A Note On Friar William's View Of The Mongols

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Steven Williams
History 261
Essay 2
1 April 2015
Friar William’s view of the Mongols Friar William of Rubruck thought that the Mongols were very arrogant and stuck in their religious ways, however, he did see how some good could come from some of their arrant ways and how they could be used in a Christian practice. Throughout the book The Mission of Friar William of Rubruck, which is translated by Peter Jackson, it is obvious that Friar William becomes annoyed with many people he encountered on his journey to the court of Khan Möngke. Throughout his journey, Friar William came in contact with different people of various religious backgrounds. He also experiences many different types of culture some of which he finds both interesting and annoying …show more content…

The first case of this would be his interpreter getting drunk and not being able to communicate to people (Rubruck, 179). This began to upset Friar William because it was hard for him to communicate to Mangu Chan without the interpreter. Friar William sees this as though it makes them, the Christians, look bad because he is getting drunk and acting the same as the Mongols. It also upset him because it made it really difficult to talk with Mangu Chan. Not only does this happen with his interpreter, it also happens with the Nestorian priests he is with when he is talking with Mangu Chan (Rubruck, 194). When he saw the priests begin to get drunk, he began to get really annoyed. Friar William once again viewed this as though these Nestorian priests should not be calling themselves Christians. He is upset with them because, in his mind, they are presenting the wrong image …show more content…

From this point on Friar William began to see the leadership of the Mongols to be very arrogant because they thought people should be begging for peace with them because they are terrified of the Mongols. Another example of him becoming frustrated with Mangu Chan is when Mangu Chan holds a feast he calls on priests of all religions in his court to bring blessings upon him (Rubruck, 187). Even though Mangu Chan calls on all religions to pray and bring blessings to him, Friar William can see this as somewhat good because it shows that Mangu Chan is open to hearing Christianity. However, in the end, it upsets Friar William because he finds out that Mangu Chan was only doing this for show, he had no faith in Christianity, or any other religions whatsoever and that most priests there praying are only there to get payment from Mangu Chan (Rubruck,