The descriptions of Asian religions in Friar William of Rubruck's "Itinerarium"
AuthorNeal, Gordon Lee, 1956-
AdvisorBernstein, Alan E.
MetadataShow full item record
PublisherThe University of Arizona.
RightsCopyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author.
AbstractWilliam of Rubruck was a Franciscan friar who travelled to the court of Mongke Khan at the time when the Mongol empire was reaching its apogee as the largest empire in the world. His attempt to start a Catholic mission there failed. The report he wrote to King Louis IX of France has survived and has proven to be extraordinarily reliable, but historians have not seriously questioned how his motives for writing influenced the contents of this report. William's education and ambitions affected both his perceptions and what he chose to describe. William sought to salvage his failure by including information for future missions in his report on the many competing religions in the polyglot Mongol capital. Because of this, William's report contains invaluable information concerning the beliefs of Nestorian Christians, Buddhists, Muslims, and shamans in the Mongolian empire.
Degree ProgramGraduate College