Giovanni di Plano, a Franciscan monk, who about 1246 was sent by pope Innocent IV. to the Great Khan of Tartary, to convert him to Christianity. The mission reached the Mongolian monarch somewhere to the north of the great desert east of the Caspian; where they were long detained, but at last dismissed. Carpinii wrote an account of his travels in Latin, an abstract of which, with an Italian translation, appeared in the Raccolta of Ramusio, and has been transcribed into the Navigations and Discoveries of our own Hakluyt. After his return from his perilous eastern journey, Carpinii devoted his life to preaching the gospel in Bohemia, Hungary, Denmark, and Norway. He was born about 1210, and reached extreme old age. For an account of his eastern travels, see GEOGRAPHY.