Asian Experiences: Late Middle Ages
Asian Experiences: Late Middle Ages
Continuing Interest. In the Late Middle Ages (1300–1500) there was a decided Western European interest in the Far East, in particular in China. Trade, although frequently dangerous and sometimes hindered by wars and local political struggles, continued along the Silk Road without abatement. Also continuing were Christian missionary efforts. While not significant, there was a European Catholic presence in Asia throughout the period as well.
John of Monte Corvino. This presence began in earnest in 1289 when Pope Boniface VIII sent Franciscan John of Monte Corvino on a mission to China. Monte Corvino traveled overland, following the Silk Road and preaching along the way, and reached Peking in late 1293 or early 1294. Once in China, and perhaps because of the recent death of Kublai Khan, he surmised that his efforts would be better spent in the Chinese region of Ongut (or Tendue), which had a sizeable population of Nestorian Christians. There he was so successful that he even converted the local governor, Korgis (or George), the son-in-law of the Great Khan, who also gave him land to build a church. In 1298, following the death of Korgis in a dispute with another Mongol khan, John of Monte Corvino transferred his activities to Peking.
Proselytizing Efforts. Monte Corvino’s life and proselytizing activities in China were not easy. In 1305 he wrote a letter detailing his loneliness, lack of a spiritual confidant, need for materials for use in worship and teaching, and lack of news about his order and the papacy. He also noted the hostility that others had toward him, especially the Nestorian Christians active in the Far East. However, he also reported the construction of a church in Peking with a tower and three bells and the baptism of six thousand converts. In addition, he had acquired a knowledge of the Mongol language and had translated the New Testament and Psalms into it. Later, in another letter, Monte Corvino added that he had built a second church, near to the palace of the Great Khan from whom he had always received the most friendly welcome and treatment.
Archbishop of Peking. Impressed by these achievements, in 1307 Pope Clement V appointed Monte Corvino as the first Catholic Archbishop of Peking. At the same time, six other Franciscans were appointed as bishops to assist the new archbishop in his office, although only three were ever to reach China, and then not until 1313. By this time, Monte Corvino’s ministry had spread beyond Peking to Zayton (Ch’uan Chow), an important seaport along the southern coast of China.
Impact. John of Monte Corvino died between 1328 and 1330. However, the death of such an impressive and diligent religious man did not mean the end of Catholicism in China. He was succeeded as archbishop by one of his bishops, Andrew of Perugia, and from then until at least the middle of the fifteenth century, a small community of Christians thrived in Peking and Zayton. The work continued to be difficult, bringing Christianity to those who had no background for it, but, if reports of these missionaries can be believed, there seems always to have been a consistent rate of conversions. The spiritual isolation for men used to being surrounded by their fellow friars-all early missionaries to Asia were Franciscans-and their loneliness in being so far from home, without the prospect of ever seeing it again, frequently brought despair and frustration. The only welcome breaks in this tedium were the infrequent visits of Western merchants and travelers who brought news from Europe.
Catholic Communities. By the third decade of the fourteenth century both the Franciscans and Dominicans had set up special vicariates for ministry in Asia. While China continued to flourish, Catholic missionary efforts in India and elsewhere in Asia were not so successful. Some missionary friars even met a martyr’s death. For example, in India in 1321, four Franciscans allegedly committed blasphemy against Mohammad and were burned to death. Later, others were also killed when they encountered primarily anti-Christian Muslim rulers and inhabitants. (Not having the friendly relationship of a political leader such as the Great Khan in China continually thwarted these missionary activities elsewhere in Asia.) Despite these setbacks, a community of Catholics, although never large, continued also in India into the fifteenth century, led by their devoted and hardworking European ecclesiastics.
Sources
Eliyahu Ashtor, The Levant Trade in the Later Middle Ages (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1983).
Arthur P. Newton, Travel and Travelers of the Middle Ages (New York: Knopf, 1926).
J. R. S. Phillips, The Medieval Expansion of Europe (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1998).