Four hundred years ago, the last emperor of the Southern Ming Dynasty, along with his son and wife, were baptized into Catholicism by a missionary. The young crown prince even changed his name to Constantine and sent a Polish missionary to Rome seeking help.The letter did arrive. Then nothing ever happened.Then, a few years later, the emperor was killed by qing army
>>216658825Christianity almost took over China like six times and it failed each.
>Madame Wang, also known by her Christian name Helena, was the wife of a Ming dynasty prince. She did not have any biological children of her own, but as the main wife, she was considered the mother of her husband's children by his concubines. She became an Empress Dowager after one of her stepsons became the new Ming emperor. This position became increasingly precarious as by then most of China had been conquered by the Manchu Qing dynasty, and the Ming only held some lands in the southern parts of China.Seeking comfort and hope, many members of the imperial court turned to Christianity, First wang converted and took the name Helena and even the emperor's wife was baptized and took the Christian name Anna, and the infant Ming heir apparent was baptized with the name Constantine by the Jesuit Andreas Xavier Koffler. Helena also sent a letter to Pope Innocent X in the year 1650 via Koffler's assistant Michał Piotr Boym. The letter actually reached Rome, but Boym had to wait several years to get a meeting with Pope Alexander VII, who could do little more than offer to pray for Helena and the rest of the royal family.Boym returned to China to find that while he had been gone, the Qing had been victorious. Helena, Koffler, and most of the Ming royal family had died or been killed. Boym himself died exhausted and heartbroken in the year 1659.There letter read '' Helena, the serenely wise and loving respectful Grand Empress Dowager of the Great Ming, sends this missive before the throne of Pope Innocent, Vicar of God, Jesus on Earth, exalted ruler of the Holy Catholic Church.
>>216658825>trusting the popeNigga asked for this
>I, Helena, humbly reflect: Being a daughter of China unworthily living in the imperial royal palace, I knew only the etiquette of the ladies' apartment and never understood even dimly the teachings of your faraway land. But owing to the proclamation of your holy religion by the Jesuit Xavier Koffler, I learned of it from the outside. Thus I came to believe and received holy baptism three years ago. Consequently, Empress Dowager Maria, Empress Anna, with Crown Prince Constantine also requested to enter the faith and received baptism.Although I have poured my heart's blood most earnestly, it has not been with the slightest hope of personal gain. I have often thought to pay my respects before your throne and receive your sage instruction personally. But your country is far away and hard to reach, and affairs here appear pressing. So I beg you, Holy Father, to take pity on us sinners and in God's presence, and when we die, bestow a special absolution.Further, I hope that you, in concert with the Holy Catholic Church, will on our behalf request God's protection and assistance in restoring peace in my country. Thereby the eighteenth ruler of our Great Ming, the twelfth generation descendant of the great founder, as well as his ministers, would all know to venerate the true Lord Jesus. Also, I wish you to send more Jesuits to China and to broadly disseminate the holy teachings.Please consider all matters with utmost compassion. Words cannot adequately express my complete devotion.At present, the Jesuit Michał Boym is familiar with circumstances in my country. So I am charging him to return to his country and speak for us in your presence. He can express my humble meaning in detail. When peace returns, ambassadors will be dispatched to perform proper ceremonies at the altars of Saint Peter and Paul.
>>216658825Honestly what did they even expect, pope would call a crusade against the Qing strongholds?
