434 THE MIDDLE AGES. A.D. 1049-1294.
sultan was so much touched by Francis' preaching that he gave the Franciscan friars admission to the Holy Sepulchre, without payment of tribute.
Raymundus Lullus, 1235?-1315, devoted his life to the conversion of Mohammedans and attested his zeal by a martyr's death. He was one of the most noteworthy figures produced during the Middle Ages in Southwestern Europe. He made three missionary tours to Africa and originated the scheme for establishing chairs at the universities to teach the Oriental languages and train missionaries. He also wrote many tracts with the aim of convincing unbelievers of the truth of Christianity.
Lullus was born in Palma on the island of Majorca. His father had gained distinction by helping to wrest the Balearic islands from the Saracens. The son married and had chil dren, but led a gay and licentious life at court and devoted his poetic gifts to erotic sonnets. At the age of thirty-one he was arrested in his wild career by the sight of a cancer on the breast of a woman, one of the objects of his passion, whom he pursued into a church, and who suddenly exposed her disease. He made a pilgrimage to Campostella, and retired to Mt. Randa on his native island. Here he spent five years in seclusion, and in 1272 entered the third order of St. Francis. He became interested in the conversion of Mohammedans and other infidels and studied Arabic under a Moor whom he had redeemed from slavery. A system of knowledge was revealed to him which he called "the Uni versal Science,"' ars magna or ars generalis. With the aid of the king of Aragon he founded, in 1276 on Majorca, a college under the control of the Franciscans for the training of missionaries in the Arabic and Syriac tongues.
Lullus went to Paris to study and to develop his Univer sal Science. At a later period he returned and delivered lectures there. In 1286 he went to Rome to press his missionary plans, but failed to gain the pope's favor. In 1292 he set sail on a missionary tour to Africa from Genoa. In Tunis he endeavored in vain to engage the Mohammedan scholars in a public disputation. A tumult arose and Lullus
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§ 75. MISSIONS AMONG THE MOHAMMEDANS. 435
arrowly escaped with his life. Returning to Europe, he again sought to win the favor of the pope, but in vain. In 1309 he sailed the second time for Tunis, and again he sought to engage the Mohammedans in disputation. Offered honors if he would turn Mohammedan, he said, " And I promise you, if you will turn and believe on Jesus Christ, abundant riches and eternal life."
Again violently forced to leave Africa, Lullus laid his plans before Clement V. and the council of Vienne, 1311. Here he presented a refutation of the philosophy of Averrhoes and pressed the creation of academic chairs for the Oriental languages. Such chairs were ordered erected at Avignon, Paris, Oxford, Salamanca, and Bologna to teach Greek, Hebrew, Chaldee, and Arabic.1
Although nearly eighty years old the indefatigable mis sionary again set out for Tunis. His preaching at Bougia led, as before, to tumults, and Lullus was dragged outside of the city and stoned. Left half dead, he was rescued by Chris tian seamen, put on board a ship, and died at sea. His bones are preserved at Palma.
For a period of nearly fifty years this remarkable man had advocated measures for carrying the Gospel to the Mohammedans. No impression, so far as we know, was made by his preaching or by his apologetic writings upon unbelievers, Jew or Mohammedan, but with his name will always be associated the new idea of missionary institutes where men, proposing to dedicate themselves to a missionary career, might be trained in foreign languages. But Lullus was more than a glowing advocate of missions. He was a poet and an expert scholastic thinker.2 Spain has produced
1 The object of the chairs was declared to be to further the exposition of the Scriptures and the conversion of unbelievers. See Hefele, VI. 545. A little earlier the pamphleteer Peter Dubois had urged it as the pope's duty to establish institutes for the study of the Oriental languages as it was his duty to see that the Gospel was preached to all peoples. See Scholz, Die Publizistik zur Ze.it Philipps des Schonen, 427-431.
2 According to the catalogue in the Escurial prepared by P. Arias de Loyola, Lullus wrote 410 tracts, most of which exist only in MS., and are distributed among the libraries of Europe. Of these, 46 are controversial