Blessed Charles Spinola
Jesuit priest who taught mathematics and astronomy in Kyoto and was burned at Nagasaki
- Rank
- Blessed
- Kind
- Martyr, Priest, Missionary
- Life
- 1564 – 1622
- Era
- 17th century
- Feast
- 10 September
- Countries
- Italy, Spain, Japan
Life story
Charles Spinola was born in 1564 into a noble Genoese family; Jesuit sources place his birth in Madrid, while others say Genoa. He entered the Jesuit novitiate at Nola and was ordained a priest in 1594.
His journey to the mission was long. He set out for Japan in the late 1590s with Jerome de Angelis, but the voyage took several years and several failed attempts: English privateers captured his ship and took it to England, from where he made his way back to Lisbon. He sailed again, reached Malacca in 1600, and arrived in Japan in 1602.
In Japan he taught mathematics and astronomy at the Jesuit college in Miyako (Kyoto), where he also served as minister. After the expulsion of missionaries in 1614 he lived in hiding for about four years.
He was arrested in 1618 and held for four years in harsh conditions. On 10 September 1622 he was burned at the stake in Nagasaki in the Great Martyrdom of 1622. He was beatified in 1867 among 205 martyrs of Japan.
Works and witness
- Entered the Jesuit novitiate at Nola and was ordained in 1594
- Reached Japan in 1602 after a voyage of several years
- Taught mathematics and astronomy in Miyako (Kyoto)
- Arrested in 1618; burned at the stake in Nagasaki on 10 September 1622
Saints from the same country
References
- Jesuits of Singapore, "Blessed Charles Spinola SJ; Sebastian Kimura SJ and Companions" (jesuit.org.sg)
Written by Anawim from documented history. Some details about ancient saints rest on tradition and are marked as such.