Early life Giovanni was born, probably before 1290, to the noble
Florentine family of the Marignolli. The family is long extinct, but the
Via de' Cerretani, a street near
the cathedral, formerly bore their name. Giovanni received his
habit at the
Franciscan basilica of
Santa Croce at a young age. His work claims he later held the chair of theology at the
University of Bologna.
Departure In 1338 there arrived at
Avignon, where
Pope Benedict XII held his court, an embassy from the great
khan of
Cathay (the
Mongol emperor of the Chinese
Yuan dynasty), bearing letters to the pontiff from the khan himself, and from certain Christian
Alan nobles in his service. These latter represented that they had been eight years (since
Monte Corvino's death) without a spiritual guide, and earnestly desired one. The pope replied to the letters and appointed four ecclesiastics as his legates to the khan's court. The name "John of Florence" appears third on the letters of commission. A large party was associated with the four chief envoys: when in
Khanbaliq (within modern
Beijing), the embassy still numbered thirty-two out of an original fifty. The mission left Avignon in December 1338; picked up the "Tatar" envoys at
Naples on 10 February 1339; and arrived at
Pera near
Constantinople on May 1. While there, the
Byzantine emperor Andronicus III pled in vain for reconciliation and alliance with the
western church. Leaving June 24, they sailed across the
Black Sea to
Caffa on the
Crimea, whence they travelled to the court of
Özbeg, khan of the
Golden Horde, at
Sarai on the
Volga. The khan entertained them hospitably during the winter of 1339-40 and then sent them with an escort across the steppes to Armalec, or
Almaliq (within modern
Huocheng County), the northern seat of the house of
Chaghatai. "There," says Marignolli, "we built a church, bought a piece of ground... sung masses, and baptized several persons, notwithstanding that only the year before the bishop (referring to Bishop of Armalec) and six other minor friars had there undergone glorious
martyrdom for
Christ's salvation."
In China Quitting Almaliq in the winter of 1341, they crossed the
Gobi Desert by way of Kumul (within modern
Hami), reaching Khanbaliq in May or June 1342. They were well received by
Toghon Temür, the
last emperor of the
Yuan dynasty in China. An entry in the Chinese annals fixes the year of Marignolli's presentation by its mention of the arrival of the great horses from the kingdom of the
Folang (i.e.,
Farang or
Franks), one of which was 11 feet 6 inches in length, and 6 feet 8 inches high and black all over. Marignolli stayed at Khanbaliq for three or four years, after which he travelled through southern and eastern China to
Quanzhou (modern
Xiamen), quitting China apparently in December 1347. He had been impressed by the
Christian community in China, its imperial support, and
Chinese culture.
Return He reached Columbum (
Kaulam,
Kollam or
Quilon in
Malabar) in
Easter week of 1348. At this place he found a church of the Latin communion, probably founded by
Jordanus of Severac, who had been appointed
Bishop of Columbum (
Diocese of Quilon) by
Pope John XXII in 1330. Here Marignolli remained sixteen months, after which he proceeded on what seems very much a wandering voyage. First he visited the shrine of St Thomas near the modern
Madras, and then proceeded to what he calls the kingdom of Saba, and identifies with the
Sheba of
Scripture, but which seems from various particulars to have been
Java. Taking ship again for Malabar on his way to Europe, he encountered great storms. They found shelter in the little port of Pervily or Pervilis (
Beruwala or Berberyn) in the south-west of
Ceylon; but here the legate fell into the hands of "a certain tyrant Coya Jaan (
Khoja Jahan), a
eunuch and an accursed
Saracen," who professed to treat him with all deference but detained him four months and plundered all the gifts and Eastern rarities that he was carrying home. This detention in Ceylon enabled Marignolli to give a variety of curious particulars regarding
Buddhist monasticism, the aboriginal races of Ceylon, and other marvels. was 40
miles from
Paradise, but he was unable to explore the area. After this we have only fragmentary notices, showing that his route to Europe lay by
Ormuz, the ruins of
Babel,
Bagdad,
Mosul,
Aleppo and thence to
Damascus and
Jerusalem. In 1353, he arrived at Naples, whence he visited Florence before returning to Avignon by the end of the year. There, he delivered a letter from the great khan to
Pope Innocent VI.
Later life In the following year the
Emperor Charles IV, on a visit to Italy, made Marignolli one of his chaplains. Soon after, in March 1354, the pope made him
bishop of Bisignano but he seems to have been in no hurry to reside there. He appears to have accompanied the emperor to
Prague in 1354–1355; in 1356 he is found acting as envoy to the Pope from
Florence; and in 1357 he is at
Bologna. That year, the emperor called him to be a councillor and his court historian. At his behest, Marignolli then compiled his
Annals of Bohemia. We do not know when he died. The last trace of Marignolli is a letter addressed to him, which was found in the 18th century among the records in the chapter library at
Prague. The writer is an unnamed
Archbishop of Armagh, easily identified with
Richard Fitz Ralph, a strenuous foe of the
Franciscans, who had broken lances in controversy with
Ockham and
Burley. The letter implies that some intention had been intimated from Avignon of sending Marignolli to
Ireland in connexion with matters then in debate—a project which stirs Fitz Ralph's wrath. ==Works==