Maillard de Tournon, Carlo Tommaso, 1668-1710

Carlo Tommaso Maillard de Tournon was born in Turin on December 21, 1668. In 1701 Pope Clement XI selected Tournon to be an apostolic visitor to the East Indies and patriarch of Antioch and consecrated him bishop. Tournon left Rome in 1702, and, after extended stays in India and Manilla, arrived in China in 1705, where he was welcomed by Kʻang-hsi Emperor. When Tournon sought to enforce his opposition to the traditional Chinese rites in honor of Confucius (1706), the emperor banished him to Macao, where he was held under house arrest until his death on June 8, 1710.

From the description of Carlo Tommaso Maillard de Tournon collection, 1705-1984 (inclusive), 1705-1726 (bulk). (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 702170916

Carlo Tommaso Maillard de Tournon was born in Turin on December 21, 1668. In 1701 Pope Clement XI selected Tournon to be an apostolic visitor to the East Indies and patriarch of Antioch and consecrated him bishop. Tournon left Rome in 1702, and, after extended stays in India and Manilla, arrived in China in 1705, where he was welcomed by K'ang-hsi Emperor. When Tournon sought to enforce his opposition to the traditional Chinese rites in honor of Confucius (1706), the emperor banished him to Macao, where he was held under house arrest until his death on June 8, 1710.

Carlo Tommaso Maillard de Tournon was born in Turin on December 21, 1668, the second son of the Marchese Vittorio Amedeo de Tournon of the Savoyard aristocracy. Tournon, a gifted young ecclesiastic, attracted the attention of Pope Clement XI, who, in 1701 selected him as a apostolic visitor to the East Indies and patriarch of Antioch. On his thirty-third birthday Tournon was consecrated bishop by the pope.

On July 4, 1702 Tournon and his party left Rome for the East. Sailing by way of Pondichery (India) and Manila and after extended stays in both places, he arrived in Canton on April 7, 1705. Five months later he arrived in Peking (December 4, 1705). K'ang-hsi Emperor welcomed the legate with an unprecedented display of honor and respect. The enthusiasm that characterized the beginning of Tournon's mission, however, was short-lived.

In 1962 the K'ang-hsi Emperor had issued an edict of toleration for Christianity in China based on the interpretation given to the traditional Chinese rites in honor of Confucius and the ancestors by Matteo Ricci, pioneer missionary to China, and his Jesuit successors. Tournon infuriated the emperor by opposing these traditional rites, and by August 1706 had been dismissed from Peking. In Nanking (February 7, 1707) Tournon condemned the rites formally and threatened excommunication to those missionaries allowing their observance in Christian communities. After Tournon returned to Canton the emperor ordered him to be transferred to the Portuguese enclave of Macao where he was held under house arrest from June 30, 1707 until his death on June 8, 1710. Tournon was named a cardinal in 1707 but only received the symbols of his office in January, 1710.

From the guide to the Carlo Tommaso Maillard de Tournon collection, 1705-1984, 1705-1726, (Manuscripts and Archives)