The Travels of Marco Polo Volume I Part 47

(_Fra Pipino_ in _Muratori_, IX. 700; _Rainaldi Annal._ III. 252 seqq.; _Wadding_, sub. an. 1217: _Bollandists_, 10th January; _Palatii, Gesta Pontif. Roman._ vol. iii., and _Fasti Cardinalium_, I. 463, etc.)

CHAPTER XII.

HOW THE TWO BROTHERS PRESENTED THEMSELVES BEFORE THE NEW POPE.

And when they had been thus honourably conducted to Acre they proceeded to the presence of the Pope, and paid their respects to him with humble reverence. He received them with great honour and satisfaction, and gave them his blessing. He then appointed two Friars of the Order of Preachers to accompany them to the Great Kaan, and to do whatever might be required of them. These were unquestionably as learned Churchmen as were to be found in the Province at that day--one being called Friar Nicolas of Vicenza, and the other Friar William of Tripoli.[NOTE 1] He delivered to them also proper credentials, and letters in reply to the Great Kaan's messages [and gave them authority to ordain priests and bishops, and to bestow every kind of absolution, as if given by himself in proper person; sending by them also many fine vessels of crystal as presents to the Great Kaan].[NOTE 2] So when they had got all that was needful, they took leave of the Pope, receiving his benediction; and the four set out together from Acre, and went to Layas, accompanied always by Messer Nicolas's son Marco.

Now, about the time that they reached Layas, Bendocquedar, the Soldan of Babylon, invaded Hermenia with a great host of Saracens, and ravaged the country, so that our Envoys ran a great peril of being taken or slain.

[NOTE 3] And when the Preaching Friars saw this they were greatly frightened, and said that go they never would. So they made over to Messer Nicolas and Messer Maffeo all their credentials and doc.u.ments, and took their leave, departing in company with the Master of the Temple.[NOTE 4]

NOTE 1.--Friar William, of Tripoli, of the Dominican convent at Acre, appears to have served there as early as 1250. [He was born circa 1220, at Tripoli, in Syria, whence his name.--H. C.] He is known as the author of a book, _De Statu Saracenorum post Ludovici Regis de Syria reditum_, dedicated to Theoldus, Archdeacon of Liege (i.e. Pope Gregory). Of this some extracts are printed in d.u.c.h.esne's _Hist. Francorum Scriptores_.

There are two MSS. of it, with different t.i.tles, in the Paris Library, and a French version in that of Berne. A MS. in Cambridge Univ. Library, which contains among other things a copy of Pipino's Polo, has also the work of Friar William:--"_Willelmus Tripolita.n.u.s, Aconensis Conventus, de Egressu Machometi et Saracenorum, atque progressu eorumdem, de Statu Saracenorum_," etc. It is imperfect; it is addressed THEOBALDO _Ecclesiarcho digno Sancte Terre Peregrino Sancto_. And from a cursory inspection I imagine that the Tract appended to one of the Polo MSS. in the British Museum (Addl. MSS., No. 19,952) is the same work or part of it. To the same author is ascribed a tract called _Clades Damiatae_.

(_d.u.c.h.esne_, V. 432; _D'Avezac_ in _Rec. de Voyages_, IV. 406; _Quetif, Script. Ord. Praed._ I. 264-5; _Catal. of MSS. in Camb. Univ. Library_, I.

22.)

NOTE 2.--I presume that the powers, stated in this pa.s.sage from Ramusio to have been conferred on the Friars, are exaggerated. In letters of authority granted in like cases by Pope Gregory's successors, Nicolas III.

(in 1278) and Boniface VIII. (in 1299), the missionary friars to remote regions are empowered to absolve from excommunication and release from vows, to settle matrimonial questions, to found churches and appoint _idoneos rectores_, to authorise Oriental clergy who should publicly submit to the Apostolic See to enjoy the _privilegium clericale_, whilst in the absence of bishops those among the missionaries who were priests might consecrate cemeteries, altars, palls, etc., admit to the Order of Acolytes, but nothing beyond. (See _Mosheim, Hist. Tartar. Eccles._ App.

Nos. 23 and 42.)

NOTE 3.--The statement here about Bundukdar's invasion of Cilician Armenia is a difficulty. He had invaded it in 1266, and his second devastating invasion, during which he burnt both Layas and Sis, the king's residence, took place in 1275, a point on which Marino Sanuto is at one with the Oriental Historians. Now we know from Rainaldus that Pope Gregory left Acre in November or December, 1271, and the text appears to imply that our travellers left Acre before him. The utmost corroboration that I can find lies in the following facts stated by Makrizi:--

On the 13th Safar, A.H. 670 (20th September 1271), Bundukdar arrived unexpectedly at Damascus, and after a brief raid against the Ismaelians he returned to that city. In the middle of Rabi I. (about 20-25 October) the Tartars made an incursion in northern Syria, and the troops of Aleppo retired towards Hamah. There was great alarm at Damascus; the Sultan sent orders to Cairo for reinforcements, and these arrived at Damascus on the 9th November. The Sultan then advanced on Aleppo, sending corps likewise towards Marash (which was within the Armenian frontier) and Harran. At the latter place the Tartars were attacked and those in the town slaughtered; the rest retreated. The Sultan was back at Damascus, and off on a different expedition, by 7th December. Hence, if the travellers arrived at Ayas towards the latter part of November they would probably find alarm existing at the advance of Bundukdar, though matters did not turn out so serious as they imply.

"Babylon," of which Bundukdar is here styled Sultan, means Cairo, commonly so styled (_Bambellonia d'Egitto_) in that age. Babylon of Egypt is mentioned by Diodorus quoting Ctesias, by Strabo, and by Ptolemy; it was the station of a Roman Legion in the days of Augustus, and still survives in the name of _Babul_, close to old Cairo.

Malik Dahir Ruknuddin Bibars Bundukdari, a native of Kipchak, was originally sold at Damascus for 800 dirhems (about 18_l._), and returned by his purchaser because of a blemish. He was then bought by the Amir Alauddin Aidekin _Bundukdar_ ("The Arblasteer") whose surname he afterwards adopted. He became the fourth of the Mameluke Sultans, and reigned from 1259 to 1276. The two great objects of his life were the repression of the Tartars and the expulsion of the Christians from Syria, so that his reign was one of constant war and enormous activity. William of Tripoli, in the work above mentioned, says: "Bondogar, as a soldier, was not inferior to Julius Caesar, nor in malignity to Nero." He admits, however, that the Sultan was sober, chaste, just to his own people, and even kind to his Christian subjects; whilst Makrizi calls him one of the best princes that ever reigned over Musulmans. Yet if we take Bibars as painted by this admiring historian and by other Arabic doc.u.ments, the second of Friar William's comparisons is justified, for he seems almost a devil in malignity as well as in activity. More than once he played tennis at Damascus and Cairo within the same week. A strange sample of the man is the letter which he wrote to Boemond, Prince of Antioch and Tripoli, to announce to him the capture of the former city. After an ironically polite address to Boemond as having by the loss of his great city had his t.i.tle changed from Princeship (_Al-Brensiyah_) to Countship (_Al-Komasiyah_), and describing his own devastations round Tripoli, he comes to the attack of Antioch: "We carried the place, sword in hand, at the 4th hour of Sat.u.r.day, the 4th day of Ramadhan,... Hadst thou but seen thy Knights trodden under the hoofs of the horses! thy palaces invaded by plunderers and ransacked for booty! thy treasures weighed out by the hundredweight!

thy ladies (_Damataka_, 'tes DAMES') bought and sold with thine own gear, at four for a dinar! hadst thou but seen thy churches demolished, thy crosses sawn in sunder, thy garbled Gospels hawked about before the sun, the tombs of thy n.o.bles cast to the ground; thy foe the Moslem treading thy Holy of the Holies; the monk, the priest, the deacon slaughtered on the Altar; the rich given up to misery; princes of royal blood reduced to slavery! Couldst thou but have seen the flames devouring thy halls; thy dead cast into the fires temporal with the fires eternal hard at hand; the churches of Paul and of Cosmas rocking and going down--, then wouldst thou have said, 'Would G.o.d that I were dust!' ... As not a man hath escaped to tell thee the tale, I TELL IT THEE!"

A little later, when a mission went to treat with Boemond, Bibars himself accompanied it in disguise, to have a look at the defences of Tripoli. In drawing out the terms, the Envoys styled Boemond _Count_, not _Prince_, as in the letter just quoted. He lost patience at their persistence, and made a movement which alarmed them. Bibars nudged the Envoy Mohiuddin (who tells the story) with his foot to give up the point, and the treaty was made. On their way back the Sultan laughed heartily at their narrow escape, "sending to the devil all the counts and princes on the face of the earth."

(_Quatremere's Makrizi_, II. 92-101, and 190 seqq.; _J. As._ ser. I. tom.

xi. p. 89; _D'Ohsson_, III. 459-474; _Marino Sanuto_ in Bongars, 224-226, etc.)

NOTE 4.--The ruling Master of the Temple was Thomas Berard (1256-1273), but there is little detail about the Order in the East at this time. They had, however, considerable possessions and great influence in Cilician Armenia, and how much they were mixed up in its affairs is shown by a circ.u.mstance related by Makrizi. In 1285, when Sultan Mansur, the successor of Bundukdar, was besieging the Castle of Markab, there arrived in Camp the Commander of the Temple (_Kamandur-ul Dewet_) of the Country of Armenia, charged to negotiate on the part of the King of Sis (i.e. of Lesser Armenia, Leon III. 1268-1289, successor of Hayton I. 1224-1268), and bringing presents from him and from the Master of the Temple, Berard's successor, William de Beaujeu (1273-1291). (III. 201.)--H. Y. and H. C.

CHAPTER XIII.

HOW MESSER NICOLO AND MESSER MAFFEO POLO, ACCOMPANIED BY MARK, TRAVELLED TO THE COURT OF THE GREAT KAAN.

So the Two Brothers, and Mark along with them, proceeded on their way, and journeying on, summer and winter, came at length to the Great Kaan, who was then at a certain rich and great city, called KEMENFU.[NOTE 1] As to what they met with on the road, whether in going or coming, we shall give no particulars at present, because we are going to tell you all those details in regular order in the after part of this Book. Their journey back to the Kaan occupied a good three years and a half, owing to the bad weather and severe cold that they encountered. And let me tell you in good sooth that when the Great Kaan heard that Messers Nicolo and Maffeo Polo were on their way back, he sent people a journey of full 40 days to meet them; and on this journey, as on their former one, they were honourably entertained upon the road, and supplied with all that they required.

NOTE 1.--The French texts read _Clemeinfu_, Ramusio _Clemenfu_. The Pucci MS. guides us to the correct reading, having _Chemensu_ (_Kemensu_) for _Chemenfu_. KAIPINGFU, meaning something like "City of Peace," and called by Rashiduddin _Kaiminfu_ (whereby we see that Polo as usual adopted the Persian form of the name), was a city founded in 1256, four years before Kublai's accession, some distance to the north of the Chinese wall. It became Kublai's favourite summer residence, and was styled from 1264 _Shangtu_ or "Upper Court." (See infra, Bk. I. ch. lxi.) It was known to the Mongols, apparently by a combination of the two names, as _Shangdu Keibung_. It appears in D'Anville's map under the name of _Djao-Naiman Sume_. Dr. Bush.e.l.l, who visited Shangtu in 1872, makes it 1103 _li_ (367 miles) by road distance via Kalgan from Peking. The busy town of Dolonnur lies 26 miles S.E. of it, and according to Kiepert's _Asia_ that place is about 180 miles in a direct line north of Peking.

(See _Klaproth_ in _J. As._ XI. 365; _Gaubil_, p. 115; _Cathay_, p. 260; _J. R. G. S._ vol. xiiii.)

CHAPTER XIV.

HOW MESSER NICOLO AND MESSER MAFFEO POLO AND MARCO PRESENTED THEMSELVES BEFORE THE GREAT KAAN.

And what shall I tell you? when the Two Brothers and Mark had arrived at that great city, they went to the Imperial Palace, and there they found the Sovereign attended by a great company of Barons. So they bent the knee before him, and paid their respects to him, with all possible reverence [prostrating themselves on the ground]. Then the Lord bade them stand up, and treated them with great honour, showing great pleasure at their coming, and asked many questions as to their welfare, and how they had sped. They replied that they had in verity sped well, seeing that they found the Kaan well and safe. Then they presented the credentials and letters which they had received from the Pope, which pleased him right well; and after that they produced the Oil from the Sepulchre, and at that also he was very glad, for he set great store thereby. And next, spying Mark, who was then a young gallant,[NOTE 1] he asked who was that in their company? "Sire," said his father, Messer Nicolo, "'tis my son and your liegeman."[NOTE 2] "Welcome is he too," quoth the Emperor. And why should I make a long story? There was great rejoicing at the Court because of their arrival; and they met with attention and honour from everybody.

So there they abode at the Court with the other Barons.

NOTE 1.--"_Joenne Bacheler_."

NOTE 2.--"_Sire, il est mon filz et vostre_ homme." The last word in the sense which gives us the word _homage_. Thus in the miracle play of Theophilus (13th century), the Devil says to Theophilus:--

"Or joing Tes mains, et si devien _mes hom_.

_Theoph._ Vez ci que je vous faz _hommage_."

So infra (Bk. I. ch. xlvii.) Aung Khan is made to say of Chinghiz: "_Il est_ mon homes _et mon serf_." (See also Bk. II. ch. iv. note.) St. Lewis said of the peace he had made with Henry III.: "Il m'est mout grant honneur en la paix que je foiz au Roy d'Angleterre pour ce qu'il est _mon home_, ce que n'estoit pas devant." And Joinville says with regard to the king, "Je ne voz faire point de serement, car je n'estoie pas _son home_"

(being a va.s.sal of Champagne). A famous Sat.u.r.day Reviewer quotes the term applied to a lady: "_Eddeva puella_ h.o.m.o _Stigandi Archiepiscopi_."

(_Theatre Francais au Moyen Age_, p. 145; _Joinville_, pp. 21, 37; _S.

R._, 6th September, 1873, p. 305.)

CHAPTER XV.

HOW THE EMPEROR SENT MARK ON AN EMBa.s.sY OF HIS.

Now it came to pa.s.s that Marco, the son of Messer Nicolo, sped wondrously in learning the customs of the Tartars, as well as their language, their manner of writing, and their practice of war; in fact he came in brief s.p.a.ce to know several languages, and four sundry written characters. And he was discreet and prudent in every way, insomuch that the Emperor held him in great esteem.[NOTE 1] And so when he discerned Mark to have so much sense, and to conduct himself so well and beseemingly, he sent him on an amba.s.sage of his, to a country which was a good six months' journey distant.[NOTE 2] The young gallant executed his commission well and with discretion. Now he had taken note on several occasions that when the Prince's amba.s.sadors returned from different parts of the world, they were able to tell him about nothing except the business on which they had gone, and that the Prince in consequence held them for no better than fools and dolts, and would say: "I had far liever hearken about the strange things, and the manners of the different countries you have seen, than merely be told of the business you went upon;"--for he took great delight in hearing of the affairs of strange countries. Mark therefore, as he went and returned, took great pains to learn about all kinds of different matters in the countries which he visited, in order to be able to tell about them to the Great Kaan.[NOTE 3]

NOTE 1.--The word Emperor stands here for _Seigneur_.

What the four characters acquired by Marco were is open to discussion.

The Chronicle of the Mongol Emperors rendered by Gaubil mentions, as characters used in their Empire, the Uighur, the Persian and Arabic, that of the Lamas (Tibetan), that of the Niuche, introduced by the Kin Dynasty, the Khitan, and the _Bashpah_ character, a syllabic alphabet arranged, on the basis of the Tibetan and Sanskrit letters chiefly, by a learned chief Lama so-called, under the orders of Kublai, and established by edict in 1269 as the official character. Coins bearing this character, and dating from 1308 to 1354, are extant. The forms of the Niuche and Khitan were devised in imitation of Chinese writing, but are supposed to be syllabic.

Of the Khitan but one inscription was known, and no key. "The Khitan had two national scripts, the 'small characters' (_hsiao tzu_) and the 'large characters' (ta tzu)." S. W. Bush.e.l.l, _Insc. in the Juchen and Allied Scripts_, Cong. des Orientalistes, Paris, 1897.--_Die Sprache und Schrift der Juchen_ von Dr. W. Grube, Leipzig, 1896, from a polyglot MS.

dictionary, discovered by Dr. F. Hirth and now kept in the Royal Library, Berlin.--H. Y. and H. C.