Benedict of Poland

Benedict accompanied Giovanni da Pian del Carpine in his journey as delegate of Pope Innocent IV to the Great Khan Güyük of the Mongol Empire 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.

[2] De Itinere Fratrum Minorum ad Tartaros, which is an account of the first expedition of Europeans to the capital of the Mongol Empire, which lasted from April 16, 1245 to November 18, 1247.

Benedict was chosen to accompany him as an interpreter because he had also acquired a knowledge of the Old East Slavic language and the first part of their journey was to Kyiv.

After returning from the voyage he probably settled in the Franciscan monastery in Kraków where he spent the rest of his life.