Simeon, called Rabban Ata, was a high representative of Syriac Christianity in the 13th century. He was apparently a monk from the Far East and had been put in charge by the Khan of protecting Christians.[1]
Simeon Rabban Ata was nominated as a sort of high-commissioner in charge of Christian affairs in Iran by Ogodei, and confirmed in this role by the Khan Guyuk.[2] He is also described as the Nestorian "visitor" to the Near East,[3] who was in charge of Christian affairs in South-West Asia.[4] Simeon met Chormagan equipped with considerable powers so that freedom of faith could be respected in Iran, a policy which effectively protected Christianity in an Islamic land.[5] Simeon was praised by Christians in the Mongol Empire, and seems to have been in charge of establishing Christian churches in the realm:[6]
He played an important role in establishing exchanges with the Mongols, and visited the Mongol court in 1235–1240.[7] He also had the role of an intermediary between Eastern and Western Christianity, and was able to write advice to the Pope: he even suggested him that he should make peace with Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor. Simeon is also known to have sent to the Pope a libellus which he had brought from “the country of Sin”.[8] He was also an intermediary in the efforts at unifying the Eastern and Western churches: he transmitted to the Pope a profession of faith by the Jacobite patriarch Ignatius II in 1247, and gave to Andre de Longjumeau a letter in which the primacy of Rome was being recognized.[9]
Simeon met and had conversations with André de Longjumeau and Ascelin on the way to their missions to the Mongol realm in 1245, in the city of Tabriz.[10]
His accounts were reported by Vincent de Beauvais in his . The Armenian historian Kirakos Gandzaketsi wrote an apology about him and his role in establishing relations with the Mongols.