Biography of Alvaro de Benavente OSA, China mis- sionary, Bishop ...

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Biography of Alvaro de Benavente OSA, China missionary,
Bishop Titular of Ascalon and Vicar Apostolic
of Jiangxi
Name and Name Modifications:
Also: Venavente
Chinese: Bai Wanluo Tairan
Relevance for the China Mission:
Álvaro de Benavente was the founder of the China mission of the Augustinians
in early modern times. He was a defender of the Chinese Rites and
accommodation and author of a grammar of the Pampango language of the
Philippines.
Dates of Birth and Death:
(∗) 1646 in Salamanca, Spain
(†) 20 March 1709 in Macau, Southern China, Portuguese Enclave
Family Data:
Nothing is known about Benavente’s family. In 1663, Benavente joined the
Augustians.
Still during his stay on the Philippines, Benavente, on the initiatives of the
Propaganda Fide, was created Vicar Apostolic of Jiangxi (20th of October
1696) and Bishop Titular of Ascalon (22th of October 1696). He was consecrated
by bishop Bernardino della Chiesa OFM (1644-1721) in Nanking on
30 of May 1700.
Education:
In Salamanca Benavente studied both rights, i.e. canon law and civil law.
Mission:
At first, Benavente went to the mission in the Philippines, which belonged to
the Spanish Patronato Real, he arrived there in 1668. He stayed in several
provinces there. In 1671, he was in Mexico and Nuevo Mexico, a city in the
Philippine province Pampanga on the isle of Luzon. For some time, he was
provincial secretary of the Augustinians there.

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Professional Career:
In 1680, Benavente arrived together with his confrere Nicolás de Ribera
(1642-1711) in China and became the founder of the China mission of the
Augustians. In the same year he was sent as Procurator of the Augustinians
on the Philippines to Rome and Madrid on behalf of the Chinese Rites. He
returned to the Philippines, where he stayed from 1690 till 1699, in 1695
he was made provincial. Still during his stay on the Philippines Benavente
was appointed Bishop Titular of Ascalon by the Propaganda Fide on 20th
of October 1696, an on 22nd of October 1696 Vicar Apostolic of the Chinese
province Jiangxi.
Benavente arrived in China on January 1, 1700. He worked then for several
years in Nanchang in the province of Jiangxi/China. Like most Augustians,
also Benavente was an adherent of the method of accommodation of the Jesuits
and therefore stood on their side in the Rites Controversy. Especially he
did not like that Charles Maigrot MEP (1652-1730) alone had started again
the controversy with his Mandate of 1693, without consulting the other bishops
and Vicars Apostolic in China. Maigrot had a.o. forbidden all Chinese
names for God without Tianzhu and he forbade that the Chinese Christians
took part at the Rites for the ancestors and for Confucius. Therefore there
was a meeting of the three Vicars Apostolic in April or May 1700: Benavente,
Artus de Lionne MEP (1655-1713), Vicar Apostolic of Sichuan, and Basilio
Brollo da Gemona OFM (1648-1704), Vicar Apostolic of Shaanxi. They met
in Nanjing where Benavente stayed because he was consecrated there as a
bishop, and they made spoke about how to deal with the question of the
Rites. De Lionne, an adversary of accommodation and of the Rites, submitted
a scripture of 92 propositions to his colleagues, which contained his objections
against the Chinese religion and teachings. He wanted his colleagues
to join him with their signature. Basilio Brollo approved all propositions
besides one, whereas Benavente wanted to have half a year for consideration.
On 28 October 1700 he said that the did no approve the propositions nor
de Lionne’s attitude. In June 1701 de Lionne and Benavente met again in
Nanxiongfu/Guangdong, but came to no common conclusion.
When the papal legate Charles-Thomas Maillard de Tournon (1668-1710)
arrived in Canton in April 1705, Benavente as one of the Vicars Apostolic
was invited by him to live with him in the house of the Augustinians there.
After some days, Benavente gave his treatise on the Rites to Tournon, namely
his “Analecta argumentorum...” (s. below), which was refuted by Tournon.
But the emperor Kangxi, who received Tournon in three audiences, could not

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bear Tournon’s refutation of Confucianism and the demand that all Chinese
Christians and also the European missionaries had to be more obedient to
a foreign power than to him. Therefore he demanded from all missionaries,
who wanted to stay in China, an official permission to stay, the so-called
piao. They had to sign that they would follow Matteo Ricci’s (1552-1610)
method of accommodation, otherwise, they were expelled.
When Tournon published the contents of the Roman Decree of 1704 (“Cum
Deus optimus”) with his “Mandate of Nanking”, dated February 7, 1707, he
even stressed the prohibitions. Therefore Benavente, who saw the dangers
for the mission, as canonist felt obliged to make an appellation to the Holy
See against it (13 April 1707); it was signed by 24 China missionaries and
João de Cazal, the bishop of Macau. Benavente’s “Appellatio” was refuted
by Clement XI. on August 8, 1709, shortly after Benavente’s death. In 1707
Benavente went to the hospital of the Franciscans in Canton because of his
Asthma, in 1708 he got the permission to go to Macau, but was forbidden
to have contact there with Tournon, who stood under house arrest, and he
should try to leave Macau as fast as possible. On September 3, 1708 Benavente
should travel to Peking to obtain the piao, but it was impossible for
him because he was so ill, and we wanted to stay in Canton. But by imperial
order he was expelled because he was without a piao (on 27 November
1708); he went to the Ilha Verde in Macau to the Jesuits, where he died on
March 20, 1709. At first Benavente was buried in the St. Augustine Church
in Macau. When in 1895 the province chapter of the Augustinians moved to
Manila, his relics were buried in the St. Paul’s Church in Manila.
Benavente became also important by his research on linguistics. During his
time in the province Pampanga on the Philippines he completed a grammar
of the Pampango language there; this grammar was kept for a long time as
manuscript in the Convent of the Augustians of the Philippine Province in
Valladolid. The real name of this language is Kampagan; it is one of the
eight main languages on the Philippines. Benavente’s grammar followed the
rules of the grammar of the Spanish Cistercian Juan Caramuel y Lobkowitz:
Grammatica Audax (1651; Frankfurt 1654; Barañáin 2000). This grammar
was only published recently: Edilberto Santos (ed.), Fray Alvaro de Benavente’s
Arte de Lengua Pampanga (Angeles City, Philippines 2007).

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Publications Álvaro de Benavente:
• Tongxing waiqin sidai zhitu (About XXXX die Ehehindernisse der Verwandtschaftsgrade),
ca. (1700), s.a.: “Scriptum ejusdem Domini Ascalonensis
super impedimento disparitatis cultus”, and: “Appendix ejusdem
Domini Ascalonensis ad scriptum super impedimento disparitatis
cultus”, Lisboa, Ajuda, Jesuitas-na-Asia 49-VI-625, ff. 451r-493r (manuscript).
• Isacio Rodríguez (ed.), “Alvaro de Benavente, OSA y su ’Relacion de
las misiones agustianas de China’ (1680-1686)”, Estudio Augustiniano
12 (1977) pp. 731-790.
• “Responsiones eiusdem Illustrissimi Domini Ascalonensis ad 92. Propositiones
Illustris. & Reuerendiss. Domini de Lionne Episcopi Rosaliensis”,
in: François No˝el, Caspar Castner (eds.), Memoriale circa veritatem,
& substantiam Facti..., Summarivm (Romae 1703) pp. 16-20.
• “Actus appellationis Illustrissimi et Reverendissimi Domini Fr. Alvari
de Venavente (sic), Episcopi Ascalonensis, Vicarii Apostolici in
Regno Sinarum, die 13 Aprilis 1707”, in: Acta Causae Rituum... (Romae
1710), L’Etat présent de l’Eglise de la Chine (1710) pp. 121-140,
Memorie storiche, vol. II, (1761) pp. 148-151, German: Georg Pray,
Geschichte der Streitigkeiten..., vol. II (1791) pp. 457-473.
• “Particvla Epistolae P. Aluari Benauente ex Ordine S. Augustini... Ex
Vrbe Hanganfu 27 Nouembris 1700”, in: Réponse aux nouveaux ecrits
des Missions Etrangers (1702) pp. 18-38.
• “Lettera di Mgr. (Alvares de) Benavente O.F.M. (sic!) vescovo d’Ascalon...,
27 Febbrajo 1703”, in: Memorie storiche, vol. II(1761) pp. 204-206,
and: Platel, Mémoires historiques, vol. VI (Lissabon 1766) pp. 126f.
• “Lettre du Vicaire Apostolique de Kiansi au Roi d’Espagne, Canton,
7. XII. 1707”, in: La Verità e l’Innocenza... (1710) p. 115.
• “Litterae Vicarii Apostolic de Kiansi ad P. Franciscum Gerbillon, 2
Januarii 1707”, in: La Verità e l’Innocenza... (1710) p. 116.
• Edilberto Santos (ed.), Fray Alvaro de Benavente’s Arte de Lengua
Pampanga (Angeles City, Philippines 2007).

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• “Analecta argumentorum pro sententia Missionariorum Societatis Jesu
circa puncta in Ritibus Sinicis conteroversa 1705”, 15. Dezember 1705,
Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale Vittorio Emanuele, FG 1251/5, 40ff, subtitle:
“Scriptum Illustrissimi Domini Alvari de Benavente Episcopi
Ascalonensis, Vicarii Apostolici Provinciae Kiangsi, in quo defendit
usum litterarum TIEN, et XAM TI, cultum Confucii et progenitorum:
An Chineses Deum vivum, et verum sub litteris, seu characteribus, cujus
vox est Tien, et quorum voces Xam Ti, aliquando coluerint”, Lisboa,
Ajuda, Jesuitas-na-Asia 49-VI-6, ff. 325r-450v (S.a. Kilian Stumpf’s
manuscript with a quite similar title in: Rome, BNC. VE, FG 1251/5;
cf. 1257/27).
Álvaro de Benavente Bibliography:
• Robert Streit, Bibliotheca Missionum, vol. V (Freiburg 1929) p. 979.
• Robert Streit, Bibliotheca Missionum, vol. VII (Freiburg 1932).
• Jesús Alvarez Fernández, “Fr. Alvaro de Benavente, Agustino, en los
docuementos del Archivio Romano de la Compania de Jesús (ARSJ”), in: Isacio
Rodríguez Rodríguez (ed.), Agustinos en América y Filippinas. Acta del
Congreso Internacional, Valladolid 16-21 de abril de 1990 (Valldolid 1990)
pp. 1035-1050.
• Manuel Ares, “Las Misiones Agustinianas en China (1575-1818)”, Archivo
Agustiniano 51 (1957) pp. 145-161; pp. 345-367; 52 (1958) pp. 57-76.
• Agustín María de Castro, Misioneros Agustinos en el Extremo Oriente
1565-1780 (= Osorio Venerable), ed. Manuel Merino (1954) pp. 41-43.
• Claudia von Collani, “Tianxue benyi - Joachim Bouvets Forschungen zum
Monotheismus in China”, China Mission Studies (1550-1800) Bulletin 10
(1988) pp. 18-21.
• Claudia von Collani, “Claudio Filippo Grimaldi zur Ankunft des päpstlichen
Legaten Charles-Thomas Maillard de Tournon in China”, Monumenta Serica
42 (1994) pp. 341f, 354-357.
• Claudia von Collani, “Artus de Lionne et la Chine”, in: Actes du VIIe
Colloque international de Sinologie, Chantilly 1992 (Paris - Taipei 1995) pp.
45-79.
• Claudia von Collani, “Kilian Stumpf SJ zur Lage der Chinamission im
Jahre 1708”, Neue Zeitschrift für Missionswissenschaft 51 (1995) pp. 180f.
• Claudia von Collani, “Mission and Matrimony”, in: Ku Wei-ying (ed.),
Missionary Approaches and Linguistics in Mainland China and Taiwan (Leuven
Chinese Studies X) (Leuven 2001) pp. 11-31.
• Claudia von Collani, “Augustinians”, in: Nicolas Standaert (ed.), Hand-

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book of Oriental Studies, section four: China, vol. XV/1 (Leiden, Boston,
Köln 2001) pp. 339-343.
• Claudia von Collani, “Der Ritenstreit und die Folgen für die Chinamission”,
Zeitschrift für Missionswissenschaft und Religionswissenschaft 90 (2006) pp.
210-225.
• Otto Maas, Cartas de China II, (Sevilla 1917) pp. 185-190.
• Georges Mensaert, “L’établissement de la Hierarchie catholique en Chine
de 1684 à 1721”, Archivum Francicanum Historicum 46 (1953) pp. 369-416.
• Manuel Merino, Agustinos Evangelizadores de Filipinas 1565-1965 (1965)
p. 122.
• Manuel Merino, “Origenes de las Misiones Augustianas en Chine”, Missionalia
Hispanica XXXVII (1980) 57-110.
• Joseph Metzler, “Alvaro de Benavente OSA en los documentos del Archivo
Secreto Vaticano”, in: Isacio Rodríguez Rodríguez (ed.), Agustinos en América
y Filippinas. Acta del Congreso Internacional, Valladolid 16-21 de abril de
1990 (Valldolid 1990) pp. 827-859.
• Emilio Ridruejo, “El Arte de Lengua Pampanga (1699) de Fray Álvaro de
Benavente”, in: Milka Villayandre Llamazares (ed.), Actas del V Congreso
de Lingüística general, Léon, 5-6 de marzo de 2002, vol. III (Madrid 2004)
pp. 2331-2343.
• Isacio Rodríguez Rodríguez, “Bibliografia”, Historia de la Provincia Agustiniana
del Smo. nombre de Jesús de Filipinas I (1965).
• Juan Ruiz de Medina, “Los orígenes de las misiones Agustinianas en China
a partir de Macao”, in: Isacio Rodríguez Rodríguez (ed.), Agustinos en
América y Filippinas. Acta del Congreso Internacional, Valladolid 16-21
de abril de 1990 (Valldolid 1990) pp. 861-880.
• Sinica Franciscana, vol. III (1936) p. 236 Nr. 1.
• Sinica Franciscana, vol. V (1954) p. 382 Nr. 8.
• Nicolas Standaert (ed.), Handbook of Christianity in China. Volume One:
635-1800. (Handbook of Oriental Studies, section 4: China 15/1. Handbuch
der Orientalistik, Abt. 4: China 15) (Leiden, Boston, Köln 2001) pp. 339-
343.
• Manuel Teixeira, “D. Fr. Álvaro de Benavente em Macau”, Boletim ecclesiástico
da Diocese de Macau 56 (1958).
• Anastase Van den Wyngaert, “Mgr Fr. Pallu et Mgr Bernardin della
Chiesa. Le serment de fidelité aux Vicaires Apostoliques 1680-1688”, Archivum
Franciscanum Historicum 31 (1938) pp. 17-47.
• Ad Dudink, Nicolas Standaert, Chinese Christian Texts Database (CCT-
Database) http://www.arts.kuleuven.be/sinology/cct/cct.htm (14 May 2009).

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Author(s) of this contribution:
Claudia von Collani
Version: 1.00