“To save all men, but especially the Cumans” – St. Dominic’s dreams of converting Steppe warriors

 

“Saint Dominic wanted to save all men, Christian and Saracens, but especially the Cumans and other pagans”

- Friar Rudolf of Faenza at the canonization process of St. Dominic

When we think of St. Dominic’s zeal for the salvation of souls, his apostolate among the Albigensians might come to mind first. Yet throughout his priestly life, the earliest and most persistent object of his missionary zeal remained the Cumans, also known as Kipchak Tatars. This powerful Western Turkic people migrated into Eastern Europe from its homeland around the Aral Sea in the 11^th century, terrorizing Christendom by launching deep raids into Christian lands. They soon also became allies of European empires, fighting for the Hungarians and the Bulgarians. Aside from smaller groups of Cumans who were defeated, settled in the Kingdom of Hungary and christianized, they largely adhered to Tengrism like other Central Asian nomads.

This pagan people attracted the attention of St. Dominic and his saintly companion Diego, Bishop of Osma. Diego intended to leave everything behind to preach to the Cumans, and accompanied by Dominic, he sought the blessing of the Father of Christendom, traveling to Rome in 1204. Pope Innocent III praised their zeal but demanded Diego to return to his bishopric. It appears that the Pope did not want the Spanish church to lose such an exemplary bishop. When Diego died in 1207, the desire for the Cuman mission remained in Dominic’s heart. In the early days of the Dominican Order he would often say: “When we have fully instructed our brethren, we will go to the Cumans, and preach the faith of Christ”. At the first General Chapter of 1220, St. Dominic intended to resign as Master General of his order to fulfill his dream of preaching among the warlike nomads, but his resignation was not accepted by the friars. The following year, the last of his life, the saint saw the foundation of the Dominican Province of Hungary, headed by Paulus Hungarus, who sent friars to preach among the Cumans. After initial hardships—two friars were killed—the Dominicans were successful in converting the Cuman chieftains Bortz and Membrok (possibly Bortz’ son) along with many of their subjects. These conversions laid the foundation for the short-lived Diocese of Cumania in what is now Romania, created by Pope Gregory IX in 1228 and headed by the Dominican Theodoric. The Mongol invasion of 1241 scattered the Cumans and destroyed the diocese, with the Cuman survivors in the Balkans being assimilated by the local populations.

While there no longer exists a distinct Cuman ethnic group, many Turkic peoples in Eastern Europe and Central Asia are related to the Cumans, such as the Nogais or the Kazakhs. May Saint Dominic intercede for them.

Sources:

John C. Rubba, O.P., “The Third Order of St. Dominic”
Theodosia Augusta Drane, “The History of St. Dominic”
J.B. O’Connor, O.P. “Saint Dominic and the Order of Preachers”
Leonhard Lemmens, O.F.M. “Die Heidenmission des Spätmittelalters”
Wikipedia: Roman Catholic Diocese of Cumania