William of Rubruck's Account of the Mongols (Selections)
Introduction
A Flemish Franciscan monk, William of Rubruck (Willem van Ruysbroeck, ca.
1210-ca. 1270) wrote the most detailed and valuable of the early Western
accounts of the Mongols. William had participated in the crusade of King Louis
IX of France to Palestine and there heard about the Mongols from friar Andrew of
Longjumeau, a Dominican who had been involved in papal diplomacy aimed at trying
to enlist the Mongols in the Christian crusade against the Muslims. Rubruck then
decided to undertake his own mission to the Mongols primarily in the hope of
promoting their conversion to Christianity. In 1253 he set out through the lands
of the western part of their empire (what we know as the Golden Horde)--that is
starting out through the southern steppes of what is now Ukraine and Russia. His
roundtrip journey lasted the better part of three years. William had the
distinction of being the first European to visit the Mongol capital of Karakorum
on the Orhon River and return to write about it. He provides a unique
description of the Khan's palace there and abundant detail about the individuals
of various ethnicities and religions whom he encountered. Understandably, he was
particularly interested in the Nestorian Christians. His describes generally
with great precision Mongol traditional culture, many features of which have
survived amongst the herders one may observe today in inner Asia.
The text here is the translation by W. W. Rockhill: The journey of William of
Rubruck to the eastern parts of the world, 1253-55, as narrated by himself, with
two accounts of the earlier journey of John of Pian de Carpine. tr. from the
Latin and ed., with an introductory notice, by William Woodville Rockhill
(London: Hakluyt Society, 1900). Notes and some additional headings have been
added, and the text checked against the more recent Hakluyt Society translation,
whose extensive notes by two noted Mongol specialists make it the preferred
edition for those who wish full scholarly annotation: The mission of Friar
William of Rubruck : his journey to the court of the Great Khan Mφngke,
1253-1255, tr. by Peter Jackson; introduction, notes and appendices by Peter
Jackson with David Morgan (London: Hakluyt Society, 1990). The light annotation
provided here has been appropriated from the latter. Alternative translations
from the Jackson edition are provided throughout the text in the format [J: alt.
translation].
The digitalization has been done by Janeen Richards (April, 2002); the
annotation and check against the Jackson translation by Lance Jenott (July,
2002).
O the most excellent lord and most Christian Louis, by the grace of God illustrious King of the French, from Friar William of Rubruck, the meanest in the order of Minor Friars, greetings, and may he always triumph in Christ. It is written in Ecclesiasticus of the wise man: "He shall go through the land of foreign peoples, and shall try the good and evil in all things." This, my lord King, have I done, and may it have been as a wise man and not as a fool; for many do what the wise man doth, though not wisely, but most foolishly; of this number I fear I may be. Nevertheless in whatever way I may have done, since you commanded me when I took my leave of you that I should write you whatever I should see among the Tartars, and you did also admonish me not to fear writing a long letter, so I do what you enjoined on me, with fear, however, and diffidence, for the proper words that I should write to so great a monarch do not suggest themselves to me.
[The Mongols' social and religious customs; celebrations]
And over the head of the master is always an image of felt, like a doll or
statuette, which they call the brother of the master: another similar one is
above the head of the mistress, which they call the brother of the mistress, and
they are attached to the wall: and higher up between the two of them is a little
lank one (macilenta), who is, as it were, the guardian of the whole
dwelling. The mistress places in her house on her right side, in a conspicuous
place at the foot of her couch, a goat-skin full of wool or other stuff, and
beside it a very little statuette looking in the direction of attendants and
women. Beside the entry on the woman's side is yet another image, with a cow's
tit for the women, who milk the cows: for it is part of the duty of the women to
milk the cows. On the other side of the entry, toward the men, is another statue
with a mare's tit for the men who milk the mares.
And when they have come together to drink, they first sprinkle with liquor this image which is over the master's head, then the other images in order. Then an attendant goes out of the dwelling with a cup and liquor, and sprinkles three times to the south, each time bending the knee, and that to do reverence to the fire; then to the east, and that to do reverence to the air; then to the west to do reverence to the water; to the north they sprinkle for the dead. When the master takes the cup in hand and is about to drink, he first pours a portion on the ground. If he were to drink seated on a horse, he first before he drinks pours a little on the neck or the mane of the horse. Then when the attendant has sprinkled toward the four quarters of the world he goes back into the house, where two attendants are ready, with two cups and platters to carry drink to the master and the wife seated near him upon the couch. And when he hath several wives [J: as he has more than one wife], she with whom he hath slept that night sits beside him in the day, and it becometh all the others to come to her dwelling that day to drink, and court is held there that day, and the gifts which are brought that day are placed in the treasury of that lady. A bench with a skin of milk, or some other drink, and with cups, stands in the entry.
In winter they make a capital drink of rice, of millet, and of honey, ; it is clear as wine : and wine is carried to them from remote parts. In summer they care only for cosmos. There is always cosmos near the house, before the entry door, and beside it stands a guitar-player with his guitar. Lutes and vielles [i.e. guitars] such as we have I did not see there, but many other instruments which are unknown among us. And when the master begins to drink, then one of the attendants cries with a loud voice, "Ha!" and the guitarist strikes his guitar, and when they have a great feast they all clap their hands, and also dance about to the sound of the guitar, the men before the master, the women before the mistress. And when the master has drunken, then the attendant cries as before, and the guitarist stops. Then they drink all around, and sometimes they do drink right shamefully and gluttonly [J: Then they all drink in turn, men and women alike, and at times compete with one another in quaffing in a thoroughly distasteful and greedy fashion]. And when they want to challenge anyone to drink, they take hold of him by the ears, and pull so as to distend his throat, and they clan and dance before him. Likewise, when they want to make a great feasting and jollity with someone, one takes a full cup, and two others are on his right and left, and thus these three come singing and dancing towards him who is to take the cup, and they sing and dance before him ; and when he holds out his hand to take the cup, they quickly draw it back, and then again they come back as before, and so they elude him three or four times by drawing away the cup, till he hath become well excited and is in good appetite [J: has a good thirst], and then they give him the cup, and while he drinks they sing and clap their hands and strike with their feet [J: ...they give him the goblet, singing and clapping and stamping their feet until he is drunk].
[Nestorians]
At the time when the Franks took
Now this Chingis used to dispatch the Tartars in every direction, and so their name spread abroad, for everywhere was heard the cry: "The Tartars are coming!" But through the many wars they have been nearly all killed off, and now these Mo'al would like to extinguish even the name and raise their own in its stead. The country in which they first lived, and where is still the ordu of Chingis Chan, is called Onankerule. But because Caracarum is the district where their power first began to spread, they hold it their royal city, and near there they elect their Chan.
Of Sartach I know not whether he believes in the Christ or not. This I do know, that he will not be called a Christian, and it even seemed to me that he mocked the Christians. For he is on the road of the Christians, to wit, of the Ruthenians [=Russians], Blacs [=Vlachs], Bulgarians of Minor Bulgaria, Soldaians, Kerkis [=Circassians] and Alans, all of whom pass by him hen going to his father's ordu carrying presents to him, so he shows himself most attentive to them. Should, however, Saracens come along carrying more presents than they, they are sent along more expeditiously. He has Nestorian priests around him who strike a board and chant their offices.
And there is another one called Berka [=Berke Khan (d.1267)], a brother of Baatu, who has his pasture lands toward the Iron Gate, where passes the road followed by all the Saracens coming from Persia and Turkia, and going to Baatu, and who when passing through bring him presents; and he has made himself a Saracen, and he does not allow pork to be eaten in his ordu. When we came back Baatu had ordered him to move from that place to beyond the Etilia to the east, not wanting Saracens to pass by where he was, it appearing to him harmful [J: since he (Batu) viewed it as detrimental to his own interests]. During the four days we were at Sartach's ordu, we were not once furnished with food, and only once with a little cosmos.
On the road between him and his father we were in great fear, for the Ruthenians, Hungarians and Alans, their [the Mongols'] slaves, of whom there are very great numbers among them, are in the habit of banding together twenty or thirty in number, and run off at night (armed) with arrows and bows, and whomsoever they find at night they kill. During the day they hide, and when their horses are tired, they come by night to the herds of horses in the pastures and change their horses, and take one or two with them to eat when necessary. Our guide greatly feared some adventure with them. On this part of the road we should have died of hunger, had we not carried with us a small supply of biscuit.
..
We found there a big town called Cailac [=Qayaligh], where there was a market, and many traders frequented it. Here we rested twelve days, waiting for a certain secretary of Baatu, who was to be associated with our guide in the matters to be settled at Mangu's ordu. This country used to be called Organum [=Urgench, the region's capitol city], and the people used to have a language and letters of their own [=Sogdian]; but now it is all occupied by Turcomans. Moreover, the Nestorians of those parts used to perform their services in that language, and write books in those letters, and perhaps it was by them that those people were called Organa on account, as was told me, of their having been excellent guitar players (or organiste). 'Twas here I first saw idolaters [=Buddhists], of whom you must know there are many sects in the east.
[Buddhists and Buddhism]
The first are the Iugurs, whose country confines on this said country of Organum,
being situated among the mountains to the east of it; and in all their towns is
found to mixture of Nestorians and Saracens, and they are also scattered about
towards
They (the idolaters) place their temples east and west; on the north side they make an alcove projecting out like a choir, or sometimes, if the building is square, it is in the middle of the building. So they shut off on the north side an alcove in place of a choir [J: if the building is square, they partition off an alcove inside, in the middle of the north side, corresponding to the choir], and there they put a coffer as long and as broad as a table, and after [i.e., behind] that coffer to the south they place the chief idol, and that which I saw at Caracarum was as large as we paint Saint Christopher. And a Nestorian who had come from Cathay told me that in that country there is an idol so big that it can he seen from two days off. And they place other idols around about (the principal one), all most beautifully gilt. And on that coffer, which is like a table, they put lamps and offerings. Contrary to the custom of the Saracens, all the doors of the temples open to the south. They also have big bells like ours: 'tis for this reason, I think, that the eastern Christians do not have any. The Ruthenians, however, have them, and so do the Greeks in Gazaria.
All the priests (of the idolaters) shave their heads [J: shave the head and beard completely], and are dressed in saffron color, and they observe chastity from the time they shave their heads, and they live in congregations of one or two hundred. On the days when they go into the temple, they place two benches, and they sit in the region of the choir but opposite the choir [J: they put down two benches and sit on the ground opposite one another in facing rows like choirs], with books in their hands, which they sometimes put down on these benches; and they keep their heads uncovered as long as they are in the temple, reading in silence and keeping silence. And when I went into one of their temples at Caracarum, and found them thus seated, I tried every means of inducing them to talk, but was unable to do so. Wherever they go they have in their hands a string of one or two hundred beads, like our rosaries, and they always repeat these words, on mani baccam, which is, "God, thou knowest," as one of them interpreted it to me, and they expect as many rewards from God as they remember God in saying this. Around their temple they make a fine courtyard well surrounded by a wall, and in the side of this facing the south, they make the main gate where they sit and talk. And over this gate they set up a long pole, which, if it be possible, rises above the whole city, and by this pole it may be known that this building is an idol temple. This practice is common to all idolaters. When I went into the idol temple I was speaking of, I found the priests seated in the outer gate, and when I saw them with their shaved faces they seemed to me to be Franks, but they had barbarian miters on their heads [J: but the mitres they were wearing on their heads were of paper]. These Iugur priests have the following dress: wherever they go they are always dressed in rather tight saffron-colored tunics, over which is a girdle like the Franks, and they have a stole (pallium) over their left shoulder, passed round the chest and the back to the right side, like the chasuble (casula) worn by a deacon in Lent.
The Tartars have adopted their (i.e., the Uigurs') letters [J: Their alphabet has been adopted by the Tartars]. They begin writing at the top, and run the line downward; and in like manner they read it, and they make the lines to follow each other from left to right. They make great use of drawings and letters for their sorcery [J: they make frequent use of characters written on paper in their witchcraft], so their temples are full of short sentences (brevibus) hung up there.The letter with [which] Mangu Chan sends us is in the Mo'al language, but in their script.
They burn their dead according to the custom of the ancients [J: following a long established custom], and put the ashes in the top of pyramids.
When then I had sat down beside these priests, after having been in the temple and seen their many idols, great and small, I asked them what they believed concerning God. They answered: "We only believe that there is one God." Then I asked: "Do you believe he is a spirit, or something corporeal?" "We believe that he is a spirit," they said. "Do you believe that he has never taken upon him human nature?" They said: "Never." "Then," said I, "if you believe that he is one and a spirit, why do you make him bodily images, and so many? Furthermore, if you do not believe that he became man, why do you make him in human shape rather than in that of some animal?" Then they replied: "We do not make these images to (of) God [J: for God], but when some rich person among us dies, his son, or wife, or someone dear to him, has made an image of the deceased, and puts it here, and we revere it in memory of him." Then I said: "Then you only make these out of flattery for man." "Only," they said, "in remembrance." Then they asked me, as if in derision: "Where is God ? "To which I said: "Where is your soul?" "In our body," they said. I replied: "Is it not everywhere in your body, and does it not direct the whole of it, and, nevertheless, is invisible? So God is everywhere, and governs all things, though invisible, for He is intelligence and wisdom." Then, just as I wanted to continue reasoning with them, my interpreter got tired, and would no longer express my words, so he made me stop talking [J: my interpreter, who was tired and incapable of finding the right words, made me stop talking].
The Mo'al or Tartars who are of this sect, though they believe in one God,
make nevertheless images of their dead in felt, and dress them in the richest
stuffs, and put them in one or two carts, and no one dare touch these carts,
which are under the care of their soothsayers, who are their priests, and of
whom I shall tell you further on. These soothsayers are always before the ordu
of Mangu and of other rich people, for the poor have none, but only those of the
family of Chingis. And when they are on the march, these (soothsayers) precede
them as the pillar of a cloud did the children of
Those Iugurs who live interspersed with the Christians and Saracens, through frequent disputations, as I believe, have reached the point of having no belief but that in a single God. These Iugurs used to inhabit the cities which first obeyed Chingis Chan, who therefore gave his daughter to their king. And Caracarum is as it were in their territory, and all the land of the king of the Prester John and of Unc his brother, was round about this country, though they occupied the pasture lands to the north, while the Iugurs lived amidst the mountains to the south. So it happened that the Mo'al adopted their letters, and they are their best scribes, and nearly all the Nestorians know their letters. Beyond them to the east among those mountains are the Tanguts, most valiant men, who captured Chingis in war; and he, peace being made, and once freed by them, subdued them. These people have very strong cattle, with very hairy tails like horses, and with bellies and backs covered with hair. They are lower on their legs than other oxen, but much stronger. They draw the big dwellings of the Mo'al, and have slender, long, curved horns, so sharp that it is always necessary to cut off their points. The cows will not let themselves be milked unless sung to. They have also the temper of the bull, for if they see a man dressed in red they throw themselves on him to kill him.
Beyond these are the Tebet, a people in the habit of eating their dead
parents, so that for piety's sake they should not give their parents any other
sepulcher than their bowels. They have given this practice up, however, as they
were held an abomination among all nations. They still, however, make handsome
cups out of the heads of their parents, so that when drinking out of them they
may have them in mind in the midst of their merry-making. This was told me by
one who had seen it. These people have much gold in their country, so that when
one lacks gold he digs till he finds it, and he only takes so much as he
requires and puts the rest back in the ground; for if he put it in a treasury or
a coffer, he believes that God would take away from him that which is in the
ground. I saw many misshapen individuals of this people. Of the Tanguts I have
seen big men, but swarthy. The Iugurs are of medium size, like us. Among the
Iugurs the Turkie Coman language has its source and root. After Tebet are Longa
and Solanga [=possibly
Besides these people there is another, as I was assured, called Muc, who have towns, but who take no animals for themselves. There are, however, many herds and flocks in their country, but no one herds them; when anyone wants some, he goes to a hill and calls, and all the animals hearing the call come around him, and let him treat them as if they were tame. If an ambassador or any foreigner come to that country, they put him in a house, and give him all he requires, until his business has been settled; for should a foreigner go about the country, his odor would cause the animals to run away and they would become wild.
There is also great
All these nations are in the mountains of the
[More Nestorians]
Living mixed among them, though of alien race [J: alien status] (tanquam
advene), are Nestorians and Saracens all the way to
On the feast of Saint Andrew (30th November) we left this city (of Cailac),
and at about three leagues from it we found a village entirely of Nestorians. We
entered their church, singing joyfully and at the tops of our voices: "Salve,
On the second Sunday [J: Saturday] in Advent (13th December) in the evening, while we were passing through a certain place amidst most terrible rocks, our guide sent me word begging me to say some prayers (bona verba),by which the devils could be put to flight, for in this gorge devils were wont suddenly to bear men off, and no one could tell what they might do. Sometimes they seized the horse, and left the rider; sometimes they tore out the man's bowels and left the body on the horse, and many such things happened there frequently. So we chanted in a loud voice "Credo in unum Deum," when by the mercy of God the whole of our company passed thorough. From that time they began asking me to write cards (cartas) for them, to carry on their heads, and I would say to them: "I will teach you a phrase to carry in your hearts, which will save your souls and your bodies for all eternity." But always when I wanted to teach them, my interpreter failed me. I used to write for them, however, the "Credo in Deum" and the "Pater noster," saying: "What is here written is what one must believe of God, and the prayer by which one asks of God whatever is needful for man; so believe firmly that this writing is so, though you cannot understand it, and pray God to do for you what is written in this prayer, which He taught from His own mouth to His friends, and I hope that He will save you." I could do no more, for it was very dangerous, not to say impossible, to speak on questions of the faith through such an interpreter, for he did not know how.
After that we entered the plain in which was the ordu of Keu Chan, and which used to be the country of the Naiman, who were the real subjects of that Prester John. I did not at that time see this ordu, but on my way back. I will tell you, however, what befell his family, his son, and his wives. When Keu Chan died, Baatu wanted Mangu to be Chan. As to the death of this Keu I could learn nothing definite. Friar Andrew says that he died from some medicine which was given him, and that it was supposed that Baatu had had this done. I, however, heard another story. He had called upon Baatu to come and do him homage, and Baatu had started in great state. He was in great fear, however, he and his men, so he sent ahead one of his brothers, Stican [=Shiban, son of Jochi Khan] by name, and when he came to Keu, and had to present him the cup, a quarrel arose, and they killed each other. The widow of this Stican detained us a whole day, to go to her dwelling and bless it; that is, that we might pray for her. So this Keu being dead, Mangu was elected by the will of Baatu, and had already been elected when Friar Andrew was there.
Keu had a brother called Siremon [=Shiremόn, Gόyόk's nephew], who on the advice of the wife of Keu and her vassals, went in great state toward Mangu as if to do him homage. In truth, however, he intended to kill him, and to exterminate all his ordu. And when he had already got to within a day or two of Mangu, he had to leave on the road one of his carts which broke down; and while the carter was fixing it, there came along one of Mangu's men who helped him; and he asked so much about their journey that the carter revealed to him what Siremon proposed doing. Then the other, leaving him as if he did not care about it, went to a herd of horses, and taking the strongest horse he could pick in it, rode day and night in great haste till he came to Mangu's ordu, and told him what he had heard. Then Mangu promptly called all his men, and caused to be made three [J: four] circles of men-at-arms around his ordu, so that no one could come in. The rest he sent against this Siremon, and they captured him, for he did not suspect that his designs had become known, and led him with all his men to the ordu. When Mangu charged him with the crime, he at once confessed. Then he was put to death, he and the elder son of Keu Chan, and with them three hundred of the greatest men among the Tartars. And they sent also for their ladies, that they all might be whipped with burning brands to make them confess. And when they had confessed, they were put to death. A young son of Keu, too small to take part in or to know of the plot, was alone left alive, and to him reverted his father's ordu with all that belonged thereto in men and animals. And on our way back we passed by it, but my guides did not dare, either when going or when coming back, to turn off to it, for "the mistress of nations sat in sorrow, and there was no one to console her."
Again we ascended mountains, going always in a northerly direction. Finally,
on the day of the Blessed Stephen (December 26th) we entered a plain vast as a
sea, in which there was seen no hillock, and the following day, on the feast of
[Christians at the court of the Khan]
The next day we were conducted to court, and I thought I could go barefooted, as
in our own countries, so I left my shoes. Now, those who come to the court get
off their horses about an arrow's flight from the dwelling of the Chan, and
there the horses and the servants keeping the horses remain. So when we had
alighted there, and while our guide went to the dwelling of the Chan, there came
an Hungarian servant, who recognized us--that is our Order, and as they
surrounded us and gazed at us as if we were monsters, especially because we were
barefooted, and they asked us if we had no use for our feet, because they
supposed that we would at once lose them, this Hungarian gave them the reason,
telling them of the rules of our Order. Then came the grand secretary, who was a
Nestorian Christian, and whose advice they nearly always follow, to look at us:
and he examined us carefully, and called that Hungarian, of whom he made many
inquiries. Then we were told to go back to our lodgings; and, as we were going
back, I saw before the east end of the ordu, the distance of two crossbow
shots from it, a dwelling with a little cross over it. Greatly pleased, and
imagining there was something Christian there, I boldly went in, and found an
altar right beautifully decked. For there was embroidered on a cloth of gold an
image of the Savior, of the Blessed Virgin, of John the Baptist and of two
angels, and the lines of the body and of the garments were marked out with
pearls, and there was a great silver cross with gems in the angles and the
middle, and many, other church ornaments, and an oil lamp having eight lights
was burning before the altar ; and there was seated there an Hermenian monk,
swarthy and lank, and he was dressed in a tunic of the roughest hair-cloth
reaching halfway down to his shins, and over it he had a stole of black silk
lined with vaire, and under his hair-cloth garment he wore an iron girdle. As
soon as we entered, and even before saluting the monk, we sang on our knees: "Ave
That morning the tips of my toes were frozen, so that I could not thereafter go bare-footed. The cold in these regions is most intense, and from the time it begins freezing it never ceases till May; even in the month of May there was frost every morning, though during the day the sun's rays melted it. But in winter it never thawed, but with every wind it continued to freeze. And if there were wind there in winter as with us, nothing could live; but the atmosphere is always calm till April, then the wind arises. And when we were there, the cold that came on with the wind about Easter killed an infinite number of animals. But little snow fell there during the winter, but about Easter, which was at the end of April, there fell so much that all the streets of Caracarum were full, and they had to carry it off in carts. They brought us from the ordu of the first (wife) sheepskin gowns and breeches and shoes, which my companion and the dragoman took; for my part I did not think I was in need of them, for it seemed to me that the fur gown I had brought with me from Baatu's sufficed me.
On the Octave of the Innocents (3rd January [J: Jan. 4th], 1254) we were taken to court; and there came certain Nestorian priests, whom I did not know to be Christians, and they asked me in what direction I prayed. I said "to the east." And they asked that because we had shaved our beards, at the suggestion of our guide, so as to appear before the Chan according to the fashion of our country. 'Twas for this that they took us for Tuins, that is idolaters. They also made us explain the Bible. Then they asked us what kind of reverence we wanted to make the Chan, according to our fashion, or according to theirs. I replied to them: "We are priests given to the service of God. Noblemen in our country do not, for the glory of God, allow priests to bend the knee before them. Nevertheless, we want to humble ourselves to every man for the love of God. We come from afar: so in the first place then, if it please you, we will sing praises to God who has brought us here in safety from so far, and after that we will do as it shall please your lord, this only excepted, that nothing be required of us contrary to the worship and glory of God." Then they went into the house, and repeated what I had said. It pleased the lord, and so they placed us before the door of the dwelling, holding up the felt which hung before it; and, as it was the Nativity, we began to sing:
"A solis ortus cardine Et
usque terre limitem Christian canamus principem Natum Maria virgine"
When we had sung this hymn, they searched our legs and breasts and arms to see if we had knives upon us. They had the interpreter examined, and made him leave his belt and knife in the custody of a door-keeper. Then we entered, and there was a bench in the entry with cosmos, and near by it they made the interpreter stand. They made us, however, sit down on a bench near the ladies. The house was all covered inside with cloth of gold, and there was a fire of briars and wormwood roots--which grow here to great size--and of cattle dung, in a grate in the center of the dwelling. He (Mangu) was seated on a couch, and was dressed in a skin spotted and glossy, like a seal's skin. He is a little man, of medium height, aged forty-five years, and a young wife sat beside him; and a very ugly, full-grown girl called Cirina, with other children sat on a couch after them. This dwelling had belonged to a certain Christian lady, whom he had much loved, and of whom he had had this girl. Afterwards he had taken this young wife, but the girl was the mistress of all this ordu, which had been her mother's.
He had us asked what we wanted to drink, wine or terracina, which is rice wine (cervisia), or caracosmos, which is clarified mare's milk, or bal, which is honey mead. For in winter they make use of these four kinds of drinks. I replied : "My lord, we are not men who seek to satisfy our fancies about drinks; whatever pleases you will suit us." So he had us given of the rice drink, which was clear and flavored like white wine, and of which I tasted a little out of respect for him, but for our misfortune our interpreter was standing by the butlers, who gave him so much to drink, that he was drunk in a short time. After this the Chan had brought some falcons and other birds, which he took on his hand and looked at, and after a long while he bade us speak. Then we had to bend our knees. He had his interpreter, a certain Nestorian, who I did not know was a Christian, and we had our interpreter, such as he was, and already drunk. Then I said: "In the first place we render thanks and praise to God, who has brought us from so far to see Mangu Chan, to whom God has given so much power on earth. And we pray Christ, by whose will we all live and die, to grant him a happy and long life." For it is their desire, that one shall pray for their lives. Then I told him: "My lord, we have heard of Sartach that he was a Christian, and the Christians who heard it rejoiced greatly, and principally my lord the king of the French. So we came to him, and my lord the king sent him a letter by us in which were words of peace, and among other things he bore witness to him as to the kind of men we were, and he begged him to allow us to remain in his country, for it is our office to teach men to live according to the law of God. He sent us, however, to his father Baatu, and Baatu sent us to you. You it is to whom God has given great power in the world. We pray then your mightiness to give us permission to remain in your dominion, to perform the service of God for you, for your wives and your children. We have neither gold, nor silver nor precious stones to present to you, but only ourselves to offer to you to serve God, and to pray to God for you. At all events give us leave to remain here till this cold has passed away, for my companion is so feeble that he cannot with safety to his life stand any more the fatigue of traveling on horse-back."
My companion had told me of his infirm condition, and had adjured me to ask
for permission to stay, for we supposed that we would have to go back to Baatu,
unless by special grace he gave us permission to stay. Then he began his reply:
"As the sun sends its rays everywhere, likewise my sway and that of Baatu
reach everywhere, so we do not want your gold or silver." So far I
understood my interpreter, but after that I could not understand the whole of
any one sentence: 'twas by this that I found out he was drunk, and Mangu himself
appeared to me tipsy. His speech, it seemed to me, however, showed that he was
not pleased that we had come to Sartach in the first place rather than to him.
Then I, seeing that I was without interpreter, said nothing, save to beg him not
to be displeased with what I had said of gold and silver, for I had not said
that he needed or wanted such things, but only that we would gladly honor him
with things temporal as well as spiritual. Then he made us arise and sit down
again, and after awhile we saluted him and went out, and with us his secretaries
and his interpreter, who was bringing up [J: foster-father to] one of his
daughters. And they began to question us greatly about the
Then they appointed someone to take care of us, and we went to the monk. And as we were coming out of there to go to our lodgings, the interpreter I have mentioned came to me and said: "Mangu Chan takes compassion on you and allows you to stay here for the space of two months: then the great cold will be over. And he informs you that ten days hence there is a goodly city called Caracarum. If you wish to go there, he will have you given all you may require; if, however, you wish to remain here, you may do so, and you shall have what you need. It will, however, be fatiguing for you to ride with the court." I answered: " May the Lord keep Mangu Chan and give him a happy and long life! We have found this monk here, whom we believe to be a holy man and come here by the will of God. So we would willingly remain here with him, for we are monks, and we would say our prayers with him for the life of the Chan." Then he left us without a word. And we went to a big house, which we found cold and without a supply of fuel, and we were still without food, and it was night. Then he to whom we had been entrusted gave us fuel and a little food.
Our guide being about to return to Baatu, begged of us a carpet or rug which we had left by his order in Baatu's ordu. We gave it him, and he left us in the most friendly manner, asking our hand, and saying that it was his fault if he had let us suffer from hunger or thirst on the journey. We pardoned him, and in like manner we asked pardon of him and all his suite if we had shown them an evil example in anything.
A certain woman from
She believed that he had still a brother living on the Grand Pont, called Roger Buchier. She also told me that he supported a young man whom he considered as his son, and who was a most excellent interpreter. But as Mangu Chan had given this said master three hundred iascot, that is three thousand marks, and fifty workmen to do a certain work, she feared he would not be able to send his son to me. She had heard people in the ordu saying: "The men who have come from your country are good men, and Mangu Chan would be pleased to speak with them, but their interpreter is worth nothing." 'Twas for this that she was solicitous about an interpreter. So I wrote to this master of my coming, asking him if he could send me his son; and he replied that in that month [J: during that moon] he could not, but the following he would have finished his task and then he would send him to me.
We were stopping then with the other envoys [J: So, then, we were quartered with the other envoys]; for they do differently as regards envoys at the court of Baatu and the court of Mangu. At Baatu's court there is an Iam on the west side who receives all those who come from the west; and it is arranged in like fashion for the other quarters of the world. But at the court of Mangu all are under one Iam, and may visit and see each other. At the court of Baatu they do not know each other, and one knows not whether another is an envoy, for they know not each other's lodgings, and only see each other at court. And when one is summoned, another perhaps is not: for they only go to court when summoned.
We found there a certain Christian from
Then Mangu asked the name of the bishop. He said that he was called Oto. And he went on to tell him of Damascus and of master William, who was clerk of the lord legate [J: and thus it was that he told the man from Damascus and Master William that he had been a clerk of the lord Legate]. Then the Chan asked him in whose kingdom he dwelt. And he answered that he was under a certain king of the Franks, who was called King Moles. For he had before that heard of what happened at Mensura, and he wanted to say that he was one of your subjects. Furthermore, he said to the Chan that the Saracens were between the Franks and him blocking the way: that if the road were open they would send envoys and would gladly make a peace with him. Then Mangu Chan asked if he would take envoys to that king and that bishop. He replied that he would, and also to the Pope. Then Mangu had made a very strong bow that two men could hardly string, and two arrows with silver heads full of holes, which whistled like a pipe when they were shot. And he told the Mo'al whom he was to send with this Theodolus: "Go to the king of the Franks, to whom this man shall take you, and offer him these from me. And if he will have peace with us, and we conquer the land of the Saracens as far as his country, we will leave him all the rest of the earth to the west. If not, bring back the bow and the arrows to us, and tell him that with such bows we shoot far and hit hard."
Then he made this Theodulus leave his presence, and his interpreter was the son of master William, and he heard (the Chan) saying to the Mo'al : "Go with this man; examine well the roads, the country, the towns, the men and their arms." Then this young man upbraided Theodulus, saying that he did wrong to take envoys of the Tartars with him, who only went to spy. Then he answered that he would put them to sea, so that they would not be able to know whence they came nor how they had come back.
Mangu also gave the Mo'al his bull, which is like a plate of gold a palm broad and a half cubit long, and on it is written his order. He who bears it can command what he pleases, and it shall be done without delay. So when this Theodulus had come as far as Vastacius, and was wishing to pass on to the Pope, to deceive the Pope as he had deceived Mangu Chan, Vastacius asked him if he had letters of the Pope, since he was an ambassador and had to lead envoys of the Tartars. And when he was unable to show any letters, he seized him and took away from him all that he had got together, and threw him into prison. As to the Mo'al, he fell ill and died there. Vastacius, however, sent back to Mangu Chan by the attendants of the Mo'al the bull of gold, and I passed them on the road at Arseron (Erzerum) on the border of Turkie, and they told me what had befallen this Theodulus. Such adventurers wandering through the world, the Mo'al put to death when they can lay hands on them.
Then the feast of the Epiphany (6th January [1254]) was nigh, that Hermenian
monk called Sergius told me that he would baptize Mangu Chan on that feast. And
I begged him to do all in his power that I might be present, and be an
eye-witness to it. And this he promised me. The feast came, but the monk did not
call me; however, at the sixth hour [=
So we sat for a long time before his ordu and they brought us meat to eat, but I told them that we would not eat there, but that if they wished to provide us with food they should give it to us in our dwelling. Then they said: "Go then to your dwelling, for you have only been called to eat." So we went back by way of the monk's, ashamed of the lie he had told us, and to whom I would not therefore speak of that matter. Some of the Nestorians, however, wanted to assure me that he (Mangu) had been baptized; I told them that I would never believe it, nor say so to others, for I had not seen it.
We came to our cold and empty dwelling. They had supplied us with couches and bed covering, and brought us fuel, and given to the three of us the flesh of one poor, thin sheep for food for six days. Daily they gave us a bowl full of millet and a quart of millet mead, and they borrowed for us a kettle and a tripod to cook our meat; and when it was cooked we boiled the millet in the pot liquor. This was our diet; and it would have been quite sufficient, if they had let us eat in peace. But there were so many suffering from want of food, who as soon as they saw us getting our meal ready, would push in on us, and who had to be given to eat with us. Then I experienced what martyrdom it is to give in charity when in poverty.
At that time the cold began to grow intense, and Mangu Chan sent us three gowns of papion skins, which they wear with the fur outside, and these we received in thankfulness. They inquired also whether we had all the food we required. I told them that a little food sufficed us, but that we had no house in which we could pray for Mangu Chan; for our hut was so small that we could not stand up in it, nor open our books as soon as we lit the fire. So they reported these words to him, and he sent to the monk to know whether he would like our company, and he replied cheerfully that he would. From then on we had a better dwelling, living with the monk before the ordu, where no one lodged except ourselves and their diviners; but these latter were nearer and in front of the ordu of the first lady, while we were on the extreme eastern end, before the ordu of the last lady. This was on the day before the octave of the Epiphany (12th January). The next day, that is on the octave of the Epiphany, all the Nestorian priests assembled before dawn in the chapel, beat the board, and solemnly sang Matins; then they put on their church vestments, and prepared a censer and incense. And as they thus waited in the court of the church, the first wife, called Cotota Cater (cater is the same as "lady," Cotota is a proper name), entered the chapel with several other ladies, and her first-born son called Baltu, and some others of her children; and they prostrated themselves, the forehead to the ground, according to the fashion of the Nestorians, and after that they touched all the images with their right hand, always kissing their hand after touching them; and after this they gave their right hands to all the bystanders in the church. This is the custom of the Nestorians on entering church. Then the priests sang a great deal, putting incense in the lady's hand; and she put it on the fire, and then they incensed her. After that when it was already bright day, she began taking off her headdress, called bocca, and I saw her bare head, and then she told us to leave, and as I was leaving, I saw a silver bowl brought in. Whether they baptized here or not, I know not: but I do know that they do not celebrate mass in a tent, but in a substantial [J: permanent] church. And at Easter (12th April), I saw them baptize and consecrate fonts with great ceremony, which they did not do then.
And as we were going back to our dwelling, Mangu Chan came, and entered the church or oratory, and they brought him a gilded couch, on which he sat beside his lady, facing the altar. Then they summoned us, who did not know of the arrival of Mangu, and the door-keeper searched us, lest we had knives on us. I entered the oratory, with my Bible and breviary in my bosom. First I bowed to the altar, and then to the Chan, and passing to the other side, we stood between the monk and the altar. Then they made us intone a psalm according to our fashion and chant. "We chanted this prose: "Veni, Sancte, Spiritus."
The Chan had brought him our books, the Bible and the breviary, and made
careful inquiry about the pictures, and what they meant. The Nestorians answered
as they saw fit, for our interpreter had not come with us. The first time I had
been before him, I had also the Bible in my bosom, and he had it handed him, and
looked at it a great deal. Then he went away, but the lady remained there and
distributed presents to all the Christians who were there. To the monk she gave
one iascot, and to the archdeacon of the priests another. Before us she
had placed a nasic, which is a piece of stuff as broad as a coverlid and
about as long, and a buccaran [=an expensive cotton cloth]; but as I
would not accept them, they were sent to the interpreter, who took them for
himself. The nasic he carried all the way to
Before Septuagesima Sunday, the Nestorians fast three days, which they call the fast of Jonah, that he preached to the Ninivites; and then also the Hermenians fast for five days, which they call the fast of Saint Serkis, who is one of the greater saints among them, and who the Greeks say was a canon [J: model for saints]. The Nestorians begin the fast on the third day of the week, and end it on the fifth, so that on the sixth day they eat meat. And at that time I saw that the chancellor, that is the grand secretary of the court, Bulgai by name, gave them a present of meat on the sixth day; and they blessed it with great pomp, as the Pascal lamb is blessed. He himself, however, did not eat (meat on Friday), and this is also the principle of master William the Parisian, who is a great friend of his. The monk directed Mangu to fast during the week, and this he did, as I heard say. So on the Sunday of Septuagesima (8th February), which is as it were the Easter of the Hermenians [J: Septuagesima Saturday (Feb. 8th), which for the Armenians is on a level with Easter], we went in procession to the dwelling of Mangu, and the monk and we two, after having been searched for knives, entered into his presence with the priests. And as we were entering a servant came out carrying some sheep's shoulder-blades, burnt to coals, and I wondered greatly what he could do with them. When later on I enquired about it, I learnt that he [the Chan] does nothing in the world without first consulting these bones; he does not even allow a person to enter his dwelling without first consulting them. This kind of divination is done as follows. When he wishes to do anything, he has brought him three of these bones not previously charred, and holding one, he thinks of the thing about which he wishes to consult it, whether he shall do it or not; and then he hands it to a servant to burn. And there are two little buildings beside the dwelling in which he lives, in which they burn these bones, and these bones are looked for diligently every day through-out the whole camp. When they have been charred black, they are brought back to him, and then he examines whether the bones have been split by the heat throughout their length. In that case the way is open for him to act. If, however, the bones have been cracked crosswise, or round bits have been started out of them, then he may not act. For this bone always splits in the fire, or there appear some cracks spreading over it. And if out of the three he finds one satisfactory, he acts [J: and should one out of the three be split cleanly he acts].
When then we were going into his presence, we were cautioned not to touch the threshold. The Nestorian priests carried incense to him, and he put it in the censer and they incensed him. They then chanted, blessing his drink ; and after them the monk said his benison, and finally we had to say ours. And seeing us carrying Bibles before our breasts, he had them handed him to look at, and he examined them very carefully. When he had drunk, and the highest of the priests had served him his cup, they gave the priests to drink. After this we went out, and my companion who had turned his face toward the Chan bowing to him, and following us in this fashion hit the threshold of the dwelling; and as we were proceeding in all haste to the house of Baltu, his son, those who were guarding the threshold laid hands on my companion, stopped him, and would not allow him to follow us; and calling someone, they told him to take him to Bulgai, who is the grand secretary of the court, and who condemns persons to death. But I was in ignorance of all this. When I looked back and did not see him coming, I thought they had detained him to give him lighter clothing, for he was feeble, and so loaded down with furs that he could scarcely walk. Then they called our interpreter, and made him stay [J: sit] with him.
We on our side [J: We for out part] went to the house of the eldest son of the Chan, who has already two wives, and who lodges on the right side of his father's ordu ; and as soon as he saw us coming, he got up from the couch on which he was seated, and prostrated himself to the ground, striking the ground with his forehead, and worshipping the cross. Then getting up, he had it placed on high in the most honored place beside him. He had as a master a certain Nestorian priest, David by name, a great drunkard, who was teaching him. Then he made us sit down, and had given the priests to drink. And he also drank, after having been blessed by them.
Then we went to the ordu of the second lady, who is called Cota [=Qotai], and who is an idol follower, and we found her lying ill in bed. The monk obliged her to get up from her bed, and made her worship the cross with bended knees and prostrations, the forehead on the ground, he standing with the cross on the west side of the dwelling, and she on the east side. When this was done, they changed places, and the monk went with the cross to the east side, and she to the west; and he commanded her boldly, though she was so feeble she could scarcely stand on her feet, to prostrate herself three times, worshipping the cross facing the east, in Christian fashion: and this she did. And he showed her how to make the sign of the cross before her face. After that, when she had lain down again on her bed, prayers having been said for her, we went to a third house in which the Christian lady used to live. On her death she was succeeded by a young girl who, together with the daughter of the lord (Mangu?), received us joyfully, and all they in this house worshipped the cross most devoutly; and she had it placed in a high place on a silk cloth, and had food brought, to wit, mutton, and it was placed before the master (mistress?), who caused her to distribute it to the priest. I and the monk, however, took neither food nor drink. When the meat had been devoured and a great deal of liquor drunk, we had to go to the apartment of that damsel Cherina, which was behind the big ordu which had been her mother's; and when the cross was brought in she prostrated herself to the ground, and worshipped it right devoutly, for she had been well instructed in that, and she placed it in a high place on a piece of silk ; and all these pieces of stuff on which the cross was put belonged to the monk.
A certain Hermenian who had come with the monk had brought this said cross
from
So we were in the dwelling of this damsel, and she gave the priests much to drink. Thence we went to a fourth house, which was the last as to its position and its importance. For he (i.e., Mangu) did not frequent that lady, and her dwelling was old, and she herself little pleasing; but after Easter the Chan made her a new house and new carts. She, like the second, knew little or nothing of Christianity, but followed the diviners and idolaters. However, when we went in she worshipped the Cross, just as the monk and priests had taught her. There again the priests drank; and thence we went back to our oratory, which was near by, the priests singing with great howling in their drunkenness, which in those parts is not reprehensible in man or in woman.
Then my companion was brought in and the monk chided him most harshly, because he had touched the threshold. The next day came Bulgai, who was the judge, and he closely inquired whether anyone had warned us to be careful about touching the threshold, and I answered "My lord, we had no interpreter with us; how could we have understood?" Then he pardoned him, but never thereafter was he allowed to enter any dwelling of the Chan.
It happened after this that the lady Cota, who had fallen ill about the
Sunday of Sexagesima (15th February), fell sick even unto death, and the
sorcerers of the idolaters could do nothing to drive it out. Then Mangu sent to
the monk, asking him what could be done for her, and the monk rashly replied
that if she did not get well he could cut off his head. Having made this promise
the monk called us, telling us of the affair with tears, and begging us to keep
vigils with him that night in the oratory; this we did. And he had a certain
root called rhubarb, and he chopped it up till it was nearly powder, and put it
in water with a little cross which he had, and on which was a raised image of
the Savior [J: on which had been set in relief an effigy of the savior], and by
which he said he could find out whether a sick person would recover or die. If
he was to escape, it stuck on the sick person's breast as if glued there; if
not, it did not stick. And I thought that this rhubarb was something holy which
he had brought from
Then I said to him, as he was preparing it, to make the potion with holy water as is done in the Church of Rome, for it has great virtue in expelling devils, for we supposed that she was beset of a devil; and at his request we made him holy water, and he mixed rhubarb in it, and put the cross to soak in it the whole night. I told him also that if he was a priest, the sacerdotal order had great power in expelling devils. And he said he was; but he lied, for he had taken no orders, and did not know a single letter, but was a cloth weaver, as I found out in his own country, which I went through on my way back.
The next day then we went to this lady, the monk, I, and two Nestorian priests, and she was in a little (tent) behind her larger dwelling. When we went in, she got up from her couch, worshipped the Cross, put it reverently beside her on a silk cloth, drank some holy water and rhubarb, and washed her breast (with it); and the monk requested me to read the Gospel over her. I read the Passion of the Lord according to John. Finally she revived and felt better, and she caused to be brought four iascot of silver, which she first put at the foot of the Cross, and then gave one to the monk, and she held out one to me, which I would not receive. Then the monk held out his hand and took it. And to either of the priests she gave one; so she gave that time forty marks. Then she had wine brought, and gave the priests to drink, and I also had to drink three times at her hand in honor of the Trinity. She also began to teach me the language, joking with me because I was silent, not having an interpreter with me [J: making fun of me because my lack of an interpreter made me dumb].
The next day we again went back to her, and Mangu Chan, hearing that we had passed that way, made us come in unto him, because he had heard that the lady was better; and we found him with a few of his attendants, and he was drinking what looked like liquid mud, a dish made of paste [J: sipping liquid tam, which is a food made from dough] for the comforting of the head, and charred sheep's shoulder-blades lay before him, and he took the Cross in his hand; but whether he kissed it or worshipped it I did not notice, but he looked at it, asking I know not what [J: seeking something or other].
Then the monk asked permission to carry the Cross on high on a lance, for he had previously spoken to the monk about this, and Mangu replied: "Carry it as you like best." Then, having saluted him, we went to the said lady, and we found her well and bright, and she drank again of the holy water, and we read the Passion over her. But these miserable priests had never taught her the faith, nor advised her to be baptized. I sat there, however, silent, unable to say a word, so she again taught me some of the language.
The priests do not condemn any form of sorcery; for I saw there four swords
half way out of their scabbards, one at the head of the lady's couch, another at
the foot, and one of the other two on either side of the entry. I also saw there
a silver chalice, of the kind we use, which had perhaps been stolen in some
church in
We visited her (i.e., Cota) on three days, so that she was completely restored to health. After that the monk made a banner covered with crosses, and got a reed as long as a spear, and we used to carry the Cross on high. I showed him the respect I would to my bishop [J: I showed him the deference due to a superior], because he knew the language. He did, however, many things which did not please me. Thus he had made for himself a folding-chair, such as bishops are wont to have, and gloves and a cap of (with) peacock feathers, and on it a little gold cross, which, so far as the cross went, pleased me well. He had rough claws, which he tried to improve with unguents. He showed himself most presumptuous in his speech. Furthermore these Nestorians used to recite I know not what verses, of a psalm according to them, over two twigs which were joined together while held by two men. The monk stood by during the operation; and other vanities appeared in him which displeased me. Nevertheless, we kept to his company for the honor of the Cross; for we used to carry the cross on high throughout the whole camp, singing [J: the ...] "Vexilla regis prodeunt," at which the Saracens were greatly astonished.
From the time when we reached the court of Mangu, he never moved his carts (bigavit)
but twice toward the south; and then he began going back northward, which was
toward Caracarum. One thing I remarked throughout the whole journey, which
agreed with what I had been told by Messire Baldwin of Hainaut in
Constantinople, who had been there, that the one thing that seemed extraordinary
was that he ascended the whole way in going, without ever descending. For all
the rivers flowed from east to west, either directly, or indirectly--that is to
say, deflecting north or south. And I questioned priests, who had come from
Cathay, who bore witness to it, that from the place where I had found Mangu Chan
to Cathay was twenty days journey between south and east; while to Onan Kerule,
which is the true country of the Mo'al, and where is the ordu of Chingis,
was ten days due east, and that all the way to these eastern parts there was no
city. There were, however (they said), people called Su-Mo'al, which is "Mo'al
of the waters;" for su is the same as "water." They live on fish
and by the chase, for they have no flocks, no herds. Likewise to the north there
is no city, but a people raising flocks, and called Kerkis [=
I asked (these same priests) about the monsters, or human monstrosities, of which Isidorus and Solinus speak. They told me they had never seen such, which astonished me greatly, if it be true [J: but (I) was told that such things had never been sighted, which makes us very much doubt whether (the story) is true]. All of these said nations, no matter how miserable they may be, must serve (the Mo'al) in some manner. For it was a commandment of Chingis, that no one man should be free from service, until he be so old that he cannot possibly work any more.
One day a priest from Cathay was seated with me, and he was dressed in a red
stuff of the finest hue, and I asked whence came such a color; and he told me
that in the countries east of Cathay there are high rocks, among which dwell
creatures who have in all respects human forms, except that their knees do not
bend, so that they get along by some kind of jumping motion; and they are not
over a cubit in length, and all their little body is covered with hair, and they
live in inaccessible caverns. And the hunters (of
The common money of
When we came (to live) with the monk, he advised us, in all kindliness, to abstain from meat; that our servant would get meat with his servants; and that he would provide us with flour and oil or butter. This we did, though it greatly incommoded my companion on account of his weakness. Consequently, our diet consisted of millet with butter, or dough cooked in water with butter, or sour milk and unleavened bread, cooked in a fire of cattle- or horse-dung.
When came Quinquagesima (23rd February [J: Feb. 22nd]), which is the Carnival of all Eastern (Christians) [J: when all Eastern Christians abstain from meat], the great lady Cotata and her company fasted that week and she came every day to our oratory, and gave food to the priests and to the other Christians, of whom a great multitude gathered there that first week to hear the services; and she gave me and my companion each of us a tunic and trousers of grey samite, lined with silk wadding, for my companion had complained greatly of the weight of his fur gown. These I received for the sake of my companion, though I excused myself for not wearing such clothes. I gave what belonged to me to my interpreter.
The gate-keepers of the court seeing such a crowd pressing toward the church, which was just beyond the bounds of the court, the warders of the court sent one of their number to the monk, to tell him they would not have such a great multitude congregating there just beyond the court limits. Then the monk replied roughly that he wanted to know if they gave this as the order of Mangu, adding also some threats, as if he would make complaint of them to Mangu. So they forestalled him and accused him to Mangu, saying that he talked too much, and that too great a multitude met together at his talks.
After that, on Quadragesima Sunday (1st March) we were called to court, and when the monk had been so shamefully searched to see whether he had a knife that he of his own accord took off his shoes, we entered into the Chan's presence, and he had a charred sheep's shoulder-blade in his hand, and was inspecting it; and then, as if reading on it, he began to reprimand the monk, asking why, since he was a man who ought to pray to God, he talked so much to men. I was standing behind with uncovered head, and the Chan said to him: "Why do you not uncover your head, when you come into my presence, as this Frank does?" [J adds: And he had me called nearer.] Then the monk in great confusion took off his hat, against the custom of the Greeks and Hermenians; and when the Chan had said many harsh things to him, we went out. And then the monk handed me the Cross to carry to the oratory, for such was his confusion that he did not want to carry it.
After a few days he made his peace with the Chan, promising that he would go to the Pope, and that he would bring all the nations of the west to owe him obedience. When he came back to the oratory after this conversation with the Chan, he began inquiring about the Pope, whether I believed he would see him, if he came to him on the part of Mangu, and if he would furnish him with horses as far as Saint James [=Santiago in N. Spain, a major pilgrimage site]. He inquired also concerning you, if I believed that you would send your son to Mangu. Then I warned him to be careful not to make lying promises to Mangu, for he would be making a new mistake more serious than the first, and that God did not want lies from us, or that we should speak deceitfully.
At this time there arose a controversy between the monk and a certain priest called Jonas, a well-read man, whose father had been archdeacon, and whom the other priests looked upon as a teacher and archdeacon. For the monk said that man had been made before paradise, and that the Gospel said so. Then I was called upon to decide this question. I, without knowing that they were arguing on the subject, replied that the paradise had been made the third day, when also all the trees were; and that man had been made on the sixth day. Then the monk began to say: "Did not the devil on the first day bring earth from the four parts of the world, and having made mud of it, did he not make the human body, and did not God breathe a soul into it?" Hearing the Manichean heresy, and he thus publicly and impudently proclaiming it, I upbraided him sharply, telling him to put his finger on his mouth, since he did not know the Scriptures, and to be careful not to tell the reason of his fault. But he began to scoff at me, because I did not know the language. So I left him and went to our dwelling.
After that it happened that he and the priests went in procession to the court, without telling me, for the monk was not speaking to me on account of this scolding, and he did not want to take me with him as he used to do. So when they came into the presence of Mangu, and he did not see me among them, he inquired where I was, and why I had not come with them. But the priests were afraid, and excused themselves [J: the priests were alarmed and offered excuses]. When they came back they told me what Mangu had said, and complained of the monk. After that the monk made his peace with me, and I with him, begging him to help me with the language, and that I would help him with the Sacred Scriptures. For "the brother who is aided by the brother is like a strong city."
After the first week of the fast, the lady ceased to come to the oratory and to give the food and mead we were accustomed to get. The monk did not allow (any food) to be brought, saying that mutton tallow was used in preparing it. He only very rarely gave us oil. Consequently, we had nothing save bread cooked on the ashes, and dough boiled in water, so that we could have soup to drink, as the only water we had was melted snow or ice, and was very bad. Then my companion began to complain greatly; so I told our necessity to that David, who was the teacher of the eldest son of the Chan, and he reported my words to the Chan, who had us given wine and flour and oil. The Nestorians will not eat fish during Lent, neither will the Hermenians; so they gave us a skin of wine. The monk said he only ate on Sunday, when this lady sent him a meal of cooked dough with vinegar to drink. But he had beside him, under the altar, a box with almonds and raisins and prunes, and many other fruits, which he ate all through the day whenever he was alone. We ate once a day, and then in great misery; for it was known that Mangu Chan had given us wine, so they pushed their way in on us like dogs in the most impudent manner, both the Nestorian priests, who were getting drunk all day at court, and the Mo'al, and the servants of the monk. Even the monk himself, when someone came to him to whom he wished to give drink, would send to us for wine. So it was that that wine brought us more vexation than comfort, for we could not refuse to give of it without causing scandal; if we should give it, we would want it; nor would we dare ask for more from the court, when that was done.
.
On Palm Sunday (5th April) we were near Caracarum. At early dawn we blessed
some boughs, on which no signs of budding had yet appeared. And toward the ninth
hour we entered the city, with raised Cross and banner, and passed through the
Saracen quarter, where there is a square and a market, to the church. And the
Nestorians came to meet us in a procession. Going into the church, we found them
ready to celebrate mass; and when it was celebrated they all communicated and
inquired of me whether I wished to communicate [i.e., take the Eucharist]. I
replied that I had already drunk, and could not receive the sacrament except
fasting. When the mass had been said it was already after noon, so master
William took us with great rejoicing to his house to dine with him; and he had a
wife who was a daughter of Lorraine [J: of a Lorrainer], but born in Hungary,
and she spoke French and Coman well. We found there also another person, Basil
by name, the son of an Englishman, and who was born in
The next day the Chan entered his palace, and the monk and I and the priests went to him, but they did not allow my companion to go because he had trod upon the threshold. I had pondered much within myself what I should do, whether I should go or not; but I feared the scandal if I withdrew from the other Christians, and it pleased the Chan, and I feared it might interfere with the good I hoped to do; so I decided to go, though I saw that their sect was full of sorceries and idolatries [J: superstition and idolatry]. But I did nothing else while there but pray with a loud voice for the whole church, and also for the Chan, that God might guide him in the way of everlasting salvation.
So we entered the court, which is right well arranged; and in summer little streams are led all through it by which it is watered. After that we entered a palace all full of men and women, and we stood in the Chan's presence, with the tree of which I have spoken behind us, and it and the bowls (at its base) took up a large part of the palace. The priests had brought two little loaves of blessed bread, and fruit in a platter, which they presented to him, after saying grace. And a butler took it to him where he was seated on a right high and raised place; and he forthwith began to eat one of the loaves, and the other he sent to his son and to one of his younger brothers, who was being brought up by a certain Nestorian, and he knows the gospel, and had also sent for my Bible to look at it.
After the priests, the monk spoke his orison, and I mine after the monk. Then he (Mangu) promised that he would come the next day to the church, which is rather large and fine, and the whole ceiling is covered with a silken stuff interwoven with gold. The next day, however, he went his way, telling the priests in excuse that he did not dare come to the church, for he understood that they carried the dead there. We remained, however, with the monk at Caracarum, together with the other priests of the court, to celebrate Easter there.
Holy Thursday and Easter were nigh, and I did not have our vestments, and I was considering the manner of doing of the Nestorians [J: I was observing the way the Nestorians consecrated], and was greatly worried about what I should do, whether I should receive the sacrament from them, whether I should say mass in their vestments, with their chalice and on their altar, or whether I should wholly abstain from the sacrament. Then came a great number of Christians, Hungarians, Alans, Ruthenians, Georgians, Hermenians, all of whom had not seen the sacrament since their capture, for the Nestorians would not admit them into their church, so they said, unless they were re-baptized by them. However (the Nestorians) had not told us anything of all this; on the contrary, they confessed that the Roman Church was the head of all churches, and that they should receive their patriarch from the Pope, if the roads were open. And they offered us freely their sacrament, and made us stand in the entry of the choir to see their way of doing, and, on Easter eve (11th April), beside the font to see their mode of baptizing. They said that they had some of the ointment with which Mary Magdalen anointed the feet of the Lord, and they always pour in oil to the amount they take out, and they knead it into their bread. For all the Eastern (Christians) put grease into their bread instead of yeast, or else butter or sheep's tail fat or oil. They also say that they have some of the flour with which was made the bread that the Lord consecrated, and they put back in it as much as they take out; and they have a room beside the choir, and an oven where they bake the bread, which they must consecrate with great devotion.
So they make a loaf of bread a palm broad with this oil, and then they divide it first into twelve pieces according to the number of the Apostles, and after that they divide these portions according to the number of the people, and a priest gives to each the body of Christ in his hand, and the person takes it from his hand devoutly, and touches the top of his head with his hand.
Then I made them confess through the interpreter as well as I could, stating the ten commandments and the seven mortal sins, and the others which one should shun and publicly confess. They excused themselves for theft, saying that without thieving they could not live, for their masters did not provide them with either clothing or victuals. So, considering that they and their belongings had been carried off without just cause [J: At this I reflected that they (the Mongols) had carried off goods and livestock without justification], I said that it was permissible for them to take of their master's things what was necessary for them, and I was ready to say so to Mangu Chan's face. Furthermore, certain among them were soldiers, who excused themselves for being obliged to go to wars, for otherwise they would be put to death. I strongly forbad them to go against Christians, or to injure them they should rather let themselves be killed, for then they would become martyrs; and I said that if anyone wished to charge me to Mangu Chan with this teaching, I was ready to preach this in his hearing. The Nestorians from the court had approached while I was teaching, and I suspected that they might inform against us.
Then master William had made for us an iron to make wafers, and he had some vestments which he had made for himself; for he had some little scholarship, and conducted himself like a clerk. He had made after the French fashion a sculptured image of the Blessed Virgin, and on the windows surrounding it he had sculptured the Gospel history right beautifully, and he made also a silver box to put the body of Christ in, with relics in little cavities made in the sides of the box. He had also made an oratory on a cart, finely decorated with sacred scenes. I accepted his vestments and blessed them, and we made right fine wafers after our fashion, and the Nestorians gave me the use of their baptistery, in which was an altar. Their patriarch had sent them from Baldach a quadrangular skin for an antimensium, and it had been anointed with chrism; and this they used instead of a consecrated stone. So I celebrated mass on Holy Thursday (9th April) with their silver chalice and paten, and these vases were very large; and likewise on Easter day. And we made the people communicate, with the blessing of God, as I hope. As for them [the Nestorians] they baptized on Easter eve (11th April) more than sixty persons in very good order, and there was great rejoicing generally among all the Christians.
[Religious
Debate at the Khan's Court]
The next day, which was Sunday before Pentecost (24th May [1254]), they took me
to court; and the grand secretaries of the court came to me, and one was the
Mo'al who handed the Chan his cup, and the others were Saracens, and they
inquired on the part of the Chan why I had come. Then I repeated what has
previously been said; how I had come to Sartach, and from Sartach to Baatu, and
how Baatu had sent me thither; then I said to him: "I have nothing to say
from the part of any man. (This he must have known from what Baatu had written
to him.) I have only to speak the words of God, if he wishes to hear them."
They interrupted me, asking what words of God I wished to speak, thinking that I
wanted to foretell some piece of good fortune to him, as many others do. I
replied to them: "If you want me to speak the words of God to him, procure
for me the interpreter." They said: "We have sent for him; but speak
(now) through this one as well as you can; we understand you very well."
And they urged me greatly that I should speak. So I said: "Of him unto whom
much has been given much [J: more] shall be required. And furthermore, of him to
whom much has been given much love is required [J: He to whom more hath been
given must love the more]. By these words of God I teach Mangu, for God hath
given him great power, and the riches which he has were not given him by the
idols of the Tuins, but by Almighty God, who made heaven and earth, in whose
hand are all kingdoms, and who removes it (i.e., power) from one nation to
another on account of the sins of men. So if he shall love Him, it shall be well
with him; if otherwise, he must know that God will require all things of him to
the last farthing." Then one of the Saracens said: "Is there anyone
who does not love God?" I replied: "God says: 'If one love me, he
keepeth my commandments; and he who loveth me not keepeth not my commandments.'
So he who keepeth not the commandments of God loveth not God." Then he
said: "Have you been to heaven, that you know the commandments of
God?" "No," I replied, "but He has given them from heaven to
holy men, and finally He descended from heaven to teach us, and we have them in
the Scriptures, and we see by men's works when they keep them or not." Then
he said: "Do you wish, then, to say that Mangu Chan does not keep the
commandments of God?" I said to him: "Let the dragoman come, as you
have said, and I will, in the presence of Mangu, if it pleases him, recite the
commandments of God, and he shall judge for himself whether he keeps them or
not." Then they went away, and told him that I had said that he was an
idolater, or Tuin, and that he did not keep God's commandments.
The next day (25th May) (the Chan) sent his secretaries to me, who said: "Our lord sends us to you to say that you are here Christians, Saracens and Tuins. And each of you says that his doctrine is the best, and his writings--that is, books--the truest. So he wishes that you shall all meet together, and make a comparison [J: and hold a conference], each one writing down his precepts, so that he himself may be able to know the truth." Then I said: "Blessed be God, who put this in the Chan's heart. But our Scriptures tell us, the servant of God should not dispute, but should show mildness to all; so I am ready, without disputation or contention, to give reason for the faith and hope of the Christians, to the best of my ability." They wrote down my words, and carried them back to him. Then it was told the Nestorians that they should look to themselves, and write down what they wished to say, and likewise to the Saracens, and in the same way to the Tuins.
The next day (26th May) he again sent secretaries, who said: "Mangu Chan wishes to know why you have come to these parts." I replied to them: "He must know it by Baatu's letters." Then they said: "The letters of Baatu have been lost, and he has forgotten what Baatu wrote to him; so he would know from you." Then feeling safer I said: "It is the duty of our faith to preach the Gospel to all men. So when I heard of the fame of the Mo'al people, I was desirous of coming to them; and while this desire was on me, we heard that Sartach was a Christian. So I turned my footsteps toward him. And the lord king of the French sent him a letter containing kindly words, and among other things he bore witness to what kind of men we were, and requested that he would allow us to remain among the men of Mo'al. Then he (i.e., Sartach) sent us to Baatu, and Baatu sent us to Mangu Chan; so we have begged him, and do again beg him, to permit us to remain." They wrote all these things down, and carried it back to him on the morrow.
Then he again sent them to me, saying: "The Chan knows well that you have no mission to him, but that you have come to pray for him, like other righteous priests; but he would know if ever any ambassadors from you have come to us, or any of ours gone to you." Then I told them all about David and Friar Andrew, and they, putting it all down in writing, reported it back to him.
Then he again sent them to me, saying: "You have stayed here a long while; (the Chan) wishes you to go back to your own country, and he has inquired whether you will take an ambassador of his with you." I replied to them: "I would not dare take his envoys outside his own dominions, for there is a hostile country between us and you, and seas and mountains; and I am but a poor monk; so I would not venture to take them under my leadership." And they, having written it all down, went back.
Pentecost eve came (30th May). The Nestorians had written a whole chronicle from the creation of the world to the Passion of Christ; and passing over the Passion [J: (correcting Rockhill): and they went beyond the passion], they had touched on the Ascension and the resurrection of the dead and on the coming to judgment, and in it there were some censurable statements, which I pointed out to them. As for us, we simply wrote out the symbol of the mass, "Credo in unum Demn." Then I asked them how they wished to proceed. They said they would discuss in the first place with the Saracens. I showed them that that was not a good plan, for the Saracens agreed with us in saying that there is one God: "So you have (in them) a help against the Tuins." They agreed with this. Then I asked them if they knew how idolatry had arisen in the world, and they were in ignorance of it. Then I told them, and they said: "Tell them these things, then let us speak, for it is a difficult matter to talk through an interpreter." I said to them: "Try how you will manage against them; I will take the part of the Tuins, and you will maintain that of the Christians. We will suppose I belong to that sect, because they say that God is not; now prove that God is." For there is a sect there which says that whatever spirit (anima) and whatever virtue [J: whatever soul or any power] is in anything, is the God of that thing, and that God exists not otherwise. Then the Nestorians were unable to prove anything, but only to tell what the Scriptures tell. I said: "They do not believe in the Scriptures; you tell me one thing, and they tell another [J: if you tell them one story, they will quote you another]." Then I advised them to let me in the first place meet them, so that, if I should be confounded, they would still have a chance to speak; if they should be confounded, I should not be able to get a hearing after that. They agreed to this.
We were assembled then on Pentecost eve at our oratory, and Mangu Chan sent three secretaries who were to be umpires, one a Christian, one a Saracen, and one a Tuin; and it was published aloud: "This is the order of Mangu, and let no one dare say that the commandment of God differs from it. And he orders that no one shall dare wrangle or insult any other, or make any noise by which this business shall be interfered with, on penalty of his head." Then all were silent. And there was a great concourse of people there; for each side had called thither the most learned of its people, and many others had also assembled.
Then the Christians put me in the middle, telling the Tuins to speak with me.
Then they--and there was a great congregation of them--began to murmur against
Mangu Chan, for no other Chan had ever attempted to pry into their secrets. Then
they opposed to me one who had come from
He wished to begin with these questions, as they consider them to be the weightiest; for they all hold this heresy of the Manichaeans [J: they all belong to the Manichaean heresy], that one half of things is evil, and the other half good, and that there are two (elemental) principles; and, as to souls, they believe that all pass from one body into another. Thus a most learned priest among the Nestorians questioned me (once) concerning the souls of animals, whether they could escape to any place where, after death, they would not be forced to labor. In confirmation furthermore of this error, as I was told by master William, there had been brought from Cathay a boy who, from the size of his body, was not more than twelve years old [J: three years old], but who was capable of all forms of reasoning, and who said of himself that he had been incarnated three times; he knew how to read and write.
So I said to the Tuin: "We believe firmly in our hearts and we confess with our mouths that God is, and that there is only one God, one in perfect unity. What do you believe?" He said : "Fools say that there is only one God, but the wise say that there are many. Are there not great lords in your country, and is not this Mangu Chan a greater lord? So it is of them, for they are different in different regions."
I said to him: "You choose a poor example, in which there is no comparison between man and God; according to that, every mighty man can call himself god in his own country." And as I was about to destroy the comparison, he interrupted me, asking: "Of what nature is your God, of whom you say that there is none other?" I replied: "Our God, besides whom there is none other, is omnipotent, and therefore requires the aid of none other, while all of us require His aid. It is not thus with man. No man can do everything, and so there must be several lords in the world, for no one can do all things. So likewise He knows all things, and therefore requires no councilor, for all wisdom comes of Him. Likewise, He is the supreme good, and wants not of our goods. But we live, move, and are in Him. Such is our God, and one must not consider Him otherwise."
"It is not so," he replied. "Though there is one (God) in the sky who is above all others, and of whose origin we are still ignorant, there are ten others under him, and under these latter is another lower one. On the earth they are in infinite number." And as he wanted to spin (texere) some other yarns, I asked him of this highest god, whether he believed he was omnipotent, or whether (he believed this) of some other god. Fearing to answer, he asked: "If your God is as you say, why does he make the half of things evil?" "That is not true," I said. " He who makes evil is not God. All things that are, are good."
At this all the Tuins were astonished, and they wrote it down as false or impossible. Then he asked: "Whence then comes evil?" "You put your question badly," I said. "You should in the first place inquire what is evil, before you ask whence it comes. But let us go back to the first question, whether you believe that any god is omnipotent; after that I will answer all you may wish to ask me."
He sat for a long time without replying, so that it became necessary for the secretaries who were listening on the part of the Chan to tell him to reply. Finally he answered that no god was omnipotent. With that the Saracens burst out into a loud laugh. When silence was restored, I said: "Then no one of your gods can save you from every peril, for occasions may arise in which he has no power. Furthermore, no one can serve two masters: how can you serve so many gods in heaven and earth?" The audience told him to answer, but he remained speechless. And as I wanted to explain the unity of the divine essence and the Trinity to the whole audience, the Nestorians of the country said to me that it sufficed, for they wanted to talk. I gave in to them, but when they wanted to argue with the Saracens, they [the Saracens] answered them: "We concede your religion is true, and that everything is true that is in the Gospel: so we do not want to argue any point with you." And they confessed that in all their prayers they besought God to grant them to die as Christians die.
There was present there an old priest of the Iugurs, who say there is one god, though they make idols; they (i.e., the Nestorians) spoke at great length with him, telling him of all things down to the coming of the Antichrist into the world [J: the coming of Christ in judgement], and by comparisons demonstrating the Trinity to him and the Saracens. They all listened without making any contradiction, but no one said: "I believe; I want to become a Christian." When this was over, the Nestorians as well as the Saracens sang with a loud voice; while the Tuins kept silence, and after that they all [J: everyone] drank deeply.
.
[Religious Customs]
Their diviners are, as (Mangu Chan) confessed to me, their priests; and whatever
they say must be done is executed without delay. I will tell you of their
office, as well as I could learn about it from master William and others who
used to speak truthfully to me. They are very numerous and always have a
captain, like a pontiff, who always places his dwelling before the principal
house of Mangu Chan, at about a stone's throw from it. Under his custody are, as
I have previously said, the carts in which the idols are carried. The others
come after the ordu in positions assigned to them; and there come to them
from various parts of the world people who believe in their art. Some among them
know something of astronomy, particularly the chief, and they predict to them
the eclipses of the sun and moon; and when one is about to take place all the
people [stockpile] their food, for they must not go out of the door of their
dwelling. And while the eclipse is taking place, they sound drums and
instruments, and make a great noise and clamor. After the eclipse is over, they
give themselves to drinking and feasting, and make great jollity. They predict
lucky and unlucky days for the undertaking of all affairs; and so it is that
they never assemble an army nor begin a war without their assent, and long since
(the Mo'al) would have gone back to
All things which are sent to the court they take between fires, and for this they retain a certain portion of them [J: and for this they keep the due share of it]. They also cleanse all the bedding of deceased persons by taking them between fires. For when anyone dies, they put aside all that belongs to him, and they are not allowed to the other people of the ordu until they have been purified by fires. This I saw in connection with the ordu of that lady who died while we were there. On account of this (custom) there was a double reason why Friar Andrew and his companion should have gone between fires; they bore presents, and they were destined for one who was already dead, Keu Chan. Nothing of the sort was required of me, because I brought nothing. If any animal or any other thing falls to the ground while passing between the fires, it is theirs [J: it is the property of the soothsayers]."
On the ninth day of the month of May, they get together all the white horses of the herds, and consecrate them. And the Christian priests are obliged to come to this with their censer. Then they sprinkle new cosmos on the ground and hold a great feast on that day, for they consider that they then first drink new cosmos, just as in some places among us is done with wine at the feast of Bartholomew or Syxtus, and with fruit at the feast of James and Christopher.
They (i.e., the Kam) are also called in when a child is born, to tell
its fortune; and when anyone sickens they are called, and they repeat their
incantations, and tell whether it is a natural malady or one resulting from
witchcraft. And in this connection that woman of
Once some valuable furs were presented, which were to be deposited in the ordu of her mistress, who was a Christian, as I have previously said; and the diviners carried them between fires, and took of them more than they should have done. A certain servant-woman who had charge of the treasure of this lady, accused them of this to her mistress; so the lady reproved them. Now it happened after this that this lady fell ill, and had shooting pains through her limbs. The diviners were called, and they, while seated at a distance, ordered one of the maids to put her hand on the painful spot, and to pull out whatever she should find. So she arose and did this, and she found they told her to put it on the ground; when it was put there it began to wriggle like some live animal. Then it was put into water, and it became like a leech, and they said: "Lady, some sorceress has done you this harm with her sorceries." And they accused her who had accused them about the furs. And she was taken outside the camp into the fields, and for seven days she was beaten and tried with other torments, so that she should confess. And in the meanwhile the lady died. When she heard of this she said to them: " I know that my mis