Abstract

GIL FONS, Antonio; CASILLAS DE LA TORRE, Rubén  and  ROBLES GUTIERREZ, Víctor Hugo. Beyond Christianity: A multicausal analysis of the Shimabara Rebellion, 1637-1638. Méx.cuenca pac [online]. 2016, vol.5, n.13, pp.115-141. ISSN 2007-5308.

The Shimabara rebellion is commonly considered as a Christian insurrection. However, the motives that led the people from Shimabara and its surroundings to uprising go beyond religious matters. The relation between the people with the daimyo and the high taxes they latter demanded, combined with general famine product of poor harvests, were added to the religious persecution the Shogunate propelled to counter foreign influence in Japan, particularly the Portuguese influence. These factors led a group of peasants and ronin to rise in arms, initiating a revolt that went down in history as the most serious armed conflict the Japanese government faced during the Tokugawa era. This article addresses separately the principal actors involved in the rebellion, which were the rebels, the government and the foreign powers, emphasizing among the latter the role of the Catholic Church and the Dutch. The role each one of these actors played, their particular interest and their points of view become highly important elements that allow us understand in a broader sense what the Shimabara rebellion was.

Keywords : Shimabara Rebellion; Shogunate; Christians; Dutch; social disagreement.