Barlaam et Josaphat

Barlaam and Josaphat

Author

Gui de Cambrai

Language

Old French

Year

c. 1220-1225

Country

France

Genre

Novel

buddhismchristianity

0

Barlaam and Josaphat, also known as Bilawhar and Budhasaf, are Christian saints. Their story tells of the conversion of Josaphat to Christianity. According to tradition, an Indian king persecuted the Christian Church in his realm. After astrologers predicted that his own son would some day become a Christian, the king imprisoned the young prince Josaphat, who nevertheless met the hermit Saint Barlaam and converted to Christianity. After much tribulation the young prince's father accepted the Christian faith, turned over his throne to Josaphat, and retired to the desert to become a hermit. Josaphat himself later abdicated and went into seclusion with his old teacher Barlaam. The story is a Christianized and later version of the story of Siddhartha Gautama, who became the Buddha.