Summary: This episode of CS is titled “Meanwhile, Back in the East” because before we dive into the next phase of church history in Europe, we need to catch up on what’s happening to the East. The Mongol Empire of the 13th & 14th Cs occupied the largest contiguous land empire in history. Rising originally from the steppes of Central Asia and eventually stretching from Eastern Europe to the Sea of Japan; from Siberia in the N to Southeast Asia, the Indian subcontinent, & the Iranian plateau, & the Middle East. At its greatest extent it spanned 6000 miles and covered about 16% of the planet’s total land area. Genghis Khan was himself a shamanist, but recognizing the need to unite the Mongol clans. He adopted a policy of religious toleration that remained the official policy during his reign and that of his son Ogedai. Several of the tribes that formed the core of the Mongol horde were Christians in at least a cultural sense. The Keriats, Onguds & Uighurs owed the Christianization of their culture to the Eastern expansion of Christianity we’ve looked at in some earlier episodes. (more…)
