<p>The Journal of William de Rubruck: Account of the Mongols. William of Rubruck (1220?1293) was a Flemish Franciscan missionary and explorer. His account is one of the masterpieces of medieval geographical literature comparable to that of Marco Polo and Ibn Battuta.<br><br>William accompanied King Louis IX of France on the Seventh Crusade in 1248. On May 7, 1253, on Louis' orders, he set out from Constantinople on a missionary journey to co...