ABSTRACT

In his article, Adriano Duque examines the dynamics of gift-giving during the Carpini expedition to Mongolia in 1246. Drawing from current theory by Derrida and Mauss, the article analyzes the personal and political expectations generated by gifts and how they allowed Christian friars and Mongolian rulers to articulate relations of reciprocity and power.

Keywords: Mongolia, Carpini, travel, maps, gifts

ON APRIL 16, 1246 Pope Innocent IV sent three Franciscan friars (Lawrence of Portugal, John of Plan Carpini, and Benedict the Pole) on an expedition to Mongolia. While it is plausible that Lawrence of Portugal did not complete the trip, Carpini and Benedict completed the journey with alleged the purpose of converting the Tartars to Christianity and to ask them to cease all attacks against Christians. Along the way, the friars encountered a series of local chieftains who inquired about their mission. In order to be granted access, the friars had to deliver a number of gifts that served as tolls. However, when they arrived at the Mongol camp, they refused to present any gifts to the great khan. This objection caused a significant delay in their mission. After witnessing the coronation of Güyük (1246– 1248) as the third great khan of the Mongol Empire, they were admitted into the court, where they received a dispatch from the great khan to the pope.

Gift-giving occurred in Christian and Mongol societies, but its significance depended on the economic and symbolic value that each culture placed on the gift. For Christians and Mongols alike, gift-giving was used to circulate goods and to promote ties and bonding among individuals. Gift-giving was articulated in the different stages that required varying degrees of involvement from the giver and from the receiver: giving, receiving and reciprocating. In this sense, gift-giving was not a one-way action. Moreover, it invariably placed the receiver in a situation of indebtedness and obligated him to acknowledge a social difference that could not be resolved until the gift was returned or reciprocated. The meaning of the term “gift” is further clarified by the use that Benedict and Carpini make of the word munera instead of donum.