Diego Collado (missionary) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Diego Collado
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| Born | c. 1587 |
| Died | 1638 (or 1641, sources differ) at sea, near the Philippines
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| Title | Friar |
Diego Collado (whose Latin name was Didacus Colladus) was a Christian missionary from Spain. He was born around 1587 in a place called Miajadas, in Extremadura. Around the year 1600, he joined the Dominican Order, which is a group of friars in the Catholic Church.
In 1619, Diego Collado traveled all the way to Japan. At that time, Christianity had been officially made illegal in Japan since 1614. Because of this, Collado had to hide often and move from place to place to avoid being caught. He traveled across the country, learning the Japanese language and sharing his Christian beliefs with local people.
Helping Missionaries and Writing Books
Diego Collado was called back to Europe in 1622. For the next ten years, he worked to help other missionaries. He wanted to make sure that different religious groups could also work in Japan, not just the Jesuits, who were another group of missionaries.
To help future missionaries, Collado wrote and published three important books in 1632 while he was in Rome. These books were about Japanese words and grammar. They were the very first books of their kind to be translated into Ecclesiastical Latin, which is the official language of the Church. These books were a big help for anyone wanting to learn Japanese and work in the country.
Return to Asia and Final Journey
In 1635, Diego Collado was able to go back to Asia. However, he faced some challenges from other Dominicans already there because his ideas were quite strong. He tried to start a new mission to Japan, but his efforts were not supported. He was then asked to return to Spain.
Sadly, before he could leave the Philippines, the ship he was on overturned in the sea. Diego Collado drowned, either in 1638 or 1641, as different records show different dates.
Works
Diego Collado wrote several important books during his life. These books were mostly about the Japanese language and the history of Christianity in Japan. Some of his most famous works include:
- A book on Japanese grammar, called Ars grammaticae Iaponicae lingvae.
- A dictionary of the Japanese language, titled Dictionarivm sive thesavri lingvæ Iaponicæ compendivm.
- A guide for confession in Japanese and Latin.
- A history book about Christianity in Japan.
See also
In Spanish: Diego Collado para niños
