Aïbeg and Serkis, also Aibeg and Sergis or Aïbäg and Särgis, were two
ambassador
An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or so ...
s sent by the
Mongol
Mongols are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, China (Inner Mongolia and other 11 autonomous territories), as well as the republics of Buryatia and Kalmykia in Russia. The Mongols are the principal member of the large family of M ...
ruler
Baichu to
Pope Innocent IV
Pope Innocent IV (; – 7 December 1254), born Sinibaldo Fieschi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 25 June 1243 to his death in 1254.
Fieschi was born in Genoa and studied at the universities of Parma and Bolo ...
in 1247–1248. They were the first Mongol envoys to
Europe
Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
.
Aïbeg ("Moon Prince") is thought to have been a
Turcophone Christian
A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...
, possibly
Uighur, and Sergis (from the Roman and later Christian name "Sergius" or "Sarkis") a
Nestorian Christian
Nestorianism is a term used in Christian theology and Church history to refer to several mutually related but doctrinarily distinct sets of teachings. The first meaning of the term is related to the original teachings of Christian theologian ...
, probably
Assyrian. Both were sent by Baichu, to accompany the 1245 embassy of the
Dominican Ascelin of Lombardia
Ascelin of Lombardy, also known as Nicolas Ascelin or Ascelin of Cremona, was a 13th-century Dominican friar whom Pope Innocent IV sent as an envoy to the Mongols in March 1245. Ascelin met with the Mongol ruler Baiju, and then returned to Europe ...
back to
Lyon
Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...
,
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
, where the Pope was residing at the time. They stayed there for about a year.
[Runciman, p.259.]
Aïbeg and Serkis met with Innocent IV in 1248, and remitted to him a rather vexing letter from Baichu, expressing his difficulty in understanding the Pope's message, and asking for his submission:
As a reply to the letter from Baiju, Innocent IV remitted to the envoys the letter known as ''
Viam agnoscere veritatis''. According to historian
Kenneth Setton
Kenneth Meyer Setton (June 17, 1914 – February 18, 1995) was an American historian and an expert on the history of medieval Europe, particularly the Crusades.
Early life, education and awards
Setton's childhood and adolescence were not easy ...
, it "stated that Innocent IV had acted out of a sense of duty to let the true religion be known to the Mongols, and that he regretted the Mongols' perseverance in their errors and adjured them to cease their menaces." The Pope appealed to the Mongols to stop their killing of Christians, while indicating no further interest in continuing the dialogue.
Aïbeg and Serkis stayed at Lyon for about a year, before returning to the Mongol realm on November 22, 1248.
[Roux, ''Histoire de l'Empire Mongol'', p.316.]
See also
*
Franco-Mongol alliance
Several attempts at a military alliance between the Franks#Crusaders and other Western Europeans as "Franks", Frankish Crusaders and the Mongol Empire against the Islamic caliphates, their common enemy, were made by various leaders among them dur ...
Notes
References
* Jackson, Peter, ''Mongols and the West'', p. 89
* Grousset, Rene, ''Histoire des Croisades, III'', Tempus, 2006 edition,
* Rachewiltz, I, ''Papal Envoys to the Great Khans'', Stanford University Press, 1971.
* Roux, Jean-Paul, ''Histoire de l'Empire Mongol'', 1993, Fayard,
* Kenneth Meyer Setton, "A History of the Crusades"
* Runciman, Steven, ''History of the Crusades, III'', Penguin Books, 2002 edition,
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aibeg And Serkis
Mongol Empire Christians
Ambassadors to the Holy See
Holy See–Mongolia relations