Mongolian chief listened patiently to Christian emissa- ries, '-filled with the idea that the Mongol conquests would come to an end unless the gods of foreign coun- tries were propitiated." Onlj' one Christian Church had been founded. Rubruiquis, however, succeeded in bap- tizing about sixty persons ; yet, after all, Rubruiquis's success was not flattering, and he finally returned to Europe disheartened. The removal, five years later, of the capital of the Mongol empire to China (q. v.), fur- ther obstructed the progress of Christianity in Mongo- lia. There developed, however, among its simple pas- toral tribes an article of belief which promised much for the final establishment of Christianity, viz. the belief in the existence of one almighty Being. In their heathen views, of course, they could not content themselves with acknowledging an earthly ruler unless a supernatural ori- gin could be assigned to him, and they made the khan the son of this one almighty Power, an earthl}' ruler whom all men were bound to obey. While thus there was room for the most comprehensive toleration, there was room also for every kind of superstition ; and the desire to bring the one Sujireme, living apart in awful isolation, into nearer communion with his feeble wor- shipper— to bridge over the awful chasm between them — predisposed the people to a composite religion of Buddhism and Lamaism (see Hardwick, Christ and other Af asters, vol. ii, Append. 2 ; iii, 89 ; Middle Ayes, p. 235). Still, " the son of Heaven" entertained a respect for all religions, and not least for Christianity. Jlarco Polo, who had been sent there by Gregory X in 1274, reports Kublai Khan as saying : '■ There are four great proph- ets who are reverenced by the different classes of man- kind. The Christians regard Jesus Christ as their God ; the Saracens, IMohammed ; the Jews, Moses ; the idol- ators, Sakyamuni Buddha, the most eminent among their idols. I honor and respect all the four" {Travels, p. 167, ed. Bohn, 1854). One of the most successful of the early Christian laborers from the West was John de Jlonte Corvino, who went to Pekin in 1292, and for eleven years kept alive the flickering spark of Christian- ity in the Tartar realm. He translated the Scriptures for its people, educated their youth, and trained a na- tive ministry. Yet even his labors bore fruit only while he was on earth; for soon after the close of his life, in 1330, " every vestige of his work was obliterated" (Gie- seler, Eccles. Hist.\y, 259, 260 ; Hardwick, Ch. Hist. M. A . p. 235, 237^. This was caused no doubt in a large measure by the termination of the Mongolian rule in China, and the accession of the Ming dynasty in 1370, which, fearing everj'thing foreign, banished Christian- ity as dangerous to their interests. It remained for the Jesuits to plant Christianity anew. The missionary work performed in Persia, and in the border lands of the Caspian Sea and in Middle Asia, was so insignificant that it is not even worth mentioning. See Maclear, Hist, of Christian Missions in the M. A. (Loud. 1863, 12mo), p. 370-77 ; Assemani, Bibl. Orient, iii, 2 sq. ; Hue, Journey throvyh the Chinese Empire; Recollections of a Journey through Tartary and Thibet; Schmidt, Forschungen im, Gebiete der dlteren reliyiosen, politischen, u. literarischen Bildiinysgeschichte der Mongolen u. Tibeter (St. Petersb. 1824) ; Tumerelli, Kazan, the ancient Capital of the Tar- tar Khans. (Lond. 1854, 2 vols. 12mo) ; Neumann, Die Vulker des siidlichen Russlands (Leipsic, 1847) ; Aboul- Ghaze Bihsidour Khan, Uistoire des Moyols et des Tar- tares (St. Petersb. 1874), vol. ii ; Daniels, Handb. d. Geogr. i, 346 sq. ; A m. Cyclop, s. v. See Tartary.
Mongul, Peter. See Monophysites.
Monheim, Johannes, a follower of the great De- siderius Erasmus, and a noted teacher of the 16th cen- tury, was born of humble parentage at Claussen, near Elberfeld, in 1509. His father was a linen-draper, and Monheim entered his business when quite young. But his superior mental endowments soon led him into a different course ; and, though not privileged with the advantages of a careful training, he yet managed to ac-
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quire a good classical education. It is said that he studied with Erasmus, but Hamelmann's assertion that IMimheim studied at Miinster and Cologne deserves more credit. When but twenty-three years old, he was elected rector of the school at Essen, and four years later he received a call to Cologne as rector of the schola melropnlitame eccksice Cohniensis. Here he enjoyed intimate connections with the leaders of Erasmianism, and in a short time became so popular as a teacher that he attracted students from every direction. In 1545 he received and accepted a very Hattering call from duke Willielm of Cleve to take the rectorship of the newly founded institute at DUsscldorf, and only five years after his inauguration in this new position Monheim wrote to a friend that his scholars outnumbered most (ierman universities, more than 2000 young men being just then matriculated (see Frid. Keiffenbergii e 8oc. Jesu Presbytcri Hist. Sodetatis Jesu, i, 89). Monheim, in opposition to other humanists, insisted on a religious instruction, anil published numerous catechisms, the best known of which is his Catechismus in quo ChrisiiatuB rdifjionis deitienta sincere simpUciterque explicantui- (Diisseldorf, 1560, with an introduction ; and, edited and revised, it was recently published by Dr. Sack, Bonn, 1847). Though, outwartUj'- at least, Monheim belonged to the Church of Kome, his catechism proves beyond doubt that he taught and believed the evangelical doc- trines as set forth in the teachings of Calvin. The book was severely attacked. The theological faculty of the University of Cologne issued a Censura et docta expli- catio erroimm Catechismi Johannis Monheimii (Cologne, 1560); and a number of other essays, partly in defence, partly in opposition to IMonheira, were published. Mon- heim, however, himself remained quiet ; but Martin Chemnitz, enraged at the open and secret attacks of the Cologne Jesuits on the learned man. edited his Theolofjiiv Jesui/druni prcPcipHa capita, ex rjiiin/iiiii <■( n.-nn-a, qutn Coloni(P anno 1500 edita est (Lips. l.')H:! i. wliich. together with his Examcn Concilii Tridentii. ><i cnil littered pope Paul IV that he requested duke William to depose and banish "that arch-heretic" Johannes Monheim. Mon- heim was cited before the duke, and obliged to sign an agreement in which he promised to abstain from teach- ing Protestant doctrines, either openly or secretly (see Zeitschrift d. herffischen Geschichtsvereins, ii, 255). The pope, however, was not satisfied even with this. He insisted upon an open judgment on Monheim, especially as the pardoning of a heretic was not within the duke's jurisdiction — "nee princops ha?retico publico quicqnam ignoscere potuit," Further steps of the papal court were made umiecessary by Monheim's sudden decease, Sept. it, 15()4. Monheim wrote a great number of learned books, but his most valued work is the above-mentioned catechism, which Theo. Strack calls Cafechiwinm or- ihodoxum, in quo Reformatorum doctrina, quce hodie Luthero-Calrinixmi nomine odiose traducitu); accurate confirmatur. ^Monheim lacked strength of character to take a decided position in the great struggle of the Ref- ormation. He preferred, although thoroughly Protes- tant in all his views, to remain in the Church of Kome. " He belonged," said one, " to that class of actors on the scene of life who have always appeared as the harbin- gers of great social men gifted with the power to dis- cern and the hardihood to proclaim tnnhs of which they want the courage to encounter the infallible result." See JMidiler, Symbolik; Beck, Protestant, heantwortnng der Si/mbolik Malikr's, — llerzog, Real-Enajklopddiv, XX, 174 sq.