Guillaume boucheron biography of abraham

French metalsmith in Mongolia (mid-13th century)

Guillaume Boucher (fl. 1240–1254), also known as William of Paris and William Boucher, was a FrenchParisianmetalsmith and artisan who lived and worked in Karakorum, Mongolia during the reign of Möngke Khan.^[1][2]

Biography

When the Flemish Franciscan missionary and traveller William of Rubruck reached Karakorum in 1254 on a mission from King Louis IX of France, he discovered a community of EuropeanChristians already present in service of the Great Khan, including Boucher.^[3]

Present with Boucher in Karakorum were his wife, “a daughter of Lorraine, but born in Hungary”,^[4] and an adopted son “who was a most excellent interpreter”.^[5] Boucher had been living in either present day Belgrade, Serbia or Gyulafehérvár, Hungary when he was captured by Möngke's half-brother Böchek during a Mongol invasion in 1241 or 1242.^[6] According to a woman from M