Charles Spinola (1564 – 10 September 1622), also known as Carlo Spinola, was a

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

missionary from

Genoa, Italy Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitants ...

, martyred in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

as a missionary.

Life

Charles (or Carlo) Spinola was born in January 1564 in

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

, Italy, the son of Ottavio Spinola, Count of Tassarolo. He was educated in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

and in the

school in

Nola Nola is a town and a municipality in the Metropolitan City of Naples, Campania, southern Italy. It lies on the plain between Mount Vesuvius and the Apennines. It is traditionally credited as the diocese that introduced bells to Christian worship. ...

, Italy, where he lived with his uncle, Philip Cardinal Spinola, Bishop of Nola. He entered the Jesuit novitiate in December 1584, and studied in Naples, Milan, and Rome. He was ordained a

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

in 1594, and assigned to serve parishes in

Cremona Cremona ( , , ; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po (river), Po river in the middle of the Po Valley. It is the capital of the province of Cremona and the seat of the local city a ...

Travels

In 1595, he received a letter appointing him to the missions in

. His journey was marked by shipwrecks and delays, which included his being detained in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. He first left Italy on his way to Japan in December 1595 but reached his destination only in 1602, over six years later. The first ship he took from Genoa struck a rock and was forced to return to Genoa for repairs. Setting out again, he arrived in Barcelona and made his way on foot to

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

. Spinola, with 7 other Jesuits, set sail from Lisbon on 10 April 1596 with the Portuguese India fleet, bound for Goa. A violent storm damaged the ship's rudder and they were forced to make for Brazil, where they landed on 15 July. They stayed for five months while their ship was repaired, leaving on 12 December 1596, to return to Lisbon. A severe storm damaged their ship again and they made for

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

, where they disembarked on 25 March 1597. The missionaries found the general state of morality among the Spanish sugar plantations deplorable, and Spinola considered their arrival providential. Based in San Juan, he and the small band of Jesuits preached and taught catechism, visiting outlying settlements. On one occasion, Spinola was nearly drowned when his horse lost its footing crossing a river. In order to return to Lisbon, the group of Jesuits decided to split up among a number of Portuguese ships which set sail together from Puerto Rico on 21 August 1597. The fleet was soon dispersed in a storm. Spinola's ship was captured by an English ship off the Azores on 18 October and he, with his companion Jerome de Angelis, arrived in 'Arthmuth' ( Dartmouth), England, on 5 November. The next day, his ship continued to its home port 'Atapson' ( Topsham), six leagues from 'Arthmuth', where Spinola and de Angelis spent a month being looked after at the Captain's expense. With the captain's help, they left 'Atapson' on 6 December in a small boat bound for France, but in a storm were swept back to the English coast, where they spent a further month in a different port. At the beginning of January 1598, he and de Angelis found passage to Lisbon on a German merchant ship. Spinola spent another year in Lisbon awaiting permission to resume his journey to Japan before setting out once again with the India fleet in the spring of 1599. This time he had an easier journey, reaching Japan in May 1602 via Goa, Malacca and Macao.

Missionary activity in Japan and Martyrdom

Spinola studied Japanese in

Macao Macau or Macao is a special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most densely populated region in the world. Formerly a Portuguese colony, the ter ...

before going to Miyako (Kyoto) where he was minister at the Jesuit College, and a teacher of mathematics and astronomy."Bl. Charles Spinola"
, jesuit.org.sg; accessed 1 March 2014. For twelve years, he worked at ministering to the growing

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

community in Japan. In 1614, all foreign missionaries were banished so Spinola went into hiding, eluding capture for four years. After being arrested in 1618, he, Ambrose Fernandes and their catechist, John Chogoku, were imprisoned for four years in a birdcage-like confinement under harsh conditions. He was burnt at the stake at

Nagasaki , officially , is the capital and the largest Cities of Japan, city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. Founded by the Portuguese, the port of Portuguese_Nagasaki, Nagasaki became the sole Nanban trade, port used for tr ...

on 10 September 1622 during the

Great Genna Martyrdom The , also known as the Great Martyrdom of Nagasaki, was the execution of 55 foreign (including Korean) and domestic Catholics killed together at Nishizaka Hill in Nagasaki, Japan, on 10 September 1622. Beginning in 1614, Christianity was banned ...

. Spinola was declared Blessed in 1867, along with 30 other Jesuits, over half of whom were Japanese.

References

External links

Father Hubert Cieslik, S.J., "Early Jesuit Missionaries in Japan"
pweb.cc.sophia.ac; accessed 1 March 2014.

, Fairfield University website; accessed 1 March 2014
Profile of Blessed Charles Spinola
accessed 1 March 2014. {{DEFAULTSORT:Spinola, Charles 1564 births 1622 deaths 16th-century Genoese people 17th-century Genoese people 16th-century Italian Jesuits 17th-century Italian Jesuits 17th-century executions by Japan Italian people imprisoned in Japan 17th-century Roman Catholic martyrs 17th-century venerated Christians People from Madrid Martyred Roman Catholic priests Spanish people executed abroad Spanish people of Italian descent

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''* ...

Italian beatified people Italian people executed abroad People executed by Japan by burning Italian Roman Catholic missionaries Jesuit missionaries in Japan Spanish expatriates in Japan People of Ligurian descent Prisoners and detainees of England and Wales