The Mongols and the West (2^nd Ed.) 1221-1410 The Medieval World Series

The Mongols and the West provides a comprehensive survey of relations between the Catholic West and the Mongol Empire from the first appearance of Chinggis (Genghis) Khan?s armies on Europe?s horizons in 1221 to the battle of Tannenberg in 1410. This book has been designed to provide a synthesis of previous scholarship on relations between the Mongols and the Catholic world as well as to offer new approaches and conclusions on the subject. It considers the tension between Western hopes of the Mongols as allies against growing Muslim powers and the Mongols? position as conquerors with their own agenda, and evaluates the impact of Mongol-Western contacts on the West?s expanding knowledge of the world.

This second edition takes into account the wealth of scholarly literature that has emerged in the years since the previous edition and contains significantly extended chapters on trade and mission. It charts the course of military confrontation and diplomatic relations between the Mongols and the West, and re-examines the commercial opportunities offered to Western merchants by Mongol rule and the failure of Catholic missionaries to convert the Mongols to Christianity.

Fully revised and containing a range of maps, genealogical tables and both European and non-European sources throughout, The Mongols and the West is ideal for students of medieval European history and the crusades.

Introduction; chapter 1: Latin Christendom and its neighbours in the early thirteenth century; chapter 2: A world-empire in the making; chapter 3: The Mongol invasions of 1241–4; chapter 4: A remedy against the Tartars; chapter 5 : The halting of the Mongol advance; chapter 6: Images of the enemy; chapter 7: From confrontation to coexistence: the Golden Horde; chapter 8: An ally against Islam? The Mongols in the Near East; chapter 9: Temür (Tamerlane) and Latin Christendom; chapter 10: Western traders and adventurers in the Mongol world; chapter 11: Mission to the infidel; Epilogue; chapter 12: A new world discovered?; Conclusion; Appendix I: Glossary; Appendix II: Genealogical tables and lists of rulers; Bibliography; Index

Peter Jackson is Emeritus Professor of Medieval History at Keele University, and a Fellow of the British Academy. His publications cover the Mongols, the Crusades and medieval Islam, and his most recent book is The Mongols and the Islamic World from Conquest to Conversion (2017).