Syro-Mongolian Greetings for the King of France: A Note about the Letter of Hülegü to King Louis IX (1262)

Syro-Mongolian Greetings for the King of France: A Note about the Letter of Hülegü to King Louis IX (1262)Studi Classici e OrientaliSyriaca.org: The Syriac Reference PortalThe National Endowment for the HumanitiesThe International Balzan Prize FoundationDavid A. Michelsoncbsc_adminRecord added to Zotero bycbsc_adminSyriaca.org: The Syriac Reference Portalhttp://syriaca.org/cbss/ZB5XK6FT/tei

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2024-08-15-04:00

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CREATED: This bibl record was autogenerated from a Zotero record.Pier GiorgioBorboneSyro-Mongolian Greetings for the King of France: A Note about the Letter of Hülegü to King Louis IX (1262)http://syriaca.org/cbss/ZB5XK6FThttps://www.zotero.org/groups/a_comprehensive_bibliography_on_syriac_studies/items/ZB5XK6FThttps://www.zotero.org/groups/4861694/items/ZB5XK6FTStudi Classici e Orientali61:12015479-484The Ilkhan Hülegü, Mongol ruler of Iran, sent from Maragha a letter in Latin (10 April 1262) to the King of France, Louis IX, proposing a military alliance against the Mamluk sultanate. The Latin text was most probably written by «Richardus notarius ac interpres latinorum [to Hülegü]». In the salutation to the addressee, an exotic word is found: «Barachmar», which scholars considered a mistakenly written, shortened form of some Perso-Arabic expression. Here we suggest instead that it originates from the Syriac greeting formula <i>barrek mār</i>! (<i>brk mry</i>), «O Lord, bless me» (lit. «Bless, my Lord!»), which according to Bar ‘Ebroyo (1225/6-1286) had been borrowed by the Mongols already at the time of Güyük Khan reign (1246-1248). It is noteworthy that comparative evidence is lacking, greetings being usually absent from the letters (in Mongolian and in Persian language) sent by Mongol rulers in the thirteenth-fourteenth century. Borbone, Pier Giorgio. “Syro-Mongolian Greetings for the King of France: A Note about the Letter of Hülegü to King Louis IX (1262).” Studi Classici e Orientali 61:1 (2015): 479–84. Pier Giorgio Borbone, Syro-Mongolian Greetings for the King of France: A Note about the Letter of Hülegü to King Louis IX (1262), Studi Classici e Orientali 61:1 (2015): 479–84.MongolsNestoriansSyriac influence [Central Asia]Syriac influence [Europe]VII-XVIII CEXIII CEblessingepistolographyletterspolitics