Last time we talked, William was coming to grips with the nature of his new Armenian monk colleague and taking part in the great inter-religious debate of 1254. Today, we’re going to start in and around that period, covering some of his time with Mongke’s court before turning back west with him to recover some of what he had lost, cross an Alexandrian divide, and consider the future of both the crusades and Latin-Mongol relations.
To See the Mongols 3: An Interregnum
Over the last two episodes, we heard about Euro-Mongol relations through the unlikely body of Friar Carpine. We’re going to continue with that theme today touching on a couple of different diplomatic missions to and from the Mongol empire. I’ll also be covering some of the history, some of the events occurring between the Carpine mission and that of our next major traveller. When we look at the khanate of this period, we’ll see another death, another interregnum, and a new khan. First though, let’s get ourselves caught up.