Christianity in Madagascar
[3] Protestantism was introduced by the first envoys of the London Missionary Society in 1818, who proselytized and taught literacy through a Malagasy language Bible at the public schools they established in the highlands at the request of King Radama I.
The spread of Protestantism among the Merina upper classes by the mid-19th century, including Queen Ranavalona II, coupled with the growing political influence of the British missionaries, led Prime Minister Rainilaiarivony to legislate the conversion of the royal court.
King Radama I, the first sovereign to bring about half the island of Madagascar under his rule, was interested in strengthening ties with European powers; to this end, he invited LMS missionaries to open a school in his capital at Antananarivo within the Rova palace compound to instruct the royal family in literacy, numeracy and basic education.
[5] Beginning in December 1820,[6] LMS missionaries established workshops in Antananarivo to teach trades and technical skills, and developed a network of public schools.
[15] Within a year, the first 100 Malagasy were baptized[16] out of an estimated 200 practicing Christians total; these converts were drawn from all social classes, including slaves, commoners, respected elders, court officials and even sampy guardians, who were considered the bulwarks of traditional culture.
[18] In October and November 1831, the queen enacted a ban on Christian marriages, church services, and baptisms for soldiers and members of government studying in the schools.
[21] During this time, several Christians each year were charged with witchcraft and exiled or made to undergo the tangena ordeal,[21] and Ranavalona requested the departure of three missionaries, retaining only those whose particular technical skills she viewed as valuable to the state.
[22] In 1835, the queen attempted to shut down the press without directly targeting the LMS by banning Malagasy personnel from working at the printing house.
The LMS missionaries, capitalizing on the absence of legal decrees against their own work at the press, managed to continue independently printing and distributing materials.
The last two remaining missionaries chose to continue teaching practical skills in the hope that the restrictions might loosen, but one year later, after receiving indirect information that the government desired their departure, they shuttered the LMS mission and left Madagascar.
[26] Pursuant to the 26 February decree, those who possessed a Bible, worshiped in congregation, or continued to profess adherence to Christianity were fined, jailed, manacled, subjected to tangena or another trial by ordeal, or executed.
[27][28] Lurid accounts of the execution and torture of Christians were reported by missionaries with informants on the island who placed emphasis on what they perceived as the savagery of the queen's actions.
He was succeeded by Rainilaiarivony, who wed Radama's widow Rasoherina and governed from 1864 until his exile in 1895 following French capture of the capital in September 1894.
Rainilaiarivony's second royal wife, Ranavalona II (crowned on 3 September 1868 following Rasoherina's death),[32] was a pupil of Protestant missionaries and had converted to Christianity.
The prime minister encouraged the new queen to Christianize the court through a public baptism ceremony at Andohalo on 21 February 1869, the day of their marriage.
The Christianization of the court and the establishment of the independent royal Protestant chapel on the palace grounds prompted the wide-scale conversion of hundreds of thousands of Malagasy.
[34] These conversions were commonly motivated by a desire to express political allegiance to the Crown, and as such were largely nominal, with the majority of converts practicing a syncretic blend of Christian and traditional religions.
[34] Rainilaiarivony's biographers conclude that his conversion was also largely a political gesture and most likely did not denote a genuine spiritual shift until late in his life, if ever.
[35] Some local officials attempted to force conversions to Protestantism by mandating church attendance and persecuting Catholics, but Rainilaiarivony quickly responded to quell these overzealous practices.
The prime minister's criminalization of polygamy and alcohol consumption, as well as the declaration of Sunday as a day of rest, were likewise inspired by the growing Protestant influence in the country.
