Giovanni da Pian del Carpine

Giovanni da Pian del Carpine or Carpini (Iohannes de Plano Carpini, anglicised as John of Plano Carpini; 1185 – 1 August 1252) was a medieval Italian diplomat, archbishop and explorer and one of the first Europeans to enter the court of the Great Khan of the Mongol Empire. He is the author of the earliest important Western account of northern and Central Asia, Rus', and other regions of the Mongol dominion. He was the Primate of Serbia, based in Antivari, from 1247 to 1252. Giovanni appears to have been a native of Umbria, in central Italy. His surname was derived from Pian del Carpine (literally "Hornbeam Plain"), an area known later as Magione, between Perugia and Cortona. He was one of the companions and disciples of his near-contemporary and countryman Saint Francis of Assisi. Highly esteemed within the Franciscan order, Giovanni had a prominent role in the propagation of its teachings in northern Europe, holding in succession the offices of warden (custos) in Saxony and provincial (minister) of Germany. He may also have held positions in Barbary and Cologne, and been provincial of Spain. Giovanni was a provincial of Germany at the time of the great Mongol invasion of eastern Europe and the Battle of Legnica (modern Legnickie Pole) on 9 April 1241. The defeat of European forces at Legnica almost led to Ögedei, Khan of the Mongol Empire, controlling most of Eastern Europe. In Europe, dread of the "Tatars" (Mongols) was still widespread four years later, when Pope Innocent IV decided to dispatch the first formal Catholic mission to the Mongols. The missionaries were sent partly in protest at the Mongol invasion of Christendom and partly to gain information regarding the Khan's intentions and military strength. Pope Innocent IV chose Giovanni to head the mission and apparently was in charge of nearly everything in the mission. As a papal legate, he bore a letter from the Pope to the Great Khan, Cum non solum.