c. 1200-1260?

French Missionary and Writer

Willem van Ruysbroeck made an extended missionary and diplomatic journey to see the Great Khan Möngkhe and attempt to deter the Mongols from invading Western Europe. During his travels, which encompassed Constantinople, Crimea and southern Russia to Mongolia, Willem wrote one of the most detailed travel accounts of the Middle Ages.

Born around 1200 in the Flemish town of Ruysbroeck in northern France, Willem was a Franciscan monk. He is mainly known for his travels as envoy of King Louis IX of France in response to a feared, major invasion from the Mongols. The king, also known as St. Louis, decided to send Willem to the great khan with the goal of learning about this leader and his people, and defusing the threat, perhaps by converting them to Christianity.

Willem set out in 1252 and headed for Constantinople, where...