Tractatus de ortu Tartarorum
The Tractatus de ortu Tartarorum ("Treatise on the Rise of the Tartars") is a Latin treatise on the Mongols (Tartars), consisting of answers given by a Russian bishop named Peter to questions posed by Pope Innocent IV and the College of Cardinals in late 1244.
At the time of his visit, he was the acting vicar of the metropolitanate of Kiev and the effective leader of the Russian church.
The Tractatus contains a lengthy section on Mongol origins that is based mainly on an interpretation of the Apocalypse of Pseudo-Methodius.
The rest of the work contains original information, seemingly supplied by a son-in-law of Genghis Khan, either an exile or a spy.
Matthew of Paris altered the text of the Tractatus to better fit it into his Chronica, inserting glosses and comments of his own.
[2] The information in the Tractatus represents the answers given by a certain Russian bishop named Peter to questions posed to him by Pope Innocent IV and the cardinals late in 1244 in advance of the First Council of Lyon.
[7] Belgorod was in fact a mere diocese, but its bishop frequently acted as vicar for the metropolitan of Kiev.
[7][8] The see of Kiev was vacant between late 1240 and the appointment of Cyril II in 1246, which explains why Westerners referred to Peter as an archbishop.
[12] If Peter was acting under orders from any Russian ruler at the time, it was probably the prince of Kiev, Yaroslav Vsevolodovich, who had submitted to Batu Khan in 1243.
[15] On the other hand, it has been argued that the main purpose of Peter's visit was to attend the council of Lyon to discuss healing the East–West schism.
The issue was raised by the Emperor Frederick II, who, through his representative at the council, Taddeo da Suessa, claimed that he could restore the unity of the church if he and the pope made peace.
The answer given is not based, however, on any special intelligence gleaned from the Mongols themselves, but on a standard Russian interpretation of the 7th-century Apocalypse of Pseudo-Methodius.
[22] In the Linz version, Peter claims that the Mongols believe the pope to be the greatest ruler in the world and are eager to visit him.
[24] At the end of the Tractatus, it is revealed that Peter's source for much of his information was "a certain Tartar grandee named Chalaladan whose wife was Chirkan's daughter" and who was living in exile in Russia.
[14] The information he gave is basically accurate with the exception of his own theories based on Pseudo-Methodius and some apparent misunderstandings.
[26] If the purpose of Peter's mission was to encourage Western leaders to send diplomats to the Mongols, it was successful.
[6] In March 1245, on the eve of the council, the pope sent three missions to each of the fronts on which Peter described the Mongols as active: Andrew of Longjumeau to Palestine and Syria, Ascelin of Lombardy towards eastern Europe and Simon of Saint-Quentin to Anatolia.
In the Courtenay Compendium and the Gonville and Caius manuscript, it appears under the heading Anno domini millessimo ccmo xliv transmissa est haec prelato parisius de adventu Tartarorum ("in the year of the Lord 1244 this [letter] concerning the advent of the Tartars was sent to the bishop in Paris").
[28] The second letter, entitled Nova pestis contra ecclesiam ("A Fresh Affliction Confronting the Church"), was addressed by the patriarch of Jerusalem to the pope.
