en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Clement_V
2 corrections found
Clement sent John of Montecorvino to Beijing to preach in China.
John of Montecorvino was sent to China by Pope Nicholas IV in 1289, not by Clement V. Clement V later promoted him after his success there.
Full reasoning
This sentence reverses the chronology of John of Montecorvino’s mission.
John of Montecorvino was already sent east by Pope Nicholas IV years before Clement V became pope. A standard Catholic reference states that Nicholas IV entrusted John with the mission to Farther China, and that he started on his journey in 1289. A second biographical reference likewise says that in 1289 Pope Nicholas IV sent John as his legate to the Great Khan in Khanbaliq (Beijing), and that John reached Beijing in 1294.
Clement V’s actual connection came later: after John had already been working in China for years, Clement V appointed him archbishop of Beijing in 1307 and sent supporting bishops. So Clement did not send John to Beijing to begin preaching in China; Nicholas IV did.
2 sources
- CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: John of Montecorvino
About that time John of Montecorvino came to Rome with similar promising news, and Nicholas IV entrusted him with the important mission to Farther China... He started on his journey in 1289.
- Montecorvino, John | Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Christianity
In 1289 he was the leader of an embassy from Haiton II of Armenia to Pope Nicolas IV, who sent John as his legate to the Great Khan, Kublai, in Khanbaliq... Pope Clement V appointed John archbishop of Beijing and primate of all the East in 1307.
This move, actually to Carpentras, the capital of the territory,
Clement V’s 1309 transfer of the curia was to Avignon, not to Carpentras. Carpentras became an important curial location later, by the end of his pontificate.
Full reasoning
The sentence is chronologically wrong about where Clement V relocated the curia in 1309.
A standard Catholic reference says that after residing in several places in France from 1305 to 1309, Clement V finally took up his residence at Avignon. Another reference states that until 1309, when Clement fixed his residence in Avignon, the papal curia was itinerant.
Carpentras was associated with Clement later, but that does not make the 1309 move “actually to Carpentras.” The Carpentras library-museum’s historical summary explains that Clement V chose to establish himself at Avignon after his election, while the papal Audience was at Carpentras when he died in 1314. So the article’s wording incorrectly substitutes Carpentras for Avignon in describing the original transfer of the curia.
3 sources
- CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Pope Clement V
For some time (1305-1309), Pope Clement resided at different places in France (Bordeaux, Poitiers, Toulouse), but finally took up his residence at Avignon...
- Clement V, Pope | Encyclopedia.com
Until 1309, when Clement fixed his residence in Avignon, the papal curia was itinerant.
- Une élection de pape à Carpentras - Library-museum Inguimbertine Carpentras
Clément V ... décide de ne pas s'installer à Rome pour s'établir ... à Avignon ... Lorsque Clément V décède le 20 avril 1314 ... l'Audience est établie à Carpentras.