Right willingly, his majesty answered, provided I am given knowledge of each case to see for myself if the judgment was appropriate.
Thereupon the prelates, having consulted, informed King Louis they would not divulge such information because it did not fall within his jurisdiction. Then, said his majesty, would he do likewise and withhold from them such knowledge as fell within his province, nor would he compel excommunicates to seek absolution. For if I did, he told them, it would be contrary to the law of God and every principle of justice.
Shrewdly did he administer the realm. He approved Étienne Boileau for the office of provost. And this deputy so upheld his task that scarce a cutthroat or thief ventured across the street. Most embraced the gibbet. Silver, gold, noble lineage, salvage of any sort, nothing availed to skip the noose. Also, his majesty issued a lengthy ordinance framing a more constant state in which he reserved to himself for public benefaction the authority to emend, adapt, construe, or disavow, according to his judgment. Thus the king’s domain improved. Things fetched twice their previous value.
Yet here came a messenger from Germany with a letter to the court. And this messenger when he got back to Germany was asked if by chance he saw King Louis. He answered, mockingly, that he had seen a wretched papelard with a hood on his shoulder like a cleric. So did he interpret this exemplary king. Truly, there is error in our thought if what we meet does not meet our expectation.
We got word from the Dominican emissary, William of Ruybroek, who departed Acre in the year of our Lord 1253 with Friar Bartholomew of Cremona. They went looking for the Mongol prince, Sartuq, whom we thought had converted to Christianity. Friar William returned to Antioch on the twenty-ninth day of June in the year 1256, his head perched safely atop his neck, which is more than might be expected. From Antioch he proceeded to Acre and there composed his report to King Louis. We had difficulty believing what we heard as Friar William’s account was read, so rare did the journey sound, so uncommon, as if these brothers traveled to the lip of the world. We wondered if we listened to some ancient myth. From Acre they rode to Constantinople, employing an interpreter named Homo Dei, and bought a slave boy called Nicolaus. Also in the party was a certain Gosset of whom Friar William wrote little. Across the Black Sea they went to a Venetian trading post. Thence by oxcart, wearing the garments Mongols wear, which is to say boots lined with felt and a sheepskin pelisse and a hood made of fur, encouraged by rumors of Christians ahead. At night they camped beside a small fire built with dung and cooked a bit of meat. They observed wild asses and numerous other animals on the plain. At the court of Batu, grandson of Genghis Khan, Nicolaus and Gosset were detained, for what purpose is not clear. With no companion save Homo Dei these monks were escorted to the camp of Mangu Khan. Here on the doorstep of a savage they folded their hands and sang joyfully, since it was Christmastide everywhere.
A solis ortus cardine et usque terrae limitem Christum canamus principem natum Maria virgine.
After they had been searched for knives they were led into the presence of the khan, a man of middling age and stature, his nose squashed like a bean. He lolled on a pallet draped with fur, beside him a young wife. His daughter Cirina by a different wife, some Christian woman lately ascended to God, lay on another pallet with several infants. Friar William thought Cirina horribly ugly. On the hearth crackled a fire made from wormwood, thorns, and cow dung. Gold cloth embellished the walls. They were offered mead, rice wine, or mare’s milk. Friar William thought it courteous to sample the wine, which he found clear and aromatic. Homo Dei being offered a cup drained it without hesitation, after which he drained another and another so that very soon nobody could understand what he was saying. Mangu Khan himself get drunk. Indeed, if one credits Friar William, during the four months they visited this encampment the khan was all too often drunk.
In the month of April when they resolved to depart he spoke to them concerning his belief. Mongols believe there is but one God, he said. By Him we live and by Him we die. Before Him we are righteous of heart. But just as he gives the hand a variety of fingers, so has He given mankind a variety of ways. To you has He given Scriptures. Why do you not abide by them? To us he has given soothsayers. We live in peace because we abide by what they tell us.
Friar William and Homo Dei then took leave, carrying a jeweled belt for protection against thunder and lightning. Friar Bartholomew remained at Karakorum because he was ill. As to his fate, God knows.
Friar William survived because he was a fat and sturdy man. Regarding the heathen prince Sartuq, he felt kindly toward Christians but that was all. As for Christianity in Asia, William reported that with Bartholomew he entered a Nestorian church in the village of Cailac and there sang, as loud as they could, Salve regina. Nestorians, he said, practice the faith in fifteen villages of Cathay and have a bishop. Outside these villages, however, the plains swarm with idolaters who wear yellow hoods. He said that hermits abound, living meagerly in the woods and mountains. Nestorians are ignorant of many things, yet contrive to say their offices and have books in Syriac, which they do not understand. Accordingly they sing as do the monks in Syria who
