Guillaume Boucher Explained

Guillaume Boucher (fl. 1240–1254), also known as William of Paris and William Boucher, was a French Parisian metalsmith and artisan who lived and worked in Karakorum, Mongolia during the reign of Möngke Khan.^{[1] [2]}

Biography

When the Flemish Franciscan missionary and traveller William of Rubruck reached Karakorum in 1254 on a mission from King Louis IX of France, he discovered a community of European Christians already present in service of the Great Khan, including Boucher.^[3]

Present with Boucher in Karakorum were his wife, “a daughter of Lorraine, but born in Hungary”,^[4] and an adopted son “who was a most excellent interpreter”.^[5] Boucher had been living in either present day Belgrade, Serbia or Gyulafehérvár, Hungary when he was captured by Möngke's half-brother Böchek during a Mongol invasion in 1241 or 1242.^[6] According to a woman from Metz William of Rubruck met at the Great Khan's winter camp, Boucher's brother Roger still lived on the Grand Pont in Paris.^{[7] [8]}

In addition to crafting jewelry for Mongolian women and altars for Nestorian Christians, Boucher's works included the Silver Tree, a towering tree-shaped mechanical drinking fountain sculpture outside the Great Khan's palace.^{[9] [10]}

The structure included a trumpet-blowing angel, four silver lions “all belching the forth white milk of mares,” and gilded serpents pouring wine, clarified mare's milk, bal (a honey drink), and rice mead into silver receiving bowls.^{[11] [12]}

While remains of the fountain are as of yet undiscovered,^[13] German-Italian Medieval and Renaissance scholar Leonardo Olschki believed some of Boucher's works may still exist in the Erdene Zuu Monastery, which was constructed from the ruins of Karakorum in the sixteenth century.^[14]

Sources

• Guzman, Gregory G. "European Captives and Craftsmen among the Mongols, 1231–1255". The Historian, Vol. 72, No. 1 (2010), pp. 122–150.
• Olschki, Leonardo. Guillaume Boucher A French Artist At The Court Of The Khans. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 1946.
• Rockhill, William Woodville, ed. & trans. The Journey of William of Rubruck to the Eastern Parts of the World, 1253-1255. London: Hakluyt Society, 1900.
• Uzelac, Aleksander. "Notes on the Capture of William Buchier by the Mongols in Hungary", Medieval History of Central Eurasia, No. 1, 2020.

Notes and References

1. , Guillaume Boucher A French Artist At The Court Of The Khans (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 1946) p. 2
2. Book: Morris Rossabi . 2014 . From Yuan to Modern China and Mongolia: The Writings of Morris Rossabi. Leiden . Brill . 978-90-04-28529-3 . 670–.
3. William Woodville Rockhill, ed. & trans., The Journey of William of Rubruck to the Eastern Parts of the World, 1253-1255 (London: Hakluyt Society, 1900) p. 211
4. Rockhill p. 211
5. Rockhill p. 177
6. “Notes on the Capture of William Buchier by the Mongols in Hungary,” by Aleksander Uzelac, Medieval History of Central Eurasia. No. 1, 2020 p. 27
7. Olschki p. 28
8. Rockhill p. 177
9. Field. Devon. 4 April 2019. The Khan’s Drinking Fountain . The Public Domain Review. 17 September 2023.
10. Morton. Nicholas. 28 July 2023. How an English Exile Ended Up at the Court of Genghis Khan’s Grandson . Smithsonian Magazine. 17 September 2023.
11. Rockhill p. 208
12. “Dietary Decadence and Dynastic Decline in the Mongol Empire,” by John Masson Smith Jr., Journal of Asian History, vol. 34, no. 1, 2000. p. 6
13. Tucker. Abigail. 24 March 2009. Genghis Khan’s Treasures. Smithsonian Magazine. 17 September 2023.
14. Olschki p. 4