Pious Men in Foreign Lands: Global-Historical Perspectives on the Migrations of Medieval Ascetics, Missionaries, and Pilgrims

The new approaches to global history established during the last two decades have stimulated interest in the wanderings of medieval ascetics, missionaries, and pilgrims differing quite substantially from the traditional ecclesiastical history, which has been mainly focused on monastic ideals, evangelization, and piety. Discussing the individual experiences of the Buddhist monk Ennin (9th c.), the Sufi dervish ʿAlī al-Hud̲j̲wīrī (11th c.), and the Franciscan missionary William of Rubruck (13th c.), the article explores to what extent and in which manner pious men who went abroad could become agents of cross-cultural interactions and transcultural entanglements in the Middle Ages.