Where the Middle Ages Begin
Archaeologists from the University of the Ryukyus in Japan have discovered large parts of a Mongolian/Chinese ship that was likely part of the Mongol invasion fleet that tried to invade the island in 1281. The find is the first intact wreck related to invasion attempts of Japan by the Mongolian ruler, Kublai Khan. Led by […]
The Assassination of King Het‘um II: The Conversion of The Ilkhans and the Armenians By Angus Stewart Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Series 3, Vol.15 :1 (2005) Introduction: On November 17, 1307, the Armenian king, Het‘um II, was assassinated by a Mongol, recently converted to Islam, the noyan Bularghu. In this paper I will […]
The Letters of Eljigidei, Hülegü, and Abaqa: Mongol Overtures or Christian Ventriloquism? Aigle, Denise (French Institute for the Middle East – Damascus) Inner Asia 7 (2005) Abstract This paper deals with the Great Khans and Ilkhans’ letters, and with the question of their authenticity. Generally, these letters were written in Mongolian, but very few of […]
I related how, according to the Novgorod Chronicles, newly arrived crusaders, together with the Sword Brothers, allied themselves with the Russian-Orthodox Pskovites before they went on to their crushing defeat at the hands of the Lithuanians at Saule in September 1236.
Tamerlane and the Symbolism of Sovereignty Forbes Manz, Beatrice Iranian Studies, Vol. 21, No. 1/2, Soviet and North American Studies on Central Asia (1988) Abstract The great nomad conqueror Timur set out to conquerthe whole of the former Mongol Empire and almost succeeded. Although the dynasty he founded lasted a relatively short time, he became […]
Archdeacon Thomas of Split (1200–1268) – A source of early Croatian History By Mirjana Matijević Sokol Review of Croatian History, Vol.1 (2007) Introduction: Thomas, the archdeacon of Split, one of the most interesting figures of medieval Croatia, a participant in many of events in public, political and clerical life in Split from the early to […]
The Mongol Connection: Russia’s Asian Entry into European Politics By Iver B. Neumann Published Online (2008) Abstract: The end of the 15th Century saw what was beginning to be known as Europeans coming into first contact with the ‘new world’ to their West, and driving the Moor out of Europe to their South. In what […]
Negotiating Interfaith Relations in Eastern Christendom: Pope Gregory IX, Bela IV of Hungary, and the Latin Empire Lower, Michael (University of Minnesota) Essays in Medieval Studies, Vol.21 (2004) Abstract At the beginning of the thirteenth century Pope Innocent III (1198-1216) laid a framework for centralizing papal power over Christian encounters with non-Christians. He enacted legislation to separate Jews from Christians, […]
Nasir al-Din Tusi and His Socio-Political Role in the Thirteenth Century By Abbas Ali Shameli Message of Thaqalayn: A Quarterly Journal of Islamic Studies, Vol.11:2 (2010) Introduction: In the history of human civilization as a whole and in that of Islamic civilization in particular, there have been outstanding figures who played decisive roles in forming […]
In 1281 C.E., under the rule of Kublai Khan, the Mongols sent a fleet of more than 4000 vessels to subjugate the island nation of Japan.
Looking East and West : the reception and dissemination of the Topographia Hibernica and the Itinerarium ad partes Orientales in England [1185-c.1500] David, Sumithra J. PhD Thesis, University of St. Andrews, 4th March (2008) Abstract In this study the manuscript transmission, dissemination and reception of Gerald of Wales’ Topographia Hibernica (TH) and William of Rubruck’s Itinerarium […]
Mongol Intentions towards Japan in 1266: Evidence from a Mongol Letter to the Sung By Kenneth W. Chase Sino-Japanese Studies Journal, Vol.9:2 (1990) Introduction: The Mongol emperor Khubilai first decided to dispatch an envoy to Japan in the year 1265. The Yuan shih implies that this was the first time that the Mongols had heard […]
Institutionalized Sufism and Non-Institutionalized Sufism: A Reconsideration of the Groups of Sufi Saints of the Non-Ṭarīqa Type as Viewed through the Historical Documents of Medieval Maghreb Masatoshi, KISAICHI Kyoto Bulletin of Islamic Area Studies, 2-1 (2008) Abstract Perhaps the most important innovation in the 12th and 13th century Islamic world was the institutionalization of Sufism. During the years 1150 […]
Some Aspects of Turco-Mongol Christianity in the Light of Literary and Epigraphic Syriac Sources By Pier Giorgio Borbone Journal of Assyrain Academic Studies, Vol. 19, no. 2 (2005) Introduction: The presence of Christians in Bactria, in present-day Northern Afghanistan, is documented already in the third century by one of the most ancient works in Syriac […]
SINO-WESTERN CONTACTS UNDER THE MONGOL EMPIRE By Herbert Franke Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch, Vol.6 (1966) Introduction: Contacts between Chinese civilization and that of the West — whatever we take “West” to mean in this context — have a long and tortuous history which for some periods is still far from […]
Dietary Decadence and Dynastic Decline in the Mongol Empire Smith, Jr., John Masson Journal of Asian History, vol. 34, no. 1, (2000) Abstract Most Mongol rulers lived short lives. Those in the Middle East died, on average, at about age 38, and the successors of Qubilai (Khubilai) in the Far East at 33 (adding in Qubilai […]
The Mongols 1206-1259: From divided chiefdoms to unified state By Alistair Bright Profiel: Archeologisch studenten tijdschrift, Vol.10:2-3 (2003) Abstract: The year 1206 was to prove one of ill portent to the many inhabitants of the landmass stretching from the eastern coast of China all the way to the western coast of Europe. Up until then, […]
Anonymus and Master Roger Central European Medieval Texts Series, Volume 5 Budapest, 2010 ISBN: 978-963-9776-95-1 Anonymus, notary of King Béla – The Deeds of the Hungarians Edited and translated and annotated by Martyn Rady and László Veszprémy Master Roger’s Epistle to the Sorrowful Lament upon the Destruction of the Kingdom of Hungary by the Tatars […]
Age of Mongolian Empire: A Bibliographical Essay By Paul D. Buell The Silk Road Foundation Newsletter, Vol.1:1 (2003) Introduction: There is an enormous literature on the age of Mongolian Empire, that period extending from approximately the late 13th century, as prequel, through much of the 14th century, later in Russia, in which Mongols, their states, […]
The Mongols and the Silk Road By John Masson Smith, Jr. The Silk Road Foundation Newsletter, Vol.1:1 (2003) Introduction: The Mongols reached Europe in 1221, on a reconnaisance of the western extent of the Eurasian steppe, the land on which Mongol armies could most easily support themselves “wherever a horse is able to tread.” Their […]
The Circulation of Military Technology in the Mongolian Empire By Thomas T. Allsen Warfare in Inner Asian History (500-1800), edited by Nicola Di Cosmo (Brill, 2002) Introduction: The Mongols’ repertoire of weapons at the beginning of the thirteenth century did not differ appreciably from the pattern of armament that had predominated in the nomadic world […]
Lords of the Bow By Conn Iggulden Publisher: Harpercollins (uk) | July 16, 2010 ISBN:978-0440243922 Summary The gathering of the tribes of the Mongols has been a long time in coming but finally, triumphantly, Temujin of the Wolves, Genghis Khan, is given the full accolade of the overall leader and their oaths. Now he can begin […]
How Cinggis-qan Has Changed the World By Paul D. Buell Published Online (2010) Abstract: The Mongols united more of Eurasia under a single political authority than any group before them and in so doing permitted an unprecedented commerce, as well as the broad exchange of people and ideas considerably expanding Old World horizons. The present […]
The moment of the Mongols or When Europe grew out of its infancy By Felicitas Schmieder Published Online (2006) Introduction: In the year 1241 the huge army of the Mongols, having built up a vast empire that they allegedly wanted to once reach from one ocean to the other, finally reached Central Europe. In Silesia […]
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