![Josaphat](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3a/Josaphat.jpg)
Barlaam and Josaphat, also known as Bilawhar and Budhasaf, are
legend
A legend is a Folklore genre, genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived, both by teller and listeners, to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human valu ...
ary
Christian saint
In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and denomination. In Catholic, Eastern Ortho ...
s. Their life story was based on the life of the
Gautama Buddha
Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism.
According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in Lu ...
, and tells of the conversion of Josaphat to
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
. According to the legend, an Indian king persecuted the Christian Church in his realm. After astrologers predicted that his own son would some day become a Christian, the king imprisoned the young prince Josaphat, who nevertheless met the hermit Saint Barlaam and converted to Christianity. After much tribulation the young prince's father accepted the Christian faith, turned over his throne to Josaphat, and retired to the desert to become a hermit. Josaphat himself later abdicated and went into seclusion with his old teacher Barlaam.
[The Golden Legend: The Story of Barlaam and Josaphat](_blank)
History
![Battistero di parma, portale sud 03 leggenda di barlaam](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c5/Battistero_di_parma%2C_portale_sud_03_leggenda_di_barlaam.JPG)
The story of Barlaam and Josaphat or Joasaph is a
Christianized
Christianization ( or Christianisation) is to make Christian; to imbue with Christian principles; to become Christian. It can apply to the conversion of an individual, a practice, a place or a whole society. It began in the Roman Empire, conti ...
and later version of the story of
Siddhartha Gautama
Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism.
According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in Lu ...
, who became the
Buddha
Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a śramaṇa, wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism.
According to Buddhist tradition, he was ...
.
The tale derives from a second to fourth century
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
Mahayana
''Mahāyāna'' (; "Great Vehicle") is a term for a broad group of Buddhist traditions, texts, philosophies, and practices. Mahāyāna Buddhism developed in India (c. 1st century BCE onwards) and is considered one of the three main existing bra ...
Buddhist
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
text, via a
Manichaean
Manichaeism (;
in New Persian ; ) is a former major religionR. van den Broek, Wouter J. Hanegraaff ''Gnosis and Hermeticism from Antiquity to Modern Times''SUNY Press, 1998 p. 37 founded in the 3rd century AD by the Parthian Empire, Parthian ...
version, then the
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...
''Kitāb Bilawhar wa-Būd̠āsaf'' (Book of Bilawhar and Budhasaf), current in
Baghdad
Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...
in the eighth century, from where it entered into Middle Eastern Christian circles before appearing in European versions.
The first Christianized adaptation was the
Georgian
Georgian may refer to:
Common meanings
* Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country)
** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group
** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians
**Georgian scripts, three scrip ...
epic ''Balavariani'' dating back to the 10th century. A Georgian monk,
Euthymius of Athos
Euthymius the Athonite ( ka, ექვთიმე ათონელი ''Ekvtime Atoneli''; 955–1024) was a Georgian monk, philosopher and scholar, who is venerated as a saint. His feast day in the Orthodox Church is May 13.
Euthymius was a ...
, translated the story into
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
, some time before he died in an accident while visiting
Constantinople
la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه
, alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...
in 1028.
["St. Euthymius of Athos the translator", Orthodox Church in America]
/ref> There the Greek adaptation was translated into Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
in 1048 and soon became well known in Western Europe as ''Barlaam and Josaphat''. The Greek legend of "Barlaam and Ioasaph" is sometimes attributed to the 7th century John of Damascus
John of Damascus ( ar, يوحنا الدمشقي, Yūḥanna ad-Dimashqī; gr, Ἰωάννης ὁ Δαμασκηνός, Ioánnēs ho Damaskēnós, ; la, Ioannes Damascenus) or John Damascene was a Christian monk, priest, hymnographer, and a ...
, but F. C. Conybeare
Frederick Cornwallis Conybeare, (14 September 1856 – 9 January 1924) was a British Oriental studies, orientalist, Fellow of University College, Oxford, and Professor of Theology at the University of Oxford.
Biography
Conybeare was born in Co ...
argued it was transcribed by Euthymius in the 11th century.
The story of Barlaam and Josaphat was popular in the Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
, appearing in such works as the ''Golden Legend
The ''Golden Legend'' (Latin: ''Legenda aurea'' or ''Legenda sanctorum'') is a collection of hagiographies by Jacobus de Voragine that was widely read in late medieval Europe. More than a thousand manuscripts of the text have survived.Hilary ...
'', and a scene there involving three caskets eventually appeared, via Caxton Caxton may refer to:
Places
* Caxton Street, Brisbane, Australia
* Caxton, Cambridgeshire, a village in Cambridgeshire, UK
** Caxton Gibbet, a knoll near the village
* Caxton Hall, a historic building in London, UK
* Caxton Building, a historic ...
's English translation of a Latin version, in Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
's "The Merchant of Venice
''The Merchant of Venice'' is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. A merchant in Venice named Antonio defaults on a large loan provided by a Jewish moneylender, Shylock.
Although classified as ...
". The poet Chardri
Chardri (late 12th–early 13th centuries) was an Anglo-Norman poet, probably from western England. His pen name is probably an anagram of Richard.
Three of his poems, all in rhyming octosyllabic couplets, have survived:
*' presents a Christi ...
produced an Anglo-Norman Anglo-Norman may refer to:
*Anglo-Normans, the medieval ruling class in England following the Norman conquest of 1066
* Anglo-Norman language
**Anglo-Norman literature
* Anglo-Norman England, or Norman England, the period in English history from 10 ...
version, ''La vie de seint Josaphaz'', in the 13th century. The story of Josaphat and Barlaam also occupies a great part of book xv of the Speculum Historiale
Richard of Cirencester ( la, Ricardus de Cirencestria; before 1340–1400) was a cleric and minor historian of the Benedictine abbey at Westminster Abbey, Westminster. He was highly famed in the 18th and 19th century as the author of ''The Descript ...
(Mirror of History) by the 13th century French encyclopedist Vincent of Beauvais
Vincent of Beauvais ( la, Vincentius Bellovacensis or ''Vincentius Burgundus''; c. 1264) was a Dominican friar at the Cistercian monastery of Royaumont Abbey, France. He is known mostly for his ''Speculum Maius'' (''Great mirror''), a major work ...
.
One of the Marco Polo
Marco Polo (, , ; 8 January 1324) was a Venetian merchant, explorer and writer who travelled through Asia along the Silk Road between 1271 and 1295. His travels are recorded in ''The Travels of Marco Polo'' (also known as ''Book of the Marv ...
manuscripts notes the remarkable similarity between the tale of "Sakyamuni Burkham" (the name that Polo uses for the Buddha
Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism.
According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in Lu ...
) and St. Josaphat, apparently unaware of the origins of the Josaphat story.
Two Middle High German
Middle High German (MHG; german: Mittelhochdeutsch (Mhd.)) is the term for the form of German spoken in the High Middle Ages. It is conventionally dated between 1050 and 1350, developing from Old High German and into Early New High German. High ...
versions were produced: one, the "Laubacher ''Barlaam''", by Bishop Otto II of Freising and another, ''Barlaam und Josaphat'', a romance
Romance (from Vulgar Latin , "in the Roman language", i.e., "Latin") may refer to:
Common meanings
* Romance (love), emotional attraction towards another person and the courtship behaviors undertaken to express the feelings
* Romance languages, ...
in verse, by Rudolf von Ems
Rudolf von Ems (c. 1200 – 1254) was a Middle High German narrative poet.
Life
Rudolf von Ems was born in the Vorarlberg in Austria. He took his name from the castle of Hohenems near Bregenz, and was a knight in the service of the Counts of Mon ...
. The latter was described as "perhaps the flower of religious literary creativity in the German Middle Ages" by Heinrich Heine
Christian Johann Heinrich Heine (; born Harry Heine; 13 December 1797 – 17 February 1856) was a German poet, writer and literary critic. He is best known outside Germany for his early lyric poetry, which was set to music in the form of '' Lied ...
.
In the 16th century, the story of Josaphat was re-told as a defence of monastic life during the Protestant Reformation
The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...
and of free will
Free will is the capacity of agents to choose between different possible courses of action unimpeded.
Free will is closely linked to the concepts of moral responsibility, praise, culpability, sin, and other judgements which apply only to actio ...
against Protestant
Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
doctrines regarding predestination
Predestination, in theology, is the doctrine that all events have been willed by God, usually with reference to the eventual fate of the individual soul. Explanations of predestination often seek to address the paradox of free will, whereby G ...
.
Legend
According to the legend, King Abenner in India persecuted the Christian Church in his realm, founded by the Apostle Thomas
Thomas the Apostle ( arc, 𐡀𐡌𐡅𐡕𐡌, hbo, תוֹמא הקדוש or תוֹמָא שליחא (''Toma HaKadosh'' "Thomas the Holy" or ''Toma Shlikha'' "Thomas the Messenger/Apostle" in Hebrew-Aramaic), syc, ܬܐܘܡܐ, , meaning "twi ...
. When astrologers predicted that his own son would some day become a Christian, Abenner had the young prince Josaphat isolated from external contact. Despite the imprisonment, Josaphat met the hermit Saint Barlaam and converted to Christianity. Josaphat kept his faith even in the face of his father's anger and persuasion. Eventually Abenner converted, turned over his throne to Josaphat, and retired to the desert to become a hermit. Josaphat himself later abdicated and went into seclusion with his old teacher Barlaam.
Names
The name Josaphat is derived from the Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
''bodhisattva
In Buddhism, a bodhisattva ( ; sa, 𑀩𑁄𑀥𑀺𑀲𑀢𑁆𑀢𑁆𑀯 (Brahmī), translit=bodhisattva, label=Sanskrit) or bodhisatva is a person who is on the path towards bodhi ('awakening') or Buddhahood.
In the Early Buddhist schools ...
''. The Sanskrit word was changed to ' in Middle Persian
Middle Persian or Pahlavi, also known by its endonym Pārsīk or Pārsīg () in its later form, is a Western Middle Iranian language which became the literary language of the Sasanian Empire. For some time after the Sasanian collapse, Middle Per ...
texts in the 6th or 7th century, then to ' or ' in an 8th-century Arabic document (Arabic initial "b" changed to "y" by duplication of a dot in handwriting). This became ' in Georgian
Georgian may refer to:
Common meanings
* Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country)
** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group
** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians
**Georgian scripts, three scrip ...
in the 10th century, and that name was adapted as ''Ioasaph'' () in Greece in the 11th century, and then was assimilated to '' Iosaphat/Josaphat'' in Latin.[D.M. Lang, The Life of the Blessed Iodasaph: A New Oriental Christian Version of the Barlaam and Ioasaph Romance (Jerusalem, Greek Patriarchal Library: Georgian MS 140), BSOAS 20.1/3 (1957):]
The name Barlaam derives from the Arabic name ''Bilawhar'' () borrowed through Georgian
Georgian may refer to:
Common meanings
* Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country)
** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group
** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians
**Georgian scripts, three scrip ...
( ) into Byzantine Greek
Medieval Greek (also known as Middle Greek, Byzantine Greek, or Romaic) is the stage of the Greek language between the end of classical antiquity in the 5th–6th centuries and the end of the Middle Ages, conventionally dated to the Ottoman co ...
( ). The Arabic ''Bilawhar'' has historically been thought to derive from the Sanskrit ''bhagavan'', an epithet
An epithet (, ), also byname, is a descriptive term (word or phrase) known for accompanying or occurring in place of a name and having entered common usage. It has various shades of meaning when applied to seemingly real or fictitious people, di ...
of the Buddha, but this derivation is unproven and others have been proposed. Almuth Degener suggests derivation from Sanskrit ''purohita
Purohita ( sa, पुरोहित), in the Hindu context, means ''chaplain'' or ''family priest'' within the Vedic priesthood. In Thailand and Cambodia, it refers to the royal chaplains.
Etymology
The word ''purohita'' derives from the S ...
'' through a hypothetical Middle Persian
Middle Persian or Pahlavi, also known by its endonym Pārsīk or Pārsīg () in its later form, is a Western Middle Iranian language which became the literary language of the Sasanian Empire. For some time after the Sasanian collapse, Middle Per ...
intermediate.
The name of Josaphat's father, King Abenner, derives from the Greek name ''Abenner'' (), although another Greek version of the legend gives this name as ''Avenir'' (). These Greek names were adapted from the Georgian ''Abeneser'' (; later shortened to , ), which was itself derived from the Arabic version of the legend where he is named King ''Junaysar'' (). According to I.V. Abuladze, during borrowing from Arabic to Georgian, misplaced ''i‘jām'' resulted in the misreading of ''Junaysar'' as ''Habeneser'', after which the initial ''H''- was omitted. The origin of the Arabic name is unclear.
Sainthood
In the Middle Ages the two were identified as Christian saints, although they were never formally canonized
Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christianity, Christian communion declaring a person worthy of Cult (religious practice), public veneration and enterin ...
.
Feast days
Barlaam and Josaphat were included in earlier editions of the Roman Martyrology
The ''Roman Martyrology'' ( la, Martyrologium Romanum) is the official martyrology of the Catholic Church. Its use is obligatory in matters regarding the Roman Rite liturgy, but dioceses, countries and religious institutes may add duly approved ...
with a joint feast day on 27 November, however, they were not included in the Roman Missal
The Roman Missal ( la, Missale Romanum) is the title of several missals used in the celebration of the Roman Rite. Along with other liturgical books of the Roman Rite, the Roman Missal contains the texts and rubrics for the celebration of the m ...
.
Barlaam and Josaphat were entered into the Greek Orthodox
The term Greek Orthodox Church (Greek language, Greek: Ἑλληνορθόδοξη Ἐκκλησία, ''Ellinorthódoxi Ekklisía'', ) has two meanings. The broader meaning designates "the Eastern Orthodox Church, entire body of Orthodox (Chalced ...
liturgical calendar on 26 August ''Julian'' (8 September
Events Pre-1600
* 617 – Battle of Huoyi: Li Yuan defeats a Sui dynasty army, opening the path to his capture of the imperial capital Chang'an and the eventual establishment of the Tang dynasty.
*1100 – Election of Antipope Theodo ...
''Gregorian''),[Great Synaxaristes : ]
Ὁ Ὅσιος Ἰωάσαφ γιὸς τοῦ βασιλιὰ τῆς Ἰνδίας Ἄβενιρ
'' 26 Αυγούστου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ. and into liturgical calendar of the Slavic tradition of the Eastern Orthodox Church
The Eastern Orthodox Church, also called the Orthodox Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 220 million baptized members. It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops via ...
, on 19 November ''Julian'' (2 December
Events Pre-1600
*1244 – Pope Innocent IV arrives at Lyon for the First Council of Lyon.
*1409 – The University of Leipzig opens. 1601–1900
*1697 – St Paul's Cathedral, rebuilt to the design of Sir Christopher Wren following ...
''Gregorian'').
November 19/December 2
.'' Orthodox Calendar (Pravoslavie.ru).
Venerable Joasaph the Prince of India
'' OCA – Feasts and Saints.
Texts
There are a large number of different books in various languages, all dealing with the lives of Saints Barlaam and Josaphat in India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
. In this hagiographic tradition, the life and teachings of Josaphat have many parallels with those of the Buddha
Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism.
According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in Lu ...
. "But not till the mid-nineteenth century was it recognised that, in Josaphat, the Buddha had been venerated as a Christian saint for about a thousand years." The authorship of the work is disputed. The origins of the story seem to be a Central Asian manuscript written in the Manichaean
Manichaeism (;
in New Persian ; ) is a former major religionR. van den Broek, Wouter J. Hanegraaff ''Gnosis and Hermeticism from Antiquity to Modern Times''SUNY Press, 1998 p. 37 founded in the 3rd century AD by the Parthian Empire, Parthian ...
tradition. This book was translated into Georgian
Georgian may refer to:
Common meanings
* Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country)
** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group
** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians
**Georgian scripts, three scrip ...
and Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...
.
Greek manuscripts
The best-known version in Europe comes from a separate, but not wholly independent, source, written in Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
, and, although anonymous, attributed to a monk named John. It was only considerably later that the tradition arose that this was John of Damascus
John of Damascus ( ar, يوحنا الدمشقي, Yūḥanna ad-Dimashqī; gr, Ἰωάννης ὁ Δαμασκηνός, Ioánnēs ho Damaskēnós, ; la, Ioannes Damascenus) or John Damascene was a Christian monk, priest, hymnographer, and a ...
, but most scholars no longer accept this attribution. Instead much evidence points to Euthymius of Athos
Euthymius the Athonite ( ka, ექვთიმე ათონელი ''Ekvtime Atoneli''; 955–1024) was a Georgian monk, philosopher and scholar, who is venerated as a saint. His feast day in the Orthodox Church is May 13.
Euthymius was a ...
, a Georgian who died in 1028.[Barlaam and Ioasaph, John Damascene]
Loeb Classical Library 34, at LOEB CLASSICAL LIBRARY
The modern edition of the Greek text, from the 160 surviving variant manuscripts (2006), with introduction (German, 2009) is published as Volume 6 of the works of John the Damascene by the monks of the Abbey of Scheyern, edited by Robert Volk. It was included in the edition due to the traditional ascription, but marked "spuria" as the translator is the Georgian monk Euthymius the Hagiorite (ca. 955–1028) at Mount Athos
Mount Athos (; el, Ἄθως, ) is a mountain in the distal part of the eponymous Athos peninsula and site of an important centre of Eastern Orthodox monasticism in northeastern Greece. The mountain along with the respective part of the penins ...
and not John the Damascene of the monastery of Saint Sabas
The Holy Lavra of Saint Sabbas, known in Arabic and Syriac as Mar Saba ( syr, ܕܝܪܐ ܕܡܪܝ ܣܒܐ, ar, دير مار سابا; he, מנזר מר סבא; el, Ἱερὰ Λαύρα τοῦ Ὁσίου Σάββα τοῦ Ἡγιασμέ ...
in the Judaean Desert
The Judaean Desert or Judean Desert ( he, מִדְבַּר יְהוּדָה, Midbar Yehuda}, both ''Desert of Judah'' or ''Judaean Desert''; ar, صحراء يهودا, Sahraa' Yahuda) is a desert in Palestine and Israel that lies east of Jerusa ...
. The 2009 introduction includes an overview.
English manuscripts
Among the manuscripts in English, two of the most important are the British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...
MS Egerton 876 (the basis for Ikegami's book) and ''MS Peterhouse 257'' (the basis for Hirsh's book) at the University of Cambridge
, mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts.
Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge.
, established =
, other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
.
The book contains a tale similar to The Three Caskets found in the ''Gesta Romanorum
''Gesta Romanorum'', meaning ''Deeds of the Romans'' (a very misleading title), is a Latin collection of anecdotes and tales that was probably compiled about the end of the 13th century or the beginning of the 14th. It still possesses a two-fold l ...
'' and later in Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
's ''The Merchant of Venice
''The Merchant of Venice'' is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. A merchant in Venice named Antonio defaults on a large loan provided by a Jewish moneylender, Shylock.
Although classified as ...
''.[
]
Editions
Arabic
* E. Rehatsek – ''The Book of the King's Son and the Ascetic'' – English translation (1888) based on the Halle Arabic manuscript
* Gimaret – ''Le livre de Bilawhar et Budasaf'' – French translation of Bombay Arabic manuscript
Georgian
*David Marshall Lang
David Marshall Lang (6 May 1924 – 20 March 1991), was a Professor of Caucasian Studies, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. He was one of the most productive British scholars who specialized in Georgian, Armenian and an ...
: ''The Balavariani: A Tale from the Christian East'' California University Press: Los Angeles, 1966. Translation of the long version Georgian work that probably served as a basis for the Greek text. Jerusalem MS140
*David Marshall Lang: ''Wisdom of Balahvar'' – the short Georgian version Jerusalem MS36, 1960
The Balavariani (Georgian and Arabic ბალავარიანი, بلوریانی)
Greek
*Robert Volk, Die Schriften des Johannes von Damaskos VI/1: Historia animae utilis de Barlaam et Ioasaph (spuria). Patristische Texte und Studien Bd. 61. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2009. Pp. xlii, 596. .
*Robert Volk, Die Schriften des Johannes von Damaskos VI/2: Historia animae utilis de Barlaam et Ioasaph (spuria). Text und zehn Appendices. Patristische Texte und Studien Bd. 60. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2006. Pp. xiv, 512. .
*Boissonade – older edition of the Greek
*G.R. Woodward and H. Mattingly – older English translation of the Gree
Online Harvard University Press, Cambridge MA, 1914
* S. Ioannis Damasceni Iacobo Billio Prunæo, S. Michaëlis in eremo Cœnobiarcha interprete. Coloniae, In Officina Birckmannica, sumptibus Arnoldi Mylij. Anno M. D. XCIII. – Modern Latin translation of the Greek.
* ''Vitæ et res gestæ SS. Barlaam eremitæ, et Iosaphat Indiæ regis.'' S. Io. Damasceno avctores, Iac. Billio Prunæo interprete. Antverpiæ, Sumptibus Viduæ & hæredum Ioannis Belleri. 1602. – Modern Latin translation of the Greek.
* S. Ioannis Damasceni Iacobo Billio Prvnæo, S. Michaëlis in eremo Cœnobiarcha, interprete. Nune denuò accuratissimè à P. Societate Iesv revisa & correcta. Coloniæ Agrippinæ, Apud Iodocvm Kalcoven, M. DC. XLIII. – Modern Latin translation of the Greek.
Latin
* Codex VIII B10, Naples
* ''Reading Medieval Latin with the Legend of Barlaam and Josaphat'', ed. by Donka D. Marcus (2018) (an edition of Jacobus de Voragine
Jacobus de Voragine (c. 123013/16 July 1298) was an Italian chronicler and archbishop of Genoa. He was the author, or more accurately the compiler, of the ''Golden Legend'', a collection of the legendary lives of the greater saints of the medie ...
's shortened, Latin version)
Ethiopic
*''Baralâm and Yĕwâsĕf''. Budge, E.A. Wallis. ''Baralam and Yewasef : the Ethiopic version of a Christianized recension of the Buddhist legend of the Buddha and the Bodhisattva''. Published: London; New York: Kegan Paul; Biggleswade, UK: Distributed by Extenza-Turpin Distribution; New York: Distributed by Columbia University Press, 2004.
Old French
* Jean Sonet, ''Le roman de Barlaam et Josaphat'' (Namur, 1949–52) after Tours MS949
* Leonard Mills, after Vatican MS660
* Zotenberg and Meyer, after Gui de Cambrai MS1153
Catalan
* Gerhard Moldenhauer Vida de Barlan MS174
Provencal
* Ferdinand Heuckenkamp, version in langue d'Oc
* Jeanroy, Provençal version, after Heuckenkamp
* Nelli, Troubadours, after Heuckenkamp
* Occitan, BN1049
Italian
* G.B. Bottari, edition of various old Italian MS.
* Georg Maas, old Italian MS3383
Portuguese
*Hilário da Lourinhã. ''Vida do honorado Infante Josaphate, filho del Rey Avenir, versão de frei Hilário da Lourinhã: e a identificação, por Diogo do Couto (1542–1616), de Josaphate com o Buda''. Introduction and notes by Margarida Corrêa de Lacerda. Lisboa: Junta de Investigações do Ultramar, 1963.
Serbian
* "Barlaam and Josaphat" in the Eastern Orthodox
Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism.
Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or "canonical") ...
version comes from John of Damascus
John of Damascus ( ar, يوحنا الدمشقي, Yūḥanna ad-Dimashqī; gr, Ἰωάννης ὁ Δαμασκηνός, Ioánnēs ho Damaskēnós, ; la, Ioannes Damascenus) or John Damascene was a Christian monk, priest, hymnographer, and a ...
, copied and translated into Old Church Slavonic
Old Church Slavonic or Old Slavonic () was the first Slavic languages, Slavic literary language.
Historians credit the 9th-century Byzantine Empire, Byzantine missionaries Saints Cyril and Methodius with Standard language, standardizing the lan ...
by anonymous monk-scribes
A scribe is a person who serves as a professional copyist, especially one who made copies of manuscripts before the invention of automatic printing.
The profession of the scribe, previously widespread across cultures, lost most of its promi ...
from the 9th-11th centuries, and in modern Serbian by Ava Justin Popović
Justin Popović ( sr-cyr, Јустин Поповић, ; 6 April 1894 – 7 April 1979) was a Serbian Orthodox theologian, archimandrite of the Ćelije Monastery, Dostoyevsky scholar, writer, an advocate of anti-communism and a critic of the pr ...
("Lives of the Saints" for November, pp. 563–590), an abridged version of which is given in the Ohrid Prologue of Bishop Nikolaj Velimirović
Nikolaj Velimirović (Serbian Cyrillic: Николај Велимировић; – ) was bishop of the eparchies of Ohrid and Žiča (1920–1956) in the Serbian Orthodox Church. An influential theological writer and a highly gifted orato ...
.
Croatian
Three Croatian versions exist, all translations from Italian. The older Shtokavian
Shtokavian or Štokavian (; sh-Latn, štokavski / sh-Cyrl, italics=no, штокавски, ) is the prestige dialect of the pluricentric Serbo-Croatian language and the basis of its Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian and Montenegrin standards. It ...
untitled version originated in the Republic of Ragusa
hr, Sloboda se ne prodaje za sve zlato svijeta it, La libertà non si vende nemmeno per tutto l'oro del mondo"Liberty is not sold for all the gold in the world"
, population_estimate = 90 000 in the XVI Century
, currency = ...
and was transcribed to a codex from an earlier source in the 17th century, while the younger Chakavian
Chakavian or Čakavian (, , , sh-Latn, čakavski proper name: or own name: ''čokovski, čakavski, čekavski'') is a South Slavic regiolect or language spoken primarily by Croats along the Adriatic coast, in the historical regions of Dalmat ...
translations, one manuscript and one printed, originated in the beginning of the 18th century. The book was published by Petar Maçukat in Venice
Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...
in 1708 and titled ''Xivot Seto ETO may refer to:
Science and technology
* Emitter turn off thyristor, a semiconductor device
* Ethylene oxide, an organic compound
* RUNX1T1, a gene
* Efforts to Outcomes, software produced by Social Solutions
Sports
* ETO-SZESE Győr FKC, a H ...
a Giosafata obrachien od Barlaama'' and is currently held in the National and University Library in Zagreb
National and University Library in Zagreb (NSK) (, NSK; formerly , NSB) is the national library of Croatia and central library of the University of Zagreb.
The Library was established in 1607. Its primary mission is the development and preservat ...
. Both manuscripts were published in 1913 by Czech slavist Josef Karásek and Croatian philologist Franjo Fancev and reprinted in 1996. The Chakavian
Chakavian or Čakavian (, , , sh-Latn, čakavski proper name: or own name: ''čokovski, čakavski, čekavski'') is a South Slavic regiolect or language spoken primarily by Croats along the Adriatic coast, in the historical regions of Dalmat ...
translations had a common source while the older Shtokavian
Shtokavian or Štokavian (; sh-Latn, štokavski / sh-Cyrl, italics=no, штокавски, ) is the prestige dialect of the pluricentric Serbo-Croatian language and the basis of its Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian and Montenegrin standards. It ...
one used an earlier Italian version as well as the ''Golden Legend
The ''Golden Legend'' (Latin: ''Legenda aurea'' or ''Legenda sanctorum'') is a collection of hagiographies by Jacobus de Voragine that was widely read in late medieval Europe. More than a thousand manuscripts of the text have survived.Hilary ...
''.
*Petar Maçukat (translator). ''Xivot Seto ETO may refer to:
Science and technology
* Emitter turn off thyristor, a semiconductor device
* Ethylene oxide, an organic compound
* RUNX1T1, a gene
* Efforts to Outcomes, software produced by Social Solutions
Sports
* ETO-SZESE Győr FKC, a H ...
a Giosafata obrachien od Barlaama s yednim verscem nadostavglien radi xena bitti osudyen''. Venice: Published by Domenico Lovisa, 1708.
*Josip Karásek and Franjo Fancev (editors). ''Dubrovačke legende''. Prague: Published for Hohen Unterrichtsministeriums in Wien and the Hlávka family fond by Edvard Leschinger, 1913.
*Branimir Donat (editor). ''Dubrovačke legende''. Zagreb: Published for Zorka Zane by Dora Krupićeva, 1996 (Reprint).
*Vesna Badurina Stipčević (editor). ''Hrvatska srednjovjekovna proza''. Zagreb: Published for Igor Zidić by Matica hrvatska, 2013.
Hungarian
* Translation from the Golden Legend
The ''Golden Legend'' (Latin: ''Legenda aurea'' or ''Legenda sanctorum'') is a collection of hagiographies by Jacobus de Voragine that was widely read in late medieval Europe. More than a thousand manuscripts of the text have survived.Hilary ...
in the Kazincy-codex between 1526 and 1541
English
*Hirsh, John C. (editor). ''Barlam and Iosaphat: a Middle English life of Buddha''. Edited from MS Peterhouse 257. London; New York: Published for the Early English Text Society
The Early English Text Society (EETS) is a text publication society founded in 1864 which is dedicated to the editing and publication of early English texts, especially those only available in manuscript. Most of its volumes contain editions of ...
by the Oxford University Press, 1986.
*Ikegami, Keiko. ''Barlaam and Josaphat : a transcription of MS Egerton 876 with notes, glossary, and comparative study of the Middle English and Japanese versions'', New York: AMS Press, 1999.
*John Damascene, ''Barlaam and Ioasaph'' (Loeb Classical Library). David M. Lang (introduction), G. R. Woodward (translator), Harold Mattingly (translator)· Publisher: Loeb Classical Library, W. Heinemann; 1967, 1914.
*MacDonald, K.S. (editor). ''The story of Barlaam and Joasaph : Buddhism & Christianity''. With philological introduction and notes to the Vernon, Harleian and Bodleian versions, by John Morrison. Calcutta: Thacker, Spink, 1895.
Old Norse
''Barlaams saga ok Jósafats'' is an Old Norse
Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and t ...
(specifically Old Norwegian
nn, gamalnorsk
, region = Kingdom of Norway (872–1397)
, era = 11th–14th century
, familycolor = Indo-European
, fam2 = Germanic
, fam3 = North Germanic
, fam4 = West Scandinavian
, fam5 ...
) rendering of the story of ''Barlaam and Josaphat''. This Old Norwegian version is based on a Latin translation from the 12th century; the saga of Guðmundur Arason
Guðmundur Arason (1161 – March 16, 1237; Modern Icelandic: ; Old Norse: ) was an influential 12th and 13th century Icelandic saintly bishop who took part in increasing the powers of the Catholic Church in medieval Iceland. His story is ...
records that it was translated by King Haakon III Sverresson (died 1204). There are several other Old Norse versions of the same story, translated independently from different sources. There are two Old Swedish
Old Swedish (Swedish language, Modern Swedish: ) is the name for two distinct stages of the Swedish language that were spoken in the Middle Ages: Early Old Swedish (), spoken from about 1225 until about 1375, and Late Old Swedish (), spoken fro ...
versions, the older of which draws on the ''Golden Legend
The ''Golden Legend'' (Latin: ''Legenda aurea'' or ''Legenda sanctorum'') is a collection of hagiographies by Jacobus de Voragine that was widely read in late medieval Europe. More than a thousand manuscripts of the text have survived.Hilary ...
'', while the younger uses the ''Speculum historiale
Richard of Cirencester ( la, Ricardus de Cirencestria; before 1340–1400) was a cleric and minor historian of the Benedictine abbey at Westminster Abbey, Westminster. He was highly famed in the 18th and 19th century as the author of ''The Descript ...
'' as its main source. The early sixteenth-century Icelandic legendary
Legendary may refer to:
* Legend, a folklore genre
* Legendary (hagiography)
** Anjou Legendarium
* J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium
Film and television
* ''Legendary'' (film), a 2010 American sports drama film
* ''Legendary'', a 2013 film fea ...
Reykjahólarbók includes a version translated from Low German.
*Magnus Rindal (editor). ''Barlaams ok Josaphats saga''. Oslo: Published for Kjeldeskriftfondet by Norsk historisk kjeldeskrift-insitutt, 1981.
*
Tibetan
* Rgya Tch'er Rol Pa – ou: Développement des jeux, Philippe Édouard Foucaux
Philippe Édouard Foucaux (15 September 1811 – 20 May 1894) was a French tibetologist. He published the first Tibetan grammar in French and occupied the first chair of Tibetan Studies in Europe.
He was born in the town of Angers on 15 Septemb ...
(1811–1894) 1847. Lalitavistara
Hebrew
* Avraham ben Shmuel ha-Levi Ibn Hasdai, ''Ben hammelekh vehannazir'' (13th century)
* Habermann, Avraham Meir (ed.), Avraham ben Hasdai, Ben hammelekh vehannazir, Jerusalem: Mahberot lesifrut – Mossad haRav Kook 1950 (in Hebrew).
* Abraham ben Shemuel Halevi ibn Hasdai, ''Ben hamelekh vehanazir'', Ed. by Ayelet Oettinger, Universitat Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv 2011 (in Hebrew).
See also
Notes and references
External links
*
Barlaam and Ioasaph E-book in English
The Project Gutenberg
*
*
Barlaam and Josaphat
in Jewish Encyclopedia
Barlaam et Josaphat.
Augsburg, Günther Zainer, ca. 1476. From th
Rare Book and Special Collections Division
at the Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...
Barlaam and Josaphat narrative in the Arabic, Georgian, Greek, Latin, and French
at Medieval Literature Across Languages from the Centre for Medieval Literature
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barlaam And Josaphat
Greek literature
Medieval Arabic literature
4th-century Christian martyrs
Groups of Christian martyrs
Byzantine literature
Buddhism and Christianity
Indian Christian saints
Christian fiction
10th-century literature
Literature of Georgia (country)
Saints duos
Legendary Indian people