John of Plano Carpini

The last unit of my manuscript is called "The eyewitness in the Den".

It focuses on travel narratives of European guests who happened to visit the Orient or stayed there for a while.

My first hero is John of Plano Carpini, a Franciscan friar sent by the Pope Innocent IV on a fact-finding mission. I read both his travel account and the revised version of his History of the Mongols.

Next week, I will look through my notes and write initial extracts. However, I can't go straightforward as fast as I can because there is so much subsidiary material referring to the previous chapters. I can't deny the pleasure of correcting other parts of my research.

John of Plano Carpini, head of the first Catholic mission to the Great Khan.

The image borrowed from http://window2thepast.blogspot.co.il/2012/08/carpini-there-interesting-account-of.html