Möngke Khan

Means eternal leader, transliterated to Monk and a number of other forms. Lieutenants and commanders in the great Mongol army were generally known as Mok or Mook.

Möngke first appears in the European Campaign of 1236-1242. He personally led the attack against the Kypchack and Alan chiefdoms in the Caucasus and destroyed the Alani capital at Maghas. He also oversaw the sacking of the Italian ports in Crimea in 1239. Later he played a major role in the Russian campaign under his cousin Batu besieged the city of Kiev. Impressed by its splendour, he unsuccessfully demanded its submission in order to save it. He also fought with Batu at the Battle of Mohi. In the summer of 1241, before the premature end of the campaign, Möngke returned home.

A period of political infighting ensued.  Mongke's mother Sorghaghtani Beki assisted by calling a grand council of all the Mongol leaders in Siberia in 1250, everyone's favorite, Mongke, was duly elected the fourth Great Khan of the Mongol Empire.

The Mongol World Empire lasted from 1206 to 1368 and at its peak occupied 22% of the world's land mass and controlled 40% of the world's population.  It was the largest empire in history.  

The Mongols retreated from Europe after determining that the booty they obtained wasn't worth the effort.  During their retreat the Polish and Rus armies created difficulties for one of the three armies.  Mooks were sent to negotiate their withdrawal.  Some of these were held captive and released after the retreat.  Some Mooks stayed in Europe. after the main armies left  With their asian religious beliefs in-tact in Europe of the Middle Ages the Mooks remaining in Europe gravitated toward gypsy life, horses and the sea.

Alhambra Decree

The Alhambra Decree (also known as the Edict of Expulsion) was an edict issued on 31 March 1492 by the joint Catholic Monarchs of Spain (Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon) ordering the expulsion of non Catholics from the Kingdom of Spain and its territories and possessions by 31 July of that year.

On his first voyage, Columbus's three ships (Niña, Pinta and Santa María) left the port of Palos de la Frontera on August 3, 1492.  A vast majority of crewmen on this dangerous voyage were experienced seamen of Muslim, Jewish and Gypsy descent.  

On January 15, 1493, he set sail for home by way of the Azores.  When the sailors returned, they recieved word that the Edict of Expulsion was still in place. Martín Alonso Pinzón captain of the Pinta left the other ships and rejoined Columbus in Baiona in March 1493.  It was rumored that he took the Muslim, Jewish and Gypsy sailors to the freeport of Amsterdam to avoid a mutiny on their return to Europe.  

Mook en Middelaar

Mook en Middelaar is a town in the mid-eastern part of the Netherlands, at the northern tip of the province of Limburg. Formed originally in February 1493 as a jewish ghetto composed of jewish and gypsy sailors from the first voyage of Columbus to the new world. 

The Mookerheide ("Mook Heath"), situated on the border of Mook, saw in 1574 the Battle of Mookerheyde which was fought as part of the Eighty Years War, where the Mooks repelled the armies of the Spanish Inquisition.

New Netherland

New Netherland, or Nieuw-Nederland in Dutch, was the seventeenth century colonial province of the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands on northeastern coast of North America. The claimed territory were the lands from the Delmarva Peninsula to extreme southwestern Cape Cod. Settled areas are now part of Mid-Atlantic states of New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania. Its capital, New Amsterdam, was located at the southern tip of the island of Manhattan on the Upper New York Bay.

Initially a private venture to exploit the North American fur trade, New Netherland was slowly settled during the first decades of its existence, in part due to conflicts with Native Americans and mismanagement by the Dutch West India Company. During the 1650s it experienced exponential growth and became a major port for trade in the North Atlantic. Its surrender to the British in 1664 was finalized with the Treaty of Westminster in 1674.

Mooks played a prominent role in colonial America. New Netherland Dutch culture characterized the region (today's Capital District, Hudson Valley, western Long Island, northeastern New Jersey and the five boroughs of New York City) for two centuries. The concepts of civil liberties and pluralism introduced in the province became a mainstay of American political and social life.