Siamese embassy 1686 by Jacques Vigouroux Duplessis

Artus de Lionne (1655–1713),

abbé ''Abbé'' (from Latin ''abbas'', in turn from Greek , ''abbas'', from Aramaic ''abba'', a title of honour, literally meaning "the father, my father", emphatic state of ''abh'', "father") is the French word for an abbot. It is the title for lowe ...

and Bishop of Rosalie ''

in partibus infidelium A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbish ...

'', in

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

, was a French missionary of the

Paris Foreign Missions Society The Society of Foreign Missions of Paris (french: Société des Missions Etrangères de Paris, short M.E.P.) is a Roman Catholic missionary organization. It is not a religious institute, but an organization of secular priests and lay persons ...

. He was a son of

Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Vers ...

's Foreign Minister,

Hugues de Lionne Hugues de Lionne (11 October 1611 – 1 September 1671) was a French statesman. He was born in Grenoble, of an old family of Dauphiné. Early trained for diplomacy, he fell into disgrace under Cardinal Richelieu, but his remarkable abilities ...

.''Rituals of majesty: France, Siam, and court spectacle in royal image-building at Versailles in 1685 and 1686'' Canadian Journal of History, Aug 1996 by Love, Ronald

/ref>

Biography

Artus de Lionne was born in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

in 1655. He first left for

Siam Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 mi ...

as a missionary, in 1681. He returned to France in 1686, serving as translator to the embassy of the Siamese

Kosa Pan Kosa Pan ( th, ปาน; 1633 – 15 November 1699) was a Siamese diplomat and minister who led the second Siamese embassy to France sent by King Narai in 1686.Rajanubhab, D., 2001, ''Our Wars With the Burmese,'' Bangkok: White Lotus Co. Ltd., ...

to the court of

.Smithies, Note 3, p.28 Artus de Lionne then returned to Siam with the Siamese embassy in 1687 on board the ships of the French ambassador

Simon de la Loubère Simon de la Loubère (; 21 April 1642 – 26 March 1729) was a French diplomat to Siam (Thailand), writer, mathematician and poet. He is credited with bringing back a document which introduced Europe to Indian astronomy, the "Siamese method" ...

. He played a role in the negotiation between the French and Siamese sides during the 1688 Siamese Revolution, which resulted in the expulsion of the French forces. Artus de Lionne left Siam with

General Desfarges Marshal Desfarges, also spelled Des Farges (died 1690), was a French general of the 17th century who took an important role in French efforts at establishing a presence in Siam (modern Thailand). Desfarges led two battalions (636 soldiers) on board ...

following the French defeat in the

Siege of Bangkok The siege of Bangkok was a key event of the Siamese revolution of 1688, in which the Kingdom of Siam ousted the French from Siam. Following a coup d'état, in which the pro-Western king Narai was replaced by Phetracha, Siamese troops besieged the F ...

, leaving Mgr

Louis Laneau Louis Laneau (31 May 1637 in Mondoubleau16 March 1696 in Ayutthaya) was a French bishop of the 17th century who was active as a missionary in the kingdom of Siam (modern Thailand). He was a member of the Paris Foreign Missions Society. He was ini ...

a prisoner of the Siamese for several years. Artus de Lionne then went to China as a missionary in 1689, where he worked with Bishop Maigrot in Fukien province. He was for a time the archbishop of

Sichuan Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...

(see

Catholic Church in Sichuan The presence of the Catholic Church in the Chinese province of Sichuan (formerly romanized as Szechwan or Szechuan in English; and Sutchuen, Setchuen, Sétchouan in French; la, Ecclesia Catholica in Seciuen) dates back to 1640, when two mission ...

), although he never went there. He was an opponent of the

Jesuits The Society of Jesus ( la, Societas Iesu; abbreviation: SJ), also known as the Jesuits (; la, Iesuitæ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

and took the opposite side in the

Chinese Rites controversy The Chinese Rites controversy () was a dispute among Roman Catholic missionaries over the religiosity of Confucianism and Chinese rituals during the 17th and 18th centuries. The debate discussed whether Chinese ritual practices of honoring fam ...

Artus de Lionne returned to Europe on 17 February 1702, accompanying the Chinese Christian

Arcadio Huang Arcadio Huang (, born in Xinghua, modern Putian, in Fujian, 15 November 1679, died on 1 October 1716 in Paris)Mungello, p.125 was a Chinese Christian convert, brought to Paris by the Missions étrangères. He took a pioneering role in the teach ...

. Artus de Lionne and Arcadio Huang embarked on a ship of the English

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

in order to reach

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. By September or October 1702, they left England for

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, in order to travel to

. On the verge of being ordained a priest in Rome and being presented to the pope to demonstrate the reality of Chinese Christianity, Arcadio Huang apparently renounced and declined

ordination Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorization, authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominational ...

. Artus de Lionne preferred to return to Paris to further his education, and wait for a better answer. In 1705–1707, Artus de Lionne accompanied the mission of

Charles-Thomas Maillard De Tournon Charles-Thomas Maillard de Tournon (December 21, 1668 – June 10, 1710), also known as Carlo Tommaso, was a papal legate and cardinal to the East Indies and China. Biography Tournon was born of a noble Savoyard family at Turin on 21 December 16 ...

to the

Kangxi Emperor The Kangxi Emperor (4 May 1654– 20 December 1722), also known by his temple name Emperor Shengzu of Qing, born Xuanye, was the third emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the second Qing emperor to rule over China proper, reigning from 1661 to 1 ...

of China. The mission affirmed the prohibition of

Chinese rites The Chinese Rites controversy () was a dispute among Roman Catholic missionaries over the religiosity of Confucianism and Chinese rituals during the 17th and 18th centuries. The debate discussed whether Chinese ritual practices of honoring fami ...

in 1707, but was as a result banished to

Macao Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...

. Artus de Lionne significantly influenced the editing of the 1707 treatise against Chinese philosophy of

Nicolas Malebranche Nicolas Malebranche ( , ; 6 August 1638 – 13 October 1715) was a French Oratorian Catholic priest and rationalist philosopher. In his works, he sought to synthesize the thought of St. Augustine and Descartes, in order to demonstrate the ...

(''Entretien d'un philosophe Chrétien et d'un philosophe chinois sur l'existence et la nature de Dieu'').''The Cambridge History of Seventeenth-century Philosophy'' By Daniel Garber, Michael Ayers, Roger Ariew Page 9

/ref> He died in Paris in 1713.

Works

*''Chinese Manual: Sse Tse Ouen Tsien Tchou Four Words Literature (with) Commentary (or) Explication. ("Recueil de Phrases Chinoises, Composées de Quatre Caractères Et Dont Les Explications Sont Rangées Dans L'ordre Alphabétique Français")'' * Lionne, Artus de: Le journal de voyage au Siam de l'abbé de Lionne; suivi de Mémoire sur l'affaire. Paris: "Églises d'Asie", 2001.

Notes

References

*Barnes, Linda L. (2005) ''Needles, Herbs, Gods, and Ghosts: China, Healing, and the West to 1848'' Harvard University Press *''Les Missions Etrangères. Trois siècles et demi d'histoire et d'aventure en Asie'' Editions Perrin, 2008, *Smithies, Michael (2002), ''Three military accounts of the 1688 "Revolution" in Siam'', Itineria Asiatica, Orchid Press, Bangkok, {{DEFAULTSORT:Lionne, Artus De 1655 births 1713 deaths Clergy from Rome Paris Foreign Missions Society missionaries French Roman Catholic missionaries French translators Italian translators 17th-century French Roman Catholic bishops 17th-century Italian Roman Catholic bishops Roman Catholic missionaries in China French expatriates in China Roman Catholic missionaries in Thailand French expatriates in Thailand 17th-century translators Missionary linguists Catholic Church in Sichuan