The Court’s Growing Alliance with the Germans
The visit of the Duke of Mecklenburg symbolized rising German interest in Rwanda and marked a turning point in relations between the Court and the Germans. Since the establishment of the protectorate, the German presence had been limited in extent…
The Missionaries as Mediators to Court Confrontation
As Musinga consolidated his hold on power, the threatened notables sought to protect themselves by improving their own relations with the missionaries. The Fathers suddenly found notables were willing to provide men and materials for their construction projects, and were…
The White Fathers’ Local Relationships
The Fathers preferred to settle all but the most serious disputes with minimal involvement by the German authorities. Most of their stations were too distant from German posts ta be able to count on prompt aid, but even at Mibirizi…
The Dilemma of Proselytization
During their first years in Rwanda, the Fathers asked a different kind of service from the people in their vicinity, one that previous authorities had never demanded. Anxious to win converts, the missionaries and their catechists visited the neighboring bills…
The Dilemma of Proselytization
During their first years in Rwanda, the Fathers asked a different kind of service from the people in their vicinity, one that previous authorities had never demanded. Anxious to win converts, the missionaries and their catechists visited the neighboring bills…
Missionary Enterprise and the Mobilization of Hutu Labor
During the height of the 1904 crisis, when rumors proliferated that the Court would attack the missions, the number of Hutu attending classes at Save had dropped by 50 percent, while the people near Zaza were refusing instruction altogether. When…
Adjudicating-or Avenging-Conflict between the Missions and the Cour
News of the violence at Rwaza may have briefly revived hopes at Court of expelling the Europeans from Rwanda. In early August the Fathers at Save heard that twenty bulls were being sacrificed daily at Nyanza to determine if such…
The Missionaries, the Court, and the Local community, 1904-1910
Inkehwe ikubitirwa mukwayo. In the struggle for power at the Court, Kabare could argue that although Ruhinankiko had mustered European support at critical junctures, he had not managed to restrain the growth of European power. While the Court was occupied…
The Court, the Church, and the Colonial Administration: The Mpumbika Affair
With the uprising put down and no other crisis, of similar magnitude in view, the Court tried to discourage the interest in the missions it had been fostering for six months. This was easily done with the Tutsi of the…
Gisaka, the Church, and the Court
The Court had been all the more anxious to settle the Njangwe case because at this time it was being faced with serious unrest in Gisaka. In 1897 Ramsay had remarked on the hostility between Rwandan rulers and the people…