AYUTTHAYA HISTORICAL RESEARCH



THE SEMINARY OF THE HOLY ANGELS





The Seminary of the Holy Angels was situated in Maha Phram Sub-district (freely translated the "Sub-district of the Great Brahmin") of Bang Ban District, west of Ayutthaya. The location is locally called "Tuek Farang" or "Tuek Maha Phram" and is situated east and next to Wat Khlang. The only traces present of the seminary are embedded bricks in the ground over an area of 5 Rai. It is presently a built-up location. The catholic seminary was situated on the south bank of a canal linking the old Lopburi River with the old bed of the Chao Phraya River.


The two French Vicars Apostolic, the bishops Monsignor Pierre Lambert de la Motte (1) and François Pallu (2) of the "Missions Etrangères de Paris" (MEP) arrived in Siam, respectively in 1662 and 1664 CE with formal instructions from the "Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith" to establish seminaries in mission lands for the formation of local clergy. [1] They officially requested King Narai on 25 May 1665 CE to establish a seminary to be the institution for forming candidates for the priesthood from all over Asia.


The Siamese King granted the French bishops a large spot near the Chao Phraya River in the Cochin Chinese quarter at Ban Pla Het. In 1665-1666 CE, they built a seminary in Ayutthaya, called the "Seminary of Saint Joseph", with the king's approval and intended to educate Asians so that they could be ordained and work locally in their respective countries. King Narai requested ten Siamese students be incorporated into the seminary to learn European knowledge. The other seminary students came from Goa, Macao, Cochin-China and Tonkin.





(View of the Saint Joseph Church, the site of the Seminary of Saint Joseph, at Ban Pla Het – Picture taken June 2002 CE)



Among the first two priests who graduated was François Pérez, born of a Philippine father and a Siamese mother. François Perez was ordained priest in 1668 CE by the MEP priest Louis Laneau (3) at the Seminary of St Joseph (4). He was appointed Vicar Apostolic of Cochin and Bishop of Bugja on 5 February 1687 CE. He was ordained bishop on 29 July 1691 CE. Pérez died on 20 Sep 1728 CE. [1] [2]


In 1670 CE, there were 33 major and 50 minor seminarians from Siam, Cochin-China, India, China, and Japan present. The seminary became commonly known as "College General". Its standards were just as good as those in Europe as proved by one of its seminarians, Anthony Pinto, who, after presenting a brilliant theological thesis in the presence of Pope Innocent XI, was granted permission for immediate ordination. [1] [5]


In 1675 CE, Mgr Louis Laneau, nominated Vicar Apostolic of Siam and consecrated bishop on 25 March 1674 CE, became superior of the seminary.


The seminary moved in 1680 CE to a larger location in Maha Pram in the present Bang Ban District and was renamed the “Seminary of the Holy Angels”. The seminary had a good reputation, especially in France. We find, for example, Father Monet Bonet from Bourg-en-Bresse in France, departing for Siam on 27 October 1753 CE. Exhausted by the travel to Southeast Asia, he could not recover from his trip and died on 19 March 1756 CE at the age of 31 at the college of Maha Phram. He was buried in the chapel "St-Pierre" from the church of the seminary. [3]





(College des Nations or the Seminary of the Holy Angels on a detail of Courtaulin’s map of 1686 CE)



The College Constantin


The seminarians of the College General of Maha Phram and the St Joseph Seminary were present at a reception of the Ambassador of France - M. de Chaumont - to Siam on 14 October 1685 CE to salute him. The French Ambassador and his embassy were so impressed by the seminarians that they asked them to present a theological thesis, which they performed excellently. The seminarian Antonio Pinto, son of a Portuguese father and a Siamese mother, was tasked to return with the French embassy to present a theological thesis in France at the Sorbonne and in Rome in front of the pope and the cardinals. This mission also turned out well.


After the French Embassy returned to Paris, Constantine Phaulcon visited Maha Phram in early 1686 CE, and he was also quite impressed. For a reason unknown, he was eager to move the seminary to Ayutthaya, something that was only reluctantly accepted by the French priests, in order not to lose Phaulcon's support. Phaulcon requested King Narai to grant a niece piece of land, which was quickly arranged. The new seminary found its place near the water crossing of the Pasak and the Lopburi River in front of Ayutthaya's harbour. The land was at flood level, and it needed a workforce of 500 to level the site and construct the first buildings. Phaulcon wanted to build the new college completely in bricks, but Mgr Laneau estimated that the realisation of this project would take too much time and requested the use of wood and bamboo for its construction.


The professors and seminarians redeployed from Maha Phram to Ayutthaya while the final construction of the college in bricks was begun. It is unknown how far these works were advanced when Phaulcon was jailed for treason by the Siamese in 1688 CE. The seminary was named after its establisher, the "College Constantin”. The college soon had around 80 students. Phaulcon offered a yearly contribution of 1500 ecus to support its students. In 1687 CE, Mgr Laneau transferred the seminarians who had already finished their theological studies to the St Joseph settlement. The College at Maha Phram was not abandoned but became a retirement location for tired missionaries.


On Jacques Nicolas Bellin's map, College Constantin is shown along the Three Horses Road and behind the Ho Ratcha Khrue bastion, factual on or near Wat Rattana Chai's (former Wat Jin) premises. I guess it must have been approximately situated in geographical coordinates: 14° 20' 48.6" N, 100° 34' 47.4" E.





(Detail of Jacques Nicolas Bellin's map ‘Plan De La Ville De Siam’ published as plate no. 4 in volume 9 of the 1752 CE French edition of Abbé Antoine François Prévost's l'Histoire Générale des Voyages.)



The events of the Siamese revolution in 1688 CE saw the execution of Constantine Phaulcon, the expulsion of French forces from Siam and the imprisonment of Bishop Louis Laneau and half of the seminary students. Some fell sick and died. In August 1690 CE, the priests and seminarians were released and returned to the seminary, which they found well-cleaned up of furniture. The activities of the seminary resumed in 1691 CE. [3]


At that time, the idea grew to move the College to Pondicherry, but this was rejected afterwards due to the wars between the French, Dutch and English. The College Constantin was finally abandoned, and the seminary was reinstalled at Maha Phram, where it resumed its activities in 1713 CE.


The persecution gave a renewal of life to the college. After 1713 CE, its numbers grew again with an influx of seminarians from Tongkin and China. (2) A new building, half European and half Indian, was erected to house a 50-strong community. [1]


The Burmese invasion of Ayutthaya in 1765-67 CE compelled the relocation of the seminary to Chanthaburi, later to Hon Dat in Cambodia (now in Vietnam), Virampatnam, Pondicherry & Melaka (1765-1782 CE). [4] The "College General" was closed for a period and restarted in Pulau Tikus - Penang in 1808 CE. It was relocated from Pulau Tikus to Mariophile in Tanjung Bungah in 1984 CE and still exists today. [1]





(Collegia delle Nationi or the Seminary of the Holy Angels on a detail of Coronelli’s map published in 1696 CE)



The College on the maps


The College was also known as "Collège des Nations" and is indicated on the de Courtaulin's map "Siam ou Iudia", drafted in 1686 CE. Based on the map, the seminary contained two large brick structures - a church and a religious school - and a few minor structures. It is situated along a large canal called Khlong Maha Phram formerly linking up the northwestern corner (Hua Laem) with the Chao Phraya River, at present the Noi River. The canal, also known as Khlong Hua Taphan, still exists but is largely silted. Obviously, as a French priest of the MEP, de Courtaulin indicated the Maha Phram College, established in 1680 CE, on his map.


The Seminary is also shown on a map of Vincenzo Maria Coronelli (1650-1718 CE) as part of a comprehensive atlas, the "Atlante Veneto", published in 1696 CE. The map was clearly based on de Courtaulin's "Siam ou Iudia". The seminary is here indicated as "Collegio delle Nationi".


The Seminary of the Holy Angels was situated on the south bank of Khlong Maha Phram in the present Maha Phram Sub-district, east of Wat Klang in the approximate geographical coordinates: 14° 22' 15.7" N, 100° 29' 40.9" E. The area is habited, but many old bricks still can be found around.





(The site of the College of the Holy Angels on Google Maps)



Footnotes:


(1) Pierre Lambert de la Motte (1624-1679 CE) was a founding member of the Missions Etrangères de Paris. La Motte was ordained a priest on 27 December 1655 CE. He was recruited to become a missionary in Asia, together with François Pallu and Ignace Cotolendi. Pope Alexander VII appointed him on 29 July 1658 CE as the first Apostolic Vicar of Cochin and as titular bishop of Beirut. On 11 June 1660 CE, he was consecrated bishop. Lambert left Marseilles on 26 November 1660 CE, accompanied by Fathers De Bourges and Deydier, and reached Mergui in Siam 18 months later. Bishop Lambert chiefly worked in Siam and died in 1679 CE in Ayutthaya.

(2) François Pallu (1626–1684 CE) was a founding member of the Missions Etrangères de Paris. Pallu was recruited to become a missionary in Asia with Pierre Lambert de la Motte and Ignace Cotolendi and sent to the Far East as Apostolic vicar. The three bishops left France (1660–62 CE) to go to their respective missions. Pallu, with nine associates, left on 3 January 1662 CE, and he joined Lambert in Ayutthaya after 24 months overland. From 1667 to 1673 CE, Pallu was in France and returned to Siam in 1673 CE. In 1674 CE, Pallu was imprisoned by the Spanish and would only be able to return to Siam in July 1682 CE. In 1684 CE, he arrived in China, where he died the same year.

(3) Louis Laneau (1637-1696 CE), born in Mondoubleau, France, was ordained a priest in La Société des Missions Etrangères de Paris. On 4 July 1669 CE, Laneau was appointed Vicar Apostolic of Siam and Titular Bishop of Metellopolis. On 25 March 1674 CE, he was consecrated bishop by Pierre Lambert de la Motte, Vicar Apostolic of Cochin, with Bishop François Pallu, Vicar Apostolic of Fo-Kien, serving as co-consecrator. He died in 1696 CE in Ayutthaya.

(4) The location is related to the angel Maha Brahma. Siamese religious and historical works believe that the true Vedas (Trai Phet), now lost, were taught by the angel Maha Brahma, who descended from heaven in the form of a Brahmin for that purpose. This is but a variation of the Hindu tradition that they were revealed by the god Brahma. [Alabaster, 1871]

(5) Jacques de Bourges (1634-1714 CE) was expelled from Tonkin in 1713 CE and took refuge in Siam with twenty-two seminarians and funds to support the impoverished and almost extinct Ayutthaya mission. In his short time there, he persuaded the apostolic vicar of Siam, Mgr de Cice, to return the seminary from the capital to its original site in Maha Pram, slightly to the north of Ayutthaya, the land being restored to the mission. [Smithies, 1993]


References:


[1] www.rc.net - A brief history of College General by Edmund Woon Yaw Yen - data retrieved 25 July 2009.

[2] www.catholic-hierarchy.org - data retrieved on 25 July 2009.

[3] www.catholique-belley-ars.cef.fr - data retrieved on 25 July 2009.

[4] www.archway.org.my - data retrieved on 25 July 2009.

[5] www.collegegeneral.org - data retrieved on 25 July 2009.

[6] www.catholique-belley-ars.cef.fr - data retrieved on 25 July 2009.



When the past no longer illuminates the future, the spirit walks in darkness.
(Alexis de Tocqueville)





HISTORY OF AYUTTHAYA



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