V ESTNIK OF THE M AR I ST AT E UN I V E R S IT Y 61 CHAPTER “HISTORY. LAW”. 2017, VOL. 3, NO. 3 (11) УДК 94(517)»12/13» МОНГОЛЫ В XIII–XIV ВЕКАХ И МОНГОЛЬСКОЕ НАШЕСТВИЕ НА РУСЬ М. Вайссман1, А. А. Ярыгин2 1Университет Колорадо Колорадо Спрингс, г. Колорадо Спрингс, США 2Марийский государственный университет, г. Йошкар-Ола MONGOLS IN THE XIII–XIV CENTURIES AND MONGOLIAN INVASION OF RUS M. Vaissman1, A. A. Yarygin2 1University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, Colorado Springs, USA 2Mari State University, Yoshkar-Ola Данная статья является частью совместного курса This article is part of a joint course of lectures лекций по истории России, который был прочи- on the history of Russia that was read by Professor тан профессором М. Вайсманом и профессором M. Wiseman and Professor A. Yarygin during the А. Ярыгиным осенью 2016 года на историческом fall of 2016 at the history Department at the факультете университета Колорадо Колорадо University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, USA. Спрингс, США. Статья посвящена истории воз- The article is devoted to the history and develop- никновения и развития Монгольской империи ment of the Mongol Empire in the 13th and 14th в XIII–XIV веках, особенностям формирования centuries, the peculiarities of the formation of the монгольской империи, роли Чингисхана в объе- Mongol Empire, Genghis Khan's role in bringing динении разрозненных монгольских улусов together disparate Mongolian ulus into a single в единое централизованное государство. Особое centralized state. Special attention is paid to the внимание уделено нашествию монгол на Русь Mongol invasion of Rus and the relations of the и отношениям Монгольской империи с европей- Mongol Empire with the European States and the скими государствами и папским престолом. Papal Throne. The article discusses the social В статье рассматривается общественный строй structure of the Mongols of that era, the main монгол той эпохи, основные направления их за- directions of their aggressive policy, gives charac- воевательной политики, дается характеристика teristic of the Mongol army and its most prominent монгольской армии и ее наиболее видных военных military leaders. Considerable space was devoted лидеров. Значительное место уделено героическое to the heroic resistance of the Russian principali- сопротивление русских княжеств монгольскому ties for the Mongol invasion and the reasons for нашествию и причины их поражения, которое their defeat, which primarily is the feudal fragmen- прежде всего заключается в феодальной раздроб- tation in Rus and the lack of unity in the confronta- ленности на Руси и отсутствии единства в противо- tion with the Mongols. The article also analyses стоянии с монголами. В статье также анализируется the impact of the Mongol invasion on the subse- влияние монгольского нашествия на последующее quent development of the Russian state. Also развитие Русского государства. Рассматриваются discusses the attempts of Christianization of the попытки христианизации монгольской империи Mongolian Empire by the Roman Catholic Church. Римской католической церковью. Keywords: mongols, Genghis Khan, Kievan Rus, Ключевые слова: монголы, Чингисхан, Киев- Alexander Nevsky, the Golden Horde. ская Русь, А. Невский, Золотая Орда. One of the most vivid pages in the history of the the fate of the actual Mongol peoples, but also on the Eurasian civilization is the formation and develop- development of many countries in Europe and Asia. ment of the Mongol Empire in the XIIth and XIVth It was a striking phenomenon in the world history. centuries. In a short time Genghis Khan was able to The lack of written source material on the Mon- create from disparate regions one of the largest and gols of the thirteenth century frustrates the scholar. most powerful State in Eurasia in the Middle Ages. There is the Secret History of the Mongols, a document The Mongol Empire had a huge impact not only on that reflects more myth than substance, and therefore ———————————————————————— © Вайссман М., Ярыгин А. А., 2017 62 ВЕСТНИК М АРИЙСКОГО ГОСУДАРСТВ ЕННОГО УНИВЕРСИТЕТА СЕРИЯ «ИСТОРИЧЕСКИЕ НАУКИ. ЮРИДИЧЕСКИЕ НАУКИ». 2017. Т. 3. № 3 (11) of marginal historic significance. There are also the We would be somewhat remiss if the Roman his- Yasa (laws) written during the life of Genghis Khan torian Ammianus Marcellinus was not investigated (Timujin) that are of value in the investigation of Mon- when describing, not the Mongols, but the Huns of gol customs. How frustrating and challenging are the the fourth century. They are nomadic and crude to topics of the Eurasian steppes’. Foreign travelers, espe- the extreme, dwell in the open without even crude cially Muslim, have observed and recorded the behav- huts, vicious in battle, and excellent with the bow. ior and history of Mongol expansion through the mid- According to Marcellinus, they cannot be trusted east and into Europe. The stories from these random and, as with the Mongols in the future, will turn travelers, all, of differing backgrounds, were uncom- upon those who thought them allies. The Huns' mon people. All were entrenched in their own cultural appetite for gold and the possessions of others is clichés. All had their own peculiar agendas. unquenchable and thus the marauding within Asia Among these men are ‘Ala-as-Din ‘Ata-Malik and into the Roman Empire. Juvaini and ibn Battutah. The papacy, with hopes of There are some similarities to the Mongols of the conversion, sent a mission to Mongolia led by the future, but aside from horsemanship, viciousness in Franciscan John of Plano Carpini and William of war, expertise with the bow and reliance upon the Rubruck. Plano Carpini was a papal envoy, a sacred horse, there seems little else for comparison. Their person of sorts, who probably received support from reliance on the horse is notable, as they seem physical- rulers nearby. As such, his treatment was majestic ly attached to the animal. They will even sit female and he never talked about the “nitty gritty” of travel. style and so relieve themselves. They sleep and do all William of Rubruck, on the other hand, as an envoy business from the back of their horses.2 Mongolia in of the less important and definitely not as a sacral the thirteenth century – and now – is a vast territory leader, the French king, “hassled” his way to the with few inhabitants. Over the centuries little has Mongol court. changed. The land encouraged a pastoralist society. Just how much the Great Khan was aware of the In the thirteenth century it is estimated that the popu- sacral leadership in Europe and its claims to univer- lation ranged between 700,000 and one million. sal rule over lay rulers may be indicated in Khan A major primary source that describes Mongol Guyuk's response to the Bull of Innocent IV in 1245. expansion is that of Ata-Malik Juvaini. A keen observer In the Khan’s response he informs the Pope that he of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, we might antici- awaits his arrival to kowtow and serve him. (Ah well, pate much from Juvaini. Here is the primary source of so much for understanding). The Chronicles of the a contemporary viewing the Mongol onslaught. Surely English Benedictine Monk Matthew Paris recount there would be insightful commentary and information tales of Mongol fury. Other contemporary accounts concerning their appearance and irresistible expansion of Mongol culture are in the travel chronicles of Ata- into Russia. We are met with disappointment as Juvaini Malik Juvaini, Ibn Battutah and Rabbi Petachia of only comments on the Rus without significant detail. Ratisbon. In his travels, Rabbi Petachia observed The Rus were a side issue as the real significance lay in Mongol culture. Unfortunately, there is little in these the civilized world of the Fertile Crescent, the Islamic accounts or those of others that furnish new avenues world. John of Plano Carpini noted some years later, of study. Mongols, he observed, live in tents made of that at the court of the Khan “we saw the Grand horse hide, they eat raw meat warmed between saddle Duke of Russia, the son of the King of Georgia, nu- and horse, drink mares’ milk (indicating lactose intol- merous sultans, and other great lords, but to none of erance), and are excellent bowmen, “bringing down them was paid any particular respect…”3 Carpini birds whilst on the wing. ” While such accounts are of proceeds to note that They are quickly roused to an- interest, they relay the same events, whether war or ger with other people… no truth is to be found more peaceful visits to Mongol centers. Their lands are among them… they get around everyone with their in the steppe where “all is level”. They eat no bread cunning… They are exceedingly grasping and avari- [hard to accept] …but rice and millet boiled in milk. cious… They consider the slaughter of other people There area includes the Black Sea and Ukraine. The as nothing… Their food consists of everything that Rabbi’s travels among the Mongols and Slavs in- ———— cluded the Crimea, the Dnieper, and its tributaries, 2 1 Ammianus Marcellinus, The Later Roman Empire (A. D. 354–378). the Putrid Sea, and Armenia . Selected and translated by Walter Hamilton with an Introduction and Notes by Andrew Wallace-Hadrill (England: Penguin Books, ———— 1986), book 31, 2–3 pp. 411–415. 1 Jewish Travellers in the Middle Ages, ed. by Elkan N. Adler. 3 Michael Prawdin, The Mongol Empire and its Rise and Legacy, Account of Rabbi Petachia of Ratisbon (New York: Dover Publica- with new introduction by Gerard Challand (London: Aldine tions Inc., 1987), pp. 64–65. Hereafter cited as Jewish Travellers. Transaction, 2010), 87. Hereafter cited as Prawdin, Mongol Empire. V ESTNIK OF THE M AR I ST AT E UN I V E R S IT Y 63 CHAPTER “HISTORY.