Between the XIV and the beginnig of the XV centuries, Papacy turned its gaze to Mongolian Asia, imagining an expansion project with an universal vision that unified the announcement of Christian Faith and the strengthening of its own authority. This volume examines a season of contacts and ambitions, recontructing the relationship between the Apostolic See and the Mongolian reality through diplomatic documents, missionary accounts and chronicles. The focus of the reasearch is on the the action of Minor Friars and Dominicans, main characters of a Latin presence far from Europe and characterized by difficulties, compromises and politic tensions. Particular attention is dedicated to the role that the apostolate ad Tartaros had during the ecclesial crisis at the end of XIV century, when contacts with the Mongol East became a means to affirm the role of Papacy before the contenders of the Petrine throne. The volume thus offers an original key of interpretation on a little-known chapter of the last phase of Latin-Mongol relations.
Giovanni Di Bella
Il papato, i mendicanti, i mongoli
Firenze University Press 2026
