Draft:David of Sinoa

Saint David of Sinoa Դավիթ Սինոացի
Born	Davit Petrosyan 1613 New Julfa, Isfahan, Safavid Persian Empire
Died	January 7, 1650 Kẻ Huế, Sinoa, Phú Xuân province, Kingdom of Cochinchina
Venerated in	Armenian Apostolic Church
Feast	January 7
Attributes	Kolpak, cross-collared robe, Armenian cross
Patronage	merchant, Armenian diaspora

David of Sinoa, or Davit Sino'atsi (Armenian: Դավիթ Սինոացի, Vietnamese: Đa-vít xứ Thuận-hóa) (1613–1650) was an Armenian merchant, martyr and a saint in the Armenian Apostolic Church. He was the first Armenian to settle permanently in Vietnam and the only Oriental Orthodox Christian to have been martyred on Vietnamese soil. The account of his martyrdom solely lies in the testimony of two Italian Catholic priests who were his close acquaintances, Metello Saccano, S.J. and Baldassare Citadelli, S.J.

David was born around 1613 in the Armenian Quarter of New Julfa. His ancestors had originally come from the commercial town of Julfa but were resettled to the Safavid capital of Isfahan by Shah Abbas I approximately eight years before his birth. David was therefore ethnically Armenian and a subject of the Safavid Empire.

His father, Petros (Peter), was a prosperous Armenian merchant engaged in the extensive commercial networks connecting Asia and Europe. Petros traveled as far as Poland, where a substantial Armenian community resided in the city of Lvov. During one of these journeys, he purchased a considerable quantity of Baltic amber before boarding a merchant vessel belonging to the Dutch East India Company with the intention of transporting the cargo to the Far East for sale.

After arriving at Batavia (present-day Jakarta, Indonesia), Petros acquired his own vessel and continued his voyage to the Kingdom of Cochinchina (Đàng Trong). His intention was to dispose of the remainder of his amber after completing commercial transactions in Batavia. However, shortly after his arrival at the port of Hội An, developments in the political situation of Cochinchina resulted in his financial ruin.

At that time, Nguyễn Phúc Anh, the third son of Lord Nguyễn Phúc Nguyên, served as Governor of Quảng Nam Province and exercised authority over the port of Hội An. According to the Jesuit accounts, Phúc Anh purchase a substantial portion of Petros's amber without providing payment.

While his father remained in the Far East, David continued to reside with his family in New Julfa. At approximately twenty-two years of age, having learned that his father had traveled to the East and had not returned for many years, David resolved to search for him. He obtained a letter of introduction from Shah Safi addressed to the Dutch East India Company at the port of Bandar Abbas, enabling him to secure passage aboard one of its vessels. After failing to locate his father in Batavia, David boarded another ship bound for Cochinchina, where he was reunited with Petros at Hội An around 1635.

By that time, Petros had become gravely ill after losing most of his fortune. In the same year, Lord Nguyễn Phúc Nguyên died and was succeeded by his eldest son, Nguyễn Phúc Lan. Nguyễn Phúc Anh subsequently conspired in secret with the Trịnh lords of northern Vietnam against his brother, but the conspiracy was uncovered. He was arrested, taken to the capital, and executed. Consequently, the amber confiscated from Petros by Phúc Anh was seized by the government and never restored to its owner. Petros's remaining assets had meanwhile been entrusted to a Chinese merchant, who subsequently became bankrupt, leaving him entirely destitute in a foreign country. Without sufficient capital to purchase another ship or resume his commercial activities, Petros died in poverty in 1638, leaving David without an inheritance.

After arranging his father's funeral, David relocated to the royal capital of Sinoa or Kẻ Huế (now within Kim Long village, Thừa Thiên Huế), where he worked as a merchant for approximately twelve years. During this period, the superior of the Jesuit mission in Cochinchina was Father Metello Saccano, who maintained a close friendship with David and described him in highly favorable terms. According to Saccano, although David remained engaged in commerce, he was deeply committed to his Christian faith. Saccano stated that David devoted himself to the conversion of non-Christians, actively sought opportunities to promote Christianity, and gave charitable assistance to people regardless of their religious affiliation. He also reported that David became widely respected among the Christian community as a defender of the faith, that many Christians in Thuận Hóa sought his assistance. Additionally, like many Armenian merchants, David possessed exceptional linguistic abilities, becoming fluent in Vietnamese and conducting business with numerous communities along the maritime trade routes of Southeast Asia.

Over time, the persecution of Christianity in Cochinchina intensified. Successive Nguyễn Lords issued repeated edicts prohibiting the Christian religion, which official documents referred to as the "Vutughê religion" or the "Portuguese religion." In 1645, David witnessed the execution of the Vietnamese catechists Ignatius and Vincent in the marketplace of Sinoa. According to Jesuit sources, immediately after the two men had been beheaded, David entered the execution site and collected the earth stained with their blood in order to preserve it as a relic. An official responsible for supervising the execution, most likely Tôn Thất Khê, an uncle of the Nguyễn Lords and a prominent opponent of Christianity, observed David's actions and denounced him and the other Christians before Lord Nguyễn Phúc Lan. The official falsely accused them not only of collecting the bloodstained earth but also of drinking the blood of the executed men.

In response to these accusations, Lord Nguyễn Phúc Lan ordered the arrest of all those implicated. David and numerous other Christians were seized, bound, and brought before the lord's court. David was separated from the other prisoners and interrogated. When asked whether he was a Christian and why he had collected the bloodstained earth of the executed men, he replied:

Yes, my lord, I am a Christian. I was born in a country where all people profess faith in Jesus Christ. I have never drunk the blood of any man. Rather, out of piety and from the duty owed to the dead, I gathered that earth so that it might be buried together with their remains, for I could not bear to see their blood trampled underfoot or licked by dogs.

David's reply was admired by several officials because, in the customs of Cochinchina, ensuring a proper burial for the deceased was regarded as a sacred obligation. Lord Nguyễn Phúc Lan nevertheless ordered David to be imprisoned and severely beaten with rods. David survived the punishment despite reportedly coming close to death.

Toward the end of 1649, a renewed persecution of Christians spread throughout Cochinchina. Anonymous pamphlets circulated by Buddhist monks accused Christians of conspiring to rebel against the Nguyễn Lord. As a result, many influential officials and Christians, including David, were arrested. A detachment of soldiers entered David's residence while he was conversing with Father Saccano. Both men were bound with their arms tied behind their backs and paraded through the streets as a form of public humiliation. During the search of David's residence, the soldiers discovered an ivory cross, which was subsequently presented as evidence that he practiced the Christian religion.

When brought before Lord Nguyễn Phúc Tần, David was asked:

Why do you follow the Vutughê religion, the religion that I have forbidden?

David replied:

My lord, I follow the religion of the Heavenly Lord, not the religion of Portugal.

The lord then asked:

Do you wish to go and appear before the King of Heaven?

David answered:

There is nothing I desire more.

Following this exchange, Lord Nguyễn Phúc Tần sentenced David to death and ordered the release of Father Saccano. David was taken to the marketplace of Sinoa on the banks of the Perfume River, where merchants regularly gathered for trade. According to the Jesuit narratives, this was the same location where he had witnessed the execution of Ignatius and Vincent five years earlier. Before the execution, David knelt in prayer, commended his soul to God, and bowed his head before the executioner's blade. He was beheaded on 7 January 1650 at approximately thirty-seven years of age. On the same day, two Vietnamese Christians, a catechist named Anthony and a widow named Isabella were also executed for their faith.

According to the accounts of two Jesuit priests, a "dreadful" comet appeared in the skies over Cochinchina shortly before David's execution. Not long afterward, a major fire destroyed the residence of the Governor of Quảng Nam together with more than four thousand houses. Contemporary Christians interpreted these events as signs of divine judgment against those responsible for David's execution.

External links

• Relation des progrez de la foy au royaume de la Cochinchine és années 1646 et 1647. [Translated from the Italian by J. de Machault.]
• Relation de ce qui s'est passé, en l'année 1649. Dans les royaumes où les peres de la Compagnie de Jesus de la Prouince du Iapon, publient le Saint Euangile, etc. [By - Citadelli. Edited by Alexandre de Rhodes.]

Category:Armenian saints Category:List of Armenian merchants Category:1650 deaths Category:1613 births