The history of the Mongol conquests and the Golden Horde in the works of J. de Guignes and P.-Ch. Levesque

Research objectives: This article analyzes sections of books by French historians Joseph de Guignes (1721–1800) and Pierre-Charles Levesque (1736–1812) devoted to the Golden Horde. Research materials: The books “Histoire générale des Huns, des Turcs, des Mogols et des autres Tartares occidentaux…” (1757) by Joseph de Guignes and the “Histoire de Russie” (1812) by Pierre-Charles Levesque. Results and scientific novelty: In the 18th century, two major works were published in France that described the history of the Golden Horde. These were the “Histoire générale des Huns, des Turcs, des Mogols et des autres Tartares occidentaux…” by the orientalist Joseph de Guignes and the “Histoire de Russie” by Pierre-Charles Levesque. For the first time, they introduced into scientific circulation some information about the history of the Golden Horde and other “Tatar” states of Eastern Europe of the 13th–15th centuries. Unfortunately, the scientific legacy of both de Guignes and Leveque has been forgotten in the West, and only recently has interest in it begun to return. De Guignes used sources in Oriental languages, whilel Leveque used materials mainly in Russian. This influenced the specifics of their description of the Mongol invasion of the countries of Eastern and Central Europe. Eastern sources did not allow de Guigne to give a detailed and accurate chronology of the Mongol conquests, the history of the Golden Horde, and its successors. On the contrary, Leveque was the first in Western historiography to draw on a wide range of documents in Russian, which he learned during his stay in Russia. The history of the Golden Horde and subsequent “Tatar” states is described by Leveque in sufficient detail and accurately enough for his time. In addition, Leveque consulted with Russian historians. It is important to note that this scholar tried to use factual material on the history of Russian-Mongolian relations to clarify and supplement the concepts of inter-civilizational dialogue that existed in his time.