Michael Baizerman Author

  I have received good news from Academia. After over two months' delay, I finally got access to Discussion. The confirmation coincided with presenting my last chapter, John of Montecorvino, to the public. https://www.academia.edu/96931204/John_of_Montecorvino The paper has triggered replies and enjoyed more than 150 views. I am on the way to realizing my potential in Academia, which will stand around 10 K views. I still have two more chapters for Discussion. I noticed some readers come across my previous papers, from the second to the first book. It is very encouraging. I am beginning to form a community of readers, primarily academics. I wish I also had more readers from the general public since this is my target audience.  My zoom lecture in the historical-philosophic club about Alexander against Gog-Magog: Part 2 was  successful. I received many compliments and questions. Some listeners wished they had been present at the previous lecture, and I invited them to p...

Having finished collecting the data about the first Catholic archbishop of Beijing, I started to write the first draft of the chapter. This is going to be the third chapter of the last unit of my manuscript. The following extract explains the shift in the task laid on western travelers eastward, from reconnaissance to missionary work.   Toward the end of the thirteenth century, the leading powers of the world realized that the East Asia was going to be their next playground. The Lord Pope, not intending to fall behind, made up his mind to spread his reconnaissance network to cover this novel venue. His choice fell on a forty-two-year-old friar priest with ample diplomatic experience and close familiarity with the Middle Eastern politics. John of Montecorvino had been involved in negotiations for the reunion of Constantinople with Rome and was well connected to the courts of the Il-Khan of Persia and the king of Armenia. John set off in a disguise as a missionary to sow the ...

My new chapter will be devoted to John of Montecorvino, a Franciscan friar who reached China at the end of the 13th century. His letters focus on his missionary activities. He established two episcopal sees and rendered spiritual service for those in need. I have copied a few facts, read his letters, and am now processing notes about this person and the milestones of his life. We enter the period when the united Mongol Empire was split into four polities whose rules had to give up the demand for the world domination. The advance to the Western Europe as well as the incursion into Japan failed to materialize. The Apostolic See with the aid of newly-created orders of mendicant friars resumed its die-hard policy of spreading the word of God among diverse nations. One of the missionaries called to the banner was an Italian priest-monk Giovanni of Montecorvino. The Franciscan friar gained immense diplomatic experience. He was involved into negotiations between the Latin and Greek Ch...

The second chapter in my current research is devoted to William of Rubruck who was sent by the French king to Sartack Khan to check up on rumors of his baptism and give spiritual aid to certain German slaves captured by the Tartars. The traveler reached the khan but made sure that the steppe notable stuck to his nomadic traditional values. William had never seen the prisoners. However, the Mongol chiefs were indecisive what to do with this weird monk and he eventually made his way to the court of the Great Khan Mongke and visited his capital city Karakorum. His account presents a wide range of data which I classified into a few topics: Appearance, Dwellings, Religion, etc. I find that William was neither an ambassador nor a missionary but rather a spy. The Mongol leaders probably understood this and wanted to manipulate him to serve their own interests. Now, when a draft copy is over, I will study materials connected to the life of a great missionary, John of Montecorvino, who wa...