Book contents
- The Cambridge History of the Mongol Empire
- The Cambridge History of the Mongol Empire
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures in Volume I
- Figures in Volume II
- Maps in Volume I
- Maps in Volume II
- Tables in Volume I
- Contributors to Volume I
- Contributors to Volume II
- Acknowledgments
- Notes on Dates and Transliterations
- Abbreviations
- Volume I
- Volume II
- Volume II Part 1 Literary Sources
- 1 Persian Sources
- 2 Chinese Sources
- 3 Mongolian Sources
- 4 Arabic Sources
- 5 Rus′ian-Language Sources
- 6 Western European Sources
- 7 Armenian Sources
- 8 Georgian Sources
- 9 Turkic and Chaghatay Sources
- 10 Tibetan Sources
- 11 Korean Sources
- 12 Syriac Sources
- 13 Uighur Sources
- 14 Greek Sources
- 15 Tangut Sources
- 16 Hebrew Sources
- Volume II Part 2 Archaeological and Visual Sources
- Index to Volume I
- Index to Volume II
- References
6 - Western European Sources
from Volume II Part 1 - Literary Sources
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 January 2024
- The Cambridge History of the Mongol Empire
- The Cambridge History of the Mongol Empire
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures in Volume I
- Figures in Volume II
- Maps in Volume I
- Maps in Volume II
- Tables in Volume I
- Contributors to Volume I
- Contributors to Volume II
- Acknowledgments
- Notes on Dates and Transliterations
- Abbreviations
- Volume I
- Volume II
- Volume II Part 1 Literary Sources
- 1 Persian Sources
- 2 Chinese Sources
- 3 Mongolian Sources
- 4 Arabic Sources
- 5 Rus′ian-Language Sources
- 6 Western European Sources
- 7 Armenian Sources
- 8 Georgian Sources
- 9 Turkic and Chaghatay Sources
- 10 Tibetan Sources
- 11 Korean Sources
- 12 Syriac Sources
- 13 Uighur Sources
- 14 Greek Sources
- 15 Tangut Sources
- 16 Hebrew Sources
- Volume II Part 2 Archaeological and Visual Sources
- Index to Volume I
- Index to Volume II
- References
Summary
Although most of Catholic Christendom escaped conquest by the Mongols, the West yields a comparatively broad and varied range of sources concerning the invaders and their empire. These include not only contemporary accounts of the onslaught of 1241–1242 on Hungary, but also narratives composed by Westerners who visited the Mongol world; geographical surveys, like Marco Polo’s description of Yuan China, reflecting the West’s considerably extended horizons; mercantile handbooks; and documents relating to trade with the Mongols. Admittedly, the earliest material is often characterized by apocalyptic speculation and misleading preconceptions. But at the opposite extreme, despite retaining some detail of a fantastic nature, the reports of members of the newly founded mendicant orders – the Franciscans and Dominicans – who traveled in Mongol Asia as either envoys or missionaries are unmatched for keen observation and penetrating analysis; they form an indispensable accessory and backcloth to the narrative accounts produced within non-European societies.
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- The Cambridge History of the Mongol Empire , pp. 1070 - 1113Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2023