Haruko Nawata Ward - Women Religious Leaders in Japans Christian Century, 1549-1650

Frontispiece Screen (six-fold): Nanban bybu, School of Kan Mitsunobu. Photo, by permission, from Nanban Bunkakan, Osaka.

14.1 Blessed Luca de Freitas, burnt at the stake next to Jesuit Father Carlo Spinola. Painting: Martyrs in Nagasaki in 1622 (detail), School of Giovanni Cola. Photo, by permission from
Church of Santissimo Nome di Ges allArgentina, Rome.

14.2 Kirishitan women, men and children, waiting for execution. Painting: Martyrs in Nagasaki in 1622 (detail), School of Giovanni Cola. Reproduced, by permission from
Church of Santissimo Nome di Ges allArgentina, Rome.

In my effort to bring these once-forgotten women into academic conversation, I indeed stand on the shoulders of many giants. The germ of the project began in a master of theology class taught by Jane Dempsey Douglass at Princeton Theological Seminary in 1992. In 1997, Jane sensei became my dissertation advisor and remains my doctormutter as historian of women and womens religious leadership.

Many Jesuit historians who are members of the Society accommodated my annoyingly persistent question, Why not the women in the Jesuit missions? and helped me pursue it. John OMalley invited me to two Jesuit Conferences in Boston. There I encountered notable international Jesuit and non-Jesuit scholars, from whose research I learned much. Among many, I celebrate Jennifer Sewlyns companionship in spirit. In Rome, John Witek introduced me to the tools of research in the Jesuit Archives and later became a reader of my dissertation, giving indispensable advice for revisions. I thank Thomas Reddy, archivist, and the staff of the Archivum Historicum Societatis Iesu (AHSI), as well as Mark Lewis, then director, Thomas McCoog, and the staff of the Institutum Historicum Societatis Jesu (IHSJ). The late Juan Ruiz de Medina encouraged me to work on the women martyrs. I am grateful to the staff of Arquivo Histrico Ultramaniro, Biblioteca da Ajuda in Lisbon, and especially Luisa Cardia and Miguel Fereira of Biblioteca Nacional de Lisboa , whose gift of Fris Histria has been invaluable. In Japan, I have been helped graciously by Ms Tsutsui Suna, now retired librarian, Obara Satoru, former director, and Kso Toshiaki, current director of the Kirishitan Bunko Library; and I thank Kawamura Shinz at Sophia University for his continuous scholarly collegiality. I am grateful for the valuable suggestions from Antoni erler now at Campion Hall, Oxford University.

Graduate travel grants from Princeton Theological Seminary (PTS), as well as the Carl S. Myer Prize from the Sixteenth Century Studies Conference, made these travels possible. President Ian Torrance of PTS granted me visiting scholar status in 2006. Faculty grants from Columbia Theological Seminary (CTS) and the provision of an adjunct professor facilitated my sabbatical leave in Princeton so that I could devote myself to the completion of the manuscript. Thank you, Laura Mendenhall, the first woman President, the Board of Trustees, and Dean Cam Murchison of CTS. The assistance rendered by my former colleagues of the PTS libraries, Gest East Asian Library, and other Princeton University libraries has been indispensable. At the CTS library, Jeff Vaughan, director of Media Services, helped me with the illustrations and technical matters, and Griselda Lartey secured many (exotic) interlibrary loans.

I thank scholars who gave advice, commented on my paper presentations at various meetings, and read parts of the manuscript at different stages of its development. Elsie McKee has been extremely gracious at all stages. Carlos Cardoza-Orlandi insisted on my publishing this book and also helped me with late medieval Spanish language and worldview. Marcia Riggs is a constant source of wisdom in attending to neglected voices of women. Scott Hendrix introduced me to this series. I am grateful for encouragement which I received from Paul Rorem, Kathleen McVey, Corby Finney, Andrew Walls, James Deming, Andrew Ross, Arun Jones, Alexander Gauvin Bailey, Anthony Grafton, Natalie Davis, Peter Brown, R.Po-Chia Hsia, Jacqueline Stone, Lee Wandel, Brad Gregory, Mia Mochizuki, and many others. David Murad helped edit . Anna Toledo, Raimundo Barreto, and Luis Nascimento helped me with Portuguese translations.