"His death was a great grief for Christians," or the Riddle of Sartak
The Myth of Fraternization
In the series of articles dedicated to the Islamization of the Ulus of Jochi, see the beginning: “Golden Horde: from Yasa to the Koran"—the Nestorian Christianity, which was widespread in the Mongol Empire, was mentioned, among other things. Let me emphasize right away: this refers specifically to Christianity, which was widespread, but by no means dominant, in the vastness of Genghis Khan's empire.
I think I wouldn't be wrong in assuming that this topic gained public interest thanks to the myth of the fraternization between Sartak and Alexander Nevsky, as described by L.N. Gumilev in his book "In Search of an Imaginary Kingdom." Just as thanks to the pen of Lev Nikolayevich, a significant portion of those interested history compatriots learned about Nestorianism, which was followed by Batu's son and a considerable number of nomads.
However, the story of fraternization was not confirmed in the sources and was never seriously considered by the scholarly community. However, it gained popularity in journalism and was reflected, albeit indirectly, in painting; in particular, in one of P. V. Ryzhenko's paintings, dedicated to Alexander Nevsky and Sartak.
So, as far as I understand, cinema sees a medieval Christian nomad.
Thus, L.N. Gumilev's story entered the mythology of Russian culture, took root in the public consciousness, and no scholarly arguments can eradicate it. Here, it's hard to disagree with A.F. Losev, who, with his characteristically categorical judgment, wrote:
Myth is (for mythical consciousness, of course) the highest in its concreteness, the most intense and the most tense reality to the greatest extent.
The mythology of post-Soviet consciousness deserves a separate discussion: this includes notions of Russia as the Third Rome or Kitezh-grad, the Eurasian idea, and images of statesmen, from Alexander Nevsky to I.V. Stalin, which do not always correlate with their real-life counterparts. The aforementioned fraternization also falls into this category.
However, the undoubted advantage of the myth about him is that it awakens interest both among future medievalists and simply among history buffs in the topic of Christianity in the Mongol Empire.
For this, I thank Lev Nikolaevich, whom I intend to discuss with you, dear readers, in a separate article, along with the extent to which the criticism leveled at him is justified. Gumilev deserves it.
Moal and Christian: is an equal sign possible?
In this material we will talk about Sartak’s worldview.
The question of when he was brought into the Church within the Nestorian tradition remains an open question in scholarship. The 13th-century Armenian historian K. Gandzaketsi partially lifts the veil:
He (Batu - I.Kh.) had a son named Sartakh (as in the text - I.Kh.), who was raised by a Christian nurse; when he came of age, he believed in Christ and was baptized by the Syrians who raised him.
Apparently, Batu had no objections to his son and heir's Christian background and did not interfere with his upbringing in the Nestorian tradition. Nor was this anything out of the ordinary. For example, Nestorianism was practiced by the wife of Genghis Khan's youngest son, Tolui, Sorkhahtani Beki, an ally of Batu in his confrontation with Güyük, who will also be discussed in a separate article.
But here’s the question: to what extent did Sartak, having accepted Nestorianism, continue to remain a Mongol in terms of fidelity to customs?
The assessments on this matter in the sources are polar in nature.
Thus, in his report to the French King Louis IX, the Flemish Franciscan monk Guillaume de Rubruck, who visited the Golden Horde from 1252 to 1255, generally doubted that Batu’s son professed Christianity:
As for Sartakh (that’s what the Franciscan called him – I.Kh.), I don’t know whether he believes in Christ or not.
Guillaume de Rubruck, illustration from a 14th-century manuscript
His doubts were aggravated by a certain Nestorian Mongol named Koyak, who, in a conversation with the Fleming, said:
Don't say that our master is a Christian, he is not a Christian, but a Moal.
By "moal," if I'm not mistaken, one should understand a member of the Mongol military aristocracy. Interpreting the phrase, the distinguished Russian orientalist V.V. Bartold wrote:
These words, of course, only show that, according to the Mongols, the word “Christian” had an ethnographic meaning.
That is, for a nomadic warrior, ethnic – or, to be more precise, tribal and even clan – identity came first, and religious identity came second.
And it doesn't matter who you are: Buddhist, Muslim, Christian—the main thing is to be a Mongol. Accordingly, whether practicing any of the aforementioned religions, the nomadic worldview, although it may differ in its details, will be based on a single Tengriist foundation, continuing to bear magical characteristics, as was also discussed in the aforementioned article on the correlation between the Yasa and the Koran in the Mongol Empire.
There's nothing uniquely medieval about this. It's enough to recall the traditional notion: "Russian" means "Orthodox." This is a case where national identity takes precedence over religious identity.
However, the situation in the Golden Horde began to change in the second half of the 13th and first quarter of the 14th centuries, when Berke and Uzbek converted to Islam. While I would cautiously suggest, with some reservations, that they were already more Muslim than Mongols, meaning that the confessional element in their worldview dominated the ethnic one. For more on this, see: "Passions for Uzbek: Loyalty to Tradition or the Triumph of Islam?"
In this regard, an interesting question regarding Sartak is: could, over time, in his worldview, religious identity begin to dominate over ethnic identity, as happened with his uncle Berke?
Of course, there's no definitive answer to this question. But let's still carefully try to reconstruct Sartak's worldview.
According to Koyak, he was only nominally a Christian. However, the same G. de Rubruck, on his way to the Horde, heard positive reports about Batu's son's Christian faith. In particular, one of the bishops with whom the Franciscan spoke:
I visited Sartakh; he told me many good things about Sartakh, which I later did not find.
But if G. de Rubruck was disappointed in the loyalty of Batu's son to Christianity, then K. Gandzaketsi, on the contrary, not only expressed no doubts regarding Sartak's confessional affiliation, but also painted his image in the colors of Christian piety:
He lived in constant fear of God and piety, carrying an altar with him in his tent and always performing sacred rites.
K. Gandzaketsi's information could be questioned as wishful thinking if it were not confirmed by Muslim authors.
That Sartak was a Christian, writes historian A. V. Mayorov, is mentioned in his "History of the Conqueror of the World" by Ala ad-Din Ata-Malik Juvayni (1226-1283), who was appointed by the Mongols as ruler of Baghdad, Iraq, and Khuzistan. Another Persian author of the mid-13th century, Abu Omar al-Juzjani, reports that Sartak, having converted to Christianity, showed himself to be a ruler who "treated Muslims with extreme cruelty and injustice."
Sartak, Catholicism and the Future of the Horde
But for Sartak, religion was not only a matter of personal piety but also, I suppose, a political instrument, which was generally typical of the Middle Ages. In 1253, he sent an ambassador to Rome to Pope Innocent IV.
Pope Innocent IV
By then, Batu was elderly and ill—he would die in 1256—which forced him to consider the future of the Ulus of Jochi. Yes, after the death of his enemy, Guyuk, Karakorum was ruled by Möngke, a protégé of the Golden Horde. But what would happen in the near future? How could he strengthen his own state, even if still part of the Mongol Empire, but as independent as possible from the political winds blowing from distant Karakorum?
And contacts with Rome in this case did not seem unnecessary, and Sartak’s Christian worldview came in handy.
The Pope, of course, was delighted with the prospect of establishing constructive relations with the future ruler of the most powerful power in Western Eurasia, which was only formally part of the Mongol Empire, and tried to persuade Sartak to accept Catholicism.
Innocent IV, apparently, writes A. V. Mayorov, received assurances from Ambassador Sartak regarding his master's willingness to renounce the dogmas of Nestorianism in favor of the teachings of the Catholic Church. This follows from the pontiff's words to the khan: "Consolation, we say, ceaselessly and praise the fact that, having taken nothing from the graves of the dead, who could not hear the voice of the Gospel of Christ, you trusted in the spiritual life awakened by the irrational surge of thought, thanks to which you will be able to participate in the holy resurrection of the living."
Had Sartak lived longer and converted to Catholicism, what would have been the nature of relations between Rus' and the Horde? I don't think anything would have changed significantly; after all, the Islamic foundation in the Ulus of Jochi, thanks to the conquered Volga Bulgaria and, to an even greater extent, Khorezm, was stronger than the Christian one.
Muslims in the Golden Horde possessed greater financial resources than Christians and, accordingly, had effective leverage over the conquerors, some of whom, however, converted to Orthodoxy. The most striking example is the son of Batu Ordu's elder brother, who was baptized with the name Peter and settled in Rostov. In 1547, he was canonized.
An icon depicting a scene from the life of Saint Peter, Tsarevich of Orda
But although such cases became events in the political life of the Golden Horde elite, they did not have a significant impact on it.
Here we must take into account that, unlike the Franciscans, the Russian clergy showed no inclination toward missionary work in the Horde and lacked the mentality necessary for it. What do I mean by this?
Book culture in Rus' was concentrated in monasteries and found expression in chronicles. It's hard for me to imagine a Plano Carpini or Guillaume de Rubruck among Russian scribes, especially those shaken by the apocalyptic consequences of the invasion and trying to understand it. I'm talking about the tragic and turning point in the fate of Rus' in the 13th century.
A century earlier, yes, there was a monk named Kuksha Pechersky, who preached Christianity among the Vyatichi and was martyred by pagans—apparently his own tribe. In the second half of the 14th century, Stefan Permsky, a friend of St. Sergius of Radonezh, became famous as a missionary and, like Kuksha, was canonized.
But if we reconstruct the Russian scribe's worldview for the period under consideration, the Mongols are an instrument of God's providence, His scourge, with which the Lord punishes the Russian princes for their sins and appoints them an "impious" but legitimate tsar, as discussed in the previous article: "The Drama of Mikhail of Chernigov. Act Two: The Background to the Massacre."
Such ideas have little correlation with missionary work.
As for intellectuals in the Catholic world, they, on the contrary, saw the Mongols as a force capable of aiding them in their struggle against the Saracens. This same view was very vividly expressed in his report by G. de Rubruck:
We have heard that your lord Sarcaht is said to be a Christian in the Holy Land, and the Christians are greatly pleased by this, especially the most Christian sovereign, the King of the Franks, who is wandering there and fighting the Saracens to wrest the holy places from their hands; therefore, I intend to go to Sarcaht and bring him a letter from the lord king, in which he instructs him on the benefits of all Christianity.
A.K. Gandzaketsi noted:
The Tatars (meaning their victories - I.Kh.) were greatly helped by the fact that their appearance was preceded by rumors that they were magicians and Christians, performing miracles and had come to take revenge on the Muslims for the oppression of Christians.
For their part, the Russian princes did not clash with the Islamic world on religious grounds—where was Kyiv, let alone Vladimir, and where was Baghdad, of which they had only a vague idea. However, the occasional wars between the Vladimir-Suzdal Principality and Volga Bulgaria are difficult to view in religious terms, including the campaigns of Andrei Bogolyubsky.
The Russian archpastors made their journeys to Sarai reluctantly and mainly on demand—the most famous example being the trip to the Horde of Moscow Metropolitan Alexy to see Uzbek Taidula's widow.
Plus, the level of education of Western intellectuals, it must be admitted, was generally higher than that of Russian scribes, and accordingly, their political horizons seemed broader, including from the point of view of geography, forgive the tautology, of political interests, identical in the worldview of adherents of Catholic orders - the same Franciscans - to religious ones.
The Russian lands themselves interested the Horde economically—a timely exit, and even under Berke, the issue of supplying a military contingent had been raised, settled by Alexander Nevsky. The Mongol elite, with the exception of rare exceptions, showed no deep interest in Rus' culture or religion.
But let's return to Sartak. His biography contains an interesting episode involving illness and healing. This is a fairly common theme in hagiographic literature—recall the story in the life of St. Alexis of Moscow about his healing of Taidula. Sartak's recovery story is similar.
The king's son (referring to Batu's son—I.Kh.) fell gravely ill, and the doctors were generally powerless. Then the king summoned our flock and other Christians to him, saying that if their God did not heal his son, they would have to pay for it with their health and property. However, if the child recovered, the king would willingly convert to their faith immediately. Therefore, the Christians declared a three-day fast among themselves, and made the sign of the cross over the sick man, invoking the name of Christ, who suddenly turned his healing face upon the sick man and delivered him from his suffering. After this, the king was to be baptized, and after him his entire household, and now more than fifty thousand Tatars. This Armenian, the king's ambassador, was received with honor by the supreme pontiff. He was provided with necessary clothing and provisions for the duration of his stay. He was to deliver a reply from our lord the Pope back to his lord, from whence he came."
One way or another, Batu's son apparently not only nominally professed Christianity, while remaining, as Koyak noted, a moal, but was also keenly interested in the foundations of his chosen religion.
According to A. V. Mayorov:
During the reception (of the delegation of G. de Rubruck – I.Kh.) Sartak was presented with a Psalter and a Bible, and he himself asked whether there was a Gospel in this Bible.
Moreover, Christianity also aroused Batu’s interest:
There is evidence, writes A. V. Mayorov, that not only Sartak but also his father, Batu, had an inclination toward Christianity and may even have been a Christian himself, though he avoided openly admitting it. The Persian author Wassaf, a contemporary of Rashid ad-Din, disapprovingly reports that Batu "was of the Christian faith, and Christianity is contrary to common sense, but he had no inclination or preference for any one religious faith or teaching, and he was a stranger to intolerance and boasting." According to Juvayni, Batu "was a king who was not inclined toward any faith or religion: he recognized only faith in God and was not blindly devoted to any sect or teaching."
In light of the above, the question may arise: if Sartak had accepted Catholicism, would the prelates sent to his headquarters by the Pope have tried to convince the newly converted Golden Horde to plant the Latin faith among the Russian "schismatics"?
In my opinion, Sartak would hardly have changed his father's religious policy, which was based on religious tolerance. No, if he had been a neophyte, he might have started acting rashly.
Neophytes often demonstrate religious fervor—remember Clovis, for example. But Batu's son was not a neophyte. Accordingly, his possible conversion to Catholicism would have occurred within the framework of an already established Christian worldview and, I don't think, through the removal of his previous Nestorian environment. I believe religious tolerance within this framework would have remained one of its cornerstones.
But I will emphasize again: in the ethnopolitical realities of the Golden Horde, Christianity could not become an alternative to Islam.
Sartak unexpectedly died in 1256 and, according to the 13th century Armenian historian Vardan the Great:
His death was a great grief for Christians, for he was a perfect Christian and was often responsible for the salvation of many, converting both his own and strangers to the Christian faith.
Nestorian cross, circa 13th – 14th century
The Muslim Berke came to power in Sarai. The difficult, yet, I believe, inevitable, process of Islamization of the Horde began.
But if we consider the context of Russian history, every cloud has a silver lining. Uzbek's forcible imposition of Islam led to the exodus of some of the Golden Horde's military elite to the lands of the Grand Duchy of Vladimir, which eventually led to their adoption of Orthodoxy and the strengthening of the military potential of the rising Moscow. L.N. Gumilev also wrote about this, and it's hard to argue with him.
References
Abaeva L.L. Christian Variations and Motifs in the Mongolian World: The Phenomenon of Religious Conversion
Gorsky A.A. Two "inconvenient" facts from the biography of Alexander Nevsky
Gridneva M. V. Attitude towards Christianity in the Ulus of Jochi: Interpretation of One Statement // Current Issues in Church Science. Proceedings of the XIV International Student Scientific and Theological Conference. St. Petersburg, May 16–17, 2022. St. Petersburg Theological Academy Publishing House, 2022. pp. 125–128
Zhirkov F.R. The Mongols on Campaign and Everyday Life (Based on the Notes of Carpini and Rubruck)
Kirakos Gandzaketsi. History of Armenia / Translated from Old Armenian, preface and commentary by L. A. Khanlaryan. Moscow: Main Editorial Board of Eastern Literature, Nauka Publishing House, 1976
Mayorov A. Letter from Pope Innocent IV to the Golden Horde appanage ruler Sartak
Pochekaev R. Yu. Guarantees of the rights and privileges of the Orthodox clergy in the Golden Horde labels of the Russian church of the 13th–14th centuries // Paleorossiya. Ancient Rus: in time, in personalities, in ideas. 2022. No. 4 (20). Pp. 71–81
Rashid ad-Din Collection of Chronicles. Vol. 2.
Shulga D. P., Durova M. V. Nestorianism: the path of the “bright teaching” through four empires // Bulletin of NSU. Series: History, Philology. 2020. Vol. 19, No. 4: Oriental Studies. Pp. 51–58
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