Abstract
The article examines the textual, translational, and historiographical aspects of interpreting a passage from William of Rubruck’s Itinerarium ad partes orientales devoted to the description of women’s high framed headdresses within the territory of the Ulus of Jochi. The study is based on a comparative analysis of the Latin original (1903 and 1929 editions), the manuscript witness Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, MS 066A, and the academic Russian translation of 1957. Particular attention is paid to the variant readings “botta/bocca” and “almucia/almuccia,” as well as to the paleographic features of Gothic script that contributed to textual discrepancies. The Latin terms galea and lancea are analyzed as elements of military analogy employed by Rubruck to describe the structural features of the headdress. The article demonstrates how translation choices and secondary interpretations shape persistent terminological constructions and historiographical myths. Special attention is also given to the reconstruction of the material culture of thirteenth-century nomadic populations. The study emphasizes the importance of consulting original texts and applying an interdisciplinary approach when correlating written sources with the archaeological evidence of the Golden Horde.