --> 00:25:44.900 and threatened to excommunicate da Gama on the 00:25:44.900 --> 00:25:47.579 spot. But da Gama didn't care. He had the guns. 00:25:47.839 --> 00:25:50.119 So Xavier is left with nothing. No ambassador. 00:25:50.420 --> 00:25:52.900 No gifts. No official. permit. But he wouldn't 00:25:52.900 --> 00:25:55.480 give up. He took a skeleton crew and sailed to 00:25:55.480 --> 00:25:57.819 Shangchuan Island, the smuggling outpost where 00:25:57.819 --> 00:25:59.880 we started this whole story. He's desperate now. 00:26:00.039 --> 00:26:02.460 He's looking for a coyote. He's trying to find 00:26:02.460 --> 00:26:04.539 a Chinese smuggler who will hide him in a boat 00:26:04.539 --> 00:26:07.079 and drop him on the mainland at night. He found 00:26:07.079 --> 00:26:09.119 a man who agreed to do it for a massive amount 00:26:09.119 --> 00:26:11.619 of pepper, which was worth a fortune. He was 00:26:11.619 --> 00:26:13.900 willing to be smuggled in like contraband. He 00:26:13.900 --> 00:26:16.859 waited in that hut. Days turned into weeks. The 00:26:16.859 --> 00:26:19.079 smuggler never showed up. Maybe he was caught. 00:26:19.259 --> 00:26:21.140 Maybe he just got scared and took the payment 00:26:21.140 --> 00:26:23.839 and ran. We'll never know. And Xavier's health 00:26:23.839 --> 00:26:27.019 just collapsed. The fever took over. And on December 00:26:27.019 --> 00:26:31.519 3rd, 1552, Francis Xavier dies. He is 46 years 00:26:31.519 --> 00:26:34.259 old. He is looking at the coast of China, but 00:26:34.259 --> 00:26:36.059 he never touches it. It feels like a tragedy, 00:26:36.180 --> 00:26:39.200 a total failure of the final mission. But this 00:26:39.200 --> 00:26:41.160 is where the story takes a turn into the truly 00:26:41.160 --> 00:26:46.160 bizarre. Because Xavier dies, but his body. His 00:26:46.160 --> 00:26:48.339 body keeps traveling. This is section seven of 00:26:48.339 --> 00:26:50.519 our outline, The Macabre Journey. And I have 00:26:50.519 --> 00:26:52.420 to warn you, this gets a little graphic. It's 00:26:52.420 --> 00:26:54.799 the 16th century. Things are different. So he 00:26:54.799 --> 00:26:57.339 dies. They bury him on the beach. But because 00:26:57.339 --> 00:26:59.519 they intend to eventually move his bones back 00:26:59.519 --> 00:27:02.319 to India, they want the flesh to decompose quickly. 00:27:02.720 --> 00:27:05.500 So they fill the coffin with quicklime. Quicklime. 00:27:06.279 --> 00:27:09.220 Which is caustic. It eats organic matter. It's 00:27:09.220 --> 00:27:11.640 designed to leave only bones. Right. They packed 00:27:11.640 --> 00:27:13.900 him in lime, nailed the lid shut, and left him 00:27:13.900 --> 00:27:16.180 there. Two and a half months later, a ship arrives 00:27:16.180 --> 00:27:18.059 to collect the bones. They dig him up. And they 00:27:18.059 --> 00:27:20.019 open the coffin, expecting a clean skeleton. 00:27:20.740 --> 00:27:24.339 Instead, they find the body is whole. The lime 00:27:24.339 --> 00:27:27.200 hasn't worked at all. The body is fresh. There 00:27:27.200 --> 00:27:29.880 is no smell of decay. In fact, witnesses said 00:27:29.880 --> 00:27:33.519 it smelled sweet. The incorrupt body. A classic 00:27:33.519 --> 00:27:36.589 sign of sainthood. And to test this. And this 00:27:36.589 --> 00:27:39.250 makes me wince every time I read it. The captain 00:27:39.250 --> 00:27:42.549 actually took a tool and cut a slice of flesh 00:27:42.549 --> 00:27:44.930 from the knee. He cut the body. To see if it 00:27:44.930 --> 00:27:47.380 was just desiccated or mummified. It wasn't. 00:27:47.380 --> 00:27:50.180 It bled. Fresh blood. They were completely astounded. 00:27:50.180 --> 00:27:51.980 They realized they had a miracle on their hands. 00:27:52.099 --> 00:27:54.500 They loaded the body onto the ship and took it 00:27:54.500 --> 00:27:57.099 to Malacca. And in Malacca, the disrespect continues. 00:27:57.400 --> 00:27:59.420 It's an absolute disaster. The clergy in Malacca 00:27:59.420 --> 00:28:02.000 didn't really care that much. They dug a grave 00:28:02.000 --> 00:28:03.960 near the church, but they didn't measure the 00:28:03.960 --> 00:28:06.480 coffin properly. The hole was too small. Oh no. 00:28:06.599 --> 00:28:08.680 You can see where this is going. Rather than 00:28:08.680 --> 00:28:11.539 digging it wider, they forced the body in. They 00:28:11.539 --> 00:28:13.680 shoved the head down so hard they broke his neck. 00:28:13.720 --> 00:28:16.319 They tamped the dirt down, smashing his nose 00:28:16.319 --> 00:28:18.539 flat against his face. That is just horrific. 00:28:18.839 --> 00:28:22.019 It is. Later, the Jesuits finally got permission 00:28:22.019 --> 00:28:24.400 to dig him up again and move him to Goa. They 00:28:24.400 --> 00:28:26.579 found the body was still incorrupt, but now it 00:28:26.579 --> 00:28:28.759 was physically damaged from that terrible burial. 00:28:28.980 --> 00:28:31.759 So they finally get him to Goa in 1554. Yeah. 00:28:31.859 --> 00:28:35.660 And the reception? is chaotic. It's a mob scene. 00:28:35.859 --> 00:28:38.740 The viceroy, the nobles, thousands of people 00:28:38.740 --> 00:28:42.180 are there, but the crowd is out of control. One 00:28:42.180 --> 00:28:44.740 woman, in a frenzy of devotion, apparently bit 00:28:44.740 --> 00:28:46.799 off the toe of the saint to keep as a relic. 00:28:46.839 --> 00:28:49.539 She bit off his toe. History says yes. Because 00:28:49.539 --> 00:28:51.599 a piece of a saint or relic was considered a 00:28:51.599 --> 00:28:54.319 direct conduit of divine power. And this obsession 00:28:54.319 --> 00:28:56.819 with relics leads to the official dismemberment 00:28:56.819 --> 00:28:59.500 later on. Right. The church decides to share 00:28:59.500 --> 00:29:02.380 the wealth. In 1614, the superior general of 00:29:02.380 --> 00:29:04.299 the Jesuits in Rome decided he wanted a piece 00:29:04.299 --> 00:29:06.599 of the founder. He specifically requested the 00:29:06.599 --> 00:29:08.980 right arm. Why the right arm? Because that was 00:29:08.980 --> 00:29:11.480 the arm that had baptized an estimated 30 ,000 00:29:11.480 --> 00:29:14.380 people, it was seen as the instrument of salvation. 00:29:15.119 --> 00:29:18.839 So in a secret ceremony in Goa, doctors surgically 00:29:18.839 --> 00:29:21.299 amputated the arm at the elbow. And sent it to 00:29:21.299 --> 00:29:23.920 Italy. It's in the Church of the Gesù in Rome 00:29:23.920 --> 00:29:27.619 today, in a massive silver reliquary. But they 00:29:27.619 --> 00:29:29.500 didn't stop there. They took the shoulder blade 00:29:29.500 --> 00:29:33.190 for the Jesuit college in Macau. In 1620, they 00:29:33.190 --> 00:29:36.069 removed the intestines and all the internal organs 00:29:36.069 --> 00:29:38.589 to distribute to other Jesuit houses around the 00:29:38.589 --> 00:29:40.529 world. They literally hollowed them out to send 00:29:40.529 --> 00:29:42.589 them around the globe. It sounds gruesome to 00:29:42.589 --> 00:29:45.769 us, and it is, but think of the symbolism. Xavier 00:29:45.769 --> 00:29:47.670 wanted to go to all these places. He wanted to 00:29:47.670 --> 00:29:50.349 be a global missionary. In death, he became one 00:29:50.349 --> 00:29:52.990 physically. His body became a map of the Jesuit 00:29:52.990 --> 00:29:55.230 empire. And today, the rest of him is still in 00:29:55.230 --> 00:29:58.029 Goa. In the Basilica of Bom Jesus. He's in a 00:29:58.029 --> 00:29:59.930 glass and silver casket. He doesn't look like 00:29:59.930 --> 00:30:02.750 he did in 1553, though. He's mummified now. The 00:30:02.750 --> 00:30:04.569 skein is like parchment. The features are drawn. 00:30:04.750 --> 00:30:07.529 But he is still the center of a massive pilgrimage 00:30:07.529 --> 00:30:10.269 every 10 years. Before we close, we do have to 00:30:10.269 --> 00:30:12.890 touch on the controversial side. We can't talk 00:30:12.890 --> 00:30:14.690 about Portuguese India in this period without 00:30:14.690 --> 00:30:16.690 talking about the Inquisition. We must be objective 00:30:16.690 --> 00:30:19.509 here. There is a letter that Xavier wrote in 00:30:19.509 --> 00:30:24.089 1546 to King John III. In it, he explicitly asks 00:30:24.089 --> 00:30:26.890 the king to establish the Inquisition in Goa. 00:30:26.910 --> 00:30:29.730 Why? What was his reasoning? He was deeply concerned 00:30:29.730 --> 00:30:33.329 about... what he saw as Judaizing and crypto 00:30:33.329 --> 00:30:36.069 -Muslim practices among the new converts. He 00:30:36.069 --> 00:30:38.069 felt the faith was being diluted, that people 00:30:38.069 --> 00:30:40.809 were converting in name only. He wanted the state 00:30:40.809 --> 00:30:44.069 to enforce purity of doctrine. And the Goa Inquisition, 00:30:44.069 --> 00:30:46.410 when it finally came, was brutal. It was. It's 00:30:46.410 --> 00:30:48.349 a very dark chapter of history. But we have to 00:30:48.349 --> 00:30:50.250 get the timeline right. Xavier asked for it, 00:30:50.269 --> 00:30:53.289 but he died in 1552. The Inquisition didn't actually 00:30:53.289 --> 00:30:56.529 start in Goa until 1560. So Xavier never saw 00:30:56.529 --> 00:30:59.130 a trial. He never burned a heretic. But he did 00:30:59.130 --> 00:31:01.619 call for the— institution. It shows us he was 00:31:01.619 --> 00:31:03.880 a man of his time capable of immense charity 00:31:03.880 --> 00:31:06.240 towards the sick, but also holding the rigid 00:31:06.240 --> 00:31:09.140 intolerance of 16th century dogmatism. It's the 00:31:09.140 --> 00:31:10.940 complexity of history. You can't just put him 00:31:10.940 --> 00:31:14.119 in a good or bad box. No. He was a deeply complex, 00:31:14.200 --> 00:31:16.519 driven man. So let's wrap this up by looking 00:31:16.519 --> 00:31:19.920 at the legacy. The numbers alone are staggering. 00:31:20.160 --> 00:31:22.480 The best modern estimates are around 30 ,000 00:31:22.480 --> 00:31:24.660 converts. That's one man walking and sailing 00:31:24.660 --> 00:31:28.200 in 10 years. But the bigger legacy is the network. 00:31:28.910 --> 00:31:31.589 The schools. The Jesuits became the educators 00:31:31.589 --> 00:31:33.849 of the world. And Xavier is the patron saint 00:31:33.849 --> 00:31:35.890 of that whole enterprise. But I want to go back 00:31:35.890 --> 00:31:37.829 to that final image, the unfinished mission. 00:31:38.109 --> 00:31:40.910 I know. He died staring at it. By all accounts, 00:31:40.950 --> 00:31:44.410 a total failure. But here is the beautiful, ironic 00:31:44.410 --> 00:31:47.809 part. His death on that island inspired a mania 00:31:47.809 --> 00:31:50.779 in Europe. Young Jesuits heard the story of the 00:31:50.779 --> 00:31:53.279 lonely, tragic death of Francis Xavier, and they 00:31:53.279 --> 00:31:55.680 said, I want to finish what he started. It was 00:31:55.680 --> 00:31:58.359 the ultimate recruitment poster. Exactly. A few 00:31:58.359 --> 00:32:00.960 decades later, another Jesuit, Matteo Ricci, 00:32:01.039 --> 00:32:03.319 managed to enter China. He learned the language. 00:32:03.339 --> 00:32:05.859 He adopted the culture. He got to Beijing. He 00:32:05.859 --> 00:32:08.759 fulfilled Xavier's dream. And he did it because 00:32:08.759 --> 00:32:11.900 Xavier failed so dramatically and so poetically. 00:32:12.019 --> 00:32:14.019 So what's the final takeaway for the listener, 00:32:14.119 --> 00:32:15.859 for the person driving to work right now listening 00:32:15.859 --> 00:32:19.430 to this? For me, it's the power of Plan B. You 00:32:19.430 --> 00:32:21.710 have to remember, Francis Xavier was the backup. 00:32:21.950 --> 00:32:24.109 He wasn't the first choice. He wasn't even the 00:32:24.109 --> 00:32:26.150 second choice. He was the guy they grabbed at 00:32:26.150 --> 00:32:28.529 the last minute because the other guy had a stomachache. 00:32:28.609 --> 00:32:31.289 And yet, he defined the role. He took a second 00:32:31.289 --> 00:32:33.589 string opportunity and played it like an absolute 00:32:33.589 --> 00:32:36.690 star. He didn't have a rigid plan. He had a rigid 00:32:36.690 --> 00:32:39.450 goal. But his methods were completely flexible. 00:32:40.039 --> 00:32:42.700 If poverty doesn't work, wear silk. If India 00:32:42.700 --> 00:32:45.720 is too chaotic, go to Japan. If Japan is too 00:32:45.720 --> 00:32:48.460 hard, go to China. He never stopped moving. He 00:32:48.460 --> 00:32:50.140 never stood still. He never stopped adapting. 00:32:50.380 --> 00:32:52.940 And in doing so, he showed that sometimes the 00:32:52.940 --> 00:32:55.359 path you're forced onto by accident is actually 00:32:55.359 --> 00:32:57.819 the path to greatness. Maybe the detours are 00:32:57.819 --> 00:33:00.119 the point. That is a fantastic place to leave 00:33:00.119 --> 00:33:02.819 it. From a broken castle in Navarre to a silver 00:33:02.819 --> 00:33:05.880 casket in Goa, the story of Francis Xavier is 00:33:05.880 --> 00:33:08.559 the story of the ultimate pivot. Indeed, it's 00:33:08.559 --> 00:33:10.660 an incredible life. Thanks for diving deep with 00:33:10.660 --> 00:33:12.039 us today. We'll see you next time.