A Flemish Friar Joins a Debate of Faiths at the Great Khan’s Court

In 1253, the Flemish Franciscan friar William of Rubruck set out from Constantinople on a mission across Eurasia toward the Mongol Empire. William had accompanied King Louis IX of France on the Seventh Crusade several years earlier. Encouraged by reports that some Mongol leaders were sympathetic to Christianity, Louis backed the journey to spread Christian doctrine among the Tatars, though he avoided sending a formal embassy following previous diplomatic rebuffs. William departed with a small party that included Bartolomeo da Cremona and an interpreter.

William traveled east through the Crimean port of Sudak and traversed the Eurasian steppe with oxen and wagons. After crossing the Don, he reached the camp of Sartaq Khan and was directed onward to Batu Khan, ruler of the Kipchak Khanate on the Volga River. Batu did not convert, but he sent the party on to Möngke Khan, the Great Khan of the Mongol Empire.