Posted on 01/02/2010 9:42:37 AM PST by Steelfish
Vatican Reveals Secret Archives
A 13th-century letter from Genghis Khan’s grandson demanding homage from the pope is among a collection of documents from the Vatican’s Secret Archives that has been published for the first time.
By Nick Squires in Rome 01 Jan 2010
In a letter dated 1246 from Grand Khan Guyuk, pictured, to Pope Innocent IV, Genghis Khan's grandson demands that the Pontiff travel to central Asia in person
The Holy See’s archives contain scrolls, parchments and leather-bound volumes with correspondence dating back more than 1,000 years. High-quality reproductions of 105 documents, 19 of which have never been seen before in public, have now been published in a book. The Vatican Secret Archives features a papal letter to Hitler, an entreaty to Rome written on birch bark by a tribe of North American Indians, and a plea from Mary Queen of Scots.
The book documents the Roman Catholic Church’s often hostile dealings with the world of science and the arts, including documents from the heresy trial against Galileo and correspondence exchanged with Erasmus, Voltaire and Mozart. It also reveals the Church’s relations with princes and potentates in countries far beyond its dominion.
In a letter dated 1246 from Grand Khan Guyuk to Pope Innocent IV, Genghis Khan’s grandson demands that the pontiff travel to central Asia in person – with all of his “kings” in tow – to “pay service and homage to us” as an act of “submission”, threatening that otherwise “you shall be our enemy”.
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
Great, another reason to attack the Pope for being evil.
Are you sure they were Muslim at that point?
Rather common occurrence throughout history. I remember reading of a King in central Africa who wanted Queen Victoria to come and bow to him.
And he’s so willing!
I think your addition to the headline is inaccurate. Guyuk Khan had the Mongol Empress Torgene’s Muslim supporters within the Mongol court executed, and his successor in China was Kublai Khan, who sent a Nestorian Christian monk to the West to propose an alliance between the Mongols (who by then were majority Buddhist with Christian and shamanist minorities) and the Christians against Islam.
To put this letter into context, it should be noted that it was a Mongol habit to write such letters, demanding tribute—or else. The usual “or else” was that they would conquer the city in question, kill everyone inside the walls, and make a big pile of heads.
It was their version of an offer you cannot refuse.
As others have noted, Guyuk was not a Muslim. In fact, his father had him educated by Christians and Taoists, and he was reportedly baptised as a Christian.
Most people, when asked, will say that the US Civil War was about slavery- it was only ONE of the issues
The real issue was the federal government telling the states what to do, and the states rejecting that.
Slavery was on its way out anyway and the civil war brought it about swiftly, but the core issue- states rights- should have been decided the other way
Interesting. Thanks.
You wrote:
“Um...Kublai Khan was not a Muslim. The Mongols were not Muslim!”
You’re right. It was only by the 14th century that three of the four Mongol khanates had become Muslim.
You wrote:
“My recollection is that Islam would have been 200 years old, or less— still in its formative years.”
Islam was already 600 years old by this point. Muhammad died in 632.
You are correct
I was hoping to avoid the wrath of the RC police
Why are you trying to pick a fight Brother?
Many of them did become Muslim over time, especially in the westernmost khanate of the Golden Horde.
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Thanks hennie pennie. A recent read, "Did Marco Polo Go To China?" had some details about this. |
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Does this qualify as a “right” on one of my predictions? ;)
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