Page 110 - Berkshire Encyclopedia Of World History Vol Two

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in April 1288 with several papal letters for the il-khan. who conquered major portions of the Americas and the
Shortly thereafter, in 1289, the pope sent Friar John of Portuguese adventurers who sailed though the Indian
Montecorvino to the il-khan’s court. Before anything Ocean were driven by many motives, not least of which
could come of these negotiations, the il-khan, Arghun, was a desire for gold and glory, it is not difficult to find
died, and his successor embraced Islam in 1295. All in their accounts crusading themes and sentiments that
hopes for a Mongol-Latin crusade were dashed. were already more than four hundred years old.
Rebuffed by the Mongol il-khan of Persia, Friar John
Alfred J. Andrea
set off for the court of the Great Mongol Khan in China
in 1291, arriving there, by way of India, in 1294 or See also Byzantine Empire; Islamic World; Warfare—
1295. Too late to meet Khubilai Khan, who died in Europe; Warfare—Islamic World
1294, the Franciscan friar set up a mission church in the
Mongol capital of Khanbalik (Beijing), which enjoyed
Further Reading
imperial protection until the Chinese evicted the Mongols
Andrea,A. J. (2003). Encyclopedia of the Crusades.Westport, CT: Green-
in 1368. Although the succeeding Ming dynasty (1368– wood Press.
1644), which reasserted native Chinese rule, was hostile Billings, M. (1996). The Crusades: Five centuries of holy wars. New York:
Sterling Press. (Reprint of The cross and the crescent, 1987, London:
to all foreign elements associated with the hated Mon-
BBC Books)
gols, this mission church probably continued to exist Christiansen, E. (1997). The northern Crusades (new ed.). New York: Pen-
until the late fourteenth or early fifteenth century. guin Books.
Dawson, C. (Ed.). (1966). Mission to Asia: Narratives and letters of the
After 1294–1295 the Mongol empire underwent sub- Franciscan missionaries in Mongolia and China in the thirteenth and
stantial changes for the worse, and before the fourteenth fourteenth centuries.Toronto: University of Toronto Press. (Reprint of
The Mongol Mission, 1955, New York: Sheed and Ward)
century ended, the empire was dead. Christian Europe,
Hallam, E. (Ed.). (1989). Chronicles of the Crusades. New York: Wei-
however, was unaware of the Mongol empire’s fate and denfeld & Nicholson.
never forgot the dream of linking up with the Great Harris, J. (2003). Byzantium and the Crusades. London: Hambledon &
London.
Khan. Many motives drove Columbus to sail west toward Hillenbrand, C. (1999). The Crusades: Islamic perspectives. New York:
the Indies, but certainly one of them was the dream of a Routledge.
Housley, N. (2002). The crusaders. Charleston, SC: Tempus.
crusade alliance with the Mongols against Islam.
Jackson, P., & Morgan, D. (Eds. & Trans.). (1990). The mission of Friar
William of Rubruck. London: Hakluyt Society.
Early Modern Explorations Kedar, B. Z. (1984). Crusade and mission: European approaches toward
the Muslims. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
and Colonization Lewis, A. R. (1988). Nomads and crusaders, A.D. 1000–1368. Bloom-
Similar crusade motives helped drive Portuguese explo- ington: Indiana University Press.
Muldoon, J. M. (1979). Popes, lawyers, and infidels: The church and the
rations along the African coast. Prince of Portugal Henry,
non-Christian world, 1250–1550. Philadelphia: University of Penn-
known as the Navigator (1394–1460), used the resources sylvania Press.
of the Order of Christ, a Portuguese crusader-military Murray,A.V. (Ed.). (2001). Crusade and conversion on the Baltic frontier:
1150–1500. Burlington,VT: Ashgate.
order founded in 1319, to finance the fleets that he sent O’Callaghan, J. F. (2003). Reconquest and crusade in Medieval Spain.
out.The prince, who crusaded in North Africa in 1415, Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
Phillips, W. D., Jr., & Phillips, C. R. (1992). The worlds of Christopher
1437, and 1458, justified this use of crusade-dedicated
Columbus. Cambridge, UK: University of Cambridge Press.
resources because, as his contemporary biographer, Prawer, J. (1972). The world of the crusaders. New York: Quadrangle
Gomes Eannes de Azurara, noted, he wanted to know the Books.
Richard, J. (1999). The Crusades, c. 1071–c. 1291. Cambridge, UK:
extent of the lands held by the Muslims, and he sought Cambridge University Press.
yet-unknown Christian princes who would ally with Por- Riley-Smith, J. (1987). The Crusades: A short history. New Haven, CT:
Yale University Press.
tugal in the struggle against Islam.
Riley-Smith, J. (2002). What were the Crusades? (3d ed.). San Francisco:
In like manner, although the Spanish conquistadors Ignatius Press.