Arghun corresponds with European courts

1281

The Mongol Ilkhan of Persia wrote to Pope Honorius IV and the kings of France and England proposing joint action against the Mamluks and offering to restore Jerusalem to Christian hands in exchange. Nothing came of the plan, but a rich diplomatic correspondence survives. The letters, written in Mongol script on Chinese paper and sealed with vermilion stamps, are among the most exotic documents in European archives.