The Philippine plaza complex : a focal point in culture change

The Mongol Mission. Narratives and Letters of the Franciscan Missionaries in Mongolia and China in the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries. Tr. by a nun of Stanbrook Abbey. Ed. with an Introduction by Christopher Dawson. New York: Sheed and Ward, 1955. xxxix, 246. Bibliography, Genealogical Tables, Index, Map. This is a useful collection of the principal documents which describe the first genuine contacts between medieval Europe and the Far East and which, in the words of Professor Olschki, "transformed into an empirical reality the fabulous image of Asia created by poetry and fiction and confirmed by a tenacious traditional erudition" {Marco Polo's Precursors, p. vii). First and foremost of course are the narratives of the great Franciscan travelers John of Piano Carpini and William of Rubruck; also included are the narrative of Brother Benedict the Pole and the letters of John of Monte Corvino. Historical background is provided by the editor's Introduction. As an addition to the Makers of Christendom Series, the book is intended "to help Christians to an awareness of the richness of the cultural traditions which they inherit," rather than to supplant the more scholarly works available on the subject. Being based on the Sinica franciscana text, however, it will be useful to the scholar as well as informative for the general reader.