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Viam agnoscere veritatis was a letter written by Pope Innocent IV to the Mongol ruler Baichu in March 1248, which was transmitted through the returning Mongol envoys Aïbeg (a Turcophone Christian, possibly a Uighur) and Serkis (a Nestorian, possibly Syrian), who had accompanied the Papal envoy Ascelin of Lombardia to Lyon, France. Viam agnoscere veritatis was the Pope's reply to Baidju's own letter, and "stated that Innocent IV had acted out of a sense of duty to let the true religion be known to the Mongols, and that he regretted the Mongols' perseverance in their errors and adjured them to cease their menaces"
The envoys had stayed at Lyon for about a year, before returning to the Mongol realm on November 22, 1248. In his communications to the envoys, the Pope appealed to the Mongols to stop their killing of Christians, and in the response he remitted to them deplored the delays in establishing a general alliance between the Christians and the Mongols. Runciman also states that Aibeg and Sarkis returned to the Mongol realm in November 1248, "with complaints that nothing further was happening about the alliance".
Excerpt of the letter:
"... regi et populo Tartarorum viam agnoscere veritatis. Humana enim natura, cum esset rationalis, erat eterna
veritate tanquam optimo suo cibo pascenda; set pena peccati mortalibus detenta vinculis ad hoc est diminutionis redacta, ut per coniecturas rerum visibilium ad intelligenda invisibilia niteretur cibi rationalis. Pro humani ergo redemptione generis se hostiam exhibens, et demum resurgens a mortuis ac in celum ascendens, vicarium sibi reliquit in terris, cui animarum curam commisit, tradens sibi claves regni celorum, per quas ipse suique per eum successores potestatem aperiendi omnibus et claudendi eiusdem regni ianuam obtinerent. Unde predicti vicarii disponente Domino nos licet inmeriti successores effecti, ad vestram aliorumque salutem
nostre intentionis dirigimus aciem, ut errantes in viam veritatis educere omnesque lucrifacere Deo valeamus. propter quod ad vos dilectum filium fratrem Laurentium de Protugal et socios eius latores presentium ordinis fratrum Minorum, ut ipsum Dei filium Iesum Christum salutaribus eorum eruditionibus agnoscentes, suum gloriosum nomen Christinae fidei observatione colatis, duxmius destinando. “
— MGH Epp. Saec. XIII 2, No. 102 (Lyon, 5. March 1245)
See also
Notes
- Roux, Histoire de l'Empire Mongol, p.316: "Sergis et Aibeg were finally sent back on November 22, 1248, with an answer, known as Viam agnoscere veritatis" (Original French quote: "Serbeg et Aibeg furent finalement congédiés le 22 Novembre 1248 avec une réponse, la lettre connue comme Viam agnoscere veritatis").
- Setton, p.522 "The Pope's reply to Baidju's letter, Viam agnoscere veritatis, dated November 22, 1248, and probably carried back by Aibeg and Sargis"
- Setton, p.522
- Runciman, p.259
- Roux, Histoire de l'Empire Mongol, p.316
- "Reaching Innocent in 1248, they were given his final communication, an appeal to the Mongols to end their slaughters, especially of Christians (Rachewiltz, 87, 115-118)." in David Wilkinson, Studying the History of Intercivilizational Dialogues
- "Histoire des Croisades", Rene Grousset, p523: Grousset mentions the "response remitted to Aibag and Sargis" in which "he deplored the delays to the general agreement between Mongols and Christiandom" ("Innocent IV congédia Aibag and Sargis en leur remettant pour Baiju une réponse dans laquelle il déplorait les retards apportés à une entente générale des Mongols et de la Chrétienté.").
- Runciman, p.259
References
- Sandra Brand-Pierach, Ungläubige im Kirchenrecht, Text of the letter p.174
- Roux, Jean-Paul, Histoire de l'Empire Mongol, 1993, Fayard, ISBN 2213031649
- Grousset, Rene, Histoire des Croisades, III, Tempus, 2006 edition, ISBN 226202569X
- Runciman, Steven, History of the Crusades, III, Penguin Books, 2002 edition, ISBN 014013705X
- Kenneth Meyer Setton, "A History of the Crusades"