The extension which, in the fluctuating condition of affairs, shortly afterwards took place of the dominions of the king of Bungo over the greater part of the island of Shimo, was very favorable to the new religion. The prince of Hirado was obliged to pay him tribute, and, notwithstanding the double-faced policy of that prince, the new doctrine continued to spread in his territories, where some of the members of the ruling family became converts. A new church was planted at Hakata, and the old original one at Kagoshima was reëstablished. Presently the new faith gained a footing also in the kingdoms of Arima and Gotō, which, as well as Hirado, had been dissevered from the ancient province of Hizen. The lord of Shimabara (afterwards famous as the last stronghold of the Catholics) invited the missionaries to his city. The king of Arima was also very friendly; he gave the missionaries an establishment, first at Yokoseura, and, after that city had been burned by the bonzes, at a port of his called Kuchinotsu, on the southern coast of the southwestern peninsula of Shimo. The prince of Ōmura, a dependency of Arima, and the prince of the island of Tanegashima, the same at which Pinto had first landed, then a dependency of Hirado, were both among the converts, and exceedingly zealous to induce their subjects to follow their example; and, notwithstanding the hostility of the bonzes, the frequent wars between the princes, and repeated internal commotions, by which the missionaries were often in danger, the new religion continued to spread in all parts of Shimo, and in fact to be carried by native converts to many parts of Nippon, which no missionary had yet reached. Meanwhile, new establishments also had been gained on the island of Nippon, in addition to that at Yamaguchi, at its western extremity. The fame of the missionaries had induced an old Jūji, or superior of a Buddhist monastery near Miyako (Kyōto), to send to Yamaguchi to ask information about the new religion. Father Vilela was despatched, in 1559, for his instruction, and though the Jūji died before the arrival of the missionary, his successor and many of the bonzes listened with respect to the words of Vilela. As none, however, were willing to receive baptism, he departed for Miyako, where he found means to approach Yoshiteru, the Kubō-Sama, and to obtain from him permission to preach. Having secured the favor of Miyoshi, the emperor’s principal minister, and presently that of Matsunaga, the chief judge, he converted many bonzes and nobles, and built up a large and flourishing church.