Isol the Pisan

Isol the Pisan was an Italian merchant, diplomat, and military leader. He became prominent at the court of the Mongol ruler of Ilkhanate, Ghazan (r. 1295–1304). He was his ambassador or liaison to the Kingdom of Cyprus, and was the godfather of Ghazan’s brother Öljeitü at the latter's baptism. In 1300, in a letter from Pope Boniface VIII (1294 – 1303) to the Archbishop of Nicosia, Isol was titled "Vicar of Syria and the Holy Land for Ghazan the Emperor of the Tartars", suggesting that he was put in charge of coordinating relations between the Crusader states and the Mongols. He was also present as the Mongol representative in July 1300 aboard a small Cypriot fleet of sixteen galleys which were attacking Rosetta and other targets along the Palestinian coast.