I was reading this wiki article on a recent lengthy trip down the wikipedia rabbit-hole: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giovanni_da_Pian_del_Carpine
In 1245 Giovanni (or Johannes on wiki) was sent by Pope Innocent IV as the first formal Catholic mission to the Mongols. He eventually made it all the way to Mongolia and the court of Güyük Khan, who had just been enthroned. Amongst other thing, Johannes asked the Khan to convert to Christianity (he said no). Wiki then says:
He [Guyuk Khan] gave them a letter to the Pope—written in Mongol, Arabic, and Latin—that was a brief imperious assertion of the Khan's office as the scourge of God.
My fundamental question is: How were they able to compose it in Latin? AFAIK, the Mongols only even reached the eastern edges of Europe in 1237. So, did the Mongols have their own Europeans kept at court for this purpose? Did they communicate in Arabic as a middle ground language that some Europeans and some Mongols would both know?
I'd also be interested in the reverse of this question, i.e.: Would Pope Innocent IV have had people available to him who spoke Mongol?
Again from wiki: Johannes took with him Benedict of Poland who acted as his 'translator' - (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benedict_of_Poland). What languages he was translating from/to is not clear as wiki only says he spoke Latin.
More generally, I'm surprised this story of an official European Catholic mission hanging out in the Mongol capital for a while isn't better known. Especially given the ongoing fascination with Marco Polo who maybe didn't do anything in the Far East, and if he did, did it much later anyway.
>The interpresters read the papal letters; the Khan was displeased that the Pope should urge him to receive baptism and criticize the Mongol massacres in Poland and Hungary, and he dictated a curt and uncompromising reply, which remarkably reflects Mongol notions of political theory and public law, partly borrowed from the Chinese. To the Pope's complaint of the ill-treatment of Christian nations, he answers, perhaps with honest bewilderment: 'I do not understand these words of yours. The Eternal Heaven (Tengri) has slain and annihilated these peoples, because they have adhered neither to Chingis Khan nor to the Khagan, both of whom have been sent to make known God's command.'
>As to the request to be baptized: 'Thou, who art the great Pope, together with all the princes, come in person to serve us. At that time I shall make known all the commands of the Yasa.' The missive ends on a note of menace: 'If you do not observe God's command, and if you ignore my command, I shall know you as my enemy. Likewise I shall make you understand. If you do otherwise, God knows what I know.'
Source:
Saunders, J. J. "The Christian Response." The History of the Mongol Conquests. London: Routledge & K. Paul, 1971. 94, 95. Print.
BONUS!
Here is a scan of the actual letter that the Khan sent to Pope Innocent IV
This was an actual attempt from the Vatican to explain to a completely alien culture (the Mongols) what Christianity was about, and to ask for peace.
It's so ridiculously hilarious that the Vatican thought this would be an appropriate way to talk about Christianity with someone completely unfamiliar with its doctrine. It's full of references to [ridiculous] christian concepts stated matter-of-factly.
It's a funny reminder of how easy it is to see how absurd religious concepts can be from an outside perspective. But perplexingly, people from within the establishment are completely oblivious.
Additionally, the word for "peace" was synonymous to the word for "submission" in the Mongolian vocabulary of the day which may have added to the confusion.
The Khan, of course, replied by asking for the submission of the pope and his followers.
I don't want to step on anybody's toes here, but the amount of non-dad jokes here in this subreddit really annoys me. First of all, dad jokes CAN be NSFW, it clearly says so in the sub rules. Secondly, it doesn't automatically make it a dad joke if it's from a conversation between you and your child. Most importantly, the jokes that your CHILDREN tell YOU are not dad jokes. The point of a dad joke is that it's so cheesy only a dad who's trying to be funny would make such a joke. That's it. They are stupid plays on words, lame puns and so on. There has to be a clever pun or wordplay for it to be considered a dad joke.
Again, to all the fellow dads, I apologise if I'm sounding too harsh. But I just needed to get it off my chest.
Alot of great jokes get posted here! However just because you have a joke, doesn't mean it's a dad joke.
THIS IS NOT ABOUT NSFW, THIS IS ABOUT LONG JOKES, BLONDE JOKES, SEXUAL JOKES, KNOCK KNOCK JOKES, POLITICAL JOKES, ETC BEING POSTED IN A DAD JOKE SUB
Try telling these sexual jokes that get posted here, to your kid and see how your spouse likes it.. if that goes well, Try telling one of your friends kid about your sex life being like Coca cola, first it was normal, than light and now zero , and see if the parents are OK with you telling their kid the "dad joke"
I'm not even referencing the NSFW, I'm saying Dad jokes are corny, and sometimes painful, not sexual
So check out r/jokes for all types of jokes
r/unclejokes for dirty jokes
r/3amjokes for real weird and alot of OC
r/cleandadjokes If your really sick of seeing not dad jokes in r/dadjokes
Punchline !
Edit: this is not a post about NSFW , This is about jokes, knock knock jokes, blonde jokes, political jokes etc being posted in a dad joke sub
Edit 2: don't touch the thermostat
Do your worst!
They were cooked in Greece.
I'm surprised it hasn't decade.
Two muffins are in an oven, one muffin looks at the other and says "is it just me, or is it hot in here?"
Then the other muffin says "AHH, TALKING MUFFIN!!!"
Don't you know a good pun is its own reword?
Ants don’t even have the concept fathers, let alone a good dad joke. Keep r/ants out of my r/dadjokes.
But no, seriously. I understand rule 7 is great to have intelligent discussion, but sometimes it feels like 1 in 10 posts here is someone getting upset about the jokes on this sub. Let the mods deal with it, they regulate the sub.
For context I'm a Refuse Driver (Garbage man) & today I was on food waste. After I'd tipped I was checking the wagon for any defects when I spotted a lone pea balanced on the lifts.
I said "hey look, an escaPEA"
No one near me but it didn't half make me laugh for a good hour or so!
Edit: I can't believe how much this has blown up. Thank you everyone I've had a blast reading through the replies 😂
It really does, I swear!
And now I’m cannelloni
Because she wanted to see the task manager.
But that’s comparing apples to oranges
And boy are my arms legs.
Heard they've been doing some shady business.
but then I remembered it was ground this morning.
Edit: Thank you guys for the awards, they're much nicer than the cardboard sleeve I've been using and reassures me that my jokes aren't stale
Edit 2: I have already been made aware that Men In Black 3 has told a version of this joke before. If the joke is not new to you, please enjoy any of the single origin puns in the comments
They’re on standbi
A play on words.
My daughter, Chewbecca, not so much.
Pilot on me!!
Nothing, he was gladiator.
Or would that be too forward thinking?
Dad jokes are supposed to be jokes you can tell a kid and they will understand it and find it funny.
This sub is mostly just NSFW puns now.
If it needs a NSFW tag it's not a dad joke. There should just be a NSFW puns subreddit for that.
Edit* I'm not replying any longer and turning off notifications but to all those that say "no one cares", there sure are a lot of you arguing about it. Maybe I'm wrong but you people don't need to be rude about it. If you really don't care, don't comment.
What did 0 say to 8 ?
" Nice Belt "
So What did 3 say to 8 ?
" Hey, you two stop making out "
When I got home, they were still there.
