The Testimony of the Russian ‘Archbishop’ Peter Concerning the Mongols (1244/5): Precious Intelligence or Timely Disinformation?

The first decade of the 21st century proved remarkably fertile in yielding up manuscripts relevant to the earliest direct contacts between Latin Europe and the Mongol empire – namely, those framed by the devastation of Rus´ (1237-40), Poland, Moravia and Hungary (1241-2) by the Mongols (or ‘Tartars’) and the subsequent despatch to the Mongol world of three parties of friars (1245-7) as envoys of Pope Innocent IV. These texts include:- (1) an early manuscript of the Epistula de vita secta et origine Tartarorum of the Hungarian Dominican Julian, who travelled to the Ural region in 1236–7 in search of the Hungarians’ pagan kinsmen in what was known as ‘Greater Hungary’, and returned with news of the imminent Mongol assault on Rus´; (2) two hitherto unknown letters from the Nestorian monk Simeon Rabban-ata to the Emperor Frederick II and King Louis IX of France, brought back from Azerbaijan in 1247 by one of Innocent IV's envoys, the Dominican André de Longjumeau; and (3) a second copy of the so-called ‘Tartar Relation’, an account produced in Poland in mid July 1247 by a Franciscan friar calling himself ‘C. de Bridia’ and closely linked with the most celebrated of the papal embassies to the Mongols, which was led by the Franciscan John of Plano Carpini and travelled across the Eurasian steppes as far as the court of the Qaghan Güyük in Mongolia.

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Armenian Involvement in the Latin-Mongol Crusade: Uses of the Magi and Prester John in Constable Smbat’s Letter and Hayton of Corycus’s “Flos historiarum terre orientis,” 1248-1307

Medieval Encounters ◽

10.1163/15700674-12342157 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 20 (1) ◽

pp. 66-100 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Alexandr Osipian

Keyword(s):

Cultural Context ◽

Ruling Elite ◽

Positive Image ◽

Mongol Empire ◽

Narrative Techniques ◽

Louis Ix

Abstract This paper examines the issue of how Armenians and Nestorians in the Mongol service used the Western legends about the Orient to influence the crusading plans of the Latin Christians between 1248 and 1307. In particular, it considers the role of the ruling elite of Cilician Armenia as mediators between Mongols and Franks in Outremer, first discussing the Letter of Cilician Constable Smbat (1248), and then examining the treatise “Flos historiarum terre orientis” by Hayton of Corycus (Het’um/Haitonus, 1307) with the crusading proposal contained in it. This article examines the narrative techniques used by Smbat and Het’um to produce a positive image of the Mongols/Tatars for Western readers in a wider cultural context of contemporary European perception of the Orient. In particular, it researches how Smbat incorporated the stories about the Magi and Prester John into the description of the Mongol Empire and the spread of Christianity within it. Special attention is given to a comparison of Armenian sources written for internal (Armenian) and external (Frankish) readers. This article also develops a hypothesis that Armenian diplomacy used Louis IX of France’s letter and his envoy William of Rubruck to enforce the position of the Cilician king Het’um I at the Mongol court in 1254.

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Emissaries of the Pope in the Mongol Empire

Russian Foundation for Basic Research Journal Humanities and social sciences ◽

10.22204/2587-8956-2020-100-03-17-28 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 17-28

Author(s):

Vadim Trepavlov ◽

Anton Gorskiy

Keyword(s):

The Other ◽

13Th Century ◽

Unique Information ◽

History Of ◽

Extensive Information ◽

Mongol Empire ◽

Pope Innocent Iv ◽

The Many

The letter by the emissary of Pope Innocent IV in the Mongol Empire, Franciscan votary, John of Plano Carpini, Ystoria Mongalorum — “History of the Mongols” is one of the most renowned written records of the European writing of the 13th century. The letter is a report of the mission between 1245 and 1247, when John of Plano Carpini et al visited Batu Khan bases on the Volga and bases of Güyük Khan (supreme khan) in Mongolia. The project provides for publishing an extensive version of the “History of the Mongols” based on two best list of works: Wolfenbüttel and Cambridge. Unlike the Italian edition of 1989, where the text is reconstructed based on both lists, this publication is prepared according to the Russian tradition of archeography: one of the lists serves as the basis, while the other one is used in versions. The book by John of Plano Carpini includes unique information on the Mongol Empire, its structure, mechanism of control, army, and law. The book offers extensive information on customs and lifestyle of the Mongols and the many Eurasian peoples they conquered. Ystoria Mongalorum is a precious source on the history of Rus’ in the first years following Batu Khan invasion. Unlike the previous editions of the paper, the new one will include detailed commentaries explaining the realia, figures, toponyms, ethnonyms, etc. that appear in the text.

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The Peculiarities of the Ural Region Historiography Representatives Works in the Second Part of the 20th and Early 21st Century

Izvestiya of Altai State University ◽

10.14258/izvasu(2013)4.2-16 ◽

2013 ◽

pp. 81-83

Author(s):

Igor Pankin

Keyword(s):

21St Century ◽

Ural Region ◽

Early 21St Century

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Mongolian international order in the middle of the XIII century according to the testimony of the papal legate Giovanni del Plano Carpini

Bulletin of Luhansk Taras Shevchenko National University ◽

10.12958/2227-2844-2021-4(342)-130-141 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 130-141

Author(s):

Alina Koval ◽

Keyword(s):

Eastern Europe ◽

Thirteenth Century ◽

Catholic Church ◽

Western Europe ◽

Active Phase ◽

International Order ◽

History Of ◽

Mongol Empire ◽

Pope Innocent Iv ◽

Eastern And Western Europe

The article considers the process of formation and development of the medieval international order during the end of the active phase of the Mongol conquests in Eastern and Western Europe in the middle of the thirteenth century. The main source in the study of this issue was the evidence set out in the treatise "History of the Mongols, called by us Tatars" by the famous Catholic diplomat Plano Carpini, who in the 40's of the thirteenth century by order of Pope Innocent IV, he carried out a mission to the Mongol Empire.The article notes that this aspect is one of the least studied in modern Ukrainian historiographyAs a result of the study, the author came to the conclusion that the work analyzed in the article is an important source in the study of the international order, which developed in the middle of the thirteenth century and was based on the dominance of the Mongol Empire in Eurasia. It allows us to consider the peculiarities of the organization of this state, to show the characteristics of its relations with the captured peoples, to determine the order of relations between the Mongols and their vassals. At the same time, this treatise is a manifesto in which, under the pretext of the Mongol threat, it is concluded that it is necessary to unite the rulers of Europe (especially its Orthodox part) under the authority of the Pope. Consideration of the ideas set forth by Carpini, allows us to conclude that the Catholic Church, and in this period, tried to implement the project of its religious expansion in the lands of Eastern Europe and Kiyvan Rus.

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