RABBAN BAR SAUMA (fl. 128o-1288)

This article appears in Volume V22, Page 767 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: PYR-RAY

RABBAN BAR SAUMA (fl. 128o-1288) , Nestorian traveller and diplomatist, was born at Peking about the middle of the 13th century, of Uigur stock. While still

young

he started on a

pilgrimage

PILGRIMAGE (Fr. pelerinage, Lat. peregrinatio)

to Jerusalem, and travelling by way of Tangut,

Khotan

KHOTAN (locally ILcm)

, Kashgar, Talas in the Syr Darla valley, Khorasan, Maragha and Mosul, arrived at Ani in Armenia. Warnings of the danger of the routes to southern Syria turned him from his purpose; and his friend and fellow-pilgrim, Rabban Marcos, becoming Nestorian patriarch (as Mar Yaballaha III.) in 1281, suggested Bar Sauma's name to Arghun Khan, sovereign of the Ilkhanate or Mongol-Persian realm, for a European embassy, then contemplated. The purpose of this was to conclude an anti-Moslem alliance, especially against the Mameluke power, with the

chief

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

states of Christendom. On this embassy Bar Sauma started in 1287, with Arghun's letters to the Byzantine emperor, the pope and the kings of France and England. In Constantinople he had audience of Andronicus II.; he gives an enthusiastic description of St

Sophia

SOPHIA (1630-1714)

. He next travelled to Rome, where he visited St Peter's, and had prolonged negotiations with the cardinals. The papacy being then vacant, a definite reply to his proposals was postponed, and Bar Sauma passed on to Paris, where he had audience of the king of France (Philip the

Fair

FAIR

). In Gascony he apparently met the king of England (Edward I.) at a place which seems to be Bordeaux, but of which he speaks as the

capital

CAPITAL (i.e. capital stock or fund)
CAPITAL (Lat. caput, head)

of Alanguitar (i.e. Angleterre). On returning to Rome, he was cordially received by the newly elected pontiff Nicolas IV., who gave him communion on Palm Sunday, 1288, allowed him to celebrate his own Eucharist in the

capital

CAPITAL (i.e. capital stock or fund)
CAPITAL (Lat. caput, head)

of Latin Christendom, commissioned him to visit the Christians of the

East

EAST
EAST, ALFRED (1849- )

, and entrusted to him the tiara which he presented to Mar Yaballaha. His narrative is of unique

interest

INTEREST

as giving a picture of medieval Europe at the close of the Crusading period, painted by a keenly intelligent, broad-minded and statesmanlike observer.
See J. B. Chabot's translation and edition of the Histoire du Patriarche Mar Jabalaha III. et du moine Rabban Cauma (from the Syriac) in Revue de l'Orient latin, 1893, PP. 56661o; 1894, pp. 73143, 235300; O. Raynaldus, Annales Ecclesiastici (continuation of Baronius), A.D. 1288,

xxxv

XXXV

.xxxvi. ;1289, lxi. ; L. Wadding, Annales Minorum, v. 169, 196, 170173; C. R. Beazley, Dawn of Modern Geography, ii. 15, 352; iii. 12, 189190, 539541.

End of Article: RABBAN BAR SAUMA (fl. 128o-1288)

If you wish, you can link directly to this article.

<a href="http://jcsm.org/StudyCenter/Encyclopedia/PYR_RAY/RABBAN_BAR_SAUMA_fl_128o_1288_.html">
RABBAN BAR SAUMA (fl. 128o-1288)
</a>

(Previous)
RABBAH BAR NAHMANI (c. 270-0. 330)

(Next)
RABBET

JCSM was founded in 1997 and exists to help the community and bring people into a life-changing and productive relationship with Jesus Christ. JCSM offers over 200,000 free web pages, including its weekly inspirational emails that were sent continuously for over a decade.

Jesus Christ Saves Ministries
P.O. Box 9297
San Diego, CA 92169
1-888-887-0417 or Email