RUBRUQUIS (GUGLIELMO da RUBRUK). – Franciscan, itinerant missionary of the 13th century. Born at Rubruck near Cassel, Fiandra, now northern France (not to be confused with Rubroek, Brabante), between 1212 and 1220; died around 1270.
As a young man he entered the Order and studied in Paris. In 1248, perhaps with the expedition of Luigi IX, he departed for the Terra Santa, remaining at Accon until 1252, when he decided to set out as a missionary toward the land of the Mongols.
Many authors formerly maintained that his journey to the Tartars was a diplomatic mission commissioned by Luigi IX, to invite them to aid him against the Saracens; but it has been demonstrated that R.’s purpose was entirely missionary. Luigi IX nevertheless supported him and gave him a letter of recommendation for the Gran Kan. He departed from Costantinopoli on 7 May and reached the latter’s court on 27 December of the following year (1253), after passing through the courts of many subordinate princes and overcoming numerous dangers. He obtained permission to remain at the court for some time, but at the beginning of July 1254 he had to set out on the return journey, following a route different from that taken on the outward journey, and arrived the following year, in summer, in the Terra Santa, where his superiors again assigned him to Accon as a lecturer. Since he had not obtained permission to go to Luigi IX in Paris to recount to him in person the results of his expedition, he addressed his Itinerarium to him; this is one of the most valuable accounts left to us by the Middle Ages concerning the Tartars, owing to its detailed descriptions of their usages and customs, its important geographical information, and the accuracy of its data, to which the extensive cultural preparation demonstrated by R. in the work contributed. Having obtained, through the King of France, permission to go to Paris, he is found at court shortly afterward; then all trace of him is lost.