Nicholas IV
Pope elected in 1288. He received the envoy Rabban Sauma in Rome that spring, gave him communion and sent letters to the Mongol king Arghun and to the catholicos Yahballaha III.
The History of Rabban Sauma says that the pope chosen while the envoy waited at Genoa was Nicholas, the bishop who had spoken with him when he first came to Rome. It describes him blessing palms, preaching, washing the feet of his household on the Thursday before Easter and giving Rabban Sauma communion with his own hand (History of Mar Yahballaha and Rabban Sauma, ch. 7 (Budge, pp. 188–196)).
His letters to the Mongol king Arghun are dated on 2 April in his first year, 1288. They set out the faith, call himself the vicar of Christ and successor of Peter, and urge the king to be baptised without delay (Nicholas IV, letter to Arghun, 2 April 1288 (Chabot, pp. 200–203)). His letter to Yahballaha III, five days later, commends the Friars Minor working in the East and encloses a profession of faith (Nicholas IV, letter to Yahballaha, 7 April 1288 (Chabot, pp. 195–199)). See Rabban Sauma, a Monk from Beijing, Visits Rome and Paris.
In the timeline
- 1287 to 1288, firm dateRabban Sauma, a Monk from Beijing, Visits Rome and Paris
Rabban Sauma, a monk of the Church of the East born in Khanbaliq, comes west as envoy of the Mongol king Arghun. He recites his creed to the cardinals in Rome, meets the kings of France and England, and in 1288 receives communion from Pope Nicholas IV.