This article adds nothing to what contemporary historiography has already contributed. However, Father Lourenzo of Portugal was a major character in the XⅢth century and he merits an account of his life and of what has been written about him. The link established between the West and East by the Franciscans inspired the imagination and intelligence of men late in the Middle Ages and this opened the doors of the new world which was soon to come. In Armando Cortesão's words: The Portuguese Discoveries were prepared and carried out in accordance with the new European thinking which was the result of Franciscan influence over its leaders" (1).
Europe, the Papacy and the East in the Mid XⅢth Century
History gives us an extensive account of Giovani da Pian di Carpine, Franciscan, his mission to Central Asia in 1245 and the report he wrote, Ystoria Mongalorum(2). At the time, Europe feared a frightening Islamic world and a still mainly unknown Asia, home of the fearless knights of the steppe, the Mongolian tribes. These fears were somewhat counterbalanced by the strong European medieval faith and the 'Prester John'(3) legend of a Christian prince somewhere in the far away East who was sent to finalize an alliance which would favour Christianity throughout the world.
In the VIth Century, during one of the most fruitful and brilliant periods in Chinese history, the Sui and Tang Dynasties, Christianity mainly based upon Nestorian principles, started expanding in Asia and the Far East. However, as the Nestorians were persecuted, this kind of Christianity was almost extinguished by the Xth Century. It remained in Central Asia and later peaked in China thanks to the religious tolerance shown by the Mongols who led the country during the Yuan Dynasty (1276-1368). The Nestorian period weakened again as the Mongols were outruled. By the time the Jesuits reached China in the late XVIth century, following the Portuguese maritime expeditions, Nestorian Christianity was almost completely extinguished. The Prester John legend originated with those Nestorians who remained in Central Asia after their retreat from China in the Xth Century namely the Öngüt and Kerait(4) people.
Those Mongol tribes which frightened Europe in the first decades of the XⅢth Century (in 1221 they were in the Caucasus, and in 1241 in Silesia and Hungary), advanced and retreated depending on what was happening in Central Asia. The troops threatening the West retreated with the death of Gengis Khan in 1227 and Ogodai in 1241, and this must have saved them from extermination. Based on the Prester John legend and a common enemy, Islam, Christianity developed the idea of an alliance between Christians and Mongolians. Between the first quarter and mid century, there was a very interesting evolution: the brutal enemies became allies in the fight against Islamism. In those two decades the cruelty of Kalka and Kiev(5) developed into the peaceful meetings of Carpine and Rubruk(6) in the Karakoram Court, and the Expedition of Raban Sauma and Mar Yaballahah(7) to the West; a little later, in the early XIVth century this 'entente' facilitated the setting up of the first Episcopal See in Khanbalik (Peking) with the Franciscan João de Montecorvino. The three grandsons of the dreaded Gengis Khan Kubilai, founder of the Yuan Dynasty in China and friend of the Poles, Hulagu, leader of the Persian Ikhan, and Batu, the Khan of the 'Golden Tribe' of Russia and Kazakhstan, were fighting Islamism together with the Western world. Religious tolerance was then possible with those Khans and the 'Pax Mongolica', and with it Catholic, Nestorian, Manichaean, Islamic, Buddhist, Shamanist and Taoist communities were allowed to grow in Asia and China.
Soon after the Council of Lyon in 1245, Pope Innocent IV sent a Franciscan mission to Central Asia's Mongol Khan and a Dominican mission to the Persian Mongols (Ilkhans)(8). For the former he chose Father Lourenzo of Portugal but in fact he never left and was replaced by Carpine. The fact that Father Lourenzo of Portugal was the first to be chosen shows how much consideration Pope Innocent IV had for him throughout his office.
When this Pope ascended the throne, in 1243, he had to face some problems in Europe and the Near East in addition to the Mongolian threat. Although the former were less serious than the latter they were no less delicate and they were all related. In fact, with the fight between the Church and the Empire, in which the Vatican was opposed to Frederico II Hohenstaufen in the first half of the XⅢth century, it was impossible to gather forces on the Western front in order to prevent the barbarian ravages. The Pope also wanted to secure his domination of the new European nations. On the other hand, in political and religious terms it was necessary to solve the growing discrepancies between Rome and Bizantium, Greeks and Latins, Western and Eastern Christianity. With the unity planned by Pope Innocent IV the West would become stronger. In view of this rather complex political and religious move, the Pope resorted to Father Lourenzo of Portugal and appointed him Papal Nuncio with a wide range of powers. Despite the difficulties he had to face while performing his duties, Father Lourenzo always deserved the trust that the Pope had put in him.
Biography
Father Lourenzo was born in 1245. The Árbol Chronológico, by J. de Castro, refers to his first years as Provincial Minister of Santiago de Compostela Franciscan Province. His importance started to be emphasized after the Papal bull titled Dei Patris immensa (1245) appointed him Ambassador to Tartary (please see below), after which he became Penitentiary Nuncio in S. João de Latrão. Between 1246 and 1248 in his capacity of Nuncio in the East he became involved in the politicalreligious quarrel between Rome and Bizantium, an action which was praised by the Pope. In 1248 or 1249 he probably went back to the Vatican to report on his mission to the East. The Pope then assigned him a task with the Roman Senate and people. In 1256 he was preaching in Spain and in 1266 he was appointed resident Bishop in Ceuta.
Papal Bulls
All Papal Bulls referring to Father Lourenzo, addressed to him or mentioning events in which he was involved date from the office of Innocent IV. Those Papal Bulls are as follows:
- Dei Patris immensa, dated 5th of March, 1245, whereby the Pope appointed Father Lourenzo of Portugal His Ambassador to the Mongolian Khan: "(Quote) Propter quod ad vos dilectum filium fratrem Laurentium de Portugallia et socios ejus latores praesentium ordinis fratrum Minorum viros religione conspicuos, honestate decorros et sacre scripture scientia preditos... duximus destinandos". But for unclear reasons Father Lourenzo did not leave; according to Pisanu, failure to get a permit to Central Asia from Melek-el-Mansur, Sultan of Emesa, could be the reason.
- Quia corporali presentia, dated 7th of July, 1246, referred to him as Penitentiary for the first time and at the same time he was sent to "ad partes transmarinas, tanquam pacis angelus, comisso tibi plenae legationis officio". As Papal Nuncio he had the task of visiting several Eastern Christian communities: Armenia, Iconium, Greece, Turkey, Syria and Egypt. He was also given full power over the Greeks of the Latin patriarchate of Antioch, Jerusalem, Cyprus Island as well as the Jacobites, Maronites and Nestorians. As part of this mission he tried to appease Greeks and Latins and facilitate an understanding between Eastern religions and Rome.
- De supremis coelorum, dated 9th of August, 1246, whereby Innocent IV informed the Antioch's Greek Bishop, Armenia's Katholikos and the Maronite bishops of the arrival of Father Lourenzo who was waiting in Lyon. The Pope asked them to welcome him and obey his decisions because he was representing the Roman Church.
- Inter alia pietatis, dated 24th of April, 1247, whereby the Pope appointed him to deal with Robert de Nantes, Jerusalem's Latin Bishop, regarding some matters.
- Satis existeret, dated 4th of June, 1247. The wide range of powers given to Father Lourenzo by Innocent IV were a token of his trust in the former. However, those powers were also a source of quarrels and troubles in the communities he visited. The old ethnic-cultural and political-religious disputes were hardly forgotten despite the Pope's sincerity in trying to appease Western and Eastern Christians. The said troubles were reported by this Papal Bull; the idea of protecting the Greeks made them rise up against the Latin hierarchy. This Papal Bull also refers to the complaints made by Robert de Nantes, Jerusalem's Bishop, and this led the Pope to cut the powers of both.
- Cum in negotiis, dated 5th of June, 1247, with the same purpose as the previous one in the light of similar difficulties.
- Censuram ecclesiasticam, dated 3rd of August, 1247. As hostilities to Father Lourenzo's directions were growing, the Pope had to remind the parties involved of the powers he held as Papal Nuncio. Therefore both Latin and Eastern people should accept his directions.
- Iuxta desiderium nostrum, dated 7th of August, 1247. Most probably the trouble created by Father Lourenzo's mission made an impression on Innocent IV. It is likely that Father Lourenzo also had the chance to ponder over his excessive behaviour or unjust actions. This notwithstanding, the Pope kept his trust in the Nuncio. The Pope used this Bull to congratulate him for his achievements with Antioch's Bishop and in bringing the Greek and Latin Churches closer.
- De protegendis per te, same date as the previous one. The Pope placed limits on Father Lourenzo's powers and specified those cases to be solved directly by him and those which were to be reported to the Pope for his perusal. With this the Vatican tried to stop the numerous complaints submitted by the Eastern Churches. Innocent IV wrote to Father Lourenzo telling him that his task was to provide peace to Eastern Christianity following some abuses by the Latin Churches. He also told him that he should not question the rights of both churches.
- Paterne pietatis, dated 21st of July, 1250. This Papal Bull was addressed to 'Eudes de Châteauroux', Frascati's Cardinal-Bishop and Papal Nuncio to the East. It mentioned that Father Lourenzo had replaced the Greek Archbishop with Latin prelates: "Sane venerabilis fratris nostris Archiepiscopi Graegorum in Cypro transmissa nobis insinuation continebat, quod ipse olim per dilectum filium Fratrem Laurentium Poenitentiarum nostrum tunc in partibus illis Apostolicae Sedis Legatum ab exilio, in quod eum illata sibi, ut asserit, a Latinis Praelatis iniuriarium molestia egerat, revocamus... ". From this indirect reference we come to the conclusion that Father Lourenzo was in fact in Cyprus following the powers that had been given to him four years earlier.
- Cum dilectum filium. This Papal Bull was probably published prior to 28th of June, 1252. In the ninth year of his office, Innocent IV stayed in Peruggia from 5th of November, 1251 to 27th of June, 1252. With this letter, Father Lourenzo is assigned by the Pope to a mission to the Roman Senate and people in order to clear the Pontificate regarding some calumnies against it.
Conclusion
Father Lourenzo of Portugal is almost unknown among the Portuguese people. His qualities and political-religious activities deserved more recognition. Only foreign writers have given him that recognition. Even though he never really left, he was the first Ambassador appointed by Innocent IV to the Great Mongol Khan; he was given a wide range of powers during his mission to the Christian East. Besides, throughout his office the Pope never lost his trust in him. The above is mentioned in books on this rather complex period, the XⅢth Century. In Europe the only recollection of this period, which is further faded in the Peninsula, is of the apocalyptic Mongol violence. Indeed this may explain why Father Lourenzo is almost ignored. Leonardo Pisanu wrote the following about him: "l'importanza e il numero delle missioni affidategli (to Father Lourenzo) sono sufficienti a considerarlo tra gli elementi più in vista fra i confratelli del suo tempo". And to end this summary I would add the following by Pisanu: "Nessuno forse tra i Francescani ebbe maggiori poteri di lui, sicché e facile capire la stima che poteva godere fra i membre della Curia Papale"(11). The Franciscan Friars played an important role in that century and consequently this article on Father Lourenzo of Portugal is of particular relevance.
BIBLIOGRAPHIC SUMMARY
I have found only one work about Father Lourenzo of Portugal: Frère Laurent de Portugal, O.F.M., et sa Légation en Orient, 1245-1248, by Martiniano Roncaglia (Franciscan Order) in 'Bolletino della Badia Greca di Grottaferrata', no.7, 1953, pp. 33-44.
The following works are the result of initial research that I carried out on works which mention Father Lourenzo:
- ALTANER, B., Die Dominicanermissionen des 13. Jahrhunderts, Halberschwerdt, 1924;
- BEAZLEY, Charles R., The Dawn of Modern Geography, London 1897-1906;
-BIGALI, D., I Tartari e l'Apocalisse, Firenze, 1971;
- CALVI, Nicoló da, O.F.M., Vita Innocentii Papae IV, Milan,1723;
- CASTRO, Jacomo de, O.F.M., Arbol Chronológico de la Provincia de Santiago, Salamanca, 1722;
- CORTESÃO, Armando, História da Cartografia Portuguesa, Coimbra, 1969;
- DAWSON, S., The Mongol Mission, London & New York, 1955;
- ESPERANÇA, Frei Manuel da, O.F.M., História Seráfica da Ordem dos Frades Menores de S. Francisco da Província de Portugal, Lisboa, 1656;
- Epistolae Saeculi XⅢ e Regestis Pontificum Romanorum selectae, in "Monumenta Germaniae Historica", Hannover-Leipzig, 1876-1913;
- EUBEL, CO., O.F.M., Bullarii Franciscani Epitome, Karachi, 1908;
- FEJÉR, Georg, Codex diplomaticus Hungariae ecclesiasticus et civilis, Buda,1829;
- FRANCHI, A., O.F.M., La Svolta Politico-Ecclesiastica tra Roma e Bizanzio,1249-1254, Rome, 1981;
- GOLUBOVICH, G., O.F.M., Bibliotheca Bio-Bibliografica della Terra Santa e dell’ Oriente Francescano, Karachi, 1913;
- GROUSSET, René, Histoire des Croisades, Paris, 1941;
- GUBERNATIS, D. de, O.F.M., Orbis Seraphicus, Rome, 1689;
- GUZMAN, Gregory, Simon of Saint-Quentin and the Dominican mission to the Mongols,1245-1248, Cincinnati, 1968;
- HALUSCYNSKYJ, T. Wojnar, e MELETIUS, M., Acta Innocentii PP. IV (1234-1254), Vatican, 1962;
- HILL, George, A History of Cyprus, Cambridge, 1948;
- LOPEZ, A., Memória Histórica de los Obispos de Marruecos desde el Siglo XⅢ, Madrid, 1920;
- LUPPRIAN, K., Die Beziehungen der Päpste zu Islamischen und Mongolischen Herrschernim 13.Jahrhundert anhand ihres Briefwechsels, Vatican, 1981;
- MESSINA, G., S.I., Cristianesimo, Buddismo, Manicheismo nell' Asia Antica, Rome, 1947;
- MOSHEMIUS, Laurentius, Historia Tartarorum Ecclesiastica, Helmstedt, 1741;
-NORDEN, W., Das Papstum und Byzanz, Berlin, 1903;
- OLIGIER, Livario, O.F.M., I Penitenzieri francescani a S. Giovanni in Laterano, in Studii Francescani 11, Florence, 1925;
-PELLIOT, Paul, Les Mongols et la Papauté, Paris, 1923;
- PELLIOT, Paul, Chrétiens d'Asie Centrale et d'Extrème Orient, T'oung Pao, Series II, n° 15, 1914;
- PELLIOT, Paul, Recherches sur les Chréiens d'Asie Centrale et d'Extréme Orient, Paris, 1973;
- PISANU, L., O.F.M., L'Attivitá Politica d'Innocenzo IV e i Francescani, 1243-1245, Naples, 1957;
-POTHAST, A., (ed.), Regesta Pontificum Romanorum, 1198-1308, Berlin,1874-1875;
-RAYNALDUS, Odoricus, Annales Ecclesiastici, Bar-le-Duc, 1870-1871;
- RISCH, Friederich, Geschichte der Mongolen und Reisebericht, Leipzig, 1930;
-RÖHRICHT, Reinhold, Regesta regni Hierosolymitani (1097-1291), Innsbruck,1893-1904;
- RONCAGLIA, Martiniano, O.F.M., Les Frères Mineurs et l'Eglise Grecque Orthodoxe au XⅢe siècle, Cairo, 1954;
-SBARALEA, H., O.F.M., Bullarium Franciscanum, Rome, 1759;
-SCHILMANN, Fritz, Die Formularsammlung des Marinus von Eboli, Rome, 1929;
-SORANZO, G., I1 Papato, I'Europa Cristiana e i Tartari, Milan, 1930;
-THEINER, Augustin, (ed.), Vetera monumenta historica Hungariam sacram illustrantia, Vatican, 1859;
-THOMSON, Williel, Checklist of Papal Letters relating to the Orders of St. Francis. Innocent III-Alexander IV, Grottaferrata (Rome), 1971;
- VAT, O. van der, O.F.M., Die Anfänge der Franziscanermissionen und ihre Weiterentwicklung in nahen Orient und in den Mohamedanischen Ländern Während des 13. Jahrhunderts, Werl, 1934;
-WADDING, Lucas, Annales Minorum, Quaracchi (Roma), 1931 (3a ed.);
-WYNGAERT, A. van den, O.F.M., Sinica Franciscana, Quaracchi (Rome), 1929.
I have not had the chance to find out whether the following works could add anything about Father Lourenzo(12):
-Primeira... e Segunda parte das Chronicas da Ordem dos Frades Menores (in English: First and Second Part of Chronicles of the Franciscan Friar Order), by Marcos de Lisboa, Lisbon, 1557 & 1662;
- De Origine Seraphicae Religionis, by Francisco Gonzaga, Rome, 1587;
-Translation into Portuguese of Chronica XXVI Generalium Ordinís Minorium, by J. J. Nunes, "Crónica da Ordem dos Frades Menores (1209-1285), manuscrito do séc. XV, agora publicado inteiramente pela primeira vez' (in English: Chronicle of the Franciscan Friar Order (1209-1285), Manuscript of the XVth Century, fully published for the first time), Coimbra, 1918.
NOTES
(1) História da Cartografia Portuguesa, by Armando Cortesão, vol. I, p. 194.
(2) Please see inter alia, and although outdated Bibliotheca Sinica, vol. Ⅲ, 1955 and following.
(3) The Prester John legend lasted for six centuries. At first it said this Christian prince was in Asia but later it reported hm in Africa. As we were more directly involved in Africa, Portuguese historiography focuses more on the latter. As regards the Asian portion of the legend, even though Portuguese authors have also studied it, foreign bibliography is richer.
(4) The Öngüt tribe, also known as 'White Tartars', were located north of the Yellow River, in the region called Tenduc by Marco Polo. The Kerait stayed in Northern Mongolia. The following works give accounts of Christianity in these tribes and its relation with the Prester John legend: Chrétiens d'Asie Centrale et d'Extrème Orient, by Pelliot; T'oung Pao, vol. 15, 1914 and Recherches... on the same which were published in Paris, 1973, after his death; Christians in China before the year 1550, by A.C. Moule, London, 1930. As regards Marco Polo's Tenduc please see The Book of Sir Marco Polo the Venetian, by H. Yule, London, 1871, and mainly Notes on Marco Polo, by Pelliot, Paris, 1959. In order to understand religious tolerance in Central Asia and China, it should be stressed that the mother of Kubilai Khan, grand-son of Gengis Khan and first emperor of the Chinese Yuan Dynasty, was a Kerait princess.
(5) At the great battle of the Kalka River on 31 st of March, 1222, the Russian troops were defeated. It is said that, after this victory, the Mongols put a large wooden board over the most important leaders of the defeated army. They then ate and partied while the Russsian leaders were suffocating under the board. Kiev, then one of the most important cities, was captured on 6th of December 1240.
(6)In July 1246, in Karakoram, Carpine attended Guyuk's enthronement ceremony as the Great Mongol Khan. In 1253, S. Luís sent the Franciscan Guilherme de Rubruck on a religious mission to Central Asia. The last interview between Rub-ruck and the Mangu Khan on Pentecost Day (31st of May, 1254), was considered by Dawson as 'Surely on of the most remarkable interviews in history', in The Mongol Mission, P. XXⅢ. The bibliography on Rubruck's mission is vast. Recently, in 1985 a book named Voyage dans l'Empire Mongol, Traduction et Commentaire de Claude René Kappler, Payot, Paris, was published.
(7) The most important Mongol mission ever sent to the Christian West (1286). It arrived in Rome in 1287 and remained in Europe for a year. Within this period the mission met Filipe IV, Eduardo I and Pope Nicholas IV. Raban Sauma said Mass in Rome pursuant to the Eastern Syrian Liturgy in the presence of the Pope and his Cardinals. He also received Communion from the Pope. This mission showed the ties (at least potential ties) between Mongols and Christians as well as Rome's ecumenical tendencies. (Please see Les Mongols et la Papauté by Pelliot and particularly The Monks of Kublai Khan Emperor of China by Sir Wallis Budge, London, 1928).
(8) This is Father Lourenzo's unaccomplished mission (Carpine left instead). As regards the Dominicans, Ascelino and André de Longjumeau were the ones to be chosen.
(9) I follow mainly Roncaglia, Pisanu, Thomson and, in terms of Mongol missions, Lupprian who is of major importance for Papal Bulls.
(10) Pisanu (p.54) said it was Niceia's Greek Patriarch. Franchi approached this subject more deeply. It is clear now that it was indeed the Greek Patriarch from Antioch whose name was David I. According to Franchi, the problem with his name is that no document confirms it. However his name is suggested by an undated and incomplete chronology (Chronologie Des Patriarches Melchites d'Antioche, by Nasrallah, Jerusalem, 1968). It should be noted that some twenty years before, Roncaglia had the same position as Franchi.
(11) Book quoted, pp. 51 & 55.
(12) I collected this bibliographic information from Francisco Leite Faria, Franciscan Order, in Os Primeiros Franciscanos em Portugal, an off-print from Colóquio Antoniano, Lisbon, 1983.
*Graduate in Law (Lisbon University); after joining the diplomatic service he was posted to Tokyo and Geneva (1967); Peking (1979); Head of Africa, Asia and Oceania Office of the Political Affairs Department (Foreign Office) in 1982; Portuguese Embassador to Maputo (1983); member of the Portuguese delegation to the Sino-Portuguese talks on the future of Macau and member of the International Committee on Macau; Plenipotentiary Minister (II) in 1987; Assistant-Director of the Sino-Portuguese Joint Liaison Group and Head of the Sino-Portuguese Land Committee (1988).
Commander of the Order of Isabel the Catholic (Spain); Officer of the Order of Mayo AI Mérito (Argentine); Officer of the Order of the Sacred Treasure (Japan); Knight of the Order of Orange-Nassau (Netherlands); Knight of the Order of Rio Branco (Brasil).
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