- Simeon Rabban Ata
Simeon Rabban Ata, also Simeon Rabban-ata and sometimes Simeo Rabban Ara, was a high representative of
Syriac Christianity in the 13th century. [Richard, "Histoire des Croisades", p.376 (English edition, p. 365)] Among other things, he was tasked by the Mongols, such as KhansOgodei andGuyuk , to handle Christian matters. [Roux 1993, p.587] He was in charge of establishing Christian churches in the Mongol realm, and had contact with some of the Christian envoys and missionaries that passed through the area. [Jackson, p.98] He was known to have met withAndré de Longjumeau andAscelin inTabriz in 1245, as they were on their own missions to the Mongols. [Richard, "Histoire des Croisades", p.376]He himself visited the Mongol court in 1235-1240, [Roux 1985, p.97] and was an intermediary between Eastern and Western Christianity, corresponding with the Pope, such as when he transmitted a profession of faith by the Jacobite patriarch
Ignatius II in 1247, and gave toAndré de Longjumeau a letter in which the primacy of Rome was being recognized. [Jackson, p.94]Notes
References
*Jackson, Peter, "The Mongols and the West", ISBN 0582368960
*Roux, Jean-Paul, "Les explorateurs au Moyen-Age", Fayard, 1985, ISBN 2012793398
*Roux, Jean-Paul, "Histoire de l'Empire Mongol", Fayard, 1993, ISBN 2213031649
* Richard, Jean, "Histoire des Croisades", Fayard, ISBN 2213597871
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