Andrew of Longjumeau (c. 1200-c. 1270)

by Zhao Luyang 赵鲁阳 (See Chinese translation)

The Dominican missionary and diplomat Andrew of Longjumeau (alternative names) was born around 1200. Not much is known about his early life except that he joined the lately established Dominican Order, and that he studied in the order to be capable of converting Eastern "infidels". He spoke Arabic, Syriac/Syrian and Persian, and in 1238, he was selected by King Louis IX to embark on his first diplomatic mission to Constantinople (today’s Istanbul), where he obtained a major relic, the Crown of Thorns.

In 1247, Andrew went on his first major mission to Central Asia. He was chosen to accompany a mission sent by Pope Innocent IV (1195-1254) to the Mongols at Kars (in present-day Turkey). The mission’s purpose was not only to make contact with the Mongol authorities, but also to pursue attempts to reunite the Eastern churches under the authority of the Papacy. Andrew left Lyons in the spring of 1245. His journey took him through areas under the control of Muslims: from Syria to Mosul in northern Iraq and finally to the vicinity of Tabriz in Iran, which was already under Mongol control. While it is not clear whether Andrew personally met with Eljigidei, the leader of the Mongol forces in the Middle East, he delivered the papal letters to the commander of a Mongol army he encountered.

In Tabriz, Andrew of Longjumeau met a monk from the "Far East", Simoen Raban-ata, who was responsible for protecting Christians in the Mongol empire. Both Andrew and Simoen engaged in dialogue for twenty days. Andrew discovered that a Christian element among the Mongol people exerted influence. When Andrew departed, Simoen gave him a stick of ebony as a present for the pope. Simeon also gave Andrew a letter urging the pope to make peace with the Mongols, against whose power the Christian world could not resist.

Andrew reported back to Innocent IV in Lyons in June of 1247. Andrew’s letters, as well as letters from the Muslim sultans in Syria, can be found in the Pontifical Register.

In December 1248, Andrew was with King Louis IX in Cyprus when two Mongol envoys, named David and Mark, arrived. Andrew recognized David from his earlier meeting with the Mongols near Tabriz. The envoys carried a letter from the Mongol general Eljigidei, who was now the commander of all Mongol forces in western Asia. Eljigidei offered his protection to all Christian groups in the Middle East and an alliance against the Muslims, their common enemy. The letter also refers to an oral message that the two Mongol envoys carried to Louis IX, that Eljigidei and Güyük Khan had been baptized as Christians and that they intended to help the Latin Crusaders free Jerusalem. Scholars are not sure whether the two envoys made up the stories or whether they had been ordered to tell them by Eljigidei. Doubt about the authenticity of the letter has been also raised, since only the translated Latin version exists in the Papal Register.

King Louis IX then entrusted Andrew of Longjumeau with his reply to the Khan. Departing from Cyprus in early 1249, Andrew travelled around the southern and eastern shores of the Caspian Sea, where he noted that it is not true that the Caspian Sea is a gulf from the ocean, as at no point does it touch the ocean. He then continued through Turkistan, then north of Tashkent (in today’s Uzbekistan) and went on to Karakorum in central Mongolia.

When Andrew arrived, major changes had occurred in the Mongol world. The Great Khan Güyük (born in 1206, the third Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, r. 1246-1248) had died and there was a power struggle at the Mongol court. Andrew was sent by Eljigidei directly to the court. The regent Oghul Qaimish, widow of Güyük Khan, dismissed the embassy from King Louis IX directly. She acknowledged the Frankish envoys bearing gifts as a sign of homage from a vassal in order to strengthen their position in the courtly power struggle. There was no mention of conversions to Christianity or the Frankish-Mongol military alliance. Andrew reported this news to Louis IX in Caesarea (Palestine) in 1251.

Despite not fulfilling its primary purpose, Andrew of Longjumeau’s mission achieved other noteworthy results. It was not only the second diplomatic mission that travelled to the Mongolian court, but it also delivered the first positive response from the West to the idea of a Mongol-Christian alliance against the Muslims in the Middle East.

In 1252, Andrew met William of Rubruck in Palestine, who later went to the Mongols on his own initiative for religious motives, wishing to establish a mission. Andrew told William of the Mongols’ impartial attitude towards all religions and as well as the role and influence of the Nestorian clergy.

Eventually, Andrew returned to the West with King Louis IX and was soon involved in the Dominican mission in Tunisia. He died in about 1270.

Andrew of Longjumeau’s travel accounts are lost. Fortunately, his journeys and experiences are recounted by other medieval writers, and there are surviving letters relating to his diplomatic activities.

His mission in 1245 for Pope Innocent IV is partly recounted by Matthew Paris in his Chronica Majora. His second mission for the French king Louis IX, departing in 1249, is partly recounted by William of Rubruck who described Tatar customs with some accuracy. Moreover, Paris’s Chronica Majora also recounts how Andrew of Longjumeau spoke to William of Rubruck of a town named Talas (in today’s Kyrgyzstan) in which lived Teuton slaves that belonged to Buri, who was the great-grandson of Chinggis [Genghis] Khan.