Benedict XII and the Partes Orientis

This chapter analyzes Benedict XII’s oriental policies from a perspective of diplomatic, religious and intellectual history. By taking into account papal correspondences and theological treatises, it discusses how the defence and expansion of Roman orthodoxy was put into practice by the head of the Roman Church in several regions. The geographical scope of this examination ranges from the Eastern Mediterranean to the Far East, offering a comparative analysis of Benedict’s letters concerning the Greeks, the Armenians, and the Mongols, thereby shedding light on the Pope’s different attitudes towards non-catholic, non-properly catholic, and non-Christian peoples.