William of Rubruck

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William of Rubruck (also William of Rubruk, Willem van Ruysbroeck, Guillaume de Rubrouck, Willielmus de Rubruquis, born ca. 1220 in Rubrouck, northern France, died ca. 1293) was a Flemish Franciscan missionary and explorer. His account is one of the masterpieces of medieval geographical literature comparable to that of Marco Polo.

Contents

[edit] Mission

William accompanied Louis IX on the Seventh Crusade in 1248. In May, 1253, on Louis' orders, he set out from Constantinople on a missionary journey to convert the Tartars. With William's party were Bartolomeo da Cremona, an attendant called Gosset, and an interpreter named Homo Dei (Abdullah). William of Rubruck's was the fourth European mission to the Mongols. Before him went Giovanni da Pian del Carpine in 1245, Ascelin in 1247 and André de Longjumeau in 1248. The King was encouraged to send another mission by reports of the presence of Nestorian Christians at the Mongolian court.

[edit] Travels

William crossed the Black Sea, traversed the Crimea and then continued eastward; nine days after crossing the Don he met Sartaq Khan, ruler of the Kipchak Khanate. The Khan sent William on to his father, Batu Khan, at Sarai near the Volga. Batu refused conversion and sent the ambassadors on to the great Mongol Mangu Khan. They reached Karakorum at Easter, 1254. After residing there for some time, they returned home, without having achieved their goal, reaching Cyprus in the spring of 1255.

[edit] Account

On his return, William presented to the king a very clear and precise report, entitled

Itinerarium fratris Willielmi de Rubruquis de ordine fratrum Minorum, Galli, Anno gratia 1253 ad partes Orientales.

In this report, he described the peculiarities of China as well as many geographical observations, making it the first scientific description of central Asia. There were also anthropological observations such as his surprise at the presence of Islam in Inner Asia[1]

William also answered a long-standing question proving that the Caspian was an inland sea and did not flow into the Arctic Ocean; although earlier Scandinavian explorers had doubtless already known this, he was the first to report it.

William's report is divided into 40 chapters. Chapters 1 - 10 relate general observations about the Mongols and their customs. Chapters 11 - 40 give an account of the course and the events of William's voyage.

The report of William of Rubruck is one of the great masterpieces of medieval geographical literature comparable to that of Marco Polo, although they are very different. William was a good observer, and an excellent writer. He asked many questions along the way and did not take folk tale and fable as truth. Because he wrote in Latin his report was not as widely read or known as Marco Polo who wrote in the vernacular.

[edit] Table of Contents

1. The Province of Gazaria
2. The Tartars and their houses
3. Their beds and their drinking pots
4. Their drinks, and how they provoke one another to drinking
5. Their food
6. How they make their drink called Cosmos (See: kumis)
7. The beasts which they eat, their garments, and their manner of hunting
8. How they cut their hair, and how their women adorn themselves
9. The duties of the Tartarian women, their labours and their marriages
10. Execution of justice and judgement, deaths and burials
11. Our first entrance among the Tartars, and of their ingratitude
12. The court of Scatai, and how the Christians drink no Cosmos
13. How the Alanians came unto us on Pentecost
14. Saracen which said that he would be baptized; certain men which seemed to be lepers
15. Our afflictions, and the Comanians' manner of burial
16. The dominion of Sartach and his subjects
17. The court of Sartach
18. How we were charged to go to Batu the Father of Sartach
19. How Sartach, and Mangu Khan, and Ken Khan do reverence to Christians
20. Russians, Hungarians and Alanians; the Caspian Sea
21. The court of Batu, and how we were entertained by him
22. Our journey towards the court of Mangu Khan
23. The river of Iaic; divers regions or nations
24. Of the hunger, and thirst, and other miseries, which we sustained in our journey
25. How Ban was put to death; concerning the habitation of the Teutonic men
26. How the Nestorians, Saracens, and Idolaters are joined together
27. Their Temples and idols; how they behave themselves in worshipping their false gods
28. Divers nations; a people which were wont to eat their own parents
29. Our journey to the court of Mangu Khan
30. Mangu's court and the first audience
31. At Mangu's court
32. Mangu's palace at Karakorum; the feast of Easter
33. William's sickness and the death of the Nestorian priest
34. Karakorum and the family of Mangu
35. William seeks permission to return
36. The last audience with Mangu
37. The soothsayers
38. The Khan's festivals; the letter to be sent to King Louis
39. The journey to the court of Batu in Hircania
40. The journey from Hircania to Tripoli

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ Devin De Weese, Devin A, ( DeWeese. "Islamization and Native Religion in the Golden Horde", Penn State Press, Sep 1, 1994, ISBN 0-271-01073-8 pg.3

[edit] See also

[edit] References

Rubruck's account was partly edited and translated into English by Richard Hakluyt in 1598-1600. The full account has been edited by the Société de Géographie in the "Recueil de voyages et de mémoires", IV (Paris, 1893), English translation by Rockhill, "The Journey of William of Rubruk to the Eastern Parts" (London, 1900, ISBN 0-8115-0327-5). The Hakluyt Society released an updated translation in 1990 (see below).

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