Nguyễn Phúc Lan

Nguyen Phuc Lan (1601 - 1648) ruled the southern provinces of Vietnam from 1635-1648.

Nguyen Phuc Lan was one of the Nguyen Lords who ruled south Vietnam from the city of Phu Xuan (modern-day Hue). During his rule the Trinh-Nguyen War continued.

Nguyen Phuc Lan was the second son of Nguyen Phuc Nguyen. His father died in the midst of the war by Trinh Trang to conquer the southern provinces. Unwilling to make peace, Nguyen Phuc Lan continued his father's policies of maintaining a strong defensive position on the great walls while continuing friendly relations with the Portuguese and expanding south into Cambodian and Champa territory. Following after his grandfather, he took the title of Vuong (Prince/Lord) calling himself "Cong-Thuong Vuong".

In 1640, the famed Jesuit missionary Alexander de Rhodes returned to Vietnam, this time to the Nguyen court at Phu Xuan. He had been forced to leave the court at Hanoi ten years earlier but now he was back, reasoning correctly that rules against him in Hanoi did not apply in Phu Xuan. He began work on converting people to the Catholic faith and building churches. However, after six years, Nguyen Phuc Lan came to the same conclusion as Trinh Trang had, that de Rhodes and the Catholic Church represented a threat to his rule. De Rhodes was condemned to death but the sentence was reduced to exile on pain of death should he return. De Rhodes never returned to Vietnam but Vietnamese Catholics remained and continued to practice their new religion.

After a break of nine years, Trinh Trang launched a new major assault in 1642. This time they had their own European cannons, purchased from the Dutch. They also had modern Dutch ships to lead their fleet. At first the assault went well and the first of the great walls was breached. The attack was renewed in 1643 but the second wall could not be taken. At sea, once again the Nguyen fleet defeated the Royal (Trinh) fleet. The offensive halted and the Trinh withdrew.

On March 19 1648, Nguyen Phuc Lan died and was succeeded by his son Nguyen Phuc Tan, who was 28 years old.

ee also

*Le Dynasty
*List of Vietnamese dynasties

ources

*"Encyclopedia of Asian History," Volume 3 ("Nguyen Lords") 1988. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York
* [http://www.4dw.net/royalark/Vietnam/annam2.htm Genealogy of the Royal Nguyen Family]
*"The Encyclopedia of Military History" by R. Ernest Dupuy and Trevor N. Dupuy. Harper & Row (New York)