ABSTRACT
In December 1273, a report by Bishop Bruno of Olmütz (Olomouc), submitted to Pope Gregory X in advance of the Second Council of Lyons, painted a depressing picture of the eastern regions of Latin Europe. The Jochids' rapprochement with the Yuan Empire and the Ilkhanate did not apparently last many years. But it perhaps gave the Golden Horde additional security in both the south and the east, releasing forces for a more forward policy in Europe. As Alexander IV had done before him, Urban IV strongly tried to discourage them from reaching some kind of diplomatic accommodation with the Golden Horde. In much of Eastern Europe, the Mongol threat was indirect. Here the Golden Horde could be seen as a malign power drawing into its embrace states that would otherwise have succumbed to Latin pressure and acknowledged Christian overlordship and the primacy of Rome.
