21 Facts About Yahballaha III

Yahballaha III acknowledged the primacy of the Pope and tried to form a church union, which was rejected by the traditionalist bishops of the Church of the East.

Yahballaha III was imprisoned, but his life was saved by Tekuder's Christian mother Qutui Khatun.

Arghun sought an alliance with Christian Europe against the Muslims in Syria and Egypt and, advised by Yahballaha III, sent Bar Sauma for the first East Asian diplomatic mission to Europe in history.

Ghazan started the persecution of Christians, and Yahballaha III was again imprisoned.

In 1289, Yahballaha III allowed the Dominican friar Riccoldo da Monte di Croce to preach among the Nestorians and renounced their heterodoxies.

Yahballaha III sought a church union with the Catholic Church in Rome.

Yahballaha III started negotiations in 1302 by writing to Pope Boniface VIII and Pope Benedict XI in 1304, professing the Catholic faith in the latter letter and acknowledging the pope's primacy over all of Christendom.

In 1304, Oljaitu succeeded Ghazan and renewed the persecutions against Christians, which Yahballaha III unsuccessfully tried to end.

Pier Giorgio Borbone suggests that Yahballaha III probably belonged to the Ongud tribe and dismisses Bar Hebraeus' claim about his Uyghur descent since Uyghurs at the time lived in a distant region around Turfan.

The reasons for his election were political, as Yahballaha III was familiar with Mongol customs, politics, and language because of his origin.

Yahballaha III received the seal given to the patriarch before him by Mongke Khan.

Yahballaha III's life was saved by Tekuder's mother Qutui Khatun, who was a Christian.

Yahballaha III wrote to Pope Honorius IV that Kublai Khan commissioned him to liberate the "land of the Christians".

Yahballaha III writes that they had a liberal conception of marriage, with divorces and remarriages allowed at will.

Yahballaha III renounced these heterodoxies and allowed da Monte di Croce to preach in Baghdad in 1290.

Yahballaha III brought Muslims to dominance and started persecuting Christians and destroying churches.

Yahballaha III's life was saved by Hethum II, who paid a ransom to free him from prison, and in 1296 Yahballaha III returned to his seat in Maragheh.

Yahballaha III returned to the monastery in Maragheh, whose reconstruction was supported by Ghazan, who in 1303 visited the monastery.

Nevertheless, Yahballaha III enjoyed Ghazan's support until the end of his reign.

In 1302, Yahballaha started negotiations with the Roman Curia regarding the union, and sent a letter to Pope Boniface VIII.

An outbreak of violence occurred in Erbil in 1310, with many Christians being killed and Yahballaha III, who was there at the time, barely survived.