page_title: Pierre Pigneau de Behaine
section_title: Encounter with Nguyễn Ánh
hierarchical_section_title: Pierre Pigneau de Behaine / Encounter with Nguyễn Ánh
caption_attribution_description: English: Seal_of_Mgr_Pigneau_de_Behaine_on_Letter_26_July_1779
context_page_description: Pierre Joseph Georges Pigneau, commonly known as Pigneau de Béhaine, also Pierre Pigneaux, Bá Đa Lộc, Bách Đa Lộc and Bi Nhu, was a French Catholic priest best known for his role in assisting Nguyễn Ánh to establish the Nguyễn dynasty in Vietnam after the Tây Sơn rebellion.
context_section_description: In 1777, the Tây Sơn brothers attacked Saigon and eliminated almost the entire Nguyễn dynasty, with the fifteen-year-old Nguyễn Ánh managing to escape into the far south. He took refuge at Pigneau's seminary from September to October before both were forced to flee to the island of Pulo Panjang in the Gulf of Siam. The move was a political step taken by Pigneau to align himself with Nguyễn Ánh, allowing himself a foray into politics. He became less of a missionary and more of a politician thereafter.
  In November 1777, Nguyễn Ánh was able to recapture Saigon, and in 1778 pursued the retreating Tây Sơn as far as Bình Thuận.
  In neighbouring Cambodia, a pro-Cochinchinese revolt erupted to topple the pro-Siam king Ang Non. In 1780, Cochinchinese troops intervened, and Pigneau helped them procure weapons from the Portuguese. The Bishop attracted accusations by the Portuguese of manufacturing weapons for the Cochinchinese, especially grenades, a new weapon for Southeast Asia. Pigneau de Behaine also organized the supply of three Portuguese warships for Nguyễn Ánh. In his activities, Pigneau was supported by a French adventurer, Manuel.
  In 1782, the Tây Sơn led a new offensive to the South. Manuel died in his command of a warship in the Saigon river against Tây Sơn troops. The defeat, with its battle plan deemed faulty, towers high in the list of setbacks suffered. Nguyễn Ánh was forced to retreat to the island of Phú Quốc. In October 1782, the tide turned again and Nguyễn Ánh and Pigneau returned to Saigon.
  In March 1783, the Nguyễn were again defeated, and Nguyễn Ánh and Pigneau once more set sail for Phú Quốc. Sanctuary was at once both fleeting and illusory. They had to escape again when their hideout was discovered, being chased from island to island until they reached Siam. Pigneau de Behaine visited the Siamese court in Bangkok in late 1783. Nguyễn Ánh also arrived there in February 1784, where he enlisted an army to accompany him back to Vietnam. In January 1785 however the Siamese fleet met with disaster against the Tây Sơn in the Mekong river.
  Nguyễn Ánh again took refuge with the Siamese court, and again tried to seek help from the Siamese. Resolving to muster any support he could from Western powers., Nguyễn Ánh asked Pigneau to appeal for French aid, and pledged to allow Pigneau to take his son Prince Cảnh with him. Pigneau in return attempted to obtain assistance from Manila, but the party of Dominicans he sent was captured by the Tây Sơn. From Pondicherry, he also sent a request for help to the Portuguese Senate in Macao, which would ultimately lead to the signature of a Treaty of Alliance between Nguyễn Ánh and the Portuguese on 18 December 1786 in Bangkok.
caption: Episcopal seal of Mgr Pigneau de Behaine.
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