THE JOURNEY TO THE EASTERN PARTS OF THE WORLD, OF FRIAR WILLIAM OF RUBRUCK, OF THE ORDER OF MINOR FRIARS, IN THE YEAR OF GRACE MCCLIII

doi:10.4324/9781315556420-4

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THE JOURNEY TO THE EASTERN PARTS OF THE WORLD, OF FRIAR WILLIAM OF RUBRUCK, OF THE ORDER OF MINOR FRIARS, IN THE YEAR OF GRACE MCCLIII

ABSTRACT

To the most excellent lord and most Christian Louis, by the grace of God illustrious King of the French, from Friar "Yilliam of Rubruck, the meanest in the order of Minor Friars, greetings, and may he always triumph in Christ. It is written in Ecclesiasticus of the Wise man: "He shall go through the land of foreign peoples, and shall try the good and evil in all things." This, my lord King, have I done, and may it have been as a wise man and not as a fool; for many do what the wise man doth, though not wisely, but most foolishly; of this number I fear I may be. Nevertheless in whatever way (214)