A Lesson from History – Iranian Christians and Louis XIV King of France
Iranian rulers, in response to protests from other Christian nations regarding the persecution of Christians, would declare that this was not the case and that Christians in their domain enjoyed considerable freedom and blessings. Yet internally, they continued their same methods of suppression and oppression.
Examination of historical documents reveals that in some periods of history following the conversion of most Iranians to Islam, Iranian Christians were severely subjected to oppression and discrimination by rulers who claimed to be Muslim.
In particular, the Safavid kings, who considered themselves strict adherents of Islamic law and Shiite faith, sometimes went to extremes in this regard, to the point where the cries of Christians under their tyranny reached the heavens and came to the ears of non-Iranians as well.
What is remarkable is that Iranian rulers would consistently declare in response to protests from other Christian nations regarding the persecution of Christians that this was not the case and that Christians in their domain enjoyed considerable freedom and blessings. Yet internally, they continued their same methods of suppression and oppression.
French Radio recently published a historical account using documents about the relations between French and Iranian governments, revealing how three and a half centuries ago, the King of France sent an ambassador to the court of the Safavid Shah regarding discrimination and oppression against Iranian Christians.
Iranian Christians and Louis XIV
Historical documents show that the officials of Shah Soleiman Safavid severely persecuted Christians in Armenia and elsewhere, and Louis XIV, King of France at the time, considered it his duty as a protector of Christians to ask the Iranian Shah to safeguard the Christians under his rule.
Shah Safi II, son of Shah Abbas II, was the eighth monarch of the Safavid dynasty. He was crowned in Isfahan in 1666 CE, which was 348 years ago, but in the first year of his reign, the country was afflicted with such turmoil and various natural calamities that the court astrologers concluded that the coronation had taken place at an inauspicious hour and therefore the Shah should be crowned again and change his name. Thus, Shah Safi II was crowned again in 1667 CE under the name Shah Soleiman. The Palace of Eight Paradises in Isfahan is among his monuments. It was during the reign of this Shah that the ambassador of Louis XIV, King of France, came to Isfahan.
François Piquet, the ambassador of Louis XIV, before traveling to Isfahan as an ambassador, served from 1652 to 1660 CE as French consul in Aleppo and from December 1674 to 1680 as Bishop of Baghdad. The principal reason for his journey to Iran was the dire situation of Iranian Christians during the time of Shah Soleiman Safavid. The Shah’s officials severely persecuted Christians in Armenia and elsewhere, and Louis XIV, as a protector and guardian of Eastern Roman Christians, Roman Catholic churches, and Christian missionaries, considered it his duty to ask the Iranian Shah to safeguard the Christians under his rule. François Piquet, in his capacity as Bishop of Baghdad, was also a missionary of Christianity in the Iranian domain.
François Piquet and his companions set out from Aleppo for Isfahan in early May 1681 CE. After stopping in Diarbekr, Erzurum, at the monastery of Saint John the Baptist on the banks of the Tigris, known as the Three Churches, Yerevan, Nakhchivan, and Tabriz, they finally arrived in Isfahan on July 14, 1682. Given that François Piquet held not only the position of ambassador of Louis XIV but also the rank of Bishop, he had to wait for the Shah to receive him at court, and during this time he had no right to preach or propagate religion. Finally, on October 3, after waiting two and a half months, the Shah grants the French ambassador an audience. For this purpose, a grand ceremony is held in Isfahan. Five of the Shah’s nobles, under the command of court officials, had prepared five ornately decorated horses with silver bridles and embroidered saddles to carry the ambassador and his companions to court.
That day, the French living in the Armenian quarter of Isfahan came out in large numbers and colors to accompany the special envoy of their ruler. Twenty mounted servants escorted the French ambassador. After passing through magnificent halls and before the great men of the country who came to meet him dressed in brocade garments, François Piquet finally enters the hall where the Shah was present and presents him with a pouch containing the letter of Louis XIV, then speaks in Italian, praising the Shah and his ancestors, whose lineage traces back to Ali, the son-in-law of the Prophet of Islam. In his letter, Louis XIV, which also began with praise and glorification of the Shah, had requested from His Majesty that he not withhold his kindness and benevolence from Christians.
In a letter that the Safavid Shah wrote in response to Louis XIV’s letter, he assured that he would not withhold his kindness and benevolence from the Christians in his domain. He wrote: Before Your Majesty’s letter reached us, our wisdom, which is like the sun, was aware of the oppression that was befalling Christians, and an order had been issued for their protection. The letter of the Iranian Shah was reassuring. However, before François Piquet left Iran, on April 15, 1684, he wrote in a letter to his colleague in Paris: This king differs from others, and his minister is so devoted to the law of Muhammad and Allah that he believes he is rendering a great service to God by oppressing and humiliating Christians.
