Andrew of Perugia ( la, Andreas Perusinus; died ) was a

Franciscan , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans , abbreviation = OFM , predecessor = , ...

friar A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders founded in the twelfth or thirteenth century; the term distinguishes the mendicants' itinerant apostolic character, exercised broadly under the jurisdiction of a superior general, from the ...

and

Bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ...

born in

Perugia Perugia (, , ; lat, Perusia) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber, and of the province of Perugia. The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and part ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, and active in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

in the 14th century. He was Bishop of

Quanzhou Quanzhou, alternatively known as Chinchew, is a prefecture-level port city on the north bank of the Jin River, beside the Taiwan Strait in southern Fujian, China. It is Fujian's largest metropolitan region, with an area of and a popul ...

(ancient Zaiton) in

Fujian Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its ...

from 1322. He was initially sent to China in 1307 by

Pope Clement V Pope Clement V ( la, Clemens Quintus; c. 1264 – 20 April 1314), born Raymond Bertrand de Got (also occasionally spelled ''de Guoth'' and ''de Goth''), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 5 June 1305 to his de ...

as a member of a group of seven Franciscan

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ...

s (Andrew of Perugia, Andreuccio d'Assisi, Gerardo Albuini, Nicola da Banzia, Ulrico von Seyfriedsdorf, Peregrino da Castello,

Guglielmo da Villanova Guglielmo da Villanova di Francia'' or ''di Franchi, Order of Friars Minor Conventual, O. Min. (Latin: ''Guilelmus de Villanova'') (French: ''Guillaume de Villeneuve'') was a Roman Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Trieste (1327–1330), Bi ...

) who were to act as

suffragan A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Anglican Communion, a suffragan bishop is a bishop who is subordinate to a metropolitan bishop or diocesan bishop (bishop ordinary) and so is not normally jurisdiction ...

s to consecrate

John of Montecorvino John of Montecorvino or Giovanni da Montecorvino in Italian (1247 – 1328) was an Italian Franciscan missionary, traveller and statesman, founder of the earliest Latin Catholic missions in India and China, and archbishop of Peking. He convert ...

Archbishop of Peking and ''summus archiepiscopus'' 'chief archbishop'. Only three of these envoys arrived safely: Gerardus, Peregrinus and Andrew of Perugia (1308). The three suffragans consecrated John in 1308 and succeeded each other in the episcopal see of

Zaiton Quanzhou, alternatively known as Chinchew, is a prefecture-level port city on the north bank of the Jin River, beside the Taiwan Strait in southern Fujian, China. It is Fujian's largest metropolitan region, with an area of and a populati ...

, established by Montecorvino. In 1322, Andrew of Perugia was nominated bishop of the see of

by John of Montecorvino.Hasting, p.711
/ref> A 1326 letter by Andrew to Friar Warden of the Convent of Perugia is known, mentioning the archbishop. Andrew died around 1332 in Quanzhou. His tombstone has been discovered in 1946, and has been transferred to Beijing, with a copy left in the Quanzhou Maritime Museum. Remarkably, the tombstone displays "

Nestorian Nestorianism is a term used in Christian theology and Church history to refer to several mutually related but doctrinarily distinct sets of teachings. The first meaning of the term is related to the original teachings of Christian theologian ...

" Christian iconography. One of his successors to the see of Zaiton seems to have been James of Florence, who died in 1362.Cathay and the Way Thither : vol.1 p.457
/ref>

Notes

References

* Henry Yule ''Cathay and the Way Thither'' Hakluyt Society, 1866 * James Hastings ''Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics Part 16: V. 16'' Kessinger Publishing, 2003 , Italian Franciscans People from Perugia 13th-century births 1332 deaths Bishops appointed by Pope Clement V {{Italy-bishop-stub

See also

Notes

References