Papal Bulls to the Mongols by Pope Innocent IV
The Weight of the Word of God in the Realm of Men
Introduction
Papal Bulls are statements, communications, proclamations, and other edicts that come directly from the Pope. I found an interesting series involving Pope Innocent IV beseeching the Mongols to stop killing Christians and convert to Christianity and one of the Mongol responses. The exchange is interesting as we get to see proselytizing and statecraft side by side, or perhaps, in this case, they're not truly separate.
Dei Patris Inmensa (God the Father is immense) 1245
It's unknown if Friar Laurence of Portugal and his entourage ever carried this letter to the Mongols. That said, I believe it has a very interesting subtext underneath the piety. The short letter is an ultra-condensed retelling of Christ's life and his place as God/the Son of God. Here is the first line.
The immense benevolence of God the father, considering with ineffable piety the fall of mankind, which came to ruin by the sin of the first man, and wishing with great love to mercifully revive him whom diabolic envy has made prostrate by deceitful suggestion, has sent his only-begotten son, sharing the same nature with him, from the highest throne of heaven to the lowest dirt of the world, he who, conceived in the womb of the pre-elected virgin by the grace of the Holy Spirit and endowed there with the clothing of human flesh, thenceforth appeared to all, having exited from the enclosed gate of his mother's virginity.
As we see, after obliquely referencing Adam & Eve eating the forbidden fruit, he skips over a bunch of boring things like floods, strolling through the desert, and Canaanites. After removing the fluff, Innocent drops what should be a bombshell about a virgin birth and continues on with the rest of the story of Jesus. I understand that he probably didn't want to cover everything and probably wanted to leave a few hooks for his reader but still it seems that the Pope had a very aggressive editor. I'm curious how the story could be retold with a similar word count, and I may attempt it later as it seems fun.
We arrive at the point of this letter immediately after Jesus's death and resurrection (the important part is italicized in bold).
Therefore putting himself forward as a sacrifice for the redemption of mankind, with the enemy of man's salvation made prostrate, he rescued it from the shame of servitude to the glory of freedom, by opening the gate of the heavenly nation for it; and finally rising again from the dead and ascending into heaven, he left behind a vicar for mankind on earth, to whom the constancy of his love, proven by the evidence of his three-fold profession, committed the care of souls, so that he might vigilantly be attentive and attentively be vigilant to their salvation, for which he had humbled his loftiness, handing over to him the keys of the kingdom of heaven, through which he and his successors through him might obtain the power of opening and closing the gate of the same kingdom for everyone.
This very powerful and important God effortlessly wields power to create life, stymie death, or presumably dole it out, and leave a representative, a lieutenant, majordomo, or associate who happens to be the Pope writing this letter. It's an interesting play to build up how powerful the Christian God is to these savages of the Steppes and then make it very clear that they're communicating with this God's representative on earth. Pope Innocent IV tried to also confer this legitimacy on his representative Lawrence of Portugal and his entourage, presumably in the hopes of increasing their chances of success as well as hopefully limiting the odds they ended up sent back in small boxes.
When attempting to treat with the greatest power on earth at this time on behalf of Christendom, either obsequious submission was called for, or one had to play a higher card. Being the direct representative of God is a reasonable, although risky, play that could have easily backfired. Unfortunately, historians aren't sure if this letter was ever sent, let alone delivered, to the Mongol Empire, but it remains a fascinating look at Papal statecraft.
Cum non solum (1245)
This next letter from Pope Innocent IV does appear to have been delivered to the Mongols, specifically Güyük Khan, who was the leader of the Mongols and grandson of Genghis Kahn., but it is all the worse for it. When the Pope asks for "Peace," he's unaware that the Mongol translation means "Subjection." This is a much more direct letter that lacks the parochial education of the last letter. Pope Innocent IV directly requests and boldly enough warns the Mongol leader to stop killing Christians.
We therefore, desiring to live together by the example of the Pacific King in the unity of peace under the fear of God, warn, request, and advise your unity intently: desist completely from further attacks of this kind and especially from the persecution of Christians, and through the satisfaction of a fitting penance placate the anger of Divine Majesty which on account of so many and such great offenses you most certainly have provoked through these incitements.
Reading the previous sentence makes me wish I understood Latin so I could have a more precise understanding of what he meant by "warn, request, and advise". It seems clear that he's warning the Mongol leader of spiritual consequences, but I'm also curious if he was brave or foolhardy enough to threaten him in the temporal realm with that comment. I'm also curious what the Pope would consider a "fitting penance" for the Christian lives taken. Would he perhaps consider letting bygones be bygones if they turned around, or would he insist on holding him accountable? Would turning to Christianity and ostensibly becoming the Pope's own personal sword of anger (a slight twisting of the Pope's words) count as penance?
It's interesting to see the Pope preemptively attempting to answer the Khan's thoughts about why an all-powerful God would allow someone who is supposedly wicked to reign and win battle after battle.
the all-powerful Lord has so far permitted diverse nations to be laid low before you; but He in our age frequently passes over chastening the proud until the right time, so that if they neglect to become humble of their own accord, He may not hesitate to punish their wickedness in time and may exact more serious retribution in the future.
It's a clever piece of lampshading designed to defuse the natural Mongol response of why this Christian God hasn't interceded on behalf of the Christian nations yet. It highlights one of the oldest philosophical questions, "Why do bad things happen to good people?" but doesn't attempt to answer it in any great way. I understand that Thomas Aquinas, amongst others, tried to answer this. I look forward to reading his take in the future. Regardless Güyük Kahn appears to have been unmoved, as seen by his response.
Response from Güyük Khan (1246)
The response from Güyük Khan is very short and direct. It seems the Khan took the Pope's letter to be an offer of subservience or vassalage. The implied alternative to becoming subjects was the option of becoming bleached bones in the sun; which historically had occurred often enough to be known. Regardless, his letter is short, direct, and devoid of flowery rhetoric. It demands that the Pope and all the kings come in person to swear fealty and bring goods and payment to back up their desire for peace.
While I was unable to find the Pope's direct response to this gracious offer, it sounds like he didn't take them up on the opportunity. I'm curious how that may have differed had the Mongols been closer to Lyon. The Papal seat was at Lyon for several years of Pope Innocent's term due to security reasons in Rome following a particularly spirited papal election.
Viam Agnoscere Veritatis (1248)
The third and final letter from Pope Innocent IV was sent to Baiju Noyan, the Mongol commander of Asia Minor and parts of the Middle East. As might be expected, this letter again turns towards religion, exhorting the Mongol commander to turn his people towards Christ and stop killing Christians, not necessarily in that order.
Better that you humble yourself before Him, face to face, and recognize His forbearance, Who for so long has endured your destructive actions; that in waiting, you may be turned from errors to truth, and be able to fear Him, lest He provoked for too long a time should threaten you, since you do not recognize His omnipotence.
Pope Innocent IV also stepped up the rhetorical juice by informing him that he could no longer claim ignorance when his time of judgment came.
But since you are not yet Christians and are ignorant, knowing little of the Creator and Jesus Christ; as much as we are troubled, we know that a more serious danger threatens your souls, especially since you have heard about the faith and cannot be excused before God on account of ignorance.
While the exact response of Bajiu doesn't appear to be recorded or at least I haven't been able to find it, the gist of it appears to be submit or die, which, in fairness, is pretty on the money for the Mongols and consistent with Güyük's previous response. It's a testament to the solidarity of Mongol leadership and to their culture of victory that a far-off military commander and governor was able to respond in virtual lockstep with his leadership independently. I wonder whether this was an official stance being operated on similar to an SOP or if it was just a natural response because that's how the Mongols were. I suspect it's a bit of both.
Takeaways
Pope Innocent IV took his role as the chief spiritual figure seriously and spoke with the Mongols in that role in both attempting to convert them, which would have been quite the coup, to say the least, as well as simply trying to get them to stop killing his extended flock as they had done in Armenia and Georgia as well as others. While he Church's powers during the Middle Ages waxed and waned based on a multitude of factors, such as the specific Pope in question and the rulers of various kingdoms and other political units of that time, and other considerations. With that said, while Pope Innocent IV does not appear to have seen himself as a king in the temporal sense, he was clearly not afraid to throw his weight around, and it does not appear that any of the rulers saw him as speaking out of turn.
When dealing with the Church, it is always interesting to see who the true believers are and for whom the Church was simply the best option available to a young man during the time. I'm not able to get a clear sense of his religious conviction, but overall, it seems he took his duties to the souls under him seriously. I would really love to know his true thoughts when composing the letters, as well as what he thought of his chances of success on either of his goals.
From the Mongol's perspective, they seemed to be aware of the Pope's importance, although they may have overestimated his ability to negotiate on behalf of his constituents. I suppose that's an easy mistake to make when the self-styled Vicar of Christ on Earth introduces himself to you. While they treated that as his role, they didn't seem to take his pleas too seriously beyond being an easy lever to assimilate Western Europe with a minimum of effort.
The Mongol Empire continued on for about another 120 years after these communications before finally succumbing to internal strife centered around succession and whether to settle down to a sedentary lifestyle. At the time the letters were written, although cracks were starting to show, this was still an ascendant empire with its conquest of China still to come.
Conclusion
Ultimately, nothing came from the communications between Pope Innocent IV and the Mongol Empire. However, they serve as a look into communications between political states during the High Middle Ages. They highlight the Church's dual role as a religious institution and an almost superstate speaking for Christendom during this time. It's also staggering to consider the Mongols near the height of their power and how casually they dismiss the ability of the fragmented powers of Western Europe to oppose them. Given their conquests radiating out of the steppes and their eventual takeover of China, it's hard to fault them, but it's still humbling to consider the immensity of their empire and the martial power they held.
Plenty of figures (Horus, Krishna, etc.) throughout history were proclaimed to have been born from a virgin birth. It’s one of the criteria to convince others of a ‘godly’ figure. Parthenogenesis is the scientific term for virgin conception. I remember reading that there are many modern women who claim to have had such an event, although it’s never been confirmed. In any event, the offspring must be female since mothers can only ever contribute an X sex chromosome. It’s just biology, baby. Anyway, without sounding heretical, it’s more realistically probable that Mary was just a whore and Jesus was a bastard. I don’t blame her story; I wouldn’t want to be stoned to death for such a transgression against John either. This religious story was simply the rallying narrative for just one tribe of the time. It's one that's dominated the West forever.
Before we had the state to protect us, we had the church. So, we had to believe its narratives. The times have changed and flipped. Now we have to believe the narratives of the state. How interesting…