The voyages and travels of Sir Joh Maundeville, kt.

Front matter

G mmmi m ■

•N.M iiff

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Introduction

Sir John Maundeville was born at St. Albans in the beginning of the fourteenth century, and set out on his travels on Michaelmasday, 1322. How many places he says that he visited, during an absence from home of more than thirty yearSj the book will tell. Rheumatic gout at last obliged him to return and rest. On his way home he showed to the Pope what he had written, in Latin, about the marvels and customs he had seen. Then,, we are told, he turned his Latin book into French, and then again, in 1356, into English.

Modern criticism has made it clear that the original text was French, and only French. In the days of Maundeville Latin, French, and English were the three languages written in this country; Latin was then and long afterward the common language of the educated, and it united them into a European Republic of Letters; French was the courtly language; English was the language of the people. John -Grower, the poet, Maundeville's contemporary, rested his fame upon three books, one in Latin, one ia French, and one in English. The use, therefore, of French does not prove Maundeville a Frenchman. The writer says in the original French version that he should have written it in Latin, but had written it in French, "jeo usse mis teste liverette en latyn . . . mes . . jeo Vai mys en romanz," which is mistranslated into the statement that he had written it in Latin; with the addition made by the English translator that assigns the English version to the hand of Maundeville himself. As in several places the French is mistranslated into English in a way that would have been impossible if Maundeville had been his own interpreter, and the same is true of the Latin, the most we can believe is that Maundeville wrote in French, and claim? d as his own the other translations because he had caused them to be made for him. He could not have done without a Latin version if he meant to submit the book to the Pope; and he might naturally wish, when he came home, that his book should be read— as it became widely read— also in English. The

VI INTRODUCTION.

oldest remaining manuscript of the book in French is dated 1371, and the oldest known MSS. of the English version can not be placed very much later. They belong, at latest, to the first quarter of the fifteenth century.

The book was planned as a guide to pilgrims to the Holy Places at Jerusalem, but, for the purpose of including as full an account of travel as could be given, roundabout ways to Jerusalem were conceived, as well as the direct way. Maundeville told facts as matter of knowledge, marvels and miracles as matter of hearsay or of faith. He said that he and his men served the Suit an of Babylon in war against the Bedouins, and had from him letters that gave admission to the least accessible of the Holy Places. He said also that for fifteen months he and his men served the great Khan in China. What he tells of Cathay and India corresponds very closely with what is to be found in the record of Friar Odoric of Pordenone, the story of whose travels in Western India and Northern China was set down in Latin just before the time of the friar's dealh in 1331 Maundeville 's record of adventure in the Perilous V alley is, for ex ample, borrowed from Odoric; but Maundeville's account suggests traveling companionship in that adventure with " two worthy men, friars of Lombardy." Possibly, the purpose of the book being to tell as much as possible of travel in the world as it then was, in the form of personal adventure, contributions of good matter from the books of other travelers were, for this reason, interwoven in the story of one who had traveled much himself. In whatever way he did it, Maundeville produced what became the most popular book of travel for some generations after his own time. Of no other such book, Mr. Halliwell ventured to say, "Of no book, with the exception of jLhe Scriptures," can more MSS. be found of the end of the fourteenth and beginning of the fifteenth century. It may well be that his -travelers' tales were more widely enjoyed than believed. But travelers see strange things, and have often been credited with readiness to tell more strange things than they see.

The text -as here given, in modern spelling, is taken,, with permission of Messrs. George Bell & Sons, from a volume of " Early Travels in Palestine," in " Bohn's Antiquarian Library." Thai volume includes also "Wilibald," Ssewulf," "Benjamin of Tudela," V La Brocquiere," and " Maundrell." Here let me take occasion to say that the " Libraries," of which Henry G. Bohn began the issue forty years ago, remain a monument of well-directed zeal for cheap diffusion of true literature. The first of the volumes of "Bohn's Standard Library " — each giving about five hundred pages for

IXTROx^xTIOX. yii

three-and-sixpence, in a substantial, well-pnixwa book— appeared on the 1st of February, 1846. Books less directly adclre^L, ^ t , general reader, and illustrated books, were gathered at a sligm^ higher price into companion "Libraries" — "Antiquarian," "Ecclesiastical," "Historical," "Classical," "Philological and Philosophical," " Scientific," " Illustrated " — and an important body of cheap literature was produced, for which every living worker in this country who draws strength from the past has reason to be grateful. In all Bonn's hundreds there is not a worthless book. We who come after him pay honor to the sturdy pioneer.

H. M.

THE PROLOGUE.

Forasmuch as the land beyond the sea, that is to say, the Holy Land, which men call the land of promise or of behest, passing all other lands, is the most worthy land, most excellent, and lady and sovereign of all other lands, and is blessed and hallowed with the precious body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ; in the which land it pleased him to take flesh and blood of the Virgin Mary, to environ that holy land with his blessed feet; and there he would of his blessedness shadow him in the said blessed and glorious Virgin Mar}', and become man, and work many miracles, and preach and teach the faith and the law of Christian men unto his children; and there it pleased him to suffer many reprovings and scorns for us; and he that was king of heaven, of air, of earth, of sea, and of all things that are contained in them, would only be called king of that land, when he said, " Bex sum Judeovum,'" that is to say, I am king of the Jews; and that land he chose before all other lands, as the best and most worthy land, and the most virtuous land of all the world; for it is the heart and the middle of all the world; by witness of the philosopher, who saith thus, " Virtus rerum in medio cormstit;" that is to say, " The virtue of things is in the middle;" and in that land he would lead his life, and suffer passion and death from the Jews for us, to redeem and deliver us from the pains of hell, and from death without end, which was ordained for us for the sin of our first father Adam, and for our own sins also; for, as for himself, he had deserved no evil; for he thought never evil nor did evil, and he that was king of glory and of joy might best in that place suffer death, because he chose in that land, rather than in any other, to suffer his passion and his death; for he that will publish anything to make it openly known, he will cause it to be cried and proclaimed in the middle place of a town; so that the thing that is proclaimed and pronounced may equally reach to all parts : right so, he that was creator of all the world would suffer for us at Jerusalem, thai is the middle of the world, lo the end and intent

THE PROLOGUE. IX

that his passion and his death, which was published there, might be known equally to all parts of the world.

See, now, how dearly he bought man, that he made after his own image, and how dearly he redeemed us for the great love that he had to us, and never deserved it of him. For more precious goods or greater ransom might he not put us, than his blessed body, his precious blood, and his holy life, which he inthralled for us; and he offered all for us, that never did sin. Oh! dear God! what love had he to us his subjects, when he that never trespassed would for trespassers suffer death I Right well ought we to love and worship, to dread and serve such a Lord, and to worship and praise such a holy land, that brought forth such fruit, through which every man is saved, unless it be his own fault. Well may that land be called delectable and a fruitful land, that was made moist with the precious blood of our Lord Jesus Christ ; which is the same land that our Lord promised us in heritage. And in that land he would die, as seized, to leave it to us, his children.

Wherefore every good Christian man, that is of power, and hath whereof, should labor with all his strength to conquer our right heritage, and drive out all the unbelieving men. For we are called. Christian men, after Christ our father. And if we be right children of Christ, we ought to claim the heritage that our father left us, and take it out of heathen men's hands. But now pride, covetousness, and envy have so inflamed the hearts of worldly lords, that they are busier to disinherit their neighbors than to claim or conquer their right heritage aforesaid. And the common people, that would put their bodies and their goods to conquer our heritage, may not do it without the lords. For an assembly of people without a chieftain, or a chief lord, is as a flock of sheep without a shepherd; the which departeth and disperseth, and know neyer whither to go. But would God that the temporal lords and all worldly lords were at good accord, and with the common people would take this holy voyage over the sea! Then I believe, confidently, that, within a little time, our right heritage aforesaid should be recovered, and put in the hands of the right heirs of Jesus Christ.

And forasmuch as it is long time passed that there was no general passage or voyage over the sea, and many men desiring to hear speak of the Holy Land, and have thereof great solace and comfort, I, John Maundeville, knight, albeit I be not worthy, who was born in England, in the town of Saint Albans, passed the sea in the year of our Lord Jesus Christ 1322, on the day of St. Michael; and hitherto have been a long time over the sea, and have seen and gone

X THE PROLOGUE.

through many divers lands, and many provinces, and kingdoms, and isles, and have passed through Tartarj r , Persia, Ermony (Armenia) the Little and the Great; through Lybia, Chaldea, and a great pait of Ethiopia; through Amazonia, India the Less and the Greater, a great part; and throughout many other isles that are about India; where dwell many divers folks, and of divers manners and laws, and of divers shapes of men. Of which lands and isles I shall speak more plainly hereafter. And I shall devise you some part of things that are there, when time shall be as it may best come to my mind; and especially for them that will and are in purpose to visit the holy city of Jerusalem, and the holy places that are there about. And* I shall tell the way that they shall hold thither; for I have ofttimes passed and ridden the way, with good company of many lords: God be thanked!

And ye shall understand that I have put this book out of Latin into French, and translated it again out of French into English, that every man of my nation may understand it; and that lords and knights and other noble and worthy men that know Latin but little, and have been beyond the sea, may know and understand, if I err from defect of memory, and may redress it and amend it.. For things passed out of long time from a man's mind or from his sight turn soon into forgetting; because a man's mind may not be comprehended or withheld, on account of the frailty of mankind,

OF

Sir John Maundeville, Kt.

Chapter I. To Teach You The Way Out Op England To Constantinople

In the name of God, glorious and Almighty. He that will pass over the sea to go to the city of Jerusalem may go many ways, both by sea and land, according to the country that he cometh from: many ways come to one end. But you must not expect that I will tell you all the towns, and cities, and castles, that men shall' go by; for then I should make too long a tale; but only some countries and the principal places that men shall go through to go the right way.

First, if a man come from the west side of the world, as England, Ireland, Wales, Scotland, or Norway, he may, if he will, go through Almaine (Germany), and through the kingdom of Hungary, which borders on the land of Polaine (Poland), and to the land of Pannonia, and so to Silesia. And the king of Hungary is a great and mighty lord, and possesses, great lordships and much land, For he holds the kingdom of Hungary, Sclavonia, and a great part of Comania and Bulgaria, which men call the land of Bougres, and the realm of Russia a great part, whereof he hath made a duchy, that extendeth unto the land of Nyflan, and borders on Prussia. And we go through the land of this lord, through a city that is called Cypron, and by the castle of Xeaseborough, and by the evil town, which is situated toward the end of Hungary.

And there men pass the river Danube, which is a very great river, and it goeth into Almaine, under the hills of Lombardy; and it receives forty other rivers, and runs through Hungary and through Greece, and through Thrace, and entereth into the sea, toward the

12 THE YOYAGES A!ND TKAVELS

east, so roughly and so sharply, that the water of the sea is fresh and keeps its sweetness twenty miles from shore.

And after, men go to Belgrave, and enter the land of Bougres; and there men pass a bridge of stone, which is upon the river Mar rok And men pass through the land of Pyncemartz, and come to Greece to the city of Nye, and to the city of Fynepape, and after to the city of Adrianople, and then to Constantinople, which was formerly called Byzantium, where the Emperor of Greece usually dwells

And there is the fairest and noblest church in the world, that of St. Sophia= And before the church is the image of the Emperor Justinian, covered with gold, and he sits crowned upon a horse, and he formerly held a round apple of gold in his hand, but it is fallen down; and they say there, that it is a token that the emperor hath lost a great part of his lands and lordships. For he was Em peror of Romania and of Greece, of all Asia the Less, and of the land of Syria, of the land of Judea, in which is Jerusalem, and of the land of Egypt, of Persia, and of Arabia, but he hath lost all but Greece; and men would many times restore the apple to the hand of the image, but it will not hold it. The apple betokens the lordship which he had over all the world, which is round; and the other hand he lifts up toward the east, in token to menace the misdoers. This image stands upon a pillar of marble at Constantinople.

Chapter II. Of The Cross And Crown Of Our Lord Jesus Christ

At Constantinople is the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, and his coat without seams, and the sponge and the reed with which the Jews gave our Lord vinegar and gall on the cross; and there is one of the nails with which Christ was nailed on the cross. And some men believe that half the cross of our Lord is in Cyprus, in an abbey of monks called the Hill of the Holy Cross. But it is not so; for the cross which is in Cyprus is that on which Dismas, the good thief, was crucified.

But all men know not that, and it is an evil act; because, for profit of the offering, they say that it is the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. And you shall understand that the cross of our Lord was made of four kinds of trees, as is contained in this verse —

OF SIR JOHN MAUKDEVILLE, KT. 13

For the piece that went upright from the earth to the head was of cypress; and the piece that went across, to which his hands were nailed, was of palm; and the stock, that stood within the earth, in which was made the mortise, was of cedar; and the tablet above his head, which was a foot and a half long, on which the title was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, was of olive.

And the Jews made the cross of these four kinds of trees, because they believed that our Lord Jesus Christ should have hanged on the cross as long as the cross might last; and therefore they made the foot of the cross of cedar, because cedar may not rot in earth or water; and they thought that it should have lasted long. And because they believed that the body of Christ should have stunk, therefore they made the piece that went from the earth upward of cypress, for it is well smelling, so that the smell of his body should not grieve men that passed by. And the cross-piece was of palm, because in the Old Testament it was ordained that when any one conquered he should be crowned with palm- and because they believed, that they had the victory of Christ Jesus, therefore made they the cross-piece of palm. And the tablet of the title they made of olive, because olive betokens peace; and the story of Noah witnesseth that when the dove brought the branch of olive, it betokened peace made between God and man; and so the Jews expected to have peace when Christ was dead; for they said that he made discord and strife among them.

And you shall understand that our Lord was nailed on the cross in a recumbent position, and therefore he suffered the more pain. And the Christians that dwell beyond the sea, in Greece, say that the tree of the cross that we call cypress, was of that tree of which Adam eat the apple, and that they find written. And they say also, that their Scripture saith that Adam was sick, and told his son Seth to go to the angel that kept Paradise, to pray that he would send him oil of mercy to anoint his members with, that he might have health. And Seth went, but the angel would not let him come in, telling him that he might not have of the oil of mercy; but he gave him three grains of the same tree of which his father eat the apple, and bade him, as soon as his father was dead, that he should put these three grains under his tongue, and bury him so : and he did.

. And of these three grains sprung a tree, as the angel said that it should, and bore a fruit, through which fruit Adam should be saved. And when Seth came again he found his father near dead. And when he was dead he did with the grains as the angel bade

14 THE VOYAGES AND TKAVELS

iiim; of which sprung three trees, whereof the cross was made, that bare good fruit and blessed, namely, our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom Adam, and all that come of him, should be saved and delivered from dread of death without end, unless it be by their own fault. The Jews had concealed this holy cross in the earth, under a rock of Mount Calvary^ and it lay there two hundred years and more, till the time of St. Helena, the mother of Constantine, Emperor of Rome. She was the daughter of King Coel, born in Colchester, who was King of England, which was then called Britain the Greater: the Emperor Constantinus took her to wife for. her beauty, and had by her Constantine, whc was afterward Emperor of Rome.

And you shall understand that the cross of our Lord was eight cubits long, and the cross-piece was three cubits and a half in length. And one part of the crown of our Lord, wherewith he was crowned, and one of the nails, and the spear-head, and many other relics, are in France, in the king's chapel, the crown being placed in a vessel of crystal richly worked. For a king of France bought these relics of the Jews, to whom the emperor had given them in pledge for a great sum of silver. And if it be so, as men say, that this crown is of thorns, you shall understand that it was of rushes of the sea, which prick as sharply as thorns; for I have seen and beheld many times that of Paris and that of Constantinople; for they were both one, made of rushes of the sea. But men had divided them in two parts; of which one part is at Paris, and the other part is at Constantinople. And I have one of these precious thorns, which seems like a white thorn; and it was given to me as a great favor; for there are many of them broken and fallen into the vessel that the crown lieth in; they break for dryness, when men move it, to show it to great lords that come thither.

And you shall understand that our Lord Jesus, on the night he was taken, was led into a garden, where he was first examined very sharply; and there the Jews scorned him, and made him a crown of the branches of aubespine, or white thorn, which grew in the same garden, and set it on his head, so fast and so sore, that the blood ran down on many parts of his face, neck, and shoulders. And therefore hath white thorn many virtues; for he that beareth a branch thereof upon him, no thunder nor tempest may hurt him; and no evil spirit may enter in the house in which it is, or come to the place that it is in. And in that same garden St. Peter denied our Lord thrice.

Afterward our Lord was led forth before the bishops and the

OF SIK JOH2S" MATT2SDEVILLE, KT. 15

masters of the law, into another garden belonging to Annas; and there also he v^ examined, reproved, and scorned, and crowned again with a white thorn, which is called barbarines, which grew in that garden, and which hath also many virtues. And afterward he was led into a garden of Caiphas, and there he was crowned with eglantine. And after he was led into the chamber of Pilate, and there he was examined and crowned. And the Jews set him in a chair, and clad him in a mantle and there they made the crown of rushes of the sea; and there they knelt to him, ard scorned him, saying, " Hail, king of the Jews!" Half of this crown is at Paris, and the other half at Constantinople. And Christ had this crown on Iris head when he was placed on the cross : and therefore ought men to worship it, and hold it more worthy than any of the others, And the Emperor of Almaine possess the spear-shaft, but the head of the spear is at Paris. Yet the Emperor of Constantinople saith that he hath the spear-head, and I have often seen it; but it is greater than that at Paris.

Chapter III. Of The City Op Constantinople, And Op The Faith Op The

GREEKS.

At Constantinople lieth St. Anne, our Lady's mother, whom St. Helena caused to be brought from Jerusalem. And there lieth also the body of John Chrysostom, who was Archbishop of Constant! nople. There lieth also St. Luke the Evangelist, whose bones were brought from Bethany, where he was buried. And many other relics are there. And there is the vessel of stone, as it were of marble, which men call Enydros, and which continually drops water, and fills itself every year, till it run over, besides what men take from within.

Constantinople is a very fair and good city, and well walled, and it is three-cornered. There is an arm of the Sea of Hellespont, which some men call the mouth of Constantinople, and some men call it the Brace (or arm) of St. George; and that arm incloses two parts of the city. And upward to the sea, upon the water, was wont to be the great eity of Troy, in a very fair plain; but that city was destroyed by the people of Greece, and little thereof now appears, because it is so long since it was destroyed.

About Greece there are many isles, as Calliste, Calcas, Cetige, Tesbria, Mynea, Flaxon, Melo, Carpate, and Lemne. In this latter

16 THE TOY AGES AKD TRAVELS

isle is Mount Athos, that passeth the clouds. And there are divers languages and many countries obedient to the emperor, namely Turcople, Pyneynard, Cornagne, and many others, as Thrace and Macedonia, of which Alexander was king. In this country was Aristotle born, in a city called Stagyra, a little from the city of Thrace. And at Stagyra Aristotle lieth; and there is an altar upon his tomb. And they make great feasts for him every year, as though he were a saint. And a!; his altar they hold their great councils and their assemblies, expecting that through inspiration of God and of him they shall have the better council.

In this country are very high hills, toward the extremity of Macedonia. And there is a great hill, called Olympus, which divides Macedonia and Thrace, so high that it passeth the clouds. And there is another hill, called Athos, so high that the shadow of it reaches to Lemne, which is an island seventy-six miles distant. At the summit of this hill the air is so clear, that no wind is found there, and therefore no animal may live there; and the air is dry.

And men say in those countries, that philosophers once went upon those hills, and held to their nose a sponge moistened with water, to have air, because the air above was so dry; and at the summit, in the dust of those hills, they wrote letters and figures with their fingers, and at the year's end they came again, and found the same letters and figures which they had written the year before, without any change. And therefore it appears evident that these hills pass the clouds and join to the pure air.

At Constantinople is the palace of the emperor, very handsome and well built; and therein is a fair place for joustings, or for other plays and sports. And it is made with stages, and hath steps about, that every man may see well, and not intercept the view of those behind. And under these stages are stables well vaulted for the emperor's horses; and all the pillars are of marble. And within the Church of St. Sophia, an emperor once would have buried the body of his father when he was dead; and, as they made the grave, they found a body in the earth, and upon the body lay a fine plate of gold, on which was written in Hebrew. Greek, and Latin, letters that said thus: " Jesus Christ shall be born of the Virgin Mary, and I believe in him." And the date when it was laid in the earth was two thousand years before our Lord was born. The plate of gold is still preserved in the treasury of the church. And they say that it was Hermogenes, the wise man.

Although the men of Greece are Christians, yet they vary from our faith; for they say that the Holy Ghost may not come of the

OF SIE JOHK 3IAUNDEVILLE, KT. 17

Son, but only of the Father. And they are not obedient to the Church of Rome, nor to the Pope; for they say that their patriarch hath as much power over the sea as the Por. e hath on this side the sea. And therefore Pope John XXII. sent letters to them, how Christian faith should be all one, and that they should be obedient to the Pope, who is God's vicar on earth, to whom God gave his full power to bind and to assoil, and therefore they should be obedient to him.

But they sent back divers answers, amongst others saying thus : " We believe well that thy power is great upon thy subjects. "We may not suffer thy great pride. We are not in purpose to fulfill thy great covetousness. The Lord be with thee; for our Lord is with us. — Farewell." And no other answer might he have of them. They make their sacrament of the altar of unleavened bread, because our Lord made it of such bread when he made his Maundy. And on Shere- Thursday they make their unleavened bread, in token of the Maundy, and dry it in the sun, and keep it all the year, and give it to sick men instead of God's body. And they make but one unction when they christen children. They anoint not the sick. And they say that there is no purgatory, and that the souls shall have neither joy nor pain till the day of doom.