HIS333H1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Arabian Peninsula, Northern Canada, Socalled
Document Summary
The church of the east, syriac christians (nestorians), and marco polo on the silk road. Syriac christians in china have been (mis)named nestorian by the portuguese who encountered them in the 5th century. Whenever the portuguese talk about the st. thomas christians in india, they trace their roots to st. thomas. These communities, which emerged out of the christology debates in the 4th century, end up aligning themselves hierarchically with the catholic church. The idea that there existed kingdoms in the east that welcomed christianity is not unconnected to the emergence of eastern syriac communities in china and southern. This was part of the impetus for exploration. They wanted a kingdom that would demonstrate to the ottoman empire the superiority of the roman catholic church. The silk road(s) is a physical trade route (mostly over land) that encompassed a trade of physical goods as well as ideas (viz. religion).
