Felt houses thirty feet wide, pulled by 22 oxen
Editorial contextRubruck describes the Mongol felt houses built on a frame of rods and carried whole on carts. He measured one cart's wheel track at 20 feet, with the house overhanging by at least 5 feet each side, and counted 22 oxen pulling one house, in two rows of eleven, with an axle as big as a ship's mast and a driver standing in the doorway.
And they make these houses so large that they are sometimes thirty feet across. I once measured the width between the wheel tracks of one cart at 20 feet, and when the house was on the cart it overhung the wheels on each side by at least 5 feet. I counted 22 oxen drawing one house on one cart, eleven in a row across the width of the cart and another eleven in front of them.
Working translation
Original wording
Et faciunt tales domus ita magnas quod habent aliquando triginta pedes in latitudine. Ego enim mensuravi semel latitudinem inter vestigia rotarum unius bige .xx. pedum, et quando domus erat super bigam excedebat extra rotas in utroque latere .v. pedibus ad minus. Ego numeravi in una biga .xxij. boves trahentes unam domum, undecim in uno ordine secundum latitudinem bige, et alios .xj. ante illos.
About Tartars (Mongols of the Golden Horde)
Cuman mounds, stone statues and brick towers
Editorial contextAmong the burial customs he saw on the steppe, Rubruck notes that the Cumans raised a great mound over the dead and set up a statue facing east holding a cup at the navel. For the rich they built small pointed 'pyramids', and in places he saw tall towers of baked brick and even stone houses, though no stone was found there. He also saw a newly dead man with the hides of sixteen horses hung on tall poles around him.
The Cumans raise a great mound over the dead man and set up a statue to him, its face turned to the east, holding a cup in its hand in front of the navel. For the rich they also build pyramids, that is, small pointed houses, and in some places I saw great towers of baked tiles, in others stone houses, although stones are not found there. I saw one man newly dead for whom they had hung the hides of sixteen horses, four towards each quarter of the world, between tall poles
Working translation
Original wording
Comani faciunt magnum tumulum super defunctum, et erigunt ei statuam versa facie ad orientem, tenentem ciphum in manu sua ante umbilicum. Fabricant etiam divitibus piramides, id est domunculas acutas, et alicubi vidi magnas turres de tegulis coctis, alicubi lapideas domos, quamvis lapides non inveniuntur ibi. Vidi quemdam noviter defunctum, cui suspenderant pelles .xvj. equorum, ad quodlibet latus mundi quatuor, inter perticas altas
About Cumans (Kipchaks), subjects of the Mongols
Keep in mind
On the same page Rubruck says the burial places of Mongol nobles were kept secret and guarded.
Karakorum's quarters, temples and mud wall
Editorial contextRubruck describes Karakorum as two quarters: one of Muslims (Saracens) with the markets, where merchants gathered because of the court, and one of 'Cathayans' (northern Chinese), who were all craftsmen. Outside them stood the large palaces of the court secretaries. There were twelve temples of various idolaters, two mosques and one church; a mud wall with four gates enclosed the town, each gate with its own market for grain, sheep and goats, oxen and carts, or horses.
[one quarter] of the Saracens, where the markets are, and many merchants gather there because of the court … the other is the quarter of the Cathayans, who are all craftsmen. Outside these quarters are large palaces belonging to the court secretaries. There are twelve idol temples of different nations, two mosques in which the law of Mahomet is proclaimed, and one Christian church at the far end of the town. The town is enclosed by a mud wall and has four gates.
Working translation
Original wording
Sarracenorum in quo sunt nundine, et multi mercatores confluunt ibi propter curiam … alius est vicus Catharanorum, qui omnes sunt artifices. Extra istos vicos sunt magna palatia, que sunt scriptorum curie. Sunt ibi duodecim ydolatrie diversarum nationum, due mahummerie in quibus clamatur lex Machometi, una ecclesia cristianorum in extremitate ville. Villa clausa est muro luteo, et habet .iiijor. portas.
About Muslim merchants, Chinese craftsmen and Mongol court scribes
Keep in mind
The printed text reads 'Catharanorum'; one manuscript has 'Cataianorum', i.e. people of Cathay (northern China).
The silver tree made by a Paris goldsmith
Editorial contextAt Karakorum Mongke had a large walled court beside the town wall with a great palace where he held drinking feasts twice a year. Because it was unseemly to carry skins of milk and drink into the hall, Master William of Paris, a goldsmith captured in Hungary and working for the khan, made at the entrance a great silver tree with four silver lions at its roots, from which mare's milk flowed through a pipe.
Mongke himself has at Karakorum a great court next to the town walls … There is a great palace in which he holds his drinking feast twice a year … At the entrance of this great palace, since it was unseemly to bring in skins of milk and other drinks, Master William of Paris made him a great silver tree, at whose roots are four silver lions with a pipe, all spouting white mare's milk.
Working translation
Original wording
Ipse Mangu habet apud Caracarum magnam curiam juxta muros ville … Ibi est unum magnum palatium, in quo tenet potationem suam bis in anno … In introitu illius magni palatii, quia turpe erat ibi inferre utres cum lacte et aliis potibus, fecit ei magister Willielmus parisiensis unam magnam arborem argenteam, ad cujus radices sunt quatuor leones argentei, habentes unum cannale, et vomentes omnes lac album jumenti.
About Mongke Khan's court; the Parisian goldsmith William Buchier
Keep in mind
Rubruck names the maker as a Parisian captive craftsman; the Mongols' showpiece was European and Chinese workmanship.
Ruined walls from mountain to mountain: 'Alexander's barriers'
Editorial contextA day beyond Derbent Rubruck crossed a valley where the foundations of walls ran from one mountain to the next. He identifies them with the barriers of Alexander meant to hold back 'wild peoples', and explains these rationally as the shepherds of the wilderness kept out of the farmland and cities. He adds that he could learn nothing certain about the other barriers where Jews were said to be enclosed.
The next day we crossed a valley in which the foundations of walls could be seen running from one mountain to another, and over the mountain tops there was no road. These used to be the barriers of Alexander, holding back the wild peoples, that is, the shepherds of the wilderness, so that they could not come into the cultivated lands and the cities.
Working translation
Original wording
In crastino transivimus per vallem quamdam, in qua apparebant fundamenta murorum de uno monte ad alium, et per summitates montium nulla erat via. Ista solebant esse claustra Alexandri, feras gentes chohibentia, hoc est, pastores de solitudine, ut non possent ingredi super terras cultas et civitates.
About unknown ancient builders; steppe nomads
Keep in mind
The walls were real, probably part of the Sasanian (6th-century) defences around Derbent; crediting them to Alexander is legend, which Rubruck repeats.
First taste of kumiss, and a moving city of carts
Editorial contextRubruck says that in two months between Soldaia and Sartaq's camp they never slept under a roof and saw no village, nor any trace of a building, except great numbers of Cuman tombs. One evening his guide gave him kumiss; he broke into a sweat from horror and novelty, but found it very tasty. Next morning the carts of the commander Scatatai, loaded with houses, looked to him like a great city coming towards him.
That evening the lad who was guiding us gave us kumiss to drink, and at the first draught I sweated all over from horror and novelty, for I had never drunk it before. Yet it seemed to me very tasty, as indeed it is. In the morning we met Scatatai's carts loaded with houses, and it seemed to me that a great city was coming to meet me.
Working translation
Original wording
Illo sero dedit nobis garcio, qui ducebat nos, bibere cosmos, ad cujus haustum totus sudavi propter horrorem et novitatem, quia nunquam biberam de eo. Valde tamen sapidum videbatur michi, sicut vere est. Mane ergo obviavimus bigis Scatatay honustis domibus, et videbatur michi quod obviaret michi civitas magna.
About Tartars (Mongols of the Golden Horde)
Prince Michael refuses to bow to Chinggis Khan's image
Editorial contextCarpini tells how Michael of Chernigov, a great Russian prince, came to submit to Batu. He was first made to pass between two fires, then told to bow southwards to the image of Chinggis Khan. He answered that he would gladly bow to Batu and his servants, but not to the image of a dead man, since Christians may not; after repeated refusals he was kicked in the chest until he died.
So it recently happened that Michael, one of the great dukes of Russia, when he went to submit to Batu, was first made to pass between two fires; after this they told him to bow to the south to Chinggis Khan. He answered that he would willingly bow to Batu and even to his servants, but he would not bow to the image of a dead man, because Christians may not do so
Working translation
Original wording
undè nuper contigit quod Michael, qui fuit unus de magnis ducibus Rusciæ, cùm ivisset ad reddendum se Bati, fecerunt eum priùs inter duos ignes transire; post hoc dixerunt ei quod ad meridiem Chingis-can inclinaret: qui respondit quòd Bati et servis suis etiàm inclinaret libenter, sed imagini hominis mortui non inclinaret, quià non licet hoc facere christianis
About Mongols of the Golden Horde; Russian princes
Keep in mind
Carpini reports this as recent news, not as something he witnessed; Michael was later venerated as a martyr, so the story also served Christian purposes.
Natigay, the felt household god with a wife and children
Editorial contextIn the Latin Marco Polo of the Society's first volume, the chapter on Tartar customs describes their god Natigay (here 'Naagay'), lord of the earth who guards children, herds and crops. Every household made him of felt and cloth, with a felt wife and children beside him. At meals they smeared fat on the idols' mouths and threw broth out of the door for them before eating. The same page describes kumiss, called 'chenus'.
Their law is this: they have their god called Naagay, and they say he is an earthly god, or god of the earth, who guards their children, their beasts and their crops … They make this god of felt and cloth, and believe this god of theirs has a wife and children … When they eat, they take fat meat and smear the mouth of their idol with it, and of the idol's wife and children
Working translation
Original wording
Lex autem eorum talis est; quia ipsi habent suum deum qui vocatur Naagay, et dicunt quod ille est deus terrenus vel deus terræ qui custodit eorum filios et eorum bestias et blada … Et faciunt istum deum de feltro et panno, et credunt quod iste deus eorum habeat uxorem et filios … Quando comedunt ipsi accipiunt carnes pingues et ungunt illi suo idolo os, et uxori et filiis idoli
About Tartars (Mongols)
Keep in mind
From volume 1 of the same series (1824), not the 1839 volume.
'Do not call our lord a Christian, nor us Tartars'
Editorial contextAs Rubruck left Sartaq's camp, the secretary Coiac and other court scribes warned him not to say their lord was a Christian: he was a Moal. Rubruck explains that the Mongols treat 'Christian' as the name of a nation and are so proud that they want their own name, Moal, above every other, and will not be called Tartars either, because the Tartars had been a different people.
'Do not say that our lord is a Christian. He is not a Christian but a Moal'; for the name of Christianity seems to them the name of some nation. They are raised to such pride that, though they may perhaps believe something about Christ, they will not be called Christians, wishing to exalt their own name, that is Moal, above every name; nor will they be called Tartars. For the Tartars were another people, about whom I learned as follows.
Working translation
Original wording
« Nolite dicere quod dominus noster sit christianus. Non est christianus, sed Moal »; quia enim nomen christianitatis videtur eis nomen cujusdam gentis. In tantam superbiam sunt erecti, quod quamvis forte aliquid credant de Christo, tamen nolunt dici christiani, volentes nomen suum, hoc est Moal, exaltare super omne nomen, nec volunt vocari Tartari. Tartari enim fuerunt alia gens de quibus sic didici.
About Mongols (Moal) of Sartaq's court, Golden Horde
The 'water Mongols' who called themselves Tartars
Editorial contextIn his commentary d'Avezac summarises Carpini's account of the four peoples who once lived in Mongolia: the Yeka Mongal ('great Mongols'), the Su-Mongal ('water Mongols') who called themselves Tartars after a river named Tatar in their land, the Merkit and the Mecrit. He confirms that Yeka and Su do mean 'great' and 'water'.
In that country there were formerly four peoples, namely: the Yeka Mongal or great Mongols; the Su-Mongal or water Mongols, who gave themselves the name Tartars after a river called Tatar that flowed through their country; the Merkit; and lastly the Mecrit.
Working translation
Original wording
En ce pays étaient autrefois quatre peuples, savoir: les Yeka Mongal ou grands Mongals; les Su-Mongals ou Mongals aquatiques, lesquels se donnaient à eux-mêmes le nom Tartares, d'après un fleuve appelé Tatar qui coulait en leur pays; les Merkit; et enfin les Mécrit.
About Mongol tribes before Chinggis Khan
Keep in mind
The 'river Tatar' is Carpini's explanation, repeated by d'Avezac; such a river is not otherwise attested and the name's origin remains uncertain.
Prester John: 'ten times more than the truth'
Editorial contextRubruck traces the legend of Prester John to a Nestorian shepherd-lord of the Naimans who made himself king after the death of the Kara-Khitai ruler. The Nestorians called him King John and said ten times more about him than was true, as they make great rumours out of nothing. Rubruck crossed his pastures and found that nobody knew anything of him except a few Nestorians.
When Con Khan died, that Nestorian raised himself up as king, and the Nestorians called him King John and said ten times more about him than the truth. For that is what Nestorians coming from those parts do: they make great rumours out of nothing … So the great fame of this King John went out; and when I crossed his pastures, nobody knew anything about him except a few Nestorians.
Working translation
Original wording
Mortuo Con cham, elevavit se ille nestorinus in regem et vocabant eum nestorini regem Johannem, et plus dicebant de ipso in decuplo quam veritas esset. Ita enim faciunt nestorini venientes de partibus illis: de nichilo enim faciunt magnos rumores … Sic ergo exivit magna fama de illo rege Johanne; et ego transivi per pascua ejus, nullus aliquid sciebat de eo nisi Nestoriani pauci.
About Naimans and Nestorian Christians
Bone skates, but no monsters
Editorial contextFrom informants at Mongke's court Rubruck learned of northern peoples: the Orengai, who tied polished bones under their feet and sped over snow and ice fast enough to catch birds and beasts. He also asked about the monstrous races described by Isidore and Solinus; his informants said they had never seen any such thing, which, he writes, 'we much wonder whether it is true'.
There are also the Orengai, who tie polished bones under their feet and push themselves over the frozen snow and over the ice so fast that they catch birds and beasts. … I asked about the monsters, or monstrous men, that Isidore and Solinus tell of. They told me they had never seen such things, at which we much wonder whether it is true.
Working translation
Original wording
Sunt etiam ibi Orengai, qui ligant ossa limata sub pedibus suis, et impellunt se super nivem congelatam, et super glaciem cum tanta velocitate ut capiant aves et bestias. … Quesivi de monstris, sive de monstruosis hominibus, de quibus narrat Ysodorus et Solinus. Ipsi dicebant michi quod nunquam viderunt talia, de quo multum miramur si verum sit.
About Orengai (forest peoples of southern Siberia)
Keep in mind
Rubruck's doubt runs both ways: he is surprised the monsters of the old books were not confirmed.
Ox-footed men with dogs' faces
Editorial contextTelling of Mongol campaigns in the far north, Carpini says the army passed the Samoyeds, who lived by hunting in tents of hide, and came to a land by the Ocean where they found monsters, 'as we were firmly told', with human bodies but ox feet and dogs' faces, who spoke two words like men and barked at the third.
Going on further they came to a land on the Ocean, where they found certain monsters, as we were firmly told, which had human form in every way except that their feet ended in the feet of oxen, and they had human heads but faces like dogs; they spoke two words in the human way and at the third barked like a dog
Working translation
Original wording
Indè ultrà procedentes venerunt ad quandam terram super Oceanum, ubi invenerunt quædam monstra, ut nobis firmiter dicebatur, quæ per omnia formam humanam habebant sed pedes desinebant in pedes bovinos, et humanum caput habebant sed faciem habebant ut canis; duo verba loquebantur more humano et tercio latrabant ut canis
About legendary peoples beyond the Samoyeds
Keep in mind
Carpini marks it as hearsay ('ut nobis firmiter dicebatur'); it echoes the dog-headed races of classical and medieval lore.
Jordanus on the 'Great Tartar' of China
Editorial contextThe Dominican bishop Jordanus, who never went to China, repeats what 'trustworthy people' told him of the Great Tartar: very rich, just and generous, with paper money and monasteries like Europe's. Some subjects keep their dead unburied at home for up to ten years, serving them food as if alive, and great lords are buried with a horse and one or two favourite servants alive.
Of the Great Tartar I tell what I heard from trustworthy people … There they do not burn their dead; nor do they bury them, sometimes for ten years … but they keep them in their houses and serve them food as if they were alive. Great lords, when they die, are buried with one horse and with one or two of their favourite servants alive.
Working translation
Original wording
De Magno Tartaro, quod audivi à fide dignis narro … Ibi, mortuos suos non comburunt; non etiam sepeliunt, aliquotiens per decem annos … sed tenent eos in domibus, et ministrant sibi cibaria, sicut si esset vivus. Magni domini, cùm moriuntur, sepeliuntur cum equo uno, et cum uno vel duobus suis servitoribus vivis sibi magis dilectis.
About Mongol emperor of China and his subjects
Keep in mind
Explicit hearsay: Jordanus served in India and never reached China.
A 13th-century poem calls the Tartars cannibals
Editorial contextIn his notes d'Avezac prints lines, copied by Thomas Wright from a Cotton manuscript, of John of Garland's poem On the Triumphs of the Church. It paints the Tartars as Satan's household and the Church's plague who eat human flesh: no lion eats a lion and no wolf tears a wolf, but these men roast human limbs on spits. D'Avezac traces the poet's 'reliable' information to atrocity letters from priests in central Europe.
A people exceedingly savage, of Satan's household, a plague to the Church, at odds with the faith, in love with slaughter. … Hungry, man gnaws man; no lion fills its slack belly with lion's flesh; no wolf tears a wolf with its claw; this people turns limbs spitted on hazel skewers over the fire.
Working translation
Original wording
Gens est sæva nimis, Sathanæque domestica, pestis Ecclesiæ, fidei dissona, cædis amans. … Esuriens hominem corrodit homo; leo nullus Carne leonina viscera laxa replet; Non lupus ungue lupum lacerat; gens ista colurnis In veribus vertit membra veruta foco.
About Tartars (Mongols invading Europe, 1241)
Keep in mind
War propaganda built on rumour; Garland never met a Mongol. The poem's Latin is quoted from a single manuscript copy and the OCR is rough.