Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
Giovanni di Plano Carpini
Giovanni da Pian del Carpini
Giovanni di Plano Carpini (c. 1180-1252)
Franciscan monk from Pian del Carpini in Umbria. He was an associate of St. Francis of Assisi and travelled to Germany and Spain to teach Franciscan doctrines. In 1245 he was dispatched as a papal legate by Pope Innocent IV to the court of the Mongol empire. He and his party travelled across Asia to the imperial capital at Karakorum, journeying almost 3,000 miles in 106 days. At Karakorum he witnessed the coronation of Genghis Khan's grandson Guyuk as Great Khan of the Mongols.
Returning to Lyons in 1247, Carpini wrote Liber Tartarorum, a record of Mongol customs, religion, history, military tactics and politics. Among his more innovative recommendations was the development of light cavalry to combat Mongol tactics.
The contents of this article is licensed from www.wikipedia.org under the GNU Free Documentation License. Click here to see the transparent copy and copyright details