William of Rubruck was a Flemish Friar of the Franciscan Order of Friars, serving a role of piety and spreading Christianity as a missionary. Being favored by the King of France, Louis IX (Louis the Saint), he accompanied the French King during the Seventh Crusade. However, news of a dire threat spread throughout Europe around the same time. Primarily, the Golden Horde of the Mongol Empire was still in deep control of Eastern Europe – and further attacks were greatly feared. Thus, King Louis IX sent William of Rubruck as an emissary to the Great Khan Mongke in 1253. With the main task in mind by William of Rubruck to convert the Mongols into pious Christians.
William of Rubruck’s journey first took him into Crimea, mainly to meet both Sartaq Khan as well as Batu Khan (who respectively ruled the Golden Horde in control at this time). Much to his sadness, Sartaq nor Batu were Christians, thus he had no business among them. He departed further along the Sea of Azov and migrated along through modern Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Eventually, he’d reach the target destination of Karakorum – where the Great Khan Mongke himself ruled from. Most noticeable of all was that William had to be the only Catholic among the Khan and his court. Other Christians, primarily Nestorians with scattered Orthodox Christians were also abound. However, William’s main goal was to show the Khan as to why Roman Catholicism was the best religion for his empire.
A great debate was held among his court: all this between other Christians, Jews, Muslims, and Buddhists in particular. William debated hard and proudly, much to sadly no avail. The Great Khan Mongke thought of William like a pest moreso than an actual emissary. Thus, William’s original mission of converting the Mongols into faithful Christians was a failure. However, the knowledge gained about the Mongol Empire was invaluable. It provided a solid source on Mongol court politics, as well as the landscape of the Central Asian Steppe during this time. It also served greatly as a rubric for Europe at that time, mainly in how both to pleasantly engage in politics with the Mongols and how not to do it all the same. Most importantly for Europe at this time, it also gave a look into the Mongols’ culture and traditions so they could better understand the nomadic peoples of Central Asia.
For this specific entry, both the Hakluyt Society and Peter Jackson translations are used in reference for locations. Both translations as one could imagine had different factors available to locate certain places.