View source for Rabban Bar Sauma

{{short description|13th-century Turkic Nestorian monk, traveller and diplomat}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}}
{{Infobox Christian leader
|honorific-prefix = 
|name        = {{lang|syc|ܒܪ ܨܘܡܐ}} Bar Ṣawma<br/><small>("Son of Fasting")</small>
|church      = [[Church of the East]]
|see         = [[Baghdad]]
|birth_date  = c. 1220
|birth_place = [[Zhongdu]] (modern-day [[Beijing]]), [[Jin dynasty (1115–1234)|Jin China]]
|death_date  = January 1294 (aged c. 73–74)
|death_place = [[Baghdad]], [[Ilkhanate]]
|residence   = [[Baghdad]], [[Maragheh]]
|occupation  = [[Christian monasticism|Monk]], ambassador, writer
|religion    = [[Church of the East]]
}}

[[Image:VoyagesOfRabbanBarSauma.jpg|450px|thumb|Rabban Bar Ṣawma traveled from Beijing in Asia to Rome and Paris<ref name="Rossabi2014">{{cite book|last=Rossabi|first=Morris|author-link=Morris Rossabi|title=From Yuan to Modern China and Mongolia: The Writings of Morris Rossabi|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GXejBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA670|year=2014|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-28529-3|page=670}}</ref> and [[Bordeaux]] in Europe, meeting with the major rulers of the period.]]
'''Rabban Bar Ṣawma''' ([[Syriac language]]: {{lang|syc|ܪܒܢ ܒܪ ܨܘܡܐ}}, {{IPA|syr|rɑbbɑn bɑrsˤɑwma|}}; {{circa}} 1220{{snd}}January 1294), also known as '''Rabban Ṣawma''' or '''Rabban Çauma'''<ref name=mantran>Mantran, p. 298</ref> ({{lang-zh|s=拉班·扫马|t=拉賓掃務瑪|p=Lābān Sǎowùmǎ}}), was a [[Uygurs|Uyghur]] monk turned diplomat of the "Nestorian" [[Church of the East in China]]. He is known for embarking on a pilgrimage from [[Yuan dynasty|Yuan China]] to [[Jerusalem]] with one of his students, Markos (later Patriarch [[Yahballaha III]]). Due to military unrest along the way, they never reached their destination, but instead spent many years in [[Ilkhanate]]-controlled [[Baghdad]].

The younger Markos was eventually elected Yahballaha III, [[Patriarchs of the Church of the East|Patriarch of the Church of the East]] and later suggested his teacher Rabban Bar Ṣawma be sent on another mission, as Mongol ambassador to Europe. The elderly monk met with many of the European monarchs, as well as the Pope, in attempts to arrange a [[Franco-Mongol alliance]]. The mission bore no fruit, but in his later years in Baghdad, Rabban Bar Ṣawma documented his lifetime of travel. His written account of his journeys is of unique interest to modern historians, as it gives a picture of [[medieval Europe]] at the close of the [[Crusades]], painted by a keenly intelligent, broadminded, and statesmanlike observer.<ref name=EB1911>{{cite EB1911 |wstitle=Rabban Bar Sauma |volume=22 |page=767}}</ref>

Bar Ṣawma's travels occurred before the return of [[Marco Polo]] to Europe, and his writings give a reverse viewpoint, of the East looking to the West.

==Early life==
{{multiple image
| align = right
| image1 = Young man, Khocho, Nestorian Temple, 602-654 AD, wall painting - Ethnological Museum, Berlin - DSC01740.JPG
| width1 = 110
| alt1 = 
| caption1 = 
| image2 = Palm Sunday (probably), Khocho, Nestorian Temple, 683-770 AD, wall painting - Ethnological Museum, Berlin - DSC01741.JPG
| width2 = 180
| alt2 = 
| caption2 = 
| footer = '''Left image:''' A young Christian woman, possibly [[Uyghurs|Uyghur]] or [[Han Chinese]] (now in [[Gaochang]], China), [[Tang dynasty|Tang period]], 602–654<br/> '''Right image:''' [[Murals from the Christian temple at Qocho|Wall painting from a Christian church showing a scene of preaching on Palm Sunday]], [[Qocho]] (now Gaochang, China), 683–770 AD
}}
Rabban ("monk" in Syriac) Bar Ṣawma was born c. 1220 in or near modern-day Beijing, known then as [[Zhongdu]],<ref name="encyclopedia britannica raban bar sauma">Kathleen Kuiper & editors of Encyclopædia Britannica (31 August 2006). "[https://www.britannica.com/biography/Rabban-bar-Sauma Rabban bar Sauma: Mongol Envoy]." ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' (online source). Retrieved 6 September 2016.</ref> later as [[Khanbaliq]] under Mongol rule. According to [[Bar Hebraeus]] he was of [[History of the Uyghur people|Uyghur origin]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Carter|first=Thomas Francis|author-link=Thomas Francis Carter|title=The invention of printing in China and its spread westward|url=https://archive.org/details/inventionofprint0000cart|url-access=registration|year=1955|publisher=Ronald Press Co.|page=[https://archive.org/details/inventionofprint0000cart/page/171 171]}}</ref> Chinese accounts describe his heritage as [[Ongud|Öngüd]], a [[Turkic peoples|Turkic people]] classified as members of the "Mongol" caste under Yuan law.<ref>Moule, A. C., ''Christians in China before 1550'' (1930; 2011 reprint), 94 & 103; also Pelliot, Paul in ''T'oung-pao'' 15(1914), pp.630–36.</ref> The name ''bar Ṣawma'' is Aramaic for "Son of Fasting"<ref>Phillips, p. 123</ref> though he was born to a wealthy family. He was a "[[Church of the East in China|Church of the East Christian]]", and became an ascetic monk around the age of 20 and then a religious teacher for decades.

==Pilgrimage to Jerusalem==
In his middle age, Rabban Bar Sauma and one of his younger students, Rabban Markos, embarked on a journey from Yuan China to make a pilgrimage to [[Jerusalem]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/historyofchinese00gern |url-access=registration |title=A history of Chinese civilization|author=Jacques Gernet|year=1996|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=0-521-49781-7|page=[https://archive.org/details/historyofchinese00gern/page/376 376]|access-date=28 October 2010}}</ref> They traveled by way of the former [[Tangut people|Tangut]] country, [[Khotan]], [[Kashgar]], [[Taraz]] in the [[Syr Darya]] valley, [[greater Khorasan|Khorasan]] (now [[Afghanistan]]), [[Maragha]] (now [[Azerbaijan (Iran)|Azerbaijan]]) and [[Mosul]], arriving at [[Ani]] in the [[Kingdom of Georgia]]. Warnings of danger on the routes to southern [[Syria (region)|Syria]] turned them from their purpose,<ref name=EB1911/> and they traveled to Mongol-controlled Persia, the [[Ilkhanate]], where they were welcomed by Patriarch [[Denha I]] of the Church of the East. The Patriarch requested the two monks to visit the court of the Mongol Ilkhanate ruler [[Abaqa Khan]], to obtain confirmation letters for Mar Denha's ordination as Patriarch in 1266.  During the journey, Rabban Markos was declared a "Nestorian" bishop. The Patriarch then attempted to send the monks as messengers back to China, but military conflict along the route delayed their departure, and they remained in Baghdad. When the Patriarch died, Rabban Markos was elected as his replacement, [[Yahballaha III]], in 1281.  The two monks traveled to [[Maragheh]] to have the selection confirmed by Abaqa, but the Ilkhanate khan died before their arrival and was succeeded by his son, [[Arghun]].

It was Arghun's desire to form a strategic Franco-Mongol alliance with the Christian Europeans against their common enemy, the Muslim [[Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo)|Mamluk Sultanate at Cairo]].  A few years later, the new patriarch Yahballaha III suggested his former teacher Rabban Bar Ṣawma for the embassy, to meet with the Pope and the European monarchs.

==Ambassador to Europe==
{{further|Europeans in Medieval China}}
In 1287, the elderly Bar Sauma embarked on his journey to Europe, bearing gifts and letters from Arghun to the [[Byzantine Empire|Eastern Roman]] emperor, the Pope, and the European kings.<ref name=EB1911/> He followed the embassy of another "[[Church of the East|Nestorian]]", [[Isa Kelemechi]], sent by Arghun to [[Pope Honorius IV]], in 1285.<ref name="Jackson">[https://books.google.com/books?id=7FLUMVIqIvwC&pg=PA169 ''The Mongols and the West, 1221–1410'' Peter Jackson p.169]</ref><ref name="Cambridge">[https://books.google.com/books?id=BxRwJUrnr20C&pg=PA370 ''The Cambridge history of Iran'' William Bayne Fisher, John Andrew Boyle p.370]</ref>

Rabban Bar Sauma traveled with a large retinue of assistants, and 30 riding animals. Companions included the Church of the East Christian (''archaon'') Sabadinus; Thomas de Anfusis (or Tommaso d'Anfossi),<ref name="Rossabi2014 1">{{cite book|author=Morris Rossabi|title=From Yuan to Modern China and Mongolia: The Writings of Morris Rossabi|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GXejBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA387 |date=28 November 2014|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-28529-3|pages=387–}}</ref> who helped as interpreter and was also a member of a famous [[Republic of Genoa|Genoese]] banking company;<ref name=phillips-102>Phillips, p. 102</ref> and an Italian interpreter named Uguetus or Ugeto (Ughetto).<ref>Grousset, p.845</ref><ref>Rossabi, pp. 103–104</ref> Bar Sauma likely did not speak any European languages, though he was known to be fluent in Chinese, Turkic, and Persian, and he was able to read Syriac.<ref name="Rossabi2014 2">{{cite book
 |author=Morris Rossabi
 |title=From Yuan to Modern China and Mongolia: The Writings of Morris Rossabi
 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GXejBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA385
 |date=28 November 2014
 |publisher=BRILL
 |isbn=978-90-04-28529-3
 |pages=385–
}}</ref> Europeans communicated to him in Persian.<ref name="Rossabi2014 3">{{cite book|author=Morris Rossabi|title=From Yuan to Modern China and Mongolia: The Writings of Morris Rossabi|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GXejBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA386 |date=28 November 2014|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-28529-3|pages=386–}}</ref>

He traveled overland through Armenia to either the [[Empire of Trebizond]] or through the [[Sultanate of Rum]] to the [[Samsun|Simisso]]<ref>Zehiroğlu, Ahmet M. (2014) [https://www.academia.edu/11320426/Bar_Saumas_Black_Sea_Journey_1287_ Bar Sauma's Black Sea Journey]</ref> on the [[Black Sea]], then by boat to [[Constantinople]], where he had an audience with [[Andronicus II Palaeologus]]. Bar Sauma's writings give a particularly enthusiastic description of the beautiful [[Hagia Sophia]].<ref name=EB1911/> He next traveled to Italy, again journeying by ship.  As their course took them past the island of [[Sicily]], he witnessed and recorded the great eruption of [[Mount Etna]] on 18 June 1287. A few days after his arrival, he also witnessed a naval battle in the [[Bay of Sorrento]] on [[John the Baptist|St. John's Day]], 24 June 1287, during the conflict of the [[Sicilian Vespers]]. The battle was between the fleet of [[Charles II of Naples|Charles II]] (whom he calls ''Irid Shardalo'', i.e. "Il re Charles Due"), who had welcomed him in his realm, and [[James II of Aragon]], king of [[Sicily]] (whom he calls ''Irid Arkon'', i.e. "Il re de Aragon"). According to Bar Sauma, James II was victorious, and his forces killed 12,000 men.

He next traveled to Rome, but too late to meet Pope [[Honorius IV]], who had recently died. So Bar Sauma instead engaged in negotiations with the [[cardinal (Catholicism)|cardinals]],<ref name=EB1911/> and visited [[Old St. Peter's Basilica|St. Peter's Basilica]].

Bar Sauma next made stops in [[Tuscany]] (''Thuzkan'') and the [[Republic of Genoa]], on his way to Paris. He spent the winter of 1287–1288 in Genoa, a famous banking capital.<ref name=phillips-102/> In France (''Frangestan''), he spent one month with King [[Philip IV of France|Philip the Fair]], who seemingly responded positively to the arrival of the Mongol embassy, gave him numerous presents, and sent one of his noblemen, [[Gobert de Helleville]], to accompany Bar Sauma back to Mongol lands. Gobert de Helleville departed on 2 February 1288, with ''[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/clerc clercs]'' Robert de Senlis and Guillaume de Bruyères, as well as ''[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/arbal%C3%A9trier l'arbalétrier]'' (crossbowman) Audin de Bourges. They joined Bar Sauma when he later returned through Rome and accompanied him back to Persia.<ref>[[René Grousset]], ''Histoire des croisades et du royaume franc de Jérusalem'', [https://books.google.com/books?id=_ReGAAAAMAAJ vol. III], p. 718</ref><ref>Pierre Klein, ''[https://www.google.com/books/edition/La_pérégrination_vers_l_occident/b9PIDwAAQBAJ La pérégrination vers l'occident: De Pékin à Paris, le voyage de deux moines nestoriens au temps de Marco Polo]'' ({{ISBN|978-2-88086-492-7}}), p. 224</ref>

In [[Gascony]] in southern France, which at that time was in English hands, Bar Sauma met King [[Edward I of England]], probably in the capital of [[Bordeaux]]. Edward responded enthusiastically to the embassy, but ultimately proved unable to join a military alliance due to conflict at home, especially with the [[Welsh people|Welsh]] and the [[Kingdom of Scotland|Scots]].

Upon returning to Rome, Bar Sauma was cordially received by the newly elected [[Pope Nicholas IV]], who gave him communion on [[Palm Sunday]], 1288, allowing him to celebrate his own [[Eucharist]] in the capital of Latin Christianity.<ref name=EB1911/> Nicholas commissioned Bar Sauma to visit the Christians of the East, and entrusted to him a precious tiara to be presented to Mar Yahballaha<ref name=EB1911/> (Rabban Bar Sauma's former student, Markos). Bar Sauma then returned to Baghdad in 1288, carrying messages and many other gifts from the various European leaders.<ref>Boyle, in Camb. Hist. Iran V, pp. 370–71; Budge, pp. 165–97. [http://www.encyclopediairanica.com/articles/v10f2/v10f216a.html Source] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080404215845/http://www.encyclopediairanica.com/articles/v10f2/v10f216a.html |date=4 April 2008 }}</ref>

The delivered letters were in turn answered by Arghun in 1289, forwarded by the Genoese merchant [[Buscarello de Ghizolfi]], a diplomatic agent for the Il-khans.  In the letter to Philip IV, Arghun mentions Bar Sauma:<ref>Encyclopedia Iranica [http://www.encyclopediairanica.com/articles/v10f2/v10f216a.html Source] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080404215845/http://www.encyclopediairanica.com/articles/v10f2/v10f216a.html |date=4 April 2008 }}</ref>

[[Image:ArghunLetterToPhilippeLeBelExtract1289.jpg|thumb|Extract of the letter of Arghun to Philip IV, in the [[Uyghur-Mongolian script]], dated 1289, in which Rabban Bar Sauma is mentioned. The seal is that of the Great Khan, with Chinese Script: 「輔國安民之寶」, which means "Seal of the upholder of the State and the purveyor of peace to the People". French National Archives.]]
{{blockquote|"Under the power of the eternal sky, the message of the great king, Arghun, to the king of France..., said: I have accepted the word that you forwarded by the messengers under Saymer Sagura (Rabban Bar Sauma), saying that if the warriors of Il Khaan invade Egypt you would support them. We would also lend our support by going there at the end of the Tiger year’s winter [1290], worshiping the sky, and settling in Damascus in the early spring [1291].

If you send your warriors as promised and conquer Egypt, worshiping the sky, then I shall give you Jerusalem. If any of our warriors arrive later than arranged, all will be futile and no one will benefit. If you care to please give me your impressions, and I would also be very willing to accept any samples of French opulence that you care to burden your messengers with.

I send this to you by Myckeril and say: All will be known by the power of the sky and the greatness of kings. This letter was scribed on the sixth of the early summer in the year of the Ox at Ho’ndlon."|France royal archives<ref>[http://chass.colostate-pueblo.edu/history/seminar/sauma/saumaletter.htm Source] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080618170019/http://chass.colostate-pueblo.edu/history/seminar/sauma/saumaletter.htm |date=2008-06-18 }}</ref>}}

The exchanges towards the formation of an alliance with the Europeans ultimately proved fruitless, and Arghun's attempts were eventually abandoned.<ref name=mantran/> However, Rabban Bar Sauma did succeed in making some important contacts which encouraged communication and trade between the East and West.  Aside from King Philip's embassy to the Mongols, the Papacy also sent missionaries such as [[Giovanni da Montecorvino]] to the Mongol court.

==Later years==
After his embassy to Europe, Bar Sauma lived out the rest of his years in Baghdad. It was probably during this time that he wrote the account of his travels, which was published in French in 1895 and in English in 1928 as ''The Monks of Kublai Khan, Emperor of China'' or ''The History of the Life and Travels of Rabban Sawma, Envoy and Plenipotentiary of the Mongol Khans to the Kings of Europe, and Markos Who as Mar Yahbh-Allaha III Became Patriarch of the [[Church of the East]] in Asia'', translated and edited by Sir [[E. A. Wallis Budge]].  The narrative is unique for its observations of medieval Europe during the end of the Crusading period, through the eyes of an observant outsider from a culture thousands of miles away.

Rabban Bar Sauma died in 1294, in Baghdad.

==See also==
*[[Church of the East in China]]
*[[Catholic Church in China]]
*[[John of Montecorvino]]
*[[Odoric of Pordenone]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
*[[C. R. Beazley|Beazley, C. R.]], ''Dawn of Modern Geography'', ii.15, 352; iii.12, 189–190, 539–541.
* {{Cite book|last=Brock|first=Sebastian P.|author-link=Sebastian P. Brock|chapter=Rabban Ṣauma à Constantinople (1287)|title=Mémorial Mgr Gabriel Khouri-Sarkis (1898-1968)|year=1969|location=Louvain|publisher=Imprimerie orientaliste|pages=245–253|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yrJIAAAAMAAJ}}
* [[J. B. Chabot|Chabot, J. B.]]'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.&nbsp;566–610; 1894, pp.&nbsp;73–143, 235–300
* {{cite book|author=Mantran, Robert|editor=Fossier, Robert|chapter=A Turkish or Mongolian Islam|title=The Cambridge Illustrated History of the Middle Ages: 1250–1520|url=https://archive.org/details/cambridgeillustr00robe|url-access=registration|series=volume 3|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|year=1986|isbn=978-0-521-26646-8}}
* [[Odericus Raynaldus]], ''[[Annales Ecclesiastici]]'' (continuation of Baronius), AD 1288, f xxxv-xxxvi; 1289, lxi
* {{cite book|author=Phillips, J. R. S.|title=The Medieval Expansion of Europe|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|year=1998|edition=second|isbn=0-19-820740-9|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/medievalexpansio0000phil}}
*''Records of the Wardrobe and Household, 1286-89'', ed. Byerly and Byerly (HMSO, 1986), nos. 543, 1082 (for the meeting with Edward I at St Sever).
* {{cite book|author=Rossabi, Morris|title=Voyager from Xanadu: Rabban Sauma and the first journey from China to the West|year=1992|isbn=4-7700-1650-6|publisher=[[Kodansha International Ltd.]]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/voyagerfromxanad00ross}}
* [[Luke Wadding|Wadding, Luke]], ''Annales Minorum'', v.169, 196, 170-173
* Zehiroglu, Ahmet M. (2014); [https://www.academia.edu/11320426/Bar_Saumas_Black_Sea_Journey_1287_ "Bar Sauma's Black Sea Journey"]

==Translations==
Rabban Bar Sauma's travel narrative has been translated into English twice:
* Montgomery, James A., ''History of Yaballaha III'', (New York:  Columbia University Press, 1927)
*[[E. A. Wallis Budge|Budge, E. A. Wallis]], ''The Monks of Kublai Khan'', (London:  Religious Tract Society, 1928). [http://www.aina.org/books/mokk/mokk.htm Online]
A critical edition of the Syriac text with an English translation was published in 2021:
* Borbone, Pier Giorgio, ''History of Mar Yahballaha and Rabban Sauma. Edited, translated, and annotated by -'', (Hamburg, Verlag tredition, 2021)

==External links==
*{{cite book|title=The history and Life of Rabban Bar Sauma}} ([https://web.archive.org/web/20070928031354/http://www.nestorian.org/history_of_rabban_bar_sawma_1.html online])
{{Chinese travellers}}
{{Syriacs}}
{{Church of the East in China}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sauma, Rabban}}
[[Category:1220 births]]
[[Category:1294 deaths]]
[[Category:13th-century explorers]]
[[Category:13th-century diplomats]]
[[Category:13th-century Christian monks]]
[[Category:Chinese Christians]]
[[Category:Church of the East Christians from the Mongol Empire]]
[[Category:Christians from Imperial China]]
[[Category:Uyghur Christian clergy]]
[[Category:People in Christian ecumenism]]
[[Category:13th-century travel writers]]
[[Category:Church of the East in Beijing]]