Travels of famous Marco Polo come to our mind whenever we think of first Europeans who visited Mongol rulers of the East. But, in fact, there were other Western travelers who visited Great Khan long before Marco Polo.
According to historical accounts that we know of, the first European who went with the mission to the East was Giovanni da Pian del Carpine, one of the companions and disciples of his countryman Saint Francis. Marco Polo was not even born when Pope of Rome sent Giovanni or, as he was called Friar Joannes, with the first formal Catholic mission to the Mongols in 1245.
Friar Joannes was probably an extremely brave and courageous man - he was not a young man at the time, reaching the age of sixty five. He was provided with a letter from the Pope to the Great Khan, and a couple of monks who accompanied him.
At the time Mongols were at the hight of their power. Friar completed the first part of his journey, passing city of Kiev, rivers Don and Volga and at last arrived to the Ordu which was the camp of Batu, the famous conqueror of Eastern Europe. Batu permitted Friar Joannes to proceed onward to the court of the supreme Khan in Mongolia.
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