Benedict of Poland (Latin: ''Benedictus Polonus'', Polish ''Benedykt Polak'') (c. 1200 – c. 1280) was a

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related Mendicant orders, mendicant Christianity, Christian Catholic religious order, religious orders within the Catholic Church. Founded in 1209 by Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi, these orders include t ...

friar A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders founded in the twelfth or thirteenth century; the term distinguishes the mendicants' itinerant apostolic character, exercised broadly under the jurisdiction of a superior general, from the ol ...

travel Travel is the movement of people between distant geographical locations. Travel can be done by foot, bicycle, automobile, train, boat, bus, airplane, ship or other means, with or without luggage, and can be one way or round trip. Travel c ...

er,

explorer Exploration refers to the historical practice of discovering remote lands. It is studied by geographers and historians. Two major eras of exploration occurred in human history: one of convergence, and one of divergence. The first, covering most ...

, and interpreter. He accompanied

Giovanni da Pian del Carpine Giovanni da Pian del Carpine, variously rendered in English as ''John of Pian de Carpine'', ''John of Plano Carpini'' or ''Joannes de Plano'' (c. 11851 August 1252), was a medieval Italian diplomat, archbishop and explorer and one of the firs ...

in his journey as delegate of

Pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

Innocent IV Pope Innocent IV ( la, Innocentius IV; – 7 December 1254), born Sinibaldo Fieschi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 25 June 1243 to his death in 1254. Fieschi was born in Genoa and studied at the universitie ...

to the

Great Khan Khagan or Qaghan (Mongolian:; or ''Khagan''; otk, 𐰴𐰍𐰣 ), or , tr, Kağan or ; ug, قاغان, Qaghan, Mongolian Script: ; or ; fa, خاقان ''Khāqān'', alternatively spelled Kağan, Kagan, Khaghan, Kaghan, Khakan, Khakhan ...

Güyük of the

Mongol Empire The Mongol Empire of the 13th and 14th centuries was the largest contiguous land empire in history. Originating in present-day Mongolia in East Asia, the Mongol Empire at its height stretched from the Sea of Japan to parts of Eastern Europe, ...

in 1245–1247. He was the author of the brief chronicle ''De itinere Fratrum Minorum ad Tartaros'' (On the Journey of the Franciscan Friars to the Tatars), not published until 1839 in France, and a year later in Poland, and the source for a longer work, '' Hystoria Tartarorum'' (History of the Tatars), discovered later and eventually published in 1965.Edward Kajdański: ''Długi cień Wielkiego Muru'', Warsaw, 2005 (in Polish) The report of Benedict is important because it includes a copy of the letter of the Great Khan to the Pope. Biography of Benedict (in Polish)
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History

Little is known about the life of Friar Benedict beyond the story of the journey. He was well educated and spoke and wrote

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

, and

Old East Slavic Old East Slavic (traditionally also Old Russian; be, старажытнаруская мова; russian: древнерусский язык; uk, давньоруська мова) was a language used during the 9th–15th centuries by East ...

. He had become a monk in the Franciscan monastery in

Wrocław Wrocław (; german: Breslau, or . ; Silesian German: ''Brassel'') is a city in southwestern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the River Oder in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, rou ...

about 1236. This was the first major stop of Friar Giovanni after leaving on the mission from

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

in April 1245. Benedict was chosen to accompany him as an interpreter because he had also acquired a knowledge of the

language and the first part of their journey was to

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

. Benedict made his accounts of the journey during and after their return in 1247. After returning from the voyage he probably settled in the Franciscan monastery in

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

where he spent rest of his life. Later he was also a witness at the

canonization Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christian communion declaring a person worthy of public veneration and entering their name in the canon catalogue of ...

of Saint

Stanislaus of Szczepanów Stanislaus of Szczepanów ( pl, Stanisław ze Szczepanowa; 26 July 1030 – 11 April 1079) was Bishop of Kraków known chiefly for having been martyred by the Polish king Bolesław II the Generous. Stanislaus is venerated in the Roman Cath ...

in 1252.

References

Palkiewicz, Jacek and Petek, Krzysztof Benedykt Polak : pierwszy polski podroznik Warszawa : Narodowe Centrum Kultury, 2015

History

References

See also