THE MONGOLS AND THE FRANKS

Author(s): JEAN RICHARD

Source: Journal of Asian History, Vol. 3, No. 1 (1969), pp. 45-57
Published by: Harrassowitz Verlag
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 JEAN RICHARD
(Universitéde Dijon)

THE MONGOLS AND THE FRANKS

The "Franks", those of Western Europe as well as those of the

Eastern Latin states, did not hear of the Mongols until relatively-
late - more than thirtyyears afterthe quriltayof 1206 which had pro-
claimed Chingis-khan.It is not that the westward offensiveof the
latter had gone unnoticed, but the Franks had only learned of it
throughthe intermediaryof the eastern Christians (the text inserted
by Jacques de Vitry in a letter of April 1221 is a translationfromthe
Arabic). These eastern Christiansmade a Christian"King David" out
of the Mongol conqueror, who would have destroyed the Moslem
empires,in order to head forthe Holy Land and liberate Jerusalem.1
The Fifth Crusade, which at this time was in Damietta waiting for
reinforcements, heard this news with joy; but the Mongols withdrew,
and the West forgotthem.
At some date around 1237,the Russians and Hungarians are already
aware of the approaching Mongols. The Franks still know nothing
of them. The refugeesfrom Russia are the firstto give them infor-
mation about the people they will later call the Tartars. The destruc-
tion of Hungary sets off a real panic, so that the mariners of the
Baltic coast, who habitually used to lay in provisions of herrings
fromthe fishersof the North Sea, did not dare set sail ! We learn that
Frederick II himselfwas asked to make his submission to the con-
querors. Men of letters tried in vain to find out the origin of these
invaders, all the more terrifyingthat they remained mysterious.
The English historian Matthew Paris is the one who most vividly
transmits to us the climate of fear in the West around the year
1 The Relatiode Davideexistsin severalversions.That used by Jacquesde
Vitrywas last publishedby R. B. C. Huygens,Lettresde Jacquesde Vitry .
Éditioncritique, (Leiden, Brill, 1960) p. 141- 150. It has been studiedby
Fr.Zarncke,"Der PriesterJohannes",inAbhandlungen derkgl. sächsischen
Ge-
, Phü.-Hist
sellschaft . Klasse, VI und VIII, (1879- 1880).Cf. also J. Richard,
"L'Extrême-Orient légendaireau Moyen-Age. Roi David et PrêtreJean", in
Annalesd'Ethiopie,vol. II, p. 225- 242, (1957).

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46 JEAN RICHARD

1241,2 and which did not spare the Latin East either,worriedby the
penetration of the Mongols into Armenia and Georgia.3
The death of the khan Ögödei, in this same year 1241, had, for
the moment,halted the advance of the Mongols, but had not stilled
the fears. Ten years later, we find circulating a text announcing a
mysteriousinvasion from the direction of the Far East (where the
cartographerslocalised the homeland of the peoples of Gog and Magog,
the forerunnersof Antéchrist),the invasion of a countlesshorde ready
to exterminate the Christians.4 So the frightcaused by the Mongol
invasion continued to give rise to worrisomerumors.
As a result the pope Innocent IV, who had already attempted to
organize a crusade for the defence of Europe5 and put the Remedium

2 MathewParis,Chronica Majora, ed. Luard(Rerumbritannicarum mediiaevi

vol. IV, p. 76-78, 109-120, 131-132, 270-277, 386-389, and
scriptores),
vol. VI (Additamenta), p. 75- 84 (theauthorreproduces herenumerous letters
of 1242describing theMongolinvasion).
3 Rumorhad it that envoysof Moslemprinces(and especiallyof the 'Old
Man of the Mountain')had arrivedin 1238to proposean allianceagainstthe
Mongolsto the kingsof Franceand England,an alliancewhichthe bishopof
Winchester is supposedto have refused,sayingthatit was betterto let dogs
devour one anotherby themselves(Math.Paris, vol. Ill, p. 488- 489). Cf.
G. Soranzo,II papato, VEuropa cristianae i Tartari , (Pubblicazioni dell'Uni-
delSacroCuore
versitàcattolica , 5a ser.,XIII, Milano,1930),p. 33. The Moslem
princesof Syria,fromwhomenvoyssent by the pope soughtinformation
about the Mongols,in 1246,makeno allusionto thisinquiry.In 1244,it was
fearof the Tartarswhichpreventedthe princeof Antiochfromleavinghis
statesto join in the Holy Land the Franksmenacedby the Khwarizmians.
Cf.Marie-LuiseBulst,"Zur Geschichte der Ritterorden und des Königsreichs
Jerusalembis zur Schlachtbei La Forbie", in DeutschesArchiv , 22. Jhg.,
(1966),p. 219ff. On the ultimatum sent by the Mongols to the prince and the
kingof Armenia,in 1244,cf.Math.Paris,vol. IV, p. 389- 390.
4 Even thoughhe was a Christian himself, or at leastused as a holybooka
"Book oftheexecutionoftheNew Testament'':cf.R. Davidsohn,"Ein Brief-
kodexdes 13. undeinUrkundenbuch des 15. Jhdt.",in QuellenundForschun-
gen aus italienischenArchivenund Bibliotheken , vol. 19, p. 383- 384, (1927).
This textdatesfrom1251- 1254,whichwe had not beenable to establishfor
the mutilatedtextwe published"Une lettreconcernant l'invasionmongole?"
in Bibliothèquede VÉcole des Chartes , vol. 119,p. 243- 245 (1961). This letter
was broughtto ourattentionby Dr. Hans-E.Mayer.
6 The effortsofthepopesto organizethiscrusade,hampered bytheirquarrel
withthe EmperorFrederickII, had begununderGregoryIX. Cf. Registres
de GrégoireIX, n086057- 6062 (June 19,1241) and Registres d'InnocentIV,
nos30,31 (1243)and 1354(1245). Innocent'ssuccessor, AlexanderIV, triedto

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 THE MONGOLS AND THE FRANKS 47

contra Tartaros on the agenda of the First Council of Lyons, sent

three embassies to the Mongols in March 1245. These embassies
brought to the Tartars an invitation to abstain from attacking the
Christians,and to embrace Christianity.But the pope had also charged
his envoys with collecting all the informationthey could bring to-
getherabout this mysteriouspeople, and about ways of resistingtheir
attacks. 6 This explains the nature of the reports drawn up by these
envoys. We possess the report of the Franciscan John of Piano
Carpini, who went as far as Mongolia, and large excerpts of that
written by the Dominican Simon de Saint-Quentin, who did not
penetrate furtherthan the Caucasus. The relation of another Domini-
can, André de Longjumeau, is known to us only through a brief
résumé.7 But each of these envoys added a descriptionof the Mongols
to the report on their respective journeys. And Europe was so eager
for informationthat excerpts of Piano Carpini's report circulated
even before the whole was properly drawn up. This is what gave
birth to the Tartar Relation recentlyrediscovered.8
forma leagueoftheEasternEuropeanstatesmenacedby theTartars:O. Ha-
lecki,"Diplomatiepontificale et activitémissionnaire en Asie aux XIII- et
XlVe siècles",in Comitéinternational des scienceshistoriques . XII le Congrès
internationalyVienne1965. Rapports , vol. II, p. 5- 32.
6 So affirms Vincentde Beauvais in the headingto the chapterstakenfor
his Speculumhistoriale fromthe accountsof the ambassadors:cf. Simonde
Saint-Quentin. Histoire des Tartar es, pubi, by J. Richard,(Paris, Geuthner,
1965,Documents relatifs des Croisades
à l'histoire , vol. 8), p. 20- 21. On these
embassies,cf. Paul Pelliot,"Les Mongolset la Papauté", in Revuede VOrient
chrétien, vol. 23, p. 3- 33, (1923),and vol. 24, p. 225- 325,(1924).
7 The best editionof Piano Carpini,by A. Van den Wyngaert, in Sinica
Franciscana , vol.1, (Quaracchi,1929). English translationin The mongol
mission.Narratives and lettersof theFranciscanmissionaries in Mongoliaand
China, transi,by a nun of StanbrookAbbey,ed. by Christopher Dawson,
(Londonand New York, Sheedand Ward, 1955).A Frenchtranslation, with
annotations, by Dom JeanBecquetand Louis Hambis,(Paris,Adrien-Maison-
neuve,1965).Simon'stexthas beenpublishedby us, accordingto theexcerpts
of the Speculumhistoriale(see the precedingnote). Simonbelongedto the
missionled by Ascelinof Crémona,whichjoined the MongolgeneralBaiju
near Sisian (S. S. R. of Armenia)and refusedto go to Mongolia.The excerpts
ofAndré's account,inserted byMathewParisinhisChronica Majora,havebeen
isolatedby Pelliotin Revuede VOrientchrétien , vol. XXIV, p. 251- 254,(1924).
8 R. A. Skelton,ThomasE. Marston,GeorgeD. Painter,The VinlandMap
andtheTartarRelation , (Yale University Press,1965).A reportofPianoCarpini
to the kingof Hungary:D. Sinor,"Johnof Piano Carpini'sReturnfromthe
Mongols",in JournaloftheRoyalAsiaticSociety , 1957,p. 193- 206.

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48 JEAN RICHARD

Nothing, actually, allows us to believe that the Mongols were

any better informed about Europe, than was Europe about them.
Nevertheless, the presence of a number of Westerners among the
Mongols,9the arrival of ambassadors,10and the capture of numerous
prisoners,11supplied them with the means of obtaining information
necessary for eventual campaigns. It does not seem, however, that
this informationenabled the Mongols to have any precise knowledge
of Europe, if we are to judge by the Chinese texts of the Mongol period
on the subject of the latter.12
The program of the Mongols was wholly and entirelybased on a
rule given by Chingis-khan: "There is only one God in heaven, and
on earth there is only one sovereign,Chingis-khan."13And thus all the
lettersthat the ambassadors of 1245 broughtback with them rejected
the idea of a non-agressionpact, and demanded the promptsubmission
of the pope and of the Christiankings.
This submissionwas not a mere formality: the Mongol khan deman-
ded of all those asked to submit that they "bring their forcesto him
who is master of the world".14 What this exactly meant, John of
Piano Carpiniand Simon de Saint-Quentindescribedit in theirreports,
and the ultimatum delivered to the prince of Antioch in 1244 con-
9 MathewParisreportsthearrest,inAustria,ofan Englishmanwhobrought
the Mongolultimatumto the kingof Hungary:he had been banishedfrom
England,had livedat Acreand thenwanderedacrossAsiabeforebeingengaged
by theMongols(IV, p. 274).
10Rubruckrelatessome questionsthe Mongolschiefshe met duringhis
journeyhad askedhim: "about thegreatPope, whetherhe was as old a man
as theyhadheard,fortheyhadheardhewas 500yearsold","aboutourcountry,
whetherthereweremanysheeps,oxen and horsesthere.As forthe Ocean,
theycouldnotgraspthatit had neitherlimitnorshore"(chap.XXII).
11Afterhis travelin 1248- 1249,Andréde Longjumeaurevealedthe pre-
senceofChristians whohad beencarriedofffromHungary,Silesiaand Poland,
by the Mongols,and werebeingheld captiveby them.Rubruckfoundout
muchinformation about them,and metseveralofthesecaptives.The papacy
tookcareto sendthemspiritualhelp.The Il-khanofPersiaAbagha,according
to David ofAshby,was to buyback thosewhowerein his empirein orderto
sendthemback to Frankishterritory.
12Cf. E. Bretschneider,
MediaevalResearchesfromeasternAsiaticsources,
(London,1888), 2 vol.
13We referthereaderto our discussionof thetermsof the edictof Güyük
whichgave thecommandto re-openthecampaigndestinedto submitall lands
and peoplesto him:Simonde Saint-Quentin, p. 115- 117.
14Simonde Saint-Quentin, p. 114.

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 THE MONGOLS AND THE FRANKS 49

firmstheir descriptions: the princereceived the orderto dismantlehis

fortresses,just as the Turkish sultan had been orderedto disband his
Frankish guard. The Mongols demanded a tribute,equal in value to
the yearly revenue of the prince's demaine, and, besides this, the
delivery of three thousand maidens. Piano Carpini confirms the
existence of such deliveriesof slaves in the case of Russia, and Simon
cites the additional demands formulatedby the Mongols. Their yoke
appeared to be a very heavy one indeed. And the ambassadors came
back convinced that a new offensivewas in preparation, aimed at
the realization of the program of universal submissionannounced by
an edict of the khan Güyük. This was sent to the commandersof his
armies in the spring of 1247, was translated and carried to Rome,
and its text was preservedby Simon.
The death of Güyük in 1248 put offthe start of this offensive,which
was not to be taken up again until after the accession of Möngke in
1254. But the programremained the same: the envoys of Saint Louis,
André de Longjumeau in 124915and Guillaume de Rubruck in 1254,18
brought back the same invitation to submit as had the ambassadors
of Pope Innocent. And, in 1260, the Chinese general Kuo-khan prided
himselfon having obtained the submissionof the suit-tanof the king-
dom of Fu-lang, O-fu-wu-tu,who was perhaps king Hugh (Huguet)
of Cyprus.17
Moreover,the invitation to embrace Christianityshocked the Mon-
gols, in spite of the presence of a strong Christian element among
them.18Rubruck understood the reason for this during his visit to
the prince Sartaq, whom he went to congratulate on his baptism.
For the Mongols, the name of Christian belonged intrinsicallyto the
peoples of the West whom they were to conquer, and to adopt it
15Cf. Pelliot,"Les Mongolset la Papauté", in Revuede VOrientchrétien ,
vol. 28, p. 3-84, (1931-1932).
16Latin textin A. van denWyngaert, Sinica Franciscana, I ; Englishtrans-
lationin The mongolmission , citedabove.
17The biographyof Kuo-khanis insertedin the Yüan-shih , and has been
reproduced in G. Pauthier,Le Livrede MarcoPolo, (Paris,1867),I, p. CXXXI.
AnotherChinesetext (Ibid., p. CXLYI), statesthat the kingdomof Fu-lang,
thecountry oforiginoftheFrankishmercenaries, is locatedto thewestofthe
Egyptiansea (thiscannotmeantheprincipáte ofAntioch).
18The violentreactionof the Mongolsm the entourageof Baiju, when
Ascelintransmitted this invitationto them,is relatedin Simon de Saint-
Quentin, p. 100- 101.

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50 JEAN RICHARD

seemed incompatible with the very elevated idea they had of their
own name of Mongols.19
Thus the opposition seemed irreducible.Yet, nevertheless,the West
had been kept informedof the relations formed by the Armenian
kingdom of Cilicia with the Tartars, and this Armenian kingdom
was in close relations with the Franks. The Armenians,in order to
escape Turkish domination,had put themselves under the protection
of the Mongols as early as 1244.20In 1248 the constable of Armenia,
Sembat, wrote a letter to the king of Cyprus, and in this letter
he described the importance of Christianity among the Mongols.
This letter figures in the Speculum historíaleof Vincent de Beau-
vais, after the texts of Piano Carpini and Simon. Rubruck hoped
to meet the king of Armenia in 1254, while journeyingto the court
of Möngke.
Even Saint Louis, also in 1248, had received from Eljigidey, the
highest Mongol representativein Iran, a letter which has been very
diversely interpretedby historians.21In our opinion, it illustrates a
preoccupation of the Mongol chiefs which Simon de Saint-Quentin
had noted: the desire to keep those countries which had submitted
to the khan (Seljuq Turkey, Aleppo) safe fromthe conquests of the
Crusaders' army. The Mongols, in fact, had had occasion to evaluate
the valour of Frankish warriors- such warriorsserved as mercenaries
in some Oriental armies. They knew, too, that the number of men
engaged in a crusade made it a most formidable army.22 Besides,
19Rubruck,chap. 16, The mongolmission,p. 121.
20 Simon,who reportsthe fact(p. 86- 89), sees in it a proofof the disloy-
alty of the regentof the Armeniankingdomtowardshis lordthe sultan(he
is usuallyveryfavorabletowardsthe Seljukdynastyof Turkey).He does not
tendto interpret thisas affranchising the Armenians, as wouldhave been the
interpretation twentyyearslater.
21Pelliot,"Les Mongols..." Revuede VOrientchrétien , vol. 28, p. 13- 37,
64 65. The envoysof Eljigidey- two OrientalChristians
- - completedthe
termsof the letterby some wordsof theirown, the reason why Möngke
latertreatedthemas liars.Be it notedthat,beforethem,onlytwoenvoysof
theMongols(thosefromBaiju, accompanying themissionofAscelin)had come
to a Westerncourt.Piano Carpini,as Rubruckafterhim,declinedthe invi-
tationto bringbackwithhimsomeMongolambassadors,fearing incidents which
mighthave furnished the Tartarswitha casus belli.
22Simonde Saint-Quentin , p. 97- 98. Cf.J. Richard,"An accountof the
battleof Hattinreferring to Frankishmercenaries in OrientalMoslemstates",
in Speculum , vol. 27, p. 168- 177,(1952).

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 THE MONGOLS AND THE FRANKS 51

Eljigidey profitedfrom these contacts to remind the Franks of the

ordinance of Chingis-khanrelative to the privilegesgranted to Chris-
tians, and he asked them to treat the Nestorianslivingin theircolonies
in the Levant with more kindness.23But this letter did not indicate
any change in attitude towards the Westerners: the envoys of Saint
Louis were twice to be reminded of this.
And so, in 1260, in spite of all attempts at negotiation,the West
was not re-assuredas to the intentionsof the Mongols. The embassies
of Innocent IV and of Saint Louis taught the Franks that the Mon-
gols hat not flinchedin their will to submit the whole world.24The
policies of Möngke were identical to those of Güyük, and they were
as rigorous towards the West as they were in the East. Batu took
up the offensiveagain, against eastern Europe, while Hülegü headed
for the Near East, intending to impose Mongol domination on the
Christian peoples as well as on the Moslems. In 1260, conscious of
this double threat, the pope Alexander IV called upon the Christian
princes to unite against the new invasion of the Tartars.25 Some
Crusaders left for the Holy Land to defend it against the Mongols.26
War started again on the Hungarian and Polish frontier,and the popes

23The remarksof Eljigideyon this subjectremindone of thoseused by

SimeonRabban-ata,theVisitorfortheOrient',in a letterto thepope. Simeon,
a personverymuchin favourat the Mongolcourt,had seen to it that these
orderswere applied in the Caucasiancountries(Pelliot,4'Les Mongols. .
vol. 24, p. 225- 262). The JacobitepatriarchIgnatius,writingto the pope
in 1247 (Le Quien,Orienschristianus, vol. II, p. 1356),complainedthat the
Latinsin the Holy Land had subjectedthe Syrianclergyto payingtaxes to
the Latin church:the Nestoriansin the Mongolempire,whose clergywas
exemptfromany financialburdens,certainlydesired,theyalso, the abolition
ofthosediscriminatory measures.
24The followingare the termswhich the GeneralChapterof Citeaux
used in 1261: " Tuba praeconiiterribilis notrisintonuerit auribussuper in-
gruentesaevitia Tartarorum, qui sibi, ut dicitur,subjugareintendunt uni-
versumpopulumChristianům" (Canivez,Statutacapitulorum generalium, II,
p. 475).
26Rymer,Foedera , I, 2, n° 60. The patriarchof Jerusalem(later Pope
UrbanIV) had expressed hisconcernovertheMongoladvancein a letterdated
February12, 1257, i. e. shortlyafterHülegü had begunmarchingwestward
(Rodenberg, EpistolaesaeculiXIII, in M. G. H., vol. Ill, p. 415).
26The bishopof Marseilles, forexample,was in the Holy Land in October
1260becauseof the generálenegotium EcclesiaecontraTartaros . Cf. "De con-
structioncastriSaphet in Baluze,Miscellanea , vol.VI, p. 363.

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52 JEAN RICHARD

hat to encourage the fightersby grantingthem the privilegesof cru-

saders.27
The situation in Christendomdid not, then, seemed less critical in
1260 than it did in 1241. It is true that travellers did dissipate the
mystery shrouding the Mongols and their country, but what they
also revealed about Mongol power, about the crueltiesof the Tartars,
and about the oppression in those lands which had submitted was
hardly conducive to gain favour for the idea of a rapprochement
betweenEurope and the Mongols,whose sympathywiththe Christians,
to say the least, remained uncertain. This is why,when the Prince of
Antioch submittedto Hülegü on the instigationof the kingofArmenia,
he immediatelyincurred excommunication,28and a French poet ex-
pressed his distresson the loss of Antioch for Christendom.29

♦ ♦ *

In 1260, the Il-khan of Persia, Hülegü, invaded Moslem Syria

with an army in which served some Franks fromAntioch. The Franks
of Acre were not willing to submit to Mongol domination; they
adopted a neutrality which was profitableto the Mameluks,30and
27BegÌ8tre8 d'UrbainIV, n08102,103,392; Registres de Clément IV, n° 113.
The crusadehad alreadybeenproclaimedin thisregionas earlyas 1253 (Re-
gistresd'Innocent IV, n° 6791).
28Theexcommunication was onlyto be liftedbya bullofMay26, 1263.- On
theexactionsoftheTartars,cf.Registres d'UrbainIV, n° 373: thepopepracti-
callyrepeatswhat Piano Carpinihad writtento put the Christians on their
guardagainst the submission demanded by the Mongols.
29ClarisetLaris,ed. Alton(Bibliothek desLiterarischenVereinsin Stuttgart,
126),p. 2:
48 en estperdue,
Constantinople
Antioche s'en estrendue
etsougiete au roydes Tartaires
30 GrigorofAkanc',"HistoryoftheNationoftheArchers", ed. and transi.
Black and Frye,in HarvardJournalofAsiaticstudies,vol. XI, p. 349 (1949).
The bestexposéis stillthatofR. Grousset, HistoiredesCroisadesetdu royaume
francde Jérusalem, vol. III, (Paris, 1936),p. 576- 606. However,the author
startsfromthe idea thatthe alliancebetweenFranksand Mongolswas inevi-
table. It is important to realizethat,formostof the West,such an alliance
was at that timeunthinkable. Cf. H. F. Delaborde,"Lettredes Chrétiens de
TerreSainteà Charlesd'Anjou",in Revuede l'Orientlatin,vol. II, p. 207,and
Recueildeshistoriens desCroisades, Historiens occidentaux,vol.II, p. 636.

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 THE MONGOLS AND THE FRANKS 53

they tried to findout the intentionsof the Mongol prince. An English

Dominican, David of Ashby, was sent to him, and was well received.
He lived long enough at the Mongol court of Persia to assemble,
while there, materials for a report presented to the second Council
of Lyons, in 1274, and for a book called The Deeds of the Tartars.31
These contacts, and the failureof the Mongols in Syria, determined
Hülegü to establish relations with the pope. In 1263, he sent the
pontiffan embassy that was intercepteden route, but to which never-
theless,Urban IV returnedan answer in 1264. A policy of cooperation
between the papacy and the Mongols of Persia dated fromthat time.
(However, the Mongols of the Golden Horde did not modify their
attitude toward their Christian neighbours.) There was a question
of uniting the forcesof a Crusade sent fromthe West, with a Mongol
offensivestarting from the Euphrates valley, in order to oblige the
Mameluks to fighton two fronts.It was agreed that of the territories
to be conquered the Franks would keep the Holy Land. 32
This is the program outlined by Hülegü's successor, Abagha, in
the letters of 1267 and 1268, in which he no longer asks for the sub-
mission of Frankish leaders to Mongol domination.33 The Franks
responded to this invitation in 1269 and 1271; but Abagha, who had
to fightagainst otherMongol princes,was not able to send enough sup-
port to the English and Aragonese Crusaders.34In 1273, negotiations

31J. Richard,"Le débutdes relationsentrela Papauté et les Mongolsde

Perse",in JournalAsiatique , vol. 237,p. 287- 293, (1949); G. Borghezio,"Un
episodiodellerelazionitrala Santa Sede e i Mongoli(1274),"in Roma, voi. 14,
p. 361- 372,(1936);Cl. Brunei,"David d'Ashby,auteurméconnudesFaits des
Tartares ," in Romania,vol. 84, p. 39- 46.
32David of Ashbyattributesthe idea of the allianceto Hülegü.But the
lettersof the latterwereintercepted, withhis envoys,by Manfred,kingof
Sicily:we do not knowtheirexact contents.David attributes to Abaghathe
promise to hand overthe kingdom of Jerusalem to the Latins, and to see to it,
by an interdiction, thattheywouldnot not be molested.
33The lettersof 1267werewrittenin Mongolian,becauseof the absenceof
Abagha's scribalatinus.On thelettersof 1268,cf.E. Tisserant,"Une lettrede
rilkhande PerseAbaghaadresséeen 1268au pape ClémentIV," in Muséon,
vol. 59, p. 547- 556,(1946): answeringto the envoyof JaymeAlaryof Per-
pignan,theIl-khanproposedto thepope and to thekingofAragonthatthey
sendtheirarmiesto join up withthatof MichaelPaleologos,in orderto trap
theMoslemsbetweenthemselves and theMongolarmy.
34R. Grousset, op. cit.,p. 647- 662; Abel Rémusat,"Mémoiressurles rela-
tionspolitiquesdes princeschrétienset particulièrement des rois de France

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54 JEAN RICHARD

were reopened; a strong alliance was concluded during the Council

of Lyons of 1274.35
But the pope, Gregory X, died. The Crusade was put off; and
Charles of Anjou, the king of Sicily, occupied in the Balkans, was
tryingto maintain his good relations with Egypt. Acre was a depen-
dency of Charles of Anjou, and so, in 1280, when a new Mongol army
invaded Syria, the Franks of Acre continued to observe the truces
concluded by them with the Mameluks, whereas the Franks of Cyprus
considered co-operating with the Mongols.36 But theses alliances
were negligible,as long as there was no real crusade coming from
the West.
After a brief rapprochement between Mongols and Mameluks, the
new Il-khan, Arghun, reopened negotiations in 1285.37 In 1288, he
sent the Nestorian prelate Rabban Sauma to the pope, and to the kings
of Sicily, France and England. The Rabban obtained an agreement
between his own Church and the Roman Church,38and the promise
that the Western kings would join forcesin the next campaign of the
Mongols against Egypt. The plan of operations was describedby
Buscarei de' Ghizolfiin 1289.39 But Acre fell in 1291. In that year,

avec les empereursmongols," inMémoires Académie

deVInstitut. desInscriptions
vol. VII, 1824.- See also D. Sinor,"Les relationsentreles
et Belles-Lettres,
Mongolset l'Europe jusqu'à la mortd'Arghounet de Béla IV", in Journal
of WorldHistory , vol. Ill, p. 39- 62, (1956).
35V. Laurent,"La croisadeet la questiond'Orientsous le pontificat de
GrégoireX", in Revuehistorique du Sud-Esteuropéen , vol. 22, p. 105- 137,
(1945).
36R. Grousset, op. cit.,p. 692- 705; J. Richard,Le royaume latinde Jérusa-
lem,(Paris,1953),p. 315-316.
37This letteris extremely interesting;Arghundescribesthe circumstances
of his accessionand how he has overthrown his predecessor, convertedto
Islam; he mentionsthe investiture conferredupon him by the Great-khan
Qubilai; he notifiesthe Westerners thathe intendsto take up the projectsof
Hülegüand Abagha(A. Rémusat,op. cit.,p. 426- 427).
38 J. Richard,"La missionen Europe de Rabban Çauma et l'Uniondes
Églises,"in Orientee Occidente nel medioevo(Roma 1957.Accademia dei Lincei,
XIIo Convegno Volta),p. 162- 167. See also M.-H.Laurent,"Rabban Sauma,
ambassadeurde l'Il-Khan Argoun,et la cathédralede Veroli (1288)", in
Mélangesd'archéologie etd'Histoirepubi. par VÉcolefrançaise de Rome,(1958),
p. 361-365.
39A. Rémusat,op. cit., p. 362- 381. Arghunproposeda meetmgwith the
Frankisharmiesin theplainofDamas forFebruary1291.

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 THE MONGOLS AND THE FRANKS 55

Franco-Mongolianco-operationwas limited to arminga small Genoese

squadron sent to wage pirate warfarein the Indian Ocean.40
The popes hoped to profitfrom these contacts in order to draw
the Mongols toward Christianity. Some conversions were indeed
obtained; the future khan Öljeitü received baptism.41 But in 1295
the khan Ghazan embraced the Moslem faith, and ordered all the
Mongols of Persia to do likewise. Nevertheless the hostilitybetween
Mongols and Mameluks did not diminish, and very few among the
Western Christians noticed the conversion of Ghazan.42 In 1299,
Ghazan occupied Syria, without having had the time to warn the
Western kings. He did, nevertheless,make haste to send them an-
nouncementsof his successes, and he offeredthem the Holy Land, in
accordance with the promises of his predecessors. The pope and the
king of Aragon prepared an expedition. The king of Cyprus, sum-
moned by the court of Persia through an ambassador who was a
Pisan nobleman, sent raids in 1300 and 1301 to the coasts of Egypt
and Syria, and occupied the island of Ruad. But the Mongols were
driven out of Syria by 1300, and their attempts to retake it in 1302
ended in failure.43
40 J. Richard,"Europeanvoyagesin the Indian Ocean and Caspian Sea
(12th- 15thcentury)",in Iranian JournalofPersian studies . VI, p. 45- 52,
(1968).
41He receivedthe name of Nicholasin honourof Pope NicholasIV, and
his godfather was one oftheFrankishadventurers in theMongols'service,the
famousIsol ofPisa. But Arghunwroteto thepope in 1290to inform himthat,
no matterwhatthelatterbelieved,he himself had notembracedtheChristian
faith:A. Mostaertand F. W. Cleaves,"Troisdocuments mongolsdes archives
secrètes vaticanes,"inHarvardJournalofAsiaticstudies , vol.15,p. 419ff.,(1953).
42Whenthenewsofhis SyriancampaignreachedtheWest,it was believed
almosteverywhere thathe had embracedChristianity, or at leastthathe was
goingto driveout theMoslemsfromtheHolyLand forreligious motives.Thus
Rashidal-Dinwas mistakenin believingthat the destruction of the churches
of Tabriz,orderedby Ghazan,had caused,by reprisal,the destruction of the
Moslemcityof Lucera,orderedin 1301 by the kingof Sicily.See K. Jahn,
Histoireuniverselle de Rašid al-Dīn Fadl Allah Abul-Khair,I, Histoiredes
Francs,(Leiden, 1951),p. 67- 68. Nevertheless, Ricoldo da Montecroce had
beena witnessofMoslemrevenge, andhadseentheviolenceoftheanti-Christian
persecution of 1295.
43R. Röhricht,"Études sur les dernierstempsdu royaumede Jérusalem",
in Archives de VOrientlatin, I, p. 633- 657 (1881); Hayton,La Flor desestoires
d'Orient(RecueildesHistoriens des Croisades.Documents arméniens , II), p. 197;
Gestesdes Chiprois(Ibid.),p. 848; A. Rémusat,op. cit.,p. 386- 388.

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56 JEAN RICHARD

These plans formilitaryco-operationwere to survive,in spite of the

distances and the slowness of communications. The authors of the
Crusade projects- and in particular the Armenian prince Hayton -
mention the Mongol alliance, and the khan öljeitü was still sending
his ambassadors to the West in 1307.44But hostilitiesbetweenMongols
and Mameluks were growing less frequent; peace was concluded in
1322.45 The West was no longer in such a hurryto make ready for a
crusade, even though it was much talked about in 1307. Militaryand
political relations between the Latin states both east and west, and
the Mongols of Persia, came to an end.
The fact that these relations had gone quite far, is worthinsisting
upon: the ends and purposes of the alliance were well defined,the
operational plans studied in detail, and the participants acted in
good faith.
The Il-khans renounced their demand that the Franks submit to
the Great-khan: the Mongol imperial program was abandoned, and
Mongol policy was limited to the desire of wresting Syria from the
Mameluks. The Mongols dealt, then, with the Westerners as with
equals. They received favorably not only the ambassadors who came
to negotiate about this military and political alliance, but also the
missionarieswho were charged only with business of a religiousnature,
such as the Franciscan Gerardo de Prato to whom Nicholas III had
entrusted the mission of persuading Abagha to be converted and
baptized.46 Frankish adventurers made a career for themselves
44At thispointthe mainpreoccupation of öljeitü seems,to have been to
informthe Westernprincesof his accession.These answeredhimand at the
same timetold him of the crusade-projects whichwerestudiedat that time
by the entourageof ClementV (A. Rémusat,op. cit., p. 390- 402).
45A firstrapprochement attempted byöljeitü,to rendercommercial relations
possible,had been ephemeral : verysoon after,hostilities had beenreopened.
See B. Spuler,Die Mongolen in Iran, (2ndedition,Berlin,1955),p. 106- 122.-
This workbears upon the relationsbetweenthe Mongolsof Persia and the
West,p. 224-235.
46It was to thismission, sentbyNicholasIII in 1278to Abaghaand Qubilai,
that the diplomawas grantedwhichorderedthe governorof Asia Minorto
furnish horsesand victualsto the „bishops",whoseleaderwas Bar Ačirqun,
in November1279(thisdatemustbe retained, and not 1267).Pelliothad identi-
fiedthisnamewitha "frèreGérard",but he assumedthe diplomawas given
byArghun(Comptes-rendus deVAcadémie desInscriptions etBelles-Lettres
, 1922,
p. 53). See A. Mostaertand F. W. Cleaves,"Trois documentsmongols",and
Registres de NicolasIII , nos232- 238.

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 THE MONGOLS AND THE FRANKS 57

amongst them; and 'Isol the Pisan' (Zolo di Anastasio) enjoyed great
favor with Arghun and Ghazan.47 In the entourage of the Il-khans,
there was interest in the West. While, in 1248, Christianitysought
informationabout the Mongols, it was now Rabban Sauma who
wrote, in Persian, the story of this travel,48and Rashid al-Din who
drew up a History of theFranks at the request of Öljeitü.49
After1307, it was the merchantrepublics which continuedto nego-
tiate with the Mongol princes,to establish treaties of commerce,such
as that between Venice and the khan of Persia concluded in 1320,
to insure the freedom of Venetian merchants in his territories.50
Genoa had serious difficultieswith the khans of the Golden Horde,
who had little tolerance for the behaviour of the Genoese in those
Mongol cities where they had trading-houses.The khan Toqtaï was
to expel the Genoese from Caffa, but his second successor, Janibeg,
besieged the city in vain. It remained Genoese.
As forthe popes, they had not ceased maintainingdiplomatic rela-
tions with the Mongols of Persia. But from this time on, these re-
lations were identical to those kept fromthe time of GregoryX with
the other Mongol sovereigns, those of the Golden Horde, of the
Jagataï, or the Great-khan of China. They were requests from the
pope that the Mongols receive kindlythe Latin missionarieswho were
becoming more and more numerous in the Mongol states, and who
were foundingChristian communitiesin considerablenumbers.These
relations did not come to an end before the second half of the four-
teenth century,and they were to be renewed, for a short time, even
in the days of Tamerlane.
47Cf.ourarticle,"Isol le Pisan: un aventurier francgouverneur d'une pro-
vincemongole?",to appearin Rashïdal-Dln MemorialVolume .
48This narrativeis lost,but it was used by the authorwho drewup the
LifeofMar Yahballahaand RabbanSauma, writtenin Syriac.
49The Persianhistorian insertedin it a description
oftheWesterncountries,
accordingto theinformation he receivedfromtheFrankslivingin Persia,and
a historyof the popes and the emperors, doubtlesslyrelyingon the chronicle
ofMartinof Oppau.Cf.K. Jahn,op. cit.
50On all this,cf. Luciano Petech,"Les marchandsitaliensdans l'empire
mongol",in JournalAsiatique,vol. 250, p. 549- 574, (1962),and J. Richard,
"Les missionschezles Mongols",in Histoireuniverselledes missions ,
catholiques
vol.I, (Monaco,1957),p. 173- 195.

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