by the number of translations made of it throughout the Christian
world, including versions in Latin, Old Slavonic, Armenian,
Christian Arabic, English, Ethiopic, and French. Such was its
popularity that both Barlaam and Josaphat (Ioasaph) were
eventually recognized by the Roman Catholic Church as Saints, and
churches were dedicated in their honor from Portugal to
Constantinople. It was only after Europeans began to have
increased contacts with India that scholars began to notice the
similarities between the two sets of stories. Modern scholars
believe that the Buddha story came to Europe from Arabic,
Caucasus, and/or Persian sources, all of which were active in
trade between the European and Indian worlds.

---DBK

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SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY:

ORIGINAL TEXT --

Woodward, G.R. & H. Mattingly (Ed. & Trans.): "St. John
Damascene: Barlaam and Ioasaph" (Harvard University Press,
Cambridge MA, 1914). English translation with side-by-side Greek
text.

RECOMMENDED READING --

Lang, David Marshall (Trans.): "The Balavariani: A Tale from the
Christian East" (California University Press, Los Angeles, 1966).