WI: A Catholic Vietnamese Emperor
- Thread starter QuoProQuid
- Start date
There is likely to be ongoing noble opposition to the conversion for some time. Many cases of Christianization in Europe had the newly Catholic king opposed by supporters of the old religion. In some cases, there is even a figure like Julian the Apostate who reverts back. So permanent Christianization of the court is still in doubt.
Without ongoing benefits to the state or people due to the new religion, I'd say it is in jeopardy for a while. Everything depends on effective leadership, and whether the elites as a whole come to accept the Catholic religion as a legitimate part of their culture.
However, if the court is able to keep things intact, then a Catholic Emperor will likely welcome and invite the various missionary orders. They could have some success, although I doubt anything more than 10-30% of the population would be Catholic by the mid-1800s.
I don't see France not expanding its colonial presence in the region simply because Vietnam has a Catholic Emperor. However, Vietnam might be allowed a lot more internal control, and the French authorities much more willing to work within the native institutions rather than supercede them. It might also take longer before the French act - in the 1870s or 1880s rather than late 1850s. But it's only a decade or two delay
Annam might retain control of Cochinchina, but I wouldn't be surprised if France still occupies Tonkin and governs it directly as a result of a war with China after the 1880s.
Other than Vietnam having a larger Catholic population, and perhaps greater numbers of Vietnamese priests and perhaps eventually bishops, I don't see much change from OTL other than unexpected butterflies.
Without ongoing benefits to the state or people due to the new religion, I'd say it is in jeopardy for a while. Everything depends on effective leadership, and whether the elites as a whole come to accept the Catholic religion as a legitimate part of their culture.
However, if the court is able to keep things intact, then a Catholic Emperor will likely welcome and invite the various missionary orders. They could have some success, although I doubt anything more than 10-30% of the population would be Catholic by the mid-1800s.
I don't see France not expanding its colonial presence in the region simply because Vietnam has a Catholic Emperor. However, Vietnam might be allowed a lot more internal control, and the French authorities much more willing to work within the native institutions rather than supercede them. It might also take longer before the French act - in the 1870s or 1880s rather than late 1850s. But it's only a decade or two delay
Annam might retain control of Cochinchina, but I wouldn't be surprised if France still occupies Tonkin and governs it directly as a result of a war with China after the 1880s.
Other than Vietnam having a larger Catholic population, and perhaps greater numbers of Vietnamese priests and perhaps eventually bishops, I don't see much change from OTL other than unexpected butterflies.
Well, given the massive resistance to President Diem in the twentieth century, I seriously doubt that a ruler who attempts to spread a new religion aggressively will be received well in the eighteenth...
Opposition to Diem was over a multitude of issues though, not just his religious faith. I'm not sure it offers us much insight into how the Vietnamese would have responded 150 years earlier.
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a larger Catholic population is already a big change. perhaps a refuge for Filipinos burned out by the friar orders back home.