The Mission of Friar William of Rubruck: His Journey to the Court of the Great Khan Möngke, 1253–1255

An interesting text about Friar William's travels. He endured trials & hardships (weather, bad interpreters, lack of food & drink, etc...) in his travels, yet gives a lively account of his time in his telling of it to King Louis IX of France. Truthfully, he comes across a bit whiny at times (but I would have been too, given the circumstances under which he traveled).

I enjoyed this particular passage where Friar William is debating religion with some "idolators" (a version of Buddhism):

Then they asked me, somewhat mockingly, 'Where is God?'
To which I replied, 'Where is your soul?'
'In our bodies,' they said.
'Is it not everywhere in your body,' I asked, 'and in complete control of it, and yet is not to be seen? In this way God is

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everywhere and governs all things, while being invisible, because He is wisdom and understanding.' But at this point, when I wanted to argue further with them, my interpreter, who was tired and incapable of finding the right words, made me stop talking.

While the footnotes were helpful, I found them tedious to read in relation to Friar William's text. Additionally, it would have helped had I been more familiar with Franciscan interpretations of Christianity while reading. show less