Gobert de Helleville

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Gobert de Helleville was a French nobleman from Helleville in Normandy, who was sent to the Mongols by the king Philip the Fair in 1288. Gobert accompanied the Mongol ambassador Rabban Bar Sauma on his return trip.

Helleville Commune in Normandy, France

Helleville is a commune in the Manche department in north-western France.

Normandy Administrative region of France

Normandy is one of the 18 regions of France, roughly referring to the historical Duchy of Normandy.

The Mongols are an East-Central Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia and to China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. They also live as minorities in other regions of China, as well as in Russia. Mongolian people belonging to the Buryat and Kalmyk subgroups live predominantly in the Russian federal subjects of Buryatia and Kalmykia.

Gobert is indirectly mentioned in the Syrian accounts describing Rabban Bar Sauma's voyage to Christians lands:

"And he said unto us, "I will send with you one of the great Amirs whom I have here with me to give an answer to King Arghon"; and the king gave Rabban Sawma gifts and apparel of great price."
"The Monks of Kublai Khan Emperor of China [1]

Gobert de Helleville departed on February 2, 1288, with two clercs Robert de Senlis and Guillaume de Bruyères, as well as arbaletier Audin de Bourges. They joined Bar Sauma in Rome, and accompanied him to Persia. [2]

Notes

  1. The Monks of Kublai Khan
  2. "Histoires des Croisades III", Rene Grousset

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