Montecorvino, Giovanni da

Montecorvino, Giovanni da

▪ Franciscan missionary
born 1247, Montecorvino, Sicily
died 1328, Peking

      Italian Franciscan missionary (mission) who founded the earliest Roman Catholic missions in India and China and became the first archbishop of Peking.

      In 1272 Montecorvino was commissioned by the Byzantine emperor Michael VIII Palaeologus as an emissary to Pope Gregory X to negotiate the reunion of Greek and Roman churches. He began his missionary work in Armenia and Persia c. 1280. In 1289 Pope Nicholas IV sent him as emissary to the Il-Khan of Persia. From Tabriz, then the chief city of western Asia, Montecorvino moved down to the Madras region of India, from which he wrote (1292/93) the earliest noteworthy Western account of that region of the Indian seaboard known historically as the Coromandel Coast. In 1294 he entered Khanbaliq (Peking). His letters of 1305 and 1306 describe the progress of the Roman mission in the Far East—including opposition by the Nestorian Christians—and allude to the Roman Catholic community he had founded in India.

      In 1307 Pope Clement V created him archbishop of Peking and patriarch of the Orient and to consecrate and assist him sent seven bishops, only three of whom survived the journey. A Franciscan tradition maintains that in 1311 Montecorvino baptized Khaishan Külüg, the third great khan (1307–11), and his mother. This event has been disputed, but he was unquestionably successful in northern and eastern China. He was apparently the only effective European proselytizer in medieval Peking, but the results of his mission were lost in the downfall of the Mongol Empire during the 14th century.

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Montecorvino Pugliano —   Comune   Comune di Montecorvino Pugliano …   Wikipedia

  • Montecorvino Rovella —   Comune   Comune di Montecorvino Rovella …   Wikipedia

  • Montecorvino Pugliano — Administration Pays  Italie Région …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Montecorvino Rovella — Administration Pays  Italie Région …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Giovanni de' Marignolli — (Latin: John Marignolli; English: John of Marignola), a notable traveller to the Far East in the fourteenth century (fl. 1338–53), born probably before 1290, and sprung from a noble family in Florence. The family is long extinct, but a street… …   Wikipedia

  • Giovanni di Monte Corvino — Jean de Montecorvino Jean de Montecorvino Jean de Montecorvino (ou de Montecorvin), né en 1246 à Montecorvino dans le sud de l Italie et mort à Beijing (Pékin) en 1328 est un franciscain fondateur de la mission catholique de Chine. Sommaire …   Wikipédia en Français

  • John of Montecorvino — John of Montecorvino. John of Montecorvino or Giovanni da Montecorvino in Italian[1] (1246 1328) was an Italian Franciscan missionary, traveler and statesman, founder of the earliest Roman Catholic missions in India and …   Wikipedia

  • San Giovanni a Piro — San Giovanni a Piro …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Motta Montecorvino —   Comune   Comune di Motta Montecorvino …   Wikipedia

  • San Giovanni a Piro — Administration Pays  Italie Région …   Wikipédia en Français

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”