Jean-Claude Miche

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Jean-Claude Miche

Rue du Bac, Paris, France
NationalityFrench
DenominationCatholic Church

Jean-Claude Miche

Siam, and the Mekong Delta, Miche arrived in Battambang
in December 1838.

Miche was forced to leave about a year later, when

Emperor of Vietnam, who was opposed to missionaries, had him arrested. Minh Mạng's successor, Thiệu Trị, however, pardoned him in 1843 after an appeal by King Louis Philippe I
of France. Miche continued his mission in Cambodia and Laos.

In 1856, under instructions from French diplomat

Saigon
.

Early life and career

Jean-Claude Miche was born on 9 August 1805 in Bruyères, Vosges, France, the youngest of many siblings; he had four sisters and six brothers born from two marriages. The family, mostly farmers and artisans, had been living in the Vosges for a century. For Jean-Claude to take on a religious career was not typical of the family, although one of his brothers, Joseph-Victor, also became a priest.[1]

After studying in

Rue du Bac. A few days later, on 27 February 1836, he departed on the mission.[1]

Arrival in Cochinchina

Emperor Minh Mạng of Vietnam

Miche could not proceed directly to Cochinchina because of the persecution of Christians there. After passing through

Paknam by boat and then through the jungle to Battambang on foot. They arrived in Battambang in time to celebrate Midnight Mass on 25 December 1838.[1]

Miche and Duclos' time in Battambang among a congregation of mostly Chinese merchants and mixed-race descendants of Portuguese was cut short just a year later. Ang Em, a rebelling Cambodian prince, had declared himself king of Battambang. During the insurrection, the town was almost completely emptied of its inhabitants, prompting the two missionaries to leave in search of a new town for their work. On 7 January 1840, they left for Bangkok, arriving on 2 February 1841.[1]

In early 1842, Miche and another priest traveled from central Vietnam up a tributary of the

Emperor of Vietnam, was opposed to the introduction of Christianity[5][4] and Vietnamese troops arrested the priests when they reached the first Montagnard villages.[3] They were taken to Hue,[3] spent time in many prisons,[4] were tortured,[6] and were sentenced to death.[4] Minh Mạng's successor, Thiệu Trị, however, pardoned them on 19 March 1843 after an appeal by King Louis Philippe I of France.[4][5] Miche left Vietnam on a French navy ship.[3]

Cambodia

Norodom
of Cambodia

Miche continued his missionary activities, this time from near

Sambok in Cambodia.[3]

In 1850, the Cambodian mission was separated from the southernmost Vietnam mission.

Cambodia and was now in charge of evangelizing Laos.[4][7] The task continued to prove difficult. Although two missionaries had managed to settle among the Montagnards in 1850, the mission lacked resources.[8] Miche again tried to travel inland, this time during the rainy season when the river was much more navigable. He hoped to visit and review the work of French priests who were living among the Stung Treng and learning to speak Lao. In July 1853, he reached the southern edge of the lands of the Lao people, but found them even less willing to convert than the Cambodians.[9]

In 1854, Miche proposed a conference in Bangkok to concentrate evangelization efforts in Laos, but the political situation in the area was becoming tense and hampered his activities.

French Protectorate of Cambodia.[5] Miche had become the most important of all missionaries in Cambodia.[2]

Later years and death

Miche spent the rest of his life engaged in missionary activities.[5] He founded churches and schools in Indochina.[6] He authored a Latin-Cambodian dictionary. A number of his letters chronicling his times were published in the Annales de la propagation de la foi (1863).[5]

Miche died on 1 December 1873 in

Indochina War and inhumed in the crypt of the MEP chapel on 29 April 1983.[1]

Miche is recognized as an early European influence in the Indochina region and instrumental in the establishment of the French Protectorate of Cambodia.[10][5] He was also an early Western observer of Buddhism in the region and made some unflattering remarks about that faith.[10]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Patary n.d.
  2. ^ a b Corfield 2009, p. 23.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Breazeale & Ngaosivat 2002, p. 141.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Dommen 2002, p. 7.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Encyclopædia Britannica 2018.
  6. ^ a b Nightingale 2006, p. 244, editor's note.
  7. ^ a b Breazeale & Ngaosivat 2002, p. 142.
  8. ^ a b Breazeale & Ngaosivat 2002, p. 143.
  9. ^ Breazeale & Ngaosivat 2002, pp. 141–142.
  10. ^ a b c Harris 2008, p. vii.

Works cited

  • Breazeale, Kennon; Ngaosivat, Mayuri, eds. (2002). Breaking New Ground in Lao History: Essays on the Seventh to Twentieth Centuries. Chiang Mai: Silkworm Books.
    ISBN 978-974-7551-93-8
    .
  • Corfield, Justin (2009). The History of Cambodia. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO.
    ISBN 978-0-313-35723-7
    .
  • Dommen, Arthur J. (2002). The Indochinese Experience of the French and the Americans: Nationalism and Communism in Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
    ISBN 0-253-10925-6
    .
  • "Jean-Claude Miche". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. 27 November 2018. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
  • Harris, Ian Charles (2008). Cambodian Buddhism: History and Practice. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.
    ISBN 978-0-8248-3298-8
    .
  • Nightingale, Florence (2006). McDonald, Lynn (ed.). Florence Nightingale's Spiritual Journey: Biblical Annotations, Sermons and Journal Notes. Collected Works of Florence Nightingale. Vol. 2. Waterloo, Ontario: Wilfrid Laurier University Press.
    ISBN 978-0-88920-706-6
    .
  • Patary, Bernard (n.d.). "Jean-Claude Miche (1805-1873): Un évêque des Missions étrangères en Indochine, aux prémices de la colonisation française" (in French). Paris Foreign Missions Society. Retrieved 18 August 2019.

Further reading

External links
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