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William of Rubruck (ca. 1215–ca. 1295) followed in Carpini’s footsteps. A French Franciscan friar, he volunteered for an embassy to the Mon- gols representing Louis IX of France after accompanying the French king on the failed Seventh Crusade (1248–1250). His mission was simi- lar to Carpini’s. He was to gather information about the Mongol’s mili- tary, seek an alliance, and convert the Mongols to Christianity.

William left Constantinople on May 7, 1253. He carried Turkish and Arabic translations of a letter from the French king to the Mongol prince Sartach. William sailed to the Black Sea, a two-week voyage. He then continued overland with oxen and carts, reaching Sartach’s camp at the end of July. Sartach referred him to his father, Batu Khan, who in turn sent William’s party on to Mangu, the great khan. They endured a difficult journey on horseback over the same route Carpini had followed. They slept “always under the open skies or under our wagons.” “There was no end to hunger and thirst, cold and exhaus- tion,” William later wrote. “We had run out of wine, and the water was so churned up by the horses it was undrinkable. If we hadn’t had biscuit and God’s help, we would possibly have died.”

William reached Mangu’s camp on December 27. He stayed for six months at the imperial court at Karakorum. “When I found myself among [the Mongols],” he recalled, “it seemed to me as if I were in another world.” The khan treated him politely, but as Carpini had before him, William found the Mongols coarse, rude, arrogant, untrustworthy, and greedy. They asked “shamelessly . . . like dogs” for gifts and shares of whatever he had. Some questioned him about the spoils they might be able to seize in France.

Despite his disgust at his hosts, William was patient. He spent the summer of 1254 at Karakorum. He compared the city unfavor- ably with Paris. The Mongol capital had 12 temples to Mongol gods, two mosques, and one Christian church. It had markets and palaces, and separate residential quarters for Muslims and Chinese. During his time there, William participated in public debates between Chris- tians, Muslims, and Buddhists, but primarily spoke with Europeans

Europeans seeking asia

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Finally permitted by the khan to depart, William left Karakorum on August 15, 1254. He carried a letter from the khan demanding the submission of the king of France. The friar’s journey took him back to Batu’s camp on the Volga River, along the western side of the Cas- pian Sea, across the Caucasus Mountains, and westward through Asia Minor. He reached the Mediterranean coast in May 1255. He had trav- eled more than 9,000 miles (14,484 km) during his two-year absence.

William of rubruck’s report

On his return, William immediately wrote a lively and detailed account of his experience. It took the form of a letter to Louis IX. His report is usually referred to as The Journey of William of Rubruck to the East-

ern Parts of the World. It contains a vivid record of the hardships of

medieval travel. It also contains valuable geographical, historical, and ethnographical information about medieval central Asia. Perhaps the finest work of travel writing to survive from the Middle Ages, it was little known until the sixteenth century.

William made important geographical discoveries. He was the first European to correct the mistaken belief that the Caspian Sea was an inlet of the ocean. He also described the size and course of the Volga River.

In addition, he described Mongol culture. William analyzed the complex life at court. He noted the khan’s devious practice of playing rival priests off each other, “for he believed in none . . . and they all fol- low his court as flies do honey, and he gives to all, and they all believe that they are his favorites, and they all prophesy blessings to him.” This did not seem promising for the Christian conversion effort.

William found little to admire among the Mongols. Yet, he was deeply interested in their languages and arts, their clothing and food (“they eat mice and all kinds of rats which have short tails”), and their yurts. These were large circular felt tents that were carried fully erect from place to place on 20-foot-wide (6-meter-wide) ox-drawn carts. William reported on their judicial system and seasonal migrations. He observed their hunting techniques, division of men’s and women’s work, and marriage customs (“no one among them has a wife unless he buys

her”). He included details about Mongol treatment of the sick and the dead. He described feasts, manners (“quite disgusting”), and supersti- tions. William did not think them unconquerable: “I would, if permit- ted, preach war against them, to the best of my ability, throughout the world,” the friar advised the French king.

William’s contact with Chinese residents of Karakorum gave him valuable information about East Asia. He mentioned paper money 50 years before Marco Polo and was the fi rst European to refer to Chinese writing. William was also the fi rst to fully describe the beliefs and rites of Buddhism, Lamaism (a Tibetan form of Buddhism led by the Dalai Lama), Shamanism, and Nestorian Christianity (a form of Christianity that had spread eastward from the Middle East).

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