William of Rubrouck
William of Rubrouck was a 13th-century Franciscan friar from Flanders, best known for his remarkable journey to the court of the Great Khan in Mongolia between 1253 and 1255. Commissioned by King Louis IX of France, William embarked on this mission primarily to minister to German Catholics enslaved by the Mongols and to spread Christianity among the diverse religious communities he encountered. His travels took him across challenging terrains, covering approximately ten thousand miles, and included significant interactions with various religious leaders, reflecting a time of notable religious tolerance under Mongol rule.
During his stay at Karakorum, the capital of the Mongol Empire, William documented his observations, offering Europe its first detailed description of Asian cities and cultures, as well as insights into their religious practices. His narrative not only provided geographical knowledge lost since the fall of the Roman Empire but also challenged preconceived notions about Asia. After returning to Europe, he became a lecturer in theology and his accounts influenced scholars, including Roger Bacon, who is believed to have learned about gunpowder from William's experiences. Thus, William of Rubrouck's legacy is significant both for enhancing European understanding of Asia and for potentially impacting the development of warfare in Europe.
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William of Rubrouck
Dutch geographer
- Born: c. 1215
- Birthplace: Rubrouck, French Flanders (now in the Netherlands)
- Died: c. 1295
- Place of death: Unknown
William provided the first accurate account of the geography of Central Asia and its people, the Mongols. He thus helped to fill in a symbolic blank space on the map of Asia and opened up a new era of exploration.
Early Life
The life of William of Rubrouck (REW-brewk) remains shrouded in mystery despite scholarly efforts to shed light on it. He appears on the stage of history between May, 1253, and August, 1255, the period during which he undertook a journey to the court of the Great Khan in Mongolia. Except for a brief stay in Paris during the late 1250’s or early 1260’, nothing is known about his life before or after his historic journey.
Scholars assume that William was from the village of Rubrouck in Flanders, the northeasternmost corner of what is now the Netherlands. The date of his birth is unknown, though some historians place it as early as 1215. Similarly, the year and place of his death are unknown, though it is assumed that he was still alive when Marco Polo returned from his journey to China in 1295.
Nothing is known of William’s educational background. When Louis IX commissioned him to go to Mongolia, William was a Franciscan friar serving at the king’s court. The saintly Louis IX was fond of the mendicant (begging) orders of monks and so surrounded himself with friars. William’s own narrative of his journey provides the only insight into his learning and character. Though the work is not written in the best Ciceronian Latin, the author reveals himself as a keen observer, one who was able to sift the relevant from the irrelevant and thus provide Europe with its first truly reliable information about the geography and peoples of inner Asia.
William reveals himself as a bold, even daring adventurer. The brazenness with which he preached the Christian faith shocked his Mongolian hosts, whose religious tolerance no doubt puzzled and angered William. He records in his narrative that several times the Great Khan urged him to be more diplomatic in his debates with Muslims, Buddhists, shamanists, and Nestorians. Fear that William was disrupting the religious peace may have been one reason that the Great Khan ordered him to return to his home.
Life’s Work
It was only his journey to Mongolia that lifted William of Rubrouck from obscurity onto the pages of history. Hence, a discussion of his life’s work must focus on a period of roughly twenty-eight months.
William and Louis IX had similar yet different motives for a mission to Mongolia (Tartary). William’s motives were primarily religious; Louis’s motives were a mixture of religious and political. William was apparently deeply moved by reports of the plight of German slaves of the khan of the Golden Horde (Russia and Kazakhstan). The Germans were Catholics, and William felt burdened to go and minister the sacraments to them. He was encouraged by rumors that some of the Mongol rulers had already accepted, or were on the verge of accepting, Christianity.
Louis IX, noted for his piety, was similarly influenced by the rumors that certain of the khans were Christians. He was also encouraged, however, by the prospects of an alliance with the Mongols against the Muslims in the Middle East. Louis hoped to learn something about the intentions of the Mongol armies in Syria. Thus, he was persuaded to overcome his reluctance to send William. William was not to travel as an accredited envoy of the French king, however, but as a Christian missionary seeking permission to settle, found a mission, and preach the Gospel among the Mongols. Louis gave William a letter addressed to Prince Sartach, an alleged Christian and eldest son of Batu, ruler of the Golden Horde, requesting that William be given safe conduct and permission to preach.
William was commissioned by Louis IX in the spring of 1252, while Louis was resident in Acre, Palestine, following a disastrous crusade in Egypt. From Acre, William journeyed to Constantinople, where he preached in the church of Hagia Sophia on Palm Sunday, 1253. On May 7, 1253, he departed from Constantinople on the first leg of his historic journey.
William’s party consisted of four individuals. With William there was a fellow Franciscan, Bartholomew of Cremona. Bartholomew was later to remain at the court of the Great Khan and become the first Catholic missionary to die in the East. There was also a clerk to look after the gifts Louis was sending and an interpreter, who proved unreliable.
William and his party reached Sartach’s camp at Sarai, where the Volga River empties into the Caspian Sea, on July 31. During the three days he remained with Sartach, William learned that the Mongol prince was neither a Christian nor really interested in religious matters. Sartach ordered William to proceed to the court of his father, Batu Khan. Batu was encamped near Saratov, on the upper reaches of the Volga River, in present-day southwest Russia.
Batu in turn sent William on to Mangu, the Great Khan himself, and provided two Nestorian Christian guides for the journey. They reached Mangu’s encampment on the northeastern slopes of the Altai Mountains on December 27, 1253. They were treated courteously by Mangu, though he remained suspicious of William’s true motives.
In the spring of 1254, Mangu returned to his capital at Karakorum, capital of the vast Mongol Empire. William and his party went with him and remained at Karakorum until July, when Mangu ordered him to return home. William was regularly questioned by Mangu’s ministers, who apparently were never fully convinced that he was not an ambassador. Because he insisted that he was only a Christian missionary, he did not have the right to request an audience with the Great Khan; William had to wait for Mangu to summon him.
During his stay at Karakorum, William was housed with Nestorian monks. From time to time, Mangu himself arranged for disputations between William and representatives of the various religions of his subjects. Mangu was obviously very proud of the Mongols’ tradition of religious toleration. William noted that the khan was careful not to show any preference for any one religion; he diplomatically spread his patronage equally among Buddhists, Daoists, shamanists, Muslims, and various Christian sects and attended all of their important ceremonies. William’s dogmatic advocacy of his own Christian faith offended Mangu, apparently leading to Mangu’s decision to send William back to Europe.
William departed Karakorum in July, 1254. He carried with him a letter from Mangu to Louis IX, calling on the great lords and priests of Europe to go to Karakorum and do homage to the Great Khan. On June 16, 1255, he arrived in Cyprus, where he was disappointed to find that Louis IX had returned to France. Though he desired to go to Paris and report personally to Louis IX, he was ordered by his provincial vicar to return to Acre, where he became a lecturer in theology. This turn of events was fortuitous, for it forced William to write a narrative of his journey. All in all, William had traveled some ten thousand miles, much of it on horseback over harsh terrain.
Significance
William of Rubrouck’s narrative of his journey provided a wealth of information for Europeans. His geographical revelations restored knowledge that had been lost to Western Europeans since the fall of the Roman Empire in the West (in 476). He confirmed that the Caspian Sea was in fact an inland sea. He was the first European to recognize that Cathay was “Seres,” the mythical city where ancient and medieval Westerners believed silk originated.
William was also the first European to describe an Asian city. Though he found Karakorum less impressive than Paris, what he described was a metropolitan capital of a vast, pluralistic empire. Not only did he note the existence in Karakorum of twelve Buddhist, Daoist, and shamanist temples, two Muslim mosques, and one Nestorian church, but he also provided the first descriptions of the religious rites and practices of those religions.
Karakorum was a meeting place of the various Asiatic peoples ruled over by the Mongols. William observed and recorded their lifestyles, folklore, and customs. He was the first person to make Chinese writing known to Europeans. By his description of Karakorum and its varied residents, William dispelled the traditional belief that Asian cities contained palaces made of gold and precious gems. In the same way, his observations of Central Asia laid to rest the popular belief that the area was inhabited by mythical monsters.
After his return, William served as lecturer in theology at Acre. Perhaps as a result of the intervention of Louis IX, William was given permission by his vicar to return to Paris in the late 1250’s or early 1260’. There he met the English scientist and philosopher Roger Bacon, a fellow Franciscan. Much of William’s narrative was incorporated by Bacon in his Opus majus (1267; English translation, 1897-1900), which he acknowledges was written with William’s help.
In a subsequent study, published in the mid-1260’, Bacon recorded the formula for gunpowder. Modern scholars believe that Bacon had obtained the formula from William, who in turn had learned of it while in Karakorum. Thus, William of Rubrouck’s legacy was a mixed one. On one hand, he opened up to Europeans a whole new world. On the other hand, he may well have given Europe gunpowder, thus helping usher in the era of modern warfare.
Bibliography
Chambers, James. The Devil’s Horsemen: The Mongol Invasion of Europe. Rev. ed. London: Cassell, 1988. Provides a survey of the Mongolian invasion of Europe in an expanded edition. Several clear maps help the reader locate geographical and battle sites mentioned in the text. Includes a summary of William’s journey and places it in historical context.
Dawson, Christopher, ed. Mission to Asia. 1955. Reprint. Buffalo, N.Y.: University of Toronto Press, 1992. Originally published as The Mongol Mission, provides the text of William’s narrative in a very readable translation. The author’s lengthy introduction includes all that is known about William and his mission. William’s journey is placed in historical context with the other thirteenth century journeys of exploration to Mongolia.
Martels, Zweder von, ed. Travel Fact and Travel Fiction: Studies on Fiction, Literary Tradition, Scholarly Discovery, and Observation in Travel Writing. New York: E. J. Brill, 1994. Discussion focuses on the technique and history of travel writing, and includes a chapter on the “perception and prejudices” of William during his travels to the Mongol Empire. Includes a bibliography and an index.
Nederman, Cary J. Worlds of Difference: European Discourses of Toleration, c. 1100-c. 1550. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2000. Explores the idea and practice of religious tolerance during medieval times. Includes an introductory chapter, “Beyond Intolerance: Sources and Sites of Medieval Religious Dispute” and another chapter discussing William, “Negotiating the Tolerant Society: The Travail of William of Rubruck.”
Olschki, Leonardo. Marco Polo’s Asia. Translated by John A. Scott. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1960. Though this study focuses on Marco Polo, it also deals with Polo’s predecessors, including William. It is a scholarly discussion of the European discovery of Asia.
Peden, Alison. “The Medieval Antipodes.” History Today 45, no. 12 (December, 1995). A brief article on the medieval preconceptions and misconceptions influenced by both science and theology about the so-called edges of the known world. Mentions William’s journey to Asia.
Prawdin, Michael. The Mongol Empire: Its Rise and Legacy. Translated by Eden Paul and Cedar Paul. New York: Free Press, 1967. Especially helpful for a discussion of the Great Khan’s religious tolerance. Includes maps and a genealogical table.
Ruysbroek, Willem van. The Mission of Friar William of Rubruck: His Journey to the Court of the Great Khan Möngke, 1253-1255. Translated by Peter Jackson. 1900. Reprint. London: Hakluyt Society, 1990. This is still the most authoritative English translation of William’s narrative. The text is accompanied by rich explanatory footnotes, maps, and an itinerary of William’s journey. An introduction provides an excellent summary of Europe’s relations with the Mongols in the thirteenth century and the background to William’s journey.