John of Montecorvino
John of Montecorvino (* 1246 in Montecorvino Rovella , Apulia , Foggia , Italy ; † 1328 in Beijing , China ) was an Italian soldier , doctor , judge , monk , missionary and bishop .
Life
John was initially a soldier, doctor and judge before he finally entered the Franciscan order . In 1279 he was sent as a missionary to Armenia and Persia , then he was received by the Armenian King Hayton II (also called Hethum, 1289–1293) and by the Mongol prince Ilkhan ( Ilchane ) Argun (1284–1291), who ruled Persia sent to the papal court in Rieti on a diplomatic mission . In 1289 John was sent by the first Franciscan in the Holy See, Pope Nicholas IV (1288-1292), as a missionary to the Great Khan Kubilai ( Kublai Khan ) in Beijing, with the task of converting the Mongols and the Nestorian Christians in Central Asia and To call on China to reunite with the Catholic Church.
Kublai Khan was the grandson of Genghis Khan . He made Beijing, conquered by Genghis Khan in 1215, the Mongolian capital. John traveled together with the Dominican Niccolò da Pistoia and the Venetian merchant Pietro de Lucalongo via Antioch , Sis , Tabriz , Sultanieh and Hormus to Quilon in Kerala , southern India. He stayed in India for thirteen months . Then he traveled by sea to Quanzhou in Fujian and finally arrived in Beijing in 1294, which was then called Dadu or Khanbaliq ("City of Khan"). That same year, Kublai Khan, who made Buddhism the state religion, died on February 18. His successor on the throne, Timur Khan (1294-1307) received John of Montecorvino and gave him full freedom in his work.
His missionary efforts were only partially successful, as he did not succeed in winning the Nestorians over to reunification with the Roman Church. At least he was able to persuade the prince of the Onguts to convert from the Nestorian to the Catholic faith. By 1306 he succeeded in baptizing 6,400 people. In 1299 he built the first church in Beijing near the palace and in 1305 the second with 200 seats, where, with papal permission, mass was read in Mongolian . He also built a school where reading, writing and Gregorian chant were taught. He also translated the New Testament and the Psalms . He reported on his work in 1305 and 1306 in two letters to Pope Clement V.
As this work increased, John asked Pope Clement V (1305-1314) for help. The Pope appointed John of Montecorvino on July 23, 1307 first Archbishop and Patriarch of the Orient. Seven Franciscans were selected and sent to him in 1307, but only three of them survived the trip to Beijing. Nevertheless, he was now able to expand the mission as Archbishop of Beijing, since between 1309 and 1313 other Franciscans came to support.
literature
- Claudia von Collani: Of Jesuits, Emperors and Cannons: Europe and China - a checkered history. Scientific Book Society, Darmstadt 2012, ISBN 9783534251520 , p. 35 f.
Web links
- The first bishop of Beijing. On Kath-Info
- On the history of Christianity, especially the Catholic Church in China. On China center
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | John of Montecorvino |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Giovanni da Montecorvino |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Italian soldier, doctor, judge, monk, missionary and bishop |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1246 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Montecorvino Rovella , Apulia , Foggia , Italy |
| DATE OF DEATH | 1328 |
| Place of death | Beijing , China |