Browsing by Author "Lampikoski, Henrik Matias"

The arrival of the Mongols in Europe and the Middle East in the mid-13th century opened the until then unknown Asia to Western Christendom. The contacts between Europeans and Mongols eventually developed and led to increasing numbers of Latin Christians visiting Mongol-dominated China. Among the travellers were several Franciscan missionaries. So far, little research has been done on the medieval mission to China, and therefore the reasons for the success and decline of the mission have not been explained with sufficient accuracy. Particularly the decline of the mission has often been explained with external factors such as the collapse of the Mongol Empire or the Black Death, and since such external factors have dominated previous scholarship, the internal factors that can be found in the primary sources have received insufficient attention. The purpose of this thesis is to explore the reasons for the slow beginning, the rapid success, and the surprisingly undocumented end of the mission. Most sources pertaining to the mission are eyewitness accounts by the missionaries and papal bulls. I also use a number of travelogues relevant for the European-Mongol encounters of the period (John of Plano Carpini, William of Rubruck, Marco Polo, Rabban Sauma) as well as Chinese sources (Yuanshi). I begin by discussing the contacts between Europeans and Mongols since these form the background and wider context of the mission to China. Next, I devote three chapters to the three periods I have chosen to divide the history of the mission into. Between 1271 and 1294, the Western Church received and reacted to several pieces of information from Asia about the opportunities to do missionary work in the East, and eventually the first Western missionary to China, John of Montecorvino, arrived at his destination. Between 1294 and 1306, Friar John handled the mission alone, the Papacy being unaware of his work. During this time he experienced both success and setbacks while working among the Eastern Christians. From 1307 onward, the Papacy, inspired by letters from Friar John, took a more active role, which led to the formation of a church province in the East. However, as the mission was growing in scope, it was also declining, and the last group of missionaries sent to China in 1370 disappeared during their journey. My research shows that changes in the external environment have been overstressed in past research. The most important reasons for the slow beginning, the rapid growth, and the gradual and undocumented decline are best identified from the primary sources. It is evident that the Western Church reacted too slowly to Khubilai Khan s request for missionaries to China, and this was caused by the fact that the popes and the Roman Curia were unable to assess the opportunities and challenges present. Such unawareness led to two failed attempts to send missionaries to China. It was only in the 1280s that Nestorian travellers from China inspired the Western Church to organise the first successful missionary effort. When John of Montecorvino arrived in China, he could not persuade the Nestorians to join him in his work, but instead he attracted large amounts of Eastern Christians whom the Mongols had brought to China from the Western parts of Asia. However, despite its rapid growth, the mission was limited to relatively small groups, and the missionary work could be expanded only after the arrival of more missionaries in 1313. The role of the leaders of the Western Church remained passive, and due to the death of the European bishops in China, the church province was twice left without proper leadership even though China was open to receiving more missionaries. The mission declined gradually, and by the time external factors such as the Black Death could affect it, it had already ended. However, the forgotten missionary effort would continue in the 16th century as Europeans, inspired by medieval travellers to Asia, discovered the sea route to China.