[1] According to Aubrey of Trois Fontaines, Baldwin married a daughter of the Cuman king Saronius[a] in 1241.
Aleksandar Uzelac, on the other hand, argues that Baldwin was probably merely seeking an alliance, since William of Rubruck, who went on a mission to Mongolia in 1253, does not mention the Latin Empire in his list of tributaries to the Mongols.
[1] William of Rubruck, before setting out on his mission, stopped in Constantinople to confer with Baldwin.
[6] Baldwin also told William that "the only surprising thing he had seen" was that the khan was always moving uphill, since the rivers only flowed from east to west.
This seems to be a reference to the fact that the rivers west of the Altai Mountains all flow in this direction, as had been noted by Yelü Chucai already in 1229.