Friar Julian

Friar Julian was one of a group of Hungarian Dominican friars who, in 1235, left Hungary in order to find those Magyars who—according to the chronicles—remained in the eastern homeland. After travelling a great distance, Friar Julian reached the capital of Volga Bulgaria, where he was told that the Magyars lived only two days' travel away. Julian found them, and despite the gap of at least 300–400 years since the split between the Magyars that invaded and settled in Pannonia and those that were found in Bashkiria, their language remained mutually intelligible, and they were able to communicate.

Julian named the old country Magna Hungaria. He became aware of stories about the Tatars, who were the enemies of the eastern Magyars and Bulgars. Two years after the original journey, Julian returned to Magna Hungaria, only to find it had been devastated by the Mongol Tatars. He returned to his kingdom with news of mortal danger and a Mongol ultimatum to Hungary.

The Dominican order, established in Hungary in 1221 with the aim of evangelizing the East, simultaneously raised the issue of discovering the Hungarians who had remained on the native soil. Julian was the first in centuries to bring to Europe valid information about Hungarians living in Magna Hungaria, which contributes much to research on Hungarian history. He was also the first European traveler to gather valid information on Asia, and his descriptions are of great importance from the geographical aspect, which gave essential motivation to future European explorers and researchers. Julian was also the first to bring news of the upcoming Mongol invasion of Europe.