v11_1849 - ANNAM - THIEU TRI 3 tien n.d.

ANNAM - THIEU TRI

(1840-1847)

From the beginning of the 17th century, French Catholic missionaries had arrived in Indochina. Evangelization had made rapid progress but the young community was persecuted by the Lê dynasty.. With the help of the French, Nguyên Ahn seized power and founded a dynasty which was to reign until 1955.. However, the persecution developed again under the reigns of Minh Mang (1820-1840), Thieu Tri (1840-1847) then Tu Duc (1847-1883) which provoked the intervention of France in 1858. Thieu Tri (or Miên Tong or Nguyen Phuoc Hoang Thi) is the eldest son of Minh Mang, born in 1807. He continued his father's policy and died of a stroke caused, it seems, by the false news that French ships were preparing to bombard the Vietnamese coast.. Monarch little open to reformist ideas, he showed himself resolutely hostile to the presence of Europeans. He is reputed to have had the objects of Western origin in the palace destroyed.. Under his reign, Vietnam reached its greatest extension because in 1846, Cambodia would have ceded Cochinchina to him.. For the record, he had 64 children (29 sons and 35 daughters).