Description

John Mandeville’s Travels (a copy of which is the Library’s oldest book) describes necromancers and diviners playing a prominent role at the court of the Mongol Great Qa’an, placing esoteric skill at the heart of empire. Starting from accounts of the mage and scholar Sakkākī’s service at the court of Chinggis Qan’s son Chaghadai, this talk will explore the scattered references to magic and esoteric knowledge at the Mongol courts.

Geoff Humble, an independent scholar and a Library member for a few years now, holds an MA in Mongolian Studies from Leeds and a PhD in Medieval History from Birmingham. Research leading to this talk draws on participation in the European Research Council project “Mobility, Empire and Cross Cultural Contacts in Mongol Eurasia” based at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Leverhulme-funded research project, “A Sorcerer’s Handbook” based at Exeter.