Ludovico da Bologna
[c] At some point, Ludovico returned to Rome and received money for further missions in Ethiopia, India and the Holy Land, according to two bulls issued on 11 May 1455 and 10 January 1456 by Pope Calixtus III, who permitted him to take along four companions.
[9] On 22 November 1457, Calixtus issued a letter of credence for Ludovico in the form of a bull addressed to Uzun Hasan, ruler of the Aq Qoyunlu.
On 19 December, Calixtus addressed a bull to the Christians of Persia and Georgia, in which he mentions Ludovico's previous visit to them.
[5] Ludovico returned to the region in 1458 and in October Pope Pius II issued a bull confirming his mission to the "kings of Iberia, Armenia and Mesopotamia".
The envoys represented David Komnenos, emperor of Trebizond;[d] Qvarqvare of Samtskhe, his vassal; and George VIII, king of Georgia.
[e] According to the letters, several other principalities of the East were interested in joining the alliance against the Ottomans, including the Uzun Hasan, the Ramadanids of Adana and several lesser Georgian princes.
[f] At the meeting in Rome, the envoys pressed Pius to appoint Ludovico patriarch of Antioch, which the pope did on 9 January 1461.
Arriving at the latter in March, their message was received favourably by Duke Francesco Sforza, who had his diplomat in Rome, Ottone del Carretto, advocate for Ludovico's patriarchal title.
[g] With Philip, Ludovico and the envoys attended the funeral of King Louis XI of France and the coronation of Charles VII.
The embassy left Burgundy in early October and returned to Rome, where Ludovico encountered Francesco Sforza advocating on behalf of his patriarchate.
In 1465, according to Polish sources, he traveled to the Crimean Khanate on papal business and then came to Poland as the ambassador of Khan Haji Giray.
[5] On 12 December 1466, according to John Stone's Chronicle, "there came to Canterbury ... the Lord Patriarch of Antioch, who, in honor of the king and queen, had here four dromedaries and two [Bactrian] camels."
He may have convinced Christian to launch an expedition towards Greenland with the goal of finding a northwest passage to India and Prester John,[12] In 1468, according to 18th-century Swedish sources, Ludovico served as the Danish envoy to Poland and the autonomous city of Danzig, his mission being to prevent them from allying with King Charles VIII of Sweden against Denmark.
In a bull dated 19 February 1472, Pope Sixtus IV confirmed his appointment as patriarch of Antioch sub conditione, that is, still subject to certain future conditions.
In 1473, Ludovico went to Trier, where Frederick III was holding court and where he met Charles the Bold, who had succeeded Philip as duke of Burgundy.
He was back in Rome on 31 December 1477, when Sixtus IV dispatched him again to the courts of Western Europe to drum up support for the anti-Ottoman crusade.
In the Middle Ages, "when reliable means of personal identification hardly existed", determining that a visitor from afar was who he claimed to be was difficult.
[8] While he refused to "deny [Ludovico']s energy or sincerity", Bryer wrote that "he seems to have been too glib and later obsessed with something of the attitude of a Baron Corvo towards the Church."
[13] Giorgio Rota, while admitting that Ludovico's "modus operandi may occasionally have made him suspect", notes that he had the confidence of many rulers and was clearly seen as a valuable asset.
[8] For Paolo Evangelisti, his service across decades to several popes and dukes of Burgundy strongly suggests that he was what he appeared to be: an effective diplomat.
