According to Friar John of Plano Carpini in 1245: "In the whole world there are to be found no more obedient subjects than the Tatar . . .they pay their lords more respect than any other people, and would hardly dare to lie to them . . . Their women are chaste . . . Wars, quarrels, the infliction [causing] of bodily harm, and manslaughter do not occur among them, and there are no large-scale thieves or robbers among them . . . They treat one another with due respect; they regard each other almost as members of one family, and, although they do not have a lot of food, they like to share it with one another. Moreover, they are accustomed to deprivation [doing without]; if, therefore, they have fasted for a day or two, and have not eaten anything at all, they do not easily lose their tempers . . . While riding they can endure extreme cold and at times also fierce heat. They are extremely arrogant toward other people, [and] tend to anger . . . easily . . . They are the greatest liars in the world in dealing with other people . . . They are crafty and sly. . . [and] have an admirable ability to keep their intentions secret . . . They are messy in their eating and drinking and in their whole way of life, [and] cling fiercely to what they have. They have no conscience about killing other people . . . If anyone is found in the act of plundering or stealing in the territory under their power, he is put to death without any mercy."
Quoted in Spuler, B., History of the Mongols Based on Eastern and Western Accounts of the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries