Medieval Western fantasies about the Mongols proved astonishingly accurate
Evidence
Much of this was fantasy, but not all. It is true that King David turned out to be Jenghis Khan, and that he died without having captured Baghdad, and that his Christian knights were a figment of the imagination, and that the Mongols were to send shivers down the spines of quiet men in Western monasteries for many years to come. But the main elements in the fantasy were in the end to identify themselves as historical facts with quite astonishing accuracy. Baghdad did ultimately fall to the Mongols, the eastern Christians if not knights were at least numerous, and the Christians of Georgia, if not reliable or Catholic, at least were real. — R. W. Southern, Western Views of Islam in the Middle…, 301
Categorization
- XREF: Parallels the broader theme in medieval history writing of prophecy and rumor that accidentally hit historical targets — resonates with material on apocalyptic expectations and the Mongols in the ‘world picture’ tradition.
Related
- By 1220 Christians projected apocalyptic victory onto real Mongol conquests (similarity 0.83)
- Medieval Christians doubted Islam’s truth yet marveled at its success (similarity 0.78)
- The Mongols’ appearance transformed the Western world picture of Islam (similarity 0.78)