Carpini, Giovanni da Pian del

Carpini, Giovanni da Pian del, b 1182 in Umbria, Italy, d 1 August 1252. Italian Franciscan and traveler. In 1245–7 he headed the mission of Pope Innocent IV to the Mongols. On his way through Ukraine in 1245 and 1247 he received aid from princes Danylo Romanovych and Vasylko Romanovych of Volhynia and served as an intermediary between them and the pope. He described his travels in Liber Tartarorum, which contains valuable information about Ukraine, particularly a description of Kyiv.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Beazley, C.R. (ed). The Texts and Versions of John de Plano Carpini (1903; repr 1967)