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William accompanied Louis IX on the Seventh Crusade in 1248. In May, 1253, on Louis' orders, he set out from Constantinople on a missionary journey to convert the Tartars. With William's party were Bartholomé de Crémone, an intendant called Gosset and an interpreter called Homo Dei (Abdullah). William of Rubruck's was the fourth european mission to the Mongols. Before him went Jean de Plan Carpin in 1245, Ascelin in 1247 and André de Longjumeau in 1248. The king was encouraged to send another mission by reports of the presence of nestorian christians at the mongolian court.
William crossed the Black SeaNASA MODIS The Black Sea (also known as the Euxine Sea is an inland sea between southeastern Europe and Asia Minor. It is connected to the Mediterranean Sea by the Bosporus and the Sea of Marmara, and to the Sea of Azov by the Strait of Kerch. There is a, traversed the CrimeaThe Crimea (officially Autonomous Republic of Crimea Ukrainian transliteration: Avtonomna Respublika Krym Ukrainian: Russian: is a peninsula and an autonomous republic of Ukraine on the northern coast of the Black Sea. It was called Tauric or Scythian Che and then continued eastward; nine days after crossing the DonThis article is about the river in Western Russia. For other rivers with the same name, see Don River. The Don is one of the major rivers of Russia. It rises near Tula, southeast of Moscow, and flows for a distance of about 1,950 km (1,220 miles) to the S he met Sartach Khan , ruler of the Kipchak Khanate. The Khan sent William on to his father, Batu KhanMongol Khans Batu Khan (c. 1205 1255) was a Mongol ruler, founder of the Kipchak Khanate. He was a son of Jochi and grandson of Genghis Khan. In 1235 Batu, who earlier had directed the conquest of the Crimean Tartars, was assigned an army of possibly 130,, at SaraiSarai Batu Old Sarai Sarai-al-Maqrus was a capital city of the Golden Horde. The city was likely located on the Akhtuba channel of the lower Volga river near contemporary village selo Selitryannoye in Kharabalinsky District, Astrakhan Oblast, about 120 km near the Volga. Batu refused conversion and sent the ambassadors on to the great Mongol Mangu Khan. They reached Karakorum at Easter, 1254. After residing there for some time, they returned home, without having achieved their goal, reaching Cyprus in the spring of 1255.
On his return, William presented to the king a very clear and precise report, entitled
In this report, he is describing peculiarities of China as well as many geographical observations, making it the first scientific description of central Asia. Besides many anthropological observations, William also decides a long-standing question by proving that the Caspian was an inland sea and did not flow into the Arctic Ocean.
William's report is divided into 40 chapters. Chapters 1 - 10 relate general observations about the Mongols and their customs. Chapters 11 - 40 give an account of the course and the events of William's voyage.
Rubruck's account was partly edited and translated into English by Richard Hakluyt in 1598- 1600. The full account has been has been edited by the Société de Géographie in the "Recueil de voyages et de mémoires", IV (Paris, 1893), English translation by Rockhill, "The Journey of William of Rubruk to the Eastern Parts" (London, 1900).