Gaspar Vilela

[1] Gaspar Vilela was educated on the Military Order of Saint Bento of Avis[1] When he reached the level of a veteran he travelled in 1551 with Melchior Nunes Barreto, to India, for an evangelization mission.

The conquest of Cochim in 1503, of Goa in 1510, of Malaca in 1511, and the discovery of the Molucas (Spice Islands) in 1512, consolidated Portugal as a worldwide military and commercial power.

The first Europeans to reach Japan were the Portuguese in 1543, by the hand of the pirate Wang Zhi,[2][3] on the island of Tanegashima, starting rapidly trade relations, mainly firearms.

With the Ashikaga shogunate in decline (ended in 1573), the lords of the regions (daimyo) disputed the leadership of reconquering the centralized power.

In 1561, after several attacks, the Portuguese choose to change the regular trade to the sea port of Yokoseura, dominated by daimyo Omura Sumitada.

In 1580 the Portuguese got a concession over Nagasaki, similar to Macau, that endured until Toyotomi Hideyoshi invaded it in 1586, keeping it however as the main port of entry to European trade.

Gaspar Vilela was selected to integrate the Japanese missionary mission in 1554, disembarking in Bungo in 1556, in the east side of Kyushu island,[1] under the supervision of Cosme de Torres,[5] with the protection of daimyo Otomo Yoshishige, one of the first converts (baptized in 1578 with the name D. Francisco).

Vilela had the sensibility to understand the particularities of Japan, changing the methods to a Catechesis activity, taking advantage of the Japanese people's superior knowledge and educated ways.

[1] In 1563 Omura Sumitada converted (with the name D. Bartolomeu) to please the Portuguese and acquire their preference to pick his sea port and enrich with the commerce.

In 1558 daimyo Matsura Takanobu expelled the Jesuits from Hirado, including Vilela, the main character of the fury.