Wilhelm Boucher

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William Boucher (lat .: Willelmus Buchier ; French .: Guillaume Boucher ) was a metalsmith , who in the mid-13th century in the capital of the Mongol Empire Karakorum worked.

Boucher came from Paris , his father was Lorenz Boucher and his brother Roger had a residential area on the "big bridge" ( Pont au Change ). In the wake of a French cleric, he moved to Belgrade and was taken prisoner by the Mongols who invaded Hungary in 1241 , from whom he was abducted to Karakoram . There he first became a slave to the Sorkhatani Beki and, after their death, that of their youngest son Arigkbugha , brother of Möngke Khan . Despite his bondage, he was allowed to marry a woman, the daughter of a Lorraine native, who was, however, born in Hungary. In April 1254 he met the missionary traveler Wilhelm von Rubruk in Karakorum , whom he became a well-known informant and whom he made available to his young journeyman, who was like a son to him, as a reliable interpreter.

Master Buchier's silver drinking tree as a modern fountain replica in the complex of the Hotel Mongolia (Монгол Шилтгээн) east of Ulaanbaatar .

Rubruk reported on the skill of Master Bouchers, who was particularly good at making unusual silver objects such as book fittings for psalteries or reliquaries. His most impressive work, however, was the large silver drinking tree (magnam arborem argenteam) , which he made for the Great Khan's palace in Karakorum to cultivate the drinking binge popular with the Mongols. A system of four tubes was installed in the trunk of the tree, which began hidden from view in a pantry attached to the palace. Bundled in the trunk, the tubes first led up to the top of the tree, from there they fell down again as richly decorated branches, each aligned in a cardinal direction, through which the drinks could flow into four collecting containers that were set up under the ends of the branches. On the top of the tree stood an angel with a functioning trumpet, which was played by a servant who had to sit hidden in the trunk. If the drinks in the collecting containers were running low, the khan's cupbearer would call this to the angel, whereupon the servant in the tribe played the trumpet, the sound of which in turn signaled the servants in the pantry that they wanted more. So they poured the desired drinks into their designated tubes, from which they flowed out again at the ends of the branches in the palace for the drinkers. There was a drink for each pipe: wine , fermented mare's milk without yeast ( Airag ), honey mead (Bal) and rice wine .

The drinking tree was set up at the entrance to the palace, opposite the Khan's elevated throne, with stairs leading up to each side. If the khan wanted a drink, his cupbearer had to scoop it out of the respective container tree, climb the stairs to the khan to hand it to him and then go down the stairs on the other side again with the learned sound. In the space between the throne and the drinking tree, the supplicants and envoys could come before the khan to pay their respects.

When Rubruk began his return journey in July 1254, Master Boucher took his companion Bartholomew of Cremona, who had become unfit for travel, into his care. For this he has an artistically designed belt, decorated with a large gemstone, as a gift for King Ludwig IX. given by France because the latter had once been its master.

source

  • Wilhelm von Rubruk : Itinerarium ad partes orientales. Edited by Francisque Michel, Theodor Wright: Voyage en orient du frère Guillaume de Rubruk, de l'ordre des frères mineurs, l'an de grace M. CC. LIII. In: Recueil de voyages et de mémoires publié par la société de geographie. Vol. 4 (1839), pp. 205-396.

Remarks

  1. ↑ Especially in English-language literature, the surname is retained in the Latin form handed down by Rubruk. This article, on the other hand, uses the French transcription that is well established in scientific publications. Cf. Gregory G. Guzman: European clerical envoys to the Mongols: Reports of Western merchants in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, 1231-1255, in: Journal of Medieval History, Vol. 22 (1996), p. 63, note 53 .
  2. ↑ See Rubruk, p. 309.
  3. ↑ See Rubruk, p. 347.
  4. ↑ See Rubruk, p. 337.
  5. ↑ See Rubruk, pp. 355, 359.
  6. ↑ See Rubruk, pp. 334–336
  7. ↑ See Rubruk, p. 374.
personal data
SURNAME Wilhelm Boucher
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Willelmus Buchier (Latin); Guillaume Boucher (French)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French blacksmith in Karakoram
DATE OF BIRTH 13th Century
DATE OF DEATH 13th Century