The Secret History of the Mongol Queens of Genghis Khan came to control the Silk Route and assisted his campaigns in China and Persia. The Mongol women proved adept at administrating their territory and fighting alongside men on foreign conquests. After the death of Genghis Khan in 1227, his successors quickly neglected Khan's legacy. His son, Ögedei, purged his female relatives in order to consolidate his power over the Borjigin clan; including allegedly arranging the assassination of Genghis Khan's daughter, Altalun, who was ruler of the Uyghur territory. Following Ögedei's death, khatuns (queens) briefly ruled the Mongol Empire. Most of these women were not Genghis Khan's daughters,
Mongol invasion of the Latin Empire mission was a renewal of submission, since a new khan had been elected since 1242. The Latin Empire is not listed by William of Rubruck among the tributaries of the Mongol Empire, however, nor was Baldwin II excommunicated for accepting Mongol overlordship as Bohemond V of Antioch was. The Mongol invasion of the Latin Empire took place just a year before the Mongols' crushing victory over the Seljuks of Anatolia at the battle of Köse Dağ (26 June 1243). Although Baldwin II had negotiated an alliance with the Seljuks in 1241, the Byzantine emperor John III Vatatzes provided aid to