Uploaded May 2019 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
A letter from a distant land.
In 1246 Güyük Khan came to power in a lavish ceremony attended by many foreign dignitaries - something unthinkable for a Khan but two generations earlier. But in that short space of time the Khanate had expanded voraciously, consuming kingdoms and spitting out corpses at a record-breaking rate. Word of the glory and horrors of the kingdom had spread as far west as the Vatican, and the ears of the then Pope, Innocent IV. Franciscan friar John Of Plano Carpini was dispatched with a letter from his holiness, calling on Güyük to act peacefully towards Christian lands and convert himself to Christianity.
This was the great Khan's reply.
How do we actually know about history? Voices of the Past is a channel dedicated to recreating the original accounts from the people who lived through events, or who lived far closer to them than we do today. We do this word for word, with an accompanying soundtrack of rousing music and images.
— Thanks for watching! Don’t forget to subscribe for new videos every single week! & Let us know in the comments what you’d like to see covered in the future.
— Become a patron for as little as a dollar a month & help keep this project going:-
patreon.com/historytimeUK
— Don’t forget to subscribe to our primary channel History Time, where we make full length historical documentaries:-
youtube.com/historytime
— History Time is now a podcast. You can find us wherever you get your podcasts from.
—Join our community on social media:-
Twitter:-
twitter.com/HistoryTimeUK
Facebook:-
facebook.com/HistoryTimeOfficial
Instagram:-
instagram.com/historytime_ig
— Music courtesy of:-
- Epidemic Sound
- Joss Edwards Music:-
soundcloud.com/jossedwardsmusic
* Kevin MacLeod
— Voice actor & editor:-
David Kelly
We've compiled a reading list of our favourite history books via the Amazon influencer program. If you do choose to purchase any of these incredible sources of information then Amazon will send us a tiny fraction of the earnings (as long as you do it through the link) (this means more and better content in the future) I'll keep adding to and updating the list as time goes on:-
amazon.com/shop/historytime
Are you a budding artist, writer, illustrator, cartographer, or music producer? Send us an email! No matter how professional you are or even if you’re just starting out, we can always use new music and images in my videos. Get in touch! I’d love to hear from you.
We try to use copyright free images at all times. However if we have used any of your artwork or maps then please don't hesitate to contact me and we’ll be more than happy to give the appropriate credit.
A letter from a distant land.
In 1246 Güyük Khan came to power in a lavish ceremony attended by many foreign dignitaries - something unthinkable for a Khan but two generations earlier. But in that short space of time the Khanate had expanded voraciously, consuming kingdoms and spitting out corpses at a record-breaking rate. Word of the glory and horrors of the kingdom had spread as far west as the Vatican, and the ears of the then Pope, Innocent IV. Franciscan friar John Of Plano Carpini was dispatched with a letter from his holiness, calling on Güyük to act peacefully towards Christian lands and convert himself to Christianity.
This was the great Khan's reply.
How do we actually know about history? Voices of the Past is a channel dedicated to recreating the original accounts from the people who lived through events, or who lived far closer to them than we do today. We do this word for word, with an accompanying soundtrack of rousing music and images.
— Thanks for watching! Don’t forget to subscribe for new videos every single week! & Let us know in the comments what you’d like to see covered in the future.
— Become a patron for as little as a dollar a month & help keep this project going:-
patreon.com/historytimeUK
— Don’t forget to subscribe to our primary channel History Time, where we make full length historical documentaries:-
youtube.com/historytime
— History Time is now a podcast. You can find us wherever you get your podcasts from.
—Join our community on social media:-
Twitter:-
twitter.com/HistoryTimeUK
Facebook:-
facebook.com/HistoryTimeOfficial
Instagram:-
instagram.com/historytime_ig
— Music courtesy of:-
- Epidemic Sound
- Joss Edwards Music:-
soundcloud.com/jossedwardsmusic
* Kevin MacLeod
— Voice actor & editor:-
David Kelly
We've compiled a reading list of our favourite history books via the Amazon influencer program. If you do choose to purchase any of these incredible sources of information then Amazon will send us a tiny fraction of the earnings (as long as you do it through the link) (this means more and better content in the future) I'll keep adding to and updating the list as time goes on:-
amazon.com/shop/historytime
Are you a budding artist, writer, illustrator, cartographer, or music producer? Send us an email! No matter how professional you are or even if you’re just starting out, we can always use new music and images in my videos. Get in touch! I’d love to hear from you.
We try to use copyright free images at all times. However if we have used any of your artwork or maps then please don't hesitate to contact me and we’ll be more than happy to give the appropriate credit.
