Chronology
Nicholas Zharkikh
The Rubruk's book contains a lot of exact dates, named by religious holidays. Rubruk was carrying a missal (which he repeatedly mentioned) and, of course, noted the days of journey with it. There is no doubt that he writed notes on his impressions in the form of rough notes (at least on the big stops), although he did not leave any hints on these notes.
To read Rubruk's dates not cause much difficulty, given: 1, then operated the Julian calendar; 2, religious holidays should look for Catholic church calendar; 3, counting days of week Rubruk began on Sunday and ending Saturday (like modern English count).
I will bring all chronological instructions from the book for reference. Part of them borrowed from comments to the above-mentioned russian publication of Rubruk, and some added by me. Sometimes dates, deducted by me, differ by 1 – 3 days from the same in the comments, for unknown reasons. While comparing dates in commentaries to russian translation (1957) and english translations by W. Rockhill (1900) and P. Jackson (1990), I observe that dates in russian edition in general corresponds to W. Rockhill's ones (and probably borrowed from him); but my calculations corresponds to P. Jackson's dates.
In three cases, I noticed errors in the comments and made appropriate corrections. All these changes appear in bold. But all this refinement does not significantly affect the general chronology of the journey.
To calculate the date of Easter and all the transitional holidays I enjoyed friendly program on the site ihope.ru.
| Head | Calendar date | Rubruk's description | Event |
| 1 | In the commentary – April 12, 1253, by my count – April 13, 1253 | Palm Sunday | publicly preached in Saint Sophia [in Constantinople, before sailing] |
| 1 | May 7, 1253 | 1253, Nones of May | I entered the Sea of Pontus |
| 1 | May 21, 1253 | on the 12th of the calends of June | We arrived then in Soldaia |
| 1 | June 1, 1253 | about the calends of June | We set out on our journey |
| 11 | June 1 – July 31, 1253 | For two months | from the time we left Soldaia to when we came to Sartach |
| 12 | In the commentary – June 5, 1253, by my count – June 6, 1253 | on the octave of Ascension | I also gave him [Scatay] the letter from the emperor of Constantinople |
| 12 | In the commentary – June 7, 1253, by my count – June 9, 1253 | until the day after Pentecost | we went about with him [Scatay] |
| 15 | July 22, 1253 | a few days before the feast of blessed Mary Magdalen | we came to the great river Tanais |
| 15 | for three days | we remained there on the river bank | |
| 15 | July 31, 1253 | on the second day of the Calends of August | we reached the camp of Sartach |
| 17 | August 1, 1253 | on the Feast of Saint Peter in Chains | meeting with Sartach |
| 18 | August 2, 1253 | The next morning, | came to us a priest |
| 20 | July 31 – August 3, 1253 | During the four days | we were at Sartach's ordu |
| 18 | August 6, 1253 | on the third day [on the departure from Sartach] | we came to the Etilia |
| 22 | August 14, 1253 | On the eve of the Assumption | he (Gosset) reached the ordu of Sartach |
| 22 | August 15, 1253 | next day | the Nestorian priests were dressed in our vestments in the presence of Sartach |
| 22 | August 12 – September 16, 1253. Here I am counting down 35 days from the next date | for 5 weeks | We drove about with Baatu, following the Etilia down its course |
| 22 | September 16, 1253 | about the feast of the Elevation of the Holy Cross | we left [from the headquarters of Batu] |
| 22 | November 1, 1253 | until the feast of All Saints | we rode constantly eastward |
| 23 | September 28, 1253 | After traveling twelve days from the Etilia | we found a great river which they call Jagac |
| 23 | September 16 – November 1, 1253 | from the feast of the Holy Cross to the feast of All Saints | we rode through the country of the Cangle |
| 24 | September 29, 1253 | from the date of the feast of Saint Michael | we had had frost in the desert |
| 24 | October 31, 1253 | The eve of All Saints | we left the road to the east |
| 24 | until November 7, 1253 | continually for eight days | we made our way by some alps due south |
| 24 | November 8, 1253 | On the octave of All Saints | we entered a certain town of Saracens called Kinchat |
| 25 | November 9, 1253? | The next day | we came to another village |
| 25 | A few days later | we entered the alps | |
| 25 | After that… After that… | ||
| 25 | November 16 – 17, 1253? | The next day | crossed those mountains |
| 25 | November 17 – 29, 1253, calculated from the date of leaving Cailac | twelve days | Here [in Cailac] we rested |
| 26 | November 18, 1253 | The day following was the first of the month and the Easter of the Saracens | |
| 29 | November 30, 1253 | On the feast of Saint Andrew | we left this city (of Cailac) |
| 29 | December 6, 1253 | On the feast of Saint Nicholas | we began greatly accelerating our speed |
| 29 | December 13, 1253 | On the second Saturday of Advent, in the evening, | we passed through a very scary place among the rocks |
| 31 | December 26, 1253 | on the day of the Blessed Stephen | we entered a plain vast as a sea |
| 31 | December 27, 1253 | the following day, on the feast of St. John the Evangelist | we arrived at the ordu of the great lord |
| 32 | There is a contradiction, since in 1254 Easter was April 12 | about Easter, which was at the end of April | there fell so much snow |
| 32 | In the commentary – January 3, 1254, by my count – January 4, 1254 | On the Octave of the Innocents | we were taken to court |
| 35 | January 6, 1254 | the day of the Epiphany | and an Armenian monk named Sergius told me that baptize Mangu Khan, on this day |
| 36 | January 10, 1254, Sundays were 4, January 11, 1254 | on the day before the octave of the Epiphany | we settled with a monk in front of the ordu |
| 36 | January 11, 1254 | The next day, that is on the octave of the Epiphany | all the Nestorian priests assembled before dawn in the chapel |
| 37 | Septuagesima = Easter – 64 days, in our case – February 7, 1254 | Before Septuagesima Sunday | the Nestorians fast three days |
| 37 | February 13, 1254 | W. Rockhill's translation (1900): Sunday of Septuagesima (Feb 7) P. Jackson's translation (1990): Septuagesima Saturday Russian translation by A.Malein (1911), to which we follow: Septuagesima Saturday (Feb 13) |
which is as it were the Easter of the Hermenians, we went in procession to the dwelling of Mangu |
| 38 | Sexagesima = Easter – 57 days in our case – February 14, 1254 | Sunday of Sexagesima | the lady Cota, who had fallen ill |
| 40 | In the commentary – February 23, 1254, by my count – February 22, 1254 | When came Quinquagesima | |
| 40 | March 1, 1254 | on Quadragesima Sunday | we were called to the court |
| 41 | Around March 20, 1254 | Toward the middle of Lent | the son of master William arrived |
| 41 | There is a contradiction in Rubruk's text. Since the first day of the week is Sunday, Sunday of Holy Week (Passion Sunday) is the same thing that Palm Sunday marked separately in the next record. The commentary states: March 29, 1254, that one week prior to Palm Sunday. With this correction we can agree, considering the course of events: March 29, Khan started in the direction to Karakorum, and April 5 close to the city. | toward Passion Sunday | khan started out with his light tents |
| 41 | April 5, 1254 | On Palm Sunday | we were near the Karakoram. |
| 42 | Maundy Thursday – April 9, Easter – April 12, 1254 | Holy Thursday and Easter were nigh | and I did not have our vestments |
| 44 | In the commentary – May 7, 1254; by my calculations, Ascension Day was May 21, 1254 and Sunday before it – May 17, 1254 | Sunday before Ascension | We arrived in Karakorum |
| 44 | during the whole of January, February, March, April, and May | we had been at the Mangu Chan court | |
| 45 | May 24, 1254 | The next day, which was Sunday before Pentecost | they took me to court |
| 45 | May 30, 1254 | Pentecost eve came | Preparing for debate |
| 46 | May 31, 1254 | On Pentecost day | Mangu Chan called me before him |
| 48 | June 7, 1254 | on the octave of Pentecost | held his great ceremony |
| 48 | June 24, 1254 | On the feast of Saint John | khan held a great drinking bout |
| 48 | June 29, 1254 | on the feast of the apostles Peter and Paul | likewise |
| 48 | July 8, 1254 | a fortnight after the feast of saint John | we were to take our leave |
| 49 | Exactly 72 days before the September 16, 1254 | In two months and ten days | we came to Baatu |
| 49 | September 16, 1254 | the same day we had left it a year previously, the second day after the Elevation of the holy Cross | We reached the ordu of Baatu |
| 49 | September 16 – October 16, 1254 | about for a month | We drove with him Baatu |
| 49 | In a comment – October 16, 1254; by my count – October 18, 1254 | fifteen days before the feast of All Saints | So we started in the direction of Saraj |
| 50 | November 1, 1254 | on the feast of All Saints | Leaving Saraj |
| 50 | In the commentaries: russian edition (1957) and W. Rockhill's translation (1900): December 15, 1254; P. Jackson's translation (1990) December 13. This is a mistake. In the Catholic church day of st.Martin of Tours – November 11, st.Martin of Braga – March 20, st.Pope Martin I – April 14. From all this suits us just the day of Martin of Tours – November 11, 1254, which is commonly referred to as St. Martin's day; this agrees better with the subsequent chronological indications. | by the feast of Saint Martin | we reached the mountains of the Alans |
| 50 | November 12, 1254 | The next day | we came to the Iron Gate |
| 51 | In the commentary – from November 23, 1254 to February 15, 1255 November 23 – day of st.Pope Clement 1st; November 25 – day of st.Clement of Okhrid (Orthodox, for Rubruk may not holy); December 4 – day of st.Clement of Alexandria. In general we can agree with the commenter that Rubruck meant St. pope Clement, because it is much better known than Clement of Alexandria. |
from the feast of saint Clement (23rd November) to the second Sunday of Quadragesima | So we ascended along the Araxes |
| 51 | December 25, 1254 | I kept the Christmas feast as well as I could | in Naxua |
| 51 | January 13, 1255 | on the Octave of the Epiphany | We only left city Naxua |
| 51 | January 17, 1255 | In four days | we came to the country of Sahensa |
| 51 | February 2, 1255 | On the (feast of the) Purification | I was in a town called Aini |
| 51 | In the commentary – 15 February 1255, i. e. double error (2 + 15 = 17; Feb 15 was Monday, 17 – Wednesday). I assumed an error in Rubruk's text – instead «15 days» should be «5 days». According to my calculations, Sunday of Quadragesima was February 7, 1255 | In fifteen days, on the Sunday of Quadragesima | from that city we entered the country of the Soldan of Turkie |
| 52 | February 14, 1255 | on the second Sunday after Quadragesima | we came to the head of the Araxes |
| 52 | March 21 – 27, 1255 | in the Greater Week | We were in Sebaste in Lesser Hermenia |
| 52 | April 4, 1255 | On the Octave of Easter | we came to Cesarea of Capadocia |
| 52 | April 19, 1255 | After that in fifteen days | we came to Iconium |
| 52 | May 5, 1255 | the day before the Ascension | I arrived to Curta, a port of the king of Hermenia |
| 52 | May 17, 1255 | to the day after Pentecost | I remained in the [port] |
| 51 | June 17, 1255 | eight days before the feast of saint John the Baptist | I entered to Cyprus |
| 52 | June 29, 1255 | for the feast of the Apostles Peter and Paul | We were in Antioch |
| 53 | August 15, 1255 | on the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin | In Tripoli we held our chapter |