The Mongols and the West: 1221-1410

452 Pages·2018·8.293 MB·English

by  Peter Jackson

THE MONGOLS AND THE WEST
The Mongols and the West provides a comprehensive survey of relations
between the Catholic West and the Mongol Empire from the first appearance
of Chinggis (Genghis) Khan’s armies on Europe’s horizons in 1221 to the
battle of Tannenberg in 1410. This book has been designed to provide a
synthesis of previous scholarship on relations between the Mongols and the
Catholic world, as well as to offer new approaches and conclusions on the
subject. It considers the tension between the Western hopes of the Mongols
as allies against the growing Muslim powers and the Mongols’ position as
conquerors with their own agenda, and evaluates the impact of Mongol–
Western contacts on the West’s expanding knowledge of the world.
This second edition takes into account the wealth of scholarly literature
that has emerged in the years since the previous edition and contains
significantly extended chapters on trade and mission. It charts the course
of military confrontation and diplomatic relations between the Mongols
and the West, and re-examines the commercial opportunities offered to
Western merchants by Mongol rule and the failure of Catholic missionaries
to convert the Mongols to Christianity.
Fully revised and containing a range of maps, genealogical tables and
both European and non-European sources throughout, The Mongols and
the West is ideal for students of medieval European history and the Crusades.
Peter Jackson is Emeritus Professor of Medieval History at Keele University
and a Fellow of the British Academy. His publications cover the Mongols,
the Crusades and medieval Islam, and his most recent book is The Mongols
and the Islamic World from Conquest to Conversion (2017).
The Medieval World
Series editors: Warren C. Brown, Caltech, USA, and Piotr
Górecki, University of California, Riverside, USA
For a full list of titles in the series, visit:
www.routledge.com/The-Medieval-World/book-series/PEAMWD
The Mongols and the West
Peter Jackson
The Viking Diaspora
Judith Jesch
The Formation of English Common Law 2ed
John Hudson
Medieval Monasticism 2ed
C. H. Lawrence
The Cistercian Order in Medieval Europe
Emilia Jamroziak
Church and People in the Medieval West, 900–1200
Sarah Hamilton
The Cathars
Malcolm Barber
Disunited Kingdoms
Michael Brown
Christian–Jewish Relations, 1000–1300
Anna Sapir Abulafia
Violence in Medieval Europe
Warren C. Brown
Europe’s Barbarians, AD 200–600
Edward James
The Devil’s World
Andrew Roach
THE MONGOLS AND
THE WEST
1221–1410
Second Edition
Peter Jackson
This edition published 2018
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2018 Peter Jackson
The right of Peter Jackson to be identified as author of this work has
been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical,
or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or
retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks
or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
First edition published by Pearson Education Limited 2005
Reprinted by Routledge 2015
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record for this book has been requested
ISBN: 978-1-138-84842-9 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-138-84848-1 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-351-18284-3 (ebk)
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CONTENTS
List of maps ix
Series editor’s preface to the first edition x
Preface to the second edition xii
Preface to the first edition xiii
Abbreviations xvi
Note on transliteration xxiv
Note on proper names xxv
Note on references xxvi
Introduction 1
THE BACKGROUND 9
1 Latin Christendom and its neighbours in the early
thirteenth century 11
2 A world-empire in the making 33
THE MONGOL THREAT 63
3 The Mongol invasions of 1241–4 65
4 A remedy against the Tartars 92
5 The halting of the Mongol advance 117
6 Images of the enemy 138
7 From confrontation to coexistence: the Golden Horde 165
viii Contents
HOSTILITY SUSPENDED 201
8 An ally against Islam? The Mongols in the Near East 203
9 Temür (Tamerlane) and Latin Christendom 235
10 Western traders and adventurers in the Mongol world 255
11 Mission to the infidel 296
EPILOGUE 331
12 A new world discovered? 333
Conclusion 362
Appendix I: Glossary 367
Appendix II: Genealogical tables and lists of rulers 368
Bibliography 372
Index 404
MAPS
2.1 Asia in the era of Chinggis Khan 37
3.1 The Mongol invasion of Eastern Europe, 1241–2 70
5.1 The Mongols and the Near East 120
7.1 Eastern Europe and the Golden Horde 177
9.1 Temu¨r’s campaigns in western Asia 236
10.1 The Black Sea region 274
10.2 The Mongol world after 1260 281