JOHN OF MONTE CORVINO

First Western missionary to China, founder of the medieval Franciscan mission in China; b. Monte Corvino (Salerno); d. c. 1330. In 1289 this Franciscan, already an experienced missionary conversant with the Persian and Armenian languages, and the bearer of letters to the pope from certain Eastern rulers, was in turn entrusted by Pope nicholas iv with various letters, including one to the Mongol great Khan at Khanbalik (Peking). In 1291 John set out through Persia, passed a year in India, where he made about 100 converts, and followed the sea route up the China coast, thence to the Mongol capital. One of his two companions, Nicholas of Pistoia, OP, died in India. The other, Peter Lucalongo, a merchant, remained with the friar, and the two reached Khanbalik in 1294. Khan Timor Olcheitu (Chen Tsung) received them courteously. For a number of years John labored alone, overcoming with his tact the hostility he encountered from Nestorian clergy. At Tenduk, northwest of Khanbalik, the ruler, Prince George, a convert from nestorianism, supported the establishment of a mission, which did not, however, outlast George's lifetime. The letters to the West that John dispatched in 1305 and 1306 resulted in his being named archbishop by Clement V (1307). Franciscan suffragans were named to consecrate him and further develop the mission. Meanwhile, on land donated by Peter Lucalongo, John built three churches in Khanbalik. He also baptized more than 6,000 converts, translated the New Testament and Psalter into the native speech, probably Uighur or Mongol in Uighur characters, and trained a native boys' choir that delighted the Khan. He had also made contacts with the Alans resident in the capital and personally served a church of the Armenian rite. On his death at the age of 82, he was mourned by non-Christians and Christians alike.

See Also: missions, history of (medieval).

Bibliography: Sinica franciscana, v. 1, ed. a. van den wyngaert (Quaracchi-Florence 1929). a. c. moule, Christians in China before the Year 1550 (New York 1930). k. s. latourette, A History of Christian Missions in China (New York 1929). a. van den wyngaert, Notes sur Jean de Mont Corvin (Lille 1924), also in La France franciscaine, 6 (1923) 135–186. j. richard, "Essor et déclin l'église catholique de Chine au XIV^e siècle," Bulletin de la société des missionsétrangères de Paris (Hong Kong 1962).

[m. w. baldwin]