# Fame.am profile — machine-readable export
# Canonical URL: https://fame.am/person/william-of-rubruck
# Generated: 2026-08-31T14:02:44.520Z

schema: https://schema.org/Person
url: "https://fame.am/person/william-of-rubruck"
name: "William of Rubruck"
slug: "william-of-rubruck"
description: "A Franciscan friar who reached the Mongol court two decades before Marco Polo, then wrote a Latin dispatch so precise it became a masterwork of medieval observation — yet history filed it under footnotes."
tagline: "Flemish Franciscan missionary and explorer"
image: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Guillaume_de_Rubrouck_detail.jpg"
gender: "male"
country:
  name: "France"
  isoCode: "FR"
category:
  name: "Historical Figures"
  slug: "historical-figures"
profileType:
  name: "Historical Figure"
  slug: "historical-figure"
  entityType: "https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q2798645"
birthDate: "1220"
deathDate: "1293"
livingStatus: "DECEASED"
scores:
  popularity:           58.62
  momentum:             14.39429928741093
  historical:           23.05674266666667
  currentAttention:     24.4127738189496
  sourceConfidence:     60
  profileCompleteness:  70
  trendDirection:       "BREAKOUT"
ranks:
  global:   null
  country:  null
  category: null
tags:
  - name: "Writers"
    slug: "writers"
  - name: "Scientist"
    slug: "scientist"
  - name: "Chemistry"
    slug: "chemistry"
  - name: "Literature"
    slug: "literature"
  - name: "Medieval Era"
    slug: "medieval-era"
sources:
  - url: "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q316083"
    title: "Wikidata"
    type:  "WIKIDATA"
  - url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_of_Rubruck"
    title: "Wikipedia"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://pantheon.world/profile/person/William%20of%20Rubruck"
    title: "Pantheon 2.0"
    type:  "DATABASE"
  - url: "https://az.wikipedia.org/wiki/Villem_Rubruk"
    title: "Villem Rubruk"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ba.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%93%D0%B8%D0%BB%D1%8C%D0%BE%D0%BC_%D0%B4%D0%B5_%D0%A0%D1%83%D0%B1%D1%80%D1%83%D0%BA"
    title: "Гильом де Рубрук"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://be.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%92%D1%96%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%BC_%D0%A0%D1%83%D0%B1%D1%80%D1%83%D0%BA"
    title: "Вілем Рубрук"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://bg.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%92%D0%B8%D0%BB%D1%85%D0%B5%D0%BB%D0%BC_%D0%B4%D0%B5_%D0%A0%D1%83%D0%B1%D1%80%D1%83%D0%BA"
    title: "Вилхелм де Рубрук"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guillaume_de_Rubrouck"
    title: "Guillaume de Rubrouck"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ce.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%93%D0%B8%D0%BB%D1%8C%D0%BE%D0%BC_%D0%B4%D0%B5_%D0%A0%D1%83%D0%B1%D1%80%D1%83%D0%BA"
    title: "Гильом де Рубрук"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vil%C3%A9m_z_Rubroeku"
    title: "Vilém z Rubroeku"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://cv.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%93%D0%B8%D0%BB%D1%8C%D0%BE%D0%BC_%D0%B4%D0%B5_%D0%A0%D1%83%D0%B1%D1%80%D1%83%D0%BA"
    title: "Гильом де Рубрук"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilhelm_von_Rubruk"
    title: "Wilhelm von Rubruk"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://eo.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vilhelmo_de_Rubruk"
    title: "Vilhelmo de Rubruk"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubruquis"
    title: "Rubruquis"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%88%DB%8C%D9%84%DB%8C%D8%A7%D9%85_%D8%B1%D9%88%D8%A8%D8%B1%D9%88%DA%A9"
    title: "ویلیام روبروک"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vilhelm_Rubruk"
    title: "Vilhelm Rubruk"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guillaume_de_Rubrouck"
    title: "Guillaume de Rubrouck"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fy.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willem_fan_Rubroeck"
    title: "Willem fan Rubroeck"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%95%D7%99%D7%9C%D7%9D_%D7%9E%D7%A8%D7%95%D7%91%D7%A8%D7%95%D7%A7"
    title: "וילם מרוברוק"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubruk"
    title: "Rubruk"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://hy.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D4%B3%D5%AB%D5%B5%D5%B8%D5%B4_%D5%A4%D5%A8_%D5%8C%D5%B8%D6%82%D5%A2%D6%80%D5%B8%D6%82%D6%84"
    title: "Գիյոմ դը Ռուբրուք"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willem_van_Ruysbroeck"
    title: "Willem van Ruysbroeck"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guglielmo_di_Rubruck"
    title: "Guglielmo di Rubruck"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%A6%E3%82%A3%E3%83%AA%E3%82%A2%E3%83%A0%E3%83%BB%E3%83%AB%E3%83%96%E3%83%AB%E3%83%83%E3%82%AF"
    title: "ウィリアム・ルブルック"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ka.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E1%83%95%E1%83%98%E1%83%9A%E1%83%94%E1%83%9B_%E1%83%A0%E1%83%A3%E1%83%91%E1%83%A0%E1%83%A3%E1%83%99%E1%83%98"
    title: "ვილემ რუბრუკი"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://it.wikiquote.org/wiki/Guglielmo_di_Rubruck"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%88%D9%8A%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A7%D9%85_%D9%85%D9%86_%D8%B1%D9%88%D8%A8%D8%B1%D9%88%D9%83"
    title: "ويليام من روبروك"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://avk.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guillaume_de_Rubroeck"
    title: "Guillaume de Rubroeck"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"

# bio (long form, separated for readability)
bio: |
  Born in Flanders in the 1210s or 1220s, William joined the Franciscans and caught the attention of Louis IX of France, who backed his mission east. In 1253 he set out for the Mongol Empire, reaching Karakorum — capital of the Great Khan Möngke — the following year. He returned with detailed descriptions of a world Europe barely understood. Unable to meet Louis in person, he composed the Itinerarium, a long Latin letter that laid out everything he'd seen. Historians later ranked it alongside Marco Polo and Ibn Battuta, an essential source and a literary achievement. It never found Polo's audience. William died sometime in the 1270s, or possibly after 1293.