Giovanni da Pian del Carpine

Giovanni da Pian del Carpine OFM (or Carpini; Latin: Iohannes de Plano Carpini, anglicised as John of Plano Carpini; c. 1185 – 1 August 1252) was a medieval Italian diplomat, Catholic archbishop, explorer and one of the first Europeans to enter the court of the Great Khan of the Mongol Empire. He was the author of the earliest important Western account of northern and Central Asia, Rus', and other regions of the Mongol dominion. He served as the Primate of Serbia, based in Antivari, from 1247 to 1252.