Converting rulers
global patterns, 1450-1850
- ISBN: 9781108702102
- Editorial: Cambridge University Press
- Fecha de la edición: 2025
- Lugar de la edición: Cambridge . Reino Unido
- Encuadernación: Rústica
- Medidas: 24 cm
- Nº Pág.: 350
- Idiomas: Inglés
Why did so many rulers throughout history risk converting to a new religion brought by outsiders? In his award-winning Unearthly Powers (2019), Alan Strathern set out a theoretical framework for understanding the relation between religion and political authority based on a distinction between two kinds of religion - immanentism and transcendentalism - and the different ways they made monarchy sacred. This ambitious and innovative companion volume tests and substantiates this approach using case studies from Kongo (1480-1530), Japan (1560-1614), Ayutthaya (Thailand, 1660-1690) and Hawaii (1800-1830). Through in-depth analysis of key turning points in the careers of warlords, chiefs and kings, a tapestry of unique characters and stories is brought to light. However, these examples ultimately demonstrate that global patterns of conversion can be established to illuminate the religious geography of the world today.
List of Figures and Maps; Preface and Acknowledgements; List of Abbreviations; Part I. Concepts: Introduction; 1. Theoretical Equipment; Part II. Cases: 2. The Miracles of Kongo, 1480–1530; 3. Money, Magic, and Mastery in the Conversion of the Daimyo of Japan, 1560–1580; 4. The Defeat of Christianity in Japan, 1560–1614; 5. Reclining Buddhas and Restless Missionaries: Narai of Ayutthaya and the Encounter with Christianity, 1660–1690; 6. Repulsion from Siam: The Revolt of 1688; 7. Hawaii: The Road to Nowhere, 1800–1821; 8. Hawaii: The High Path to Conversion 1821–1830; Part III. Global Patterns: 9. Hinduism and Confucianism and the Question of Transcendence; 10. Explaining Global Patterns of Ruler Conversion; Appendix; Glossary of Theoretical Terms; Bibliography; Index.
