- Reference Code
maregaA14
- Title
Fonds Marega File A14
- Date Range
- 1687–1844
- Date Range Notes
- 1687(Jōkyō 4) –1844(Tenpō 15)
- Description Level
File
- Notes on Physical State
- A14 consists of 5 groups of documents (A14.3–7) wrapped in newspaper, etc. and string. These groups were then wrapped in the Italian newspaper L’OSSERVATORE ROMANO (06/21/1959), and tied together with a twine. (Cotton preservation tape was added after discovery so that the bundle would stay together). One finds a book card (A14.1) upon which the content of the tied together documents is written. On the outside of the documents one finds memos (A14.2) upon which their Marega Numbers have been written (probably by Marega). There are many documents considerably damaged due to bugs, etc.
- Provenance / Creation
- Father Mario Marega. The Japanese archival documents are originally from Usuki Domain’s Office of Religious Affairs (shūmonkata 宗門方).
- Place Name
- Ōita City and Usuki City, Ōita Prefecture; Himon’ya, Meguro City, Tōkyō-to
- Positions, etc
- Salesians of Don Bosco Missionary. Usuki Domain Office of Religious Affairs.
- Archival History
- Given in 1953 by Mario Marega to the Vatican.
- Scope and Content
For some A14 groups, we can surmise why they are grouped together, and for others we cannot. Below I will introduce the former.
A14.3.1 is primarily composed of notifications regarding the deaths of descendants of (probably Usuki Domain) former Christians. Their dates span from the Kanpō period to the Tenpō period (1741–1843). A14.3.2.3 and A14.3.2.4 are notifications sent to the Kumamoto Domain’s Office of Religious Affairs regarding the handling of descendants of former Christians from the Higo Domain that died in the Usuki Domain. A14.3.2.5-8 are notifications sent to the Nobeoka Domain regarding the deaths of descendants of former Christians. They are from 1800 (Kansei 12) and 1804 (Bunka 1). A14.3.2.9 to A14.3.3.4 are notifications sent to the Kumamoto Domain regarding the deaths of descendants of former Christians. They span from 1684 to 1800 (Jyōkyō period to Kansei period). A14.3.5.4 consists of a total of six documents (attestations that a person belongs to a certain Buddhist sect called shūmon uketori tegata 宗門受取手形, etc.). They are from 1863 (Bunkyū 3).
In this way A14.3 consists of death certificates, etc. for descendants of former Christians from outside Usuki Domain grouped by domain. However, some of A14.3.2’s documents are about people from the Kumamoto Domain, as are some in A14.3.3. In this way, all documents are not categorized by domain.
A14.4.1: 8 clerical documents from the Office of Religious Affairs. A14.4.2: 22 documents from 1723 (Kyōhō 8) (notification of death due to illness, notification of moving / request to move). A14.4.3: 73 documents from 1843 and 1844 (Tenpō 14, 15) (notification of moving, request to go to other domain to, for example, visit Ise shrine). A14.4.5: 60 death notifications from 1701 (Genroku 14). A14.5.2: 11 notifications of Buddhist priests who are descendants of former Christians staying at temples in other domains. 1772 (Meiwa 9) to 1777 (An’ei 6). A14.6.1: 23 reports from 1708 (Hōei 5) on number of people going to other places, number of sick people, etc. A14.7: Many documents related to Kujo Village.
Groups not covered here (for example A14.4.4) consist of documents that vary in content and dates. It is hard to tell why they are together. On the other hand, there are some consistent in terms of content and dates (such as A14.4.5). One is left with the impression that this file was left as-is in the middle of it being arranged.
- Languages Used
- Japanese, Italian
- Date Description Written
- 2017/09/27
- Reference Images
-
