HIST 107 Introduction to Medieval History Lecture 21 The Mongols Main Question Who were the Mongols and what sort of impact did they make on Europe Preliminary Remarks Recall from previous lectures at various points people whose primary habitat is the Eurasian steppe make an impact on European history The Huns triggered a movement of Germanic tribes across the Roman frontier in the fourth century and themselves attacked Rome in the fifth century under Attila The Avars were one of the principal antagonists of the Carolingian war machine and the Franks destruction of the defensive Ring and looting of their accumulated wealth had enormous implications for the subsequent history of the Carolingian empire The Magyars threatened central and western Europe in the ninth and tenth centuries before being defeated by Otto I and then settling in modern day Hungary Although they do not have a direct impact on Europe until after the period of this lecture the Turks first emerge on the scene in the eleventh century achieving mastery over large parts of the Muslim Middle East it is they who provide the main opponents for the First Crusade and subsequent crusades to the East This lecture will be concerned with the last and probably greatest of these phenomena the Mongols Greatest because of the fact that they originated much further east than the earlier peoples and also because they create an empire which though it does not last very long as a single entity amounts to the largest land empire in human history Europe is pretty much on the fringes of the Mongol world but the Mongols make enough of an impact to feature in an account of European medieval history See useful map in Rosenwein Short History p 264 Key Questions A Who were the Mongols and what propelled them on their meteoric rise to world domination B How did Europeans perceive and react to them and what can this tell us about medieval Europe at this time A Who were the Mongols and what propelled them on their meteoric rise to world domination Inhabitants of east Asian steppe lands roughly corresponding to modern state of Mongolia steppe vast area of grassland not always flat in Eurasian landmass 1 stretches from east Asia to central Europe hence the Magyars choice of what is now Hungary south of cold tundra north of deserts e g Gobi north of areas of sedentary i e agriculture based civilizations esp China India Persia Middle East Inhabitants of steppes not agriculturalists but pastoralists i e live off herds flocks of sheep cattle horses interactions with sedentary civilizations on economic levels but significant cultural distance most evident in absence of towns Characteristics of steppe peoples very tough life resilience as fighters excellent horse riders mobility and speed amaze enemies frightening fire power composite tensile bow of formidable strength in fact only superseded by firearms as late as18th century Reputation for cruelty see more below Mongols at their peak can put many 10 000s of warriors into the field therefore able to overwhelm opposition as well as intimidate it into submission Mongols emerge in late 12th century as an aggregation of various tribes on Mongolian steppe some are defeated and absorbed others join by alliance Key unifying figure khan leader Chingiz more traditionally Genghis Chingiz d 1227 launches Mongols on their expansion Why Key long standing dynamic between steppe nomads and Chinese civilization Nomads see China as a huge opportunity for wealth China always the Mongols main priority conquest completed by 1279 after several decades new line of Mongol emperors is created the Y an new capital origin of Peking Beijing Most famous emperor Qubilai d 1294 extends Mongol rule into s e Asia abortive invasions of Japan in 1274 and 1281 Japan saved by divine wind kamikaze Next main Mongol target Persia like China has large population and can be taxed using existing structures basis of one of what become one of the main parts of Mongol world the Ilkhanate It is thanks largely to China and Persia that we have sources about the Mongols 2 Mongols largely illiterate though they borrow a script from a neighbouring Turkic people to create a written language One exception text originating with Mongols themselves Secret History theme rise of Chingiz to supreme power but this is a highly unusual Mongol centred vision Why not stop with the two richest pickings China and Persia dynamic much like that of any war machine polity i e success in war breeds the expectation of more conquest way of meeting aspirations of multiple descendants of Chingiz So was it all part of a master plan for world domination Probably more haphazard than this part may be changes in ecological balance of steppes forcing communities to relocate But the Mongols also co opt educated intellectuals and government officials in the areas they conquer and these people contribute to a highly elevated language of world domination see e g letter of Guyuk Khan to Pope Innocent IV 1246 Rosenwein Reading pp 417 18 idea that everyone is a rebel unless they surrender aim for fear and awe Impetus of conquest sustained by sheer terror tactics high point of this approach taking of Baghdad 1258 Baghdad is one of main cities of Muslim world seat of Abbasid caliphs Mongols kill perhaps 200 000 inhabitants and the caliph himself What stops them in the end As their conquests grow the lines of communication get very long but they have an efficient pony express type of messenger system yam Probably key run out of areas that provide pasturage for huge numbers of animals including horses This is what saves Syria Egypt and maybe western Europe the Mongols melt into their host societies e g adopt Islam or Buddhism sometimes even Christianity become more sedentary courtly urbanized educated Qubilai is arch example of this grandson of Chingiz but hugely different significant that the element of the Mongol conquest that proves to have the longest lasting impact where less urbanized sophisticated culture to blend into i e Golden Horde in what is now southern Russia Horde tent camp keeps its distance from Russian Christians to the north in return for tribute With the Mongols in the Middle East and Russia they are getting closer to Europe itself So the next question is 3 B How did Europeans perceive and react to them and what can this tell us about medieval Europe at this time Mongols begin to register on Europeans radar in 1220s but at first nothing more than vague rumours First