Rychaldus, Richaldus or Richardus (13th century) was a clerk and translator (''notarius...ac interpreters Latinorum'')
[Jackson, p.173] for the
Mongol
The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal member of ...
Ilkhanate
The Ilkhanate, also spelled Il-khanate ( fa, ایل خانان, ''Ilxānān''), known to the Mongols as ''Hülegü Ulus'' (, ''Qulug-un Ulus''), was a khanate established from the southwestern sector of the Mongol Empire. The Ilkhanid realm, ...
rulers
Hulagu Khan
Hulagu Khan, also known as Hülegü or Hulegu ( mn, Хүлэгү/ , lit=Surplus, translit=Hu’legu’/Qülegü; chg, ; Arabic: fa, هولاکو خان, ''Holâku Khân;'' ; 8 February 1265), was a Mongol ruler who conquered much of West ...
, and then Hulagu's son
Abaqa Khan
Abaqa Khan (27 February 1234 – 4 April 1282, mn, Абаха/Абага хан (Khalkha Cyrillic), ( Traditional script), "paternal uncle", also transliterated Abaġa), was the second Mongol ruler (''Ilkhan'') of the Ilkhanate. The son of Hula ...
. He was best known for delivering a report on behalf of the Mongols at the 1274
Second Council of Lyon
:''The First Council of Lyon, the Thirteenth Ecumenical Council, took place in 1245.''
The Second Council of Lyon was the fourteenth ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church, convoked on 31 March 1272 and convened in Lyon, Kingdom of Arl ...
.
Biography
Little is known of Rychaldus, except that he was a part of some Mongol embassies to European rulers. There are different mentions of a "Richaldus" in the Mongol court, and it is generally assumed by modern historians that they refer to the same individual, but it is not certain.
In 1262, a Rychaldus was known to have been accompanying an aborted Mongol embassy sent by Hulagu,
[ which was intercepted by an ally of the Egyptian Mamluks, King ]Manfred of Sicily
Manfred ( scn, Manfredi di Sicilia; 123226 February 1266) was the last King of Sicily from the Hohenstaufen dynasty, reigning from 1258 until his death. The natural son of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, Manfred became regent over th ...
. Manfred was in conflict with Pope Urban IV
Pope Urban IV ( la, Urbanus IV; c. 1195 – 2 October 1264), born Jacques Pantaléon, was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 29 August 1261 to his death. He was not a cardinal; only a few popes since his time ha ...
, and Rychaldus was returned to the Mongols by ship.
Another mention was made of Richardus, a Latin secretary in the Ilkhan's court, in 1267. The reference there said that because of his absence, the Ilkhan's chancery had been unable to craft a reply in Latin.[
]
Second Council of Lyon
The name Rychaldus is best known for being a member of the Mongol embassy to the Second Council of Lyon
:''The First Council of Lyon, the Thirteenth Ecumenical Council, took place in 1245.''
The Second Council of Lyon was the fourteenth ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church, convoked on 31 March 1272 and convened in Lyon, Kingdom of Arl ...
in 1274, sent by Abaqa
Abaqa Khan (27 February 1234 – 4 April 1282, mn, Абаха/Абага хан (Khalkha Cyrillic), ( Traditional script), "paternal uncle", also transliterated Abaġa), was the second Mongol ruler (''Ilkhan'') of the Ilkhanate. The son of Hulag ...
, together with the Dominican missionary David of Ashby
David of Ashby ( fl. 1260 – 1275) was an English-born Dominican friar who was sent from the Holy Land city of Acre to the Mongol ruler Hulagu in 1260, by the Papal legate Thomas Agni de Lentino. He stayed around 15 years among the Mongols, and o ...
.
The embassy arrived in Lyon on July 4, 1274. At the Council, Rychaldus delivered a report which outlined previous European-Ilkhanid relations under Abaqa's father, Hulagu. Rychaldus described how Hulagu had been a friend of the Christians, and that his son Abaqa was interested in continuing Hulagu's policies, and driving the Mamluks out of Syria. Rychaldus also talked of how Hulagu had "remitted Jerusalem to the Christians during his 1260 campaign in Syria", though this was doubtless propaganda, as no such event was recorded by any other sources.
Nothing is known of Rychaldus after the Council of Lyon.[Jean Richard, p.467]
See also
*Franco-Mongol alliance
Several attempts at a Franco-Mongol alliance against the Islamic caliphates, their common enemy, were made by various leaders among the Frankish Crusaders and the Mongol Empire in the 13th century. Such an alliance might have seemed an obvious c ...
*Mongol raids into Palestine
Mongol raids into Palestine took place towards the end of the Crusades, following the temporarily successful Mongol invasions of Syria, primarily in 1260 and 1300. Following each of these invasions, there existed a period of a few months during w ...
*Mongol invasions of Syria
Starting in the 1240s, the Mongols made repeated invasions of Syria or attempts thereof. Most failed, but they did have some success in 1260 and 1300, capturing Aleppo and Damascus and destroying the Ayyubid dynasty. The Mongols were forced to r ...
Notes
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Rychaldus
Clerks
13th-century translators
People of the Crusades
People of the Ilkhanate
13th-century Mongolian people
13th-century births
Year of death unknown