Armenian Involvement in the Latin-Mongol Crusade: Uses of the Magi and Prester John in Constable Smbat’s Letter and Hayton of Corycus’s “Flos historiarum terre orientis,” 1248-1307

Abstract

Abstract This paper examines the issue of how Armenians and Nestorians in the Mongol service used the Western legends about the Orient to influence the crusading plans of the Latin Christians between 1248 and 1307. In particular, it considers the role of the ruling elite of Cilician Armenia as mediators between Mongols and Franks in Outremer, first discussing the Letter of Cilician Constable Smbat (1248), and then examining the treatise “Flos historiarum terre orientis” by Hayton of Corycus (Het’um/Haitonus, 1307) with the crusading proposal contained in it. This article examines the narrative techniques used by Smbat and Het’um to produce a positive image of the Mongols/Tatars for Western readers in a wider cultural context of contemporary European perception of the Orient. In particular, it researches how Smbat incorporated the stories about the Magi and Prester John into the description of the Mongol Empire and the spread of Christianity within it. Special attention is given to a comparison of Armenian sources written for internal (Armenian) and external (Frankish) readers. This article also develops a hypothesis that Armenian diplomacy used Louis IX of France’s letter and his envoy William of Rubruck to enforce the position of the Cilician king Het’um I at the Mongol court in 1254.