THE FRANCISCAN MISSION OF GIOVANNI DA PIAN DEL CARPINE 1245: THE COMPANIONS OF THE PAPAL LEGATE IN BOHEMIA AND THEIR RELATIONSHIP TO RUS’

Abstract

The article aims to analyze the participation of Franciscan missionaries from Bohemia in the embassy of Giovanni da Pian del Carpine to the Mongol khan in the context of Rus’-Czech relations in the middle of the XIIIth century. Research methodology. The research methodology is based on a systematic approach to the study of socio-political, military, and socio-economic phenomena in their development and relationships, based on the principles of scientificity, objectivity, systematicity, and historicism. In the study, general scientific and special historical methods were used, namely: comparative-historical, critical, problem-chronological, source-based, and analytical methods. The scientific novelty of the article is that historiography has not yet paid attention to the bohemian origins of the two members of the Carpine mission. In addition, this fact did not fit into the broader background of Rus’-Czech relations at the time. The role of the Pope in resolving the international situation in Central and Eastern Europe is highlighted, as well as how this relates to the policies of the Czech Przemyslids and the Galician-Volynian Romanovychi. Conclusions. It was noted that the factor of the emergence of nomads and their threat to Europe was crucial for the Czech-Rus’ contacts, which became part of the eastern policy of the Apostolic Capital. Since, in the conditions of the Mongol threat, both the Przemyslids and the Romanovychi actively communicated with the Pope, the Czech-Rus’ communication became inevitable. With this in mind, the article draws attention to the following points. First, the amount of knowledge about Rus’ in Bohemia at that time was analyzed. Secondly, the preconditions that contributed to the Czech-Rus’ rapprochement with Rome, despite the unfavorable policy of the German emperor, were highlighted. Third, the Rus’-Czech relations of the middle of the XIIIth century and their manifestation in the form of the Galician-Czech union in the following decades were interpreted in the international context. The events of the war for the inheritance of the Babenbergs in 1246–1278 and the Czech-Rus’ relations in their context should be considered as a continuation of the political line initiated by the Pope and executed by the Franciscans.