1803 Leopoldo Sebastiani appointed Prefect Apostolic of the Mission in Persia
1805 Sebastiani arrived in Iran, receives two firmans from Fath ʿAli Shah
1807 Fath ʿAli Shah expresses intention of sending ambassador to Pope
1808 Treaty with France includes protections for Catholics
1824 Pierre-Alexandre Coupperie, bishop of Babylon, granted authority over Isfahan
1827 Pope Leo XII sends letter to ʿAbbas Mirza thanking him for his treatment of Father Hovhannes (Jean/Giovanni) Derderian
1827 Derderian at Tehran
1834 Derderian receives firman from Fath ʿAli Shah
1838 Eugène Boré arrives at Tabriz
1839 Boré receives presents for Mohammad Shah from France and delivers them
1839 Boré receives firman from Mohammad Shah
1839 Boré receives firman from Malek Mansur Mirza
1840 French embassy to Qajar court, led by comte de Sercey, arrives in Iran
1840 Mohammad Shah issues firman restoring churches to Catholics at Isfahan
1840 Mohammad Shah issues firman guaranteeing religious liberty
1840 Prayers for Pope and Mohammad Shah pronounced in Isfahan school
1840 First Lazarist missionaries — Dequevauviller and Fournier — arrive at Tabriz
1841 Joseph Darnis and Augustin Cluzel arrive in Iran
1842 Firman outlawing proselytism issued
1844 Firman ordering expulsion of Darnis and Cluzel issued
1844 Darnis and David expelled
1844 Firman issued ordering a halt to persecution of Lazarists
1844 French embassy to Qajar court, led by comte de Sartiges, arrives in Iran
1848 Pope Pius IX sends letter to Christians of the Orient
1849 Pius IX circulates Ubi Primum
1850 Naser al-Din Shah issues firman lifting prohibition on proselytism
1852 Firman issued permitting freedom of conscience to all Christians
1855 French Minister Prosper Bourrée officially declared protector of all Catholics in Iran
1857 Farrokh Khan, Naser al-Din Shah’s envoy in Europe, visits Reims Cathedral
1858 Treaty signed by Iran and Papal States; Catholic bishopric established at Tehran
1860 Nicolás Castells named Apostolic Delegate to Persia
1862 Propaganda Fide scrutinizes translation of Gospels
1870 Nazar Aqa, a Catholic, named Persian ambassador in Paris
1873 Naser al-Din Shah meets Papal nuncios in Brussels and Paris
1873 Naser al-Din Shah visits Daughters of Charity in Paris
1873 Jean-Baptiste Étienne, Lazarist Superior-General, received by Shah in Paris
1873 Shah declines going to Rome to avoid offending Pius IX
1874 Augustin Cluzel becomes new Apostolic Delegate
1875 Cluzel presents gift from Pius IX to Naser al-Din Shah
1875 Cluzel receives firman, Order of the Lion and Sun
1875 Nazar Aqa delivers letter from Naser al-Din Shah to Pius IX at the Vatican
1878 Cluzel notifies Naser al-Din Shah of the death of Pius IX
1878 Naser al-Din Shah sends embassy to Italy and the Vatican
1878 Naser al-Din Shah meets Papal nuncio Jacobini at Vienna
1881 Naser al-Din Shah forbids erection of any more Christian churches in Iran
1882 Cluzel dies
1883 Pope Leo XIII sends Mozaffar al-Din Mirza Grand Cross of Pius IX
1885 Thomas has audience with Shah
1885 Pope Leo XIII’s letter to the Shah introducing Thomas
1885 Shah replies to Pope’s letter
1886 Order of Pius IX awarded to Naʾeb al-Saltana and Zell al-Soltan
1887 Naser al-Din Shah congratulates Leo XIII on his Sacerdotal Jubilee
1887 Order of the Lion and Sun awarded to Cardinals Simeoni and Rampolla
1888 Naser al-Din Shah meets French nuncio Mgr Rotelli in Paris
1891 Missionary Serapion Baronian murdered
1892 Hilarion Montéty, newly-appointed Apostolic Delegate, meets the Shah
1892 Micromosaic of tomb of Cecilia Metella presented to the Shah
1892 Leo XIII receives letter from the Shah thanking him for the mosaic
1893 Naser al-Din Shah congratulates Leo XIII on his Golden Jubilee
1896 François Lesné presented to Mozaffar al-Din Shah in Tehran
1897 Mirza Reza Khan goes to Rome to inform Leo XIII of the Shah’s succession
1897 Mozaffar al-Din Shah receives micromosaic of Pope blessing at St. Peter’s Square
1900 Lesné has audience before the Shah departs on his first trip to Europe
1902 Mozaffar al-Din Shah visits Rome, cancels planned visit to the Pope
1906 Zell al-Soltan visits the Daughters of Charity at Isfahan
1907 Mahmud Khan Ala ol-Molk presents letter from Mohammad ʿAli Shah to Pius X announcing his accession, pledging protection for Catholics
1915 Pope Benedict XV informed of Kurdish atrocities
1916 Jacques-Émile Sontag award Order of the Lion and Sun by Ahmad Shah
1918 Sontag murdered, Vatican seeks information
1921 Mgr Yohanan Nisan, a Chaldaean, appointed Apostolic Delegate Extraordinary
1921 Nisan has audience with Ahmad Shah
1922 Adrianus Smets, a Dominican, appointed Apostolic Delegate by Benedict XV
1925 Ahmad Shah deposed; Lazarists celebrate 25th anniversary of Tabriz mission
1926 Coronation of Reza Shah