Chapter III: Appendix (1)

The journall of Frier Odoricus.--Of the maners of the
Chaldeans, and of India.--How peper is had: and where it
groweth.--Of a strange and uncouth idole: & of certaine
customes and ceremonies.--Of certaine trees yeelding
meale, honey, and poyson.--Of the abundance of fishes
which cast themselues upon the shore.--Of the Island of
Sylan: and of the mountaine where Adam mourned for his
sonne Abel.--Of the upper India: and of the province of
Mancy.--Of the citie of Fuco.--Of a Monastery where
many strange beastes of divers kindes doe live upon an
hill.--Of the citie of Cambaleth.--Of the glory and
magnificence of the great Can.--Of certain Innes or
hospitals appointed for traveilers throughout the whole
empire.--Of the foure feasts which the great Can
solemnizeth euery yeere in his court.--Of divers
provinces and cities.--Of a certaine riche man, who is
fed and nourished by 50 virgins.--Of the death of Senex
de monte.--Of the honour and reverence done unto the
great Can.--Of the death of frier Odoricus. 221

Extra Plates in Illustration of the Book 267

List of the Editions in the British Museum 277

[Decoration]

[Decoration]

+The Voiage and Travayle of Syr John Maundeville, Knight.+

_Here beginneth a lyttle treatise or boke, named John Maundevile
Knight, borne in England in the towne of Sainct Albone, &
speaketh of the wayes to Hierusalem, to Inde, and to the greate
Cane,[1] and also to Prester Johns land, & to many other
countreys, & also of many marvailes that are in the holy Lande._

FOR AS MUCH as the lande over the sea, that is to say, the holy land, that men cal the land of Behest,[2] among all other lands is most worthy & Soveraine, for it is blessed, halowed, and sacred of the precious bloud of our Lord JESU CHRIST, in the which land, it liked him to take flesh and bloud of the Virgin Mary, & to environ that lande with his owne feete, and there he wold do many myracles, preach and teach the fayth and the law of Christen men, as unto his children, & there he would suffer many reprouves and scornes for us, and he that was King of heaven and hell, of ayre, of sea, of lande, and of all things that are contained in them, wold alonely[3] be called King of that land, when he sayde, _Rex sum Judeorum_, I am King of Jewes: For that tyme was that lande of Jewes, and that lande he chose before all other landes, as the best & most worthy of vertues of all the world. And as the Philosopher sayth, _Virtus rerum in medio consistit_. That is to say, the vertue of things is in the midst: and in that lande he would leade his lyfe, and suffer passion and death of the Jewes for us, to save and deliver us from the paines of hell, and from deathe without ende, the which was ordeyned to us for the sinne of our father Adam, and our owne synnes also, for as for himself he had none evil done ne[4] deserved, for he never thought ne dyd any evyll, for he that was King of Glory and of joy might best in that place suffer death. For he that will do any thinge that he will haue knowen openly, he wyll proclayme it openly in the myddle place of a towne or of a citie, so that it may bee knowne to all parties of the citie, so he that was King of glory and of all the worlde would suffer death for us at Hierusalem, which is in the mydst of the worlde, so that it might be knowen to all nations of the worlde how deare he bought man, that he made with his handes in his owne likenesse, for the great loue that he had to us. Ah dere God, what love he had to his subjects, when he that had done no trespasse, would for us trespassours suffer death: for a more worthy catell[5] he might not have sette for us, then his owne blessed bodie and his owne precious bloud the which he suffered for us: right wel ought men to love, worship dreade, and serve such a Lord, and prayse such an holy lande that brought forth a lord of such fruite, through the which eche man is saved but if it be his own defaute. This is that lande prepared for an heritage to us, and in that lande would he dye as seased,[6] to leaue it to his children. For the which eche good Chrysten man that may & hath wherewith, should strengthen him for to conquere our righte heritage, and purchace[7] out of the evill peoples handes: for we are cleped[8] christen men of Christ our father, and if we be the ryght children of Christ, we oughte to challenge the heritage that our father lefte us & take it out of straunge mens handes. But now Pryde, Covetyse and Envy hath so inflamed the hearts of the lordes of the worlde, that they are more busy for to disheryte theyr neighbours than to challenge or conquere their right heritage aforesayde. And the common people that would put their bodies and theyr catell for to conquere our heritage, they may not do so without lordes: for assembling of the people without a chiefe lorde, is as a flocke of sheepe without a sheepherd, the which depart asunder, and wot not whether they shall go. But would[9] God, the worldly Lordes were at a good accorde, and with other of their common people would take this holy voyage over the sea. I trust well that within a little tyme our right heritage before sayd should be reconsiled and put into the hands of the right heires of Jesu Christ. And for as much as it is long time that there was any general passage over the sea, and that many men desire to here speaking of the holy lande, and have therefore great solace and comfort, therefore ye shall here by me John Maundevile Knight which was borne in England in the towne of Saint Albones, and passed the sea in the yeare of our Lord JESU CHRIST A. MIII.C.[10] on the day of Sainct Michael, and there remained long tyme, and went through many landes, and many provinces, kingdomes and yles, & have passed through Turkey, and through Armony[11] the lyttle and the great, through Tartary, Percy,[12] Surre,[13] Araby, Egypt the high and the low, through Libie, Caldee and a great part of Ethiope, through Amazonie through Inde the lesse & the more a great part, and through many other yles which are about Inde, where many people dwelleth of divers lawes and shapes. Of the men of which landes and yles I shall speake more plainly and I shall devise[14] a parte of the things what they are when time shall be, after it may best come to my mynde & specially for them that will, and are in purpose, for to visite the holy citie of Hierusalem and the holy places that are there aboute & I shall tell the way that they shall holde[15] thither, for I have many times passed and ridden it with good company and with many lordes.

[Footnote 1: Khan.]

[Footnote 2: Promise.]

[Footnote 3: _Pynson_, all oonly.]

[Footnote 4: Nor.]

[Footnote 5: Treasure, money, goods, property, possessions.]

[Footnote 6: Possessing (seized).]

[Footnote 7: _Pynson_, "and _chase_ out the ylle trowand."]

[Footnote 8: Called.]

[Footnote 9: (to) omitted.]

[Footnote 10: _Pynson_ and other authorities say MCCCXXXII.]

[Footnote 11: Armenia.]

[Footnote 12: Persia.]

[Footnote 13: Syria.]

[Footnote 14: Relate.]

[Footnote 15: Travel or journey.]

CAP: I.

_He that will go toward Hierusalem on horse, on foote, or by sea._

IN the name of God Almightie. He that will passe over the sea, he may go many wayes both by sea and by lande, after the countreys that he cometh from, and many of them cometh to one ende, but think not that I will tell all the townes, cities & castelles that men shall goe by, for then I should make to long a tale, but only some countries and most principall cities and townes that men shall go by and through to go the right way.

First, if a man come from the west side of the worlde as England, Ireland, Wales, Scotland and Norway, he may if he wyl, go through Almayne[1] and throughout the Kingdome of Hungary, which Kinge is a great lord and a mightie, and holdeth many landes & great, for he holdeth the land of Hungarie, Savoy,[2] Camonie,[3] a great part of Bulgary, that men call the land of Bugres, and a great part of the Kingdome of Rossie,[4] and that lasteth to the land of Mifland,[5] and marcheth on Siprus,[5] and men passe thus through the land of Hungary and through the Citie that men call Cipanum,[6] and through the castell of Nuburgh,[7] and by the yll Torwe,[8] towarde the ende of Hungarie and so by the river of Danubie, that is a full great ryver and goeth into Almayne, under the hilles of Lumbardy, and it taketh into him 40 other ryvers and it runneth throughout Hungary and through Cresses[9] and Crochie,[9] and goeth into the sea so strongely and with so great might that the water is freshe xxx[10] myle within the sea and afterwards go men to Belgrave[11] and entereth the lande of Bugres and there pass men a bridge of stone that is over the river Marrock,[12] and so men passe through the lande of Pinseras[13] and come to Grece to the citie of Stermis,[14] and to the citie of Affinpane,[15] that was sometime called Bradre[16] the noble and so to the citie of Constantinople that was sometime called Bessameron[17] and there dwelleth commonly the Emperor of Grece.

At Constantinople is the best and the fairest church of the worlde, and it is of sainct Steven.[18] And before this church is a gylte image of Justinian the Emperour, and it is sitting upon an horse and crowned, and it was wont to holde a round appell[19] in his hand, & men say there that it is a token that the Emperour hath lost a part of his landes, for the appell is fallen out of the images hand: and also he hath lost a great parte of his lordshippe. For he was wont to be Emperour of Rome, of Grece, and of all Asia the lesse, of Surry, and of the land of Jude,[20] in the which is Jerusalem, & of the land of Egipt, of Percie & Arabia, but he hath lost all but Grece, and that lande he holdeth all onely. Men would put the appell in the images hande, but it will not holde it. This appell betokeneth the lordship that he had over all the world, and the other hand he lifteth up against the East,[21] in token to manasse[22] misdoers. This image standeth upon a pyller of marble.

At Constantinople is the crosse of our Lord and his cote without seame, the sponge and the rede with which the Jewes gave our Lord gall to drinke on the Crosse, and there is one of the nayles that our Lorde Jesu Christ was nayled with to the Crosse. Some men think that halfe the Crosse of Christ be in Cipres in an Abbey of Monkes, that men call the hill of the holy crosse, but it is not so, for the crosse that is in Cipres is the crosse on which Dysmas[23] the good theefe was hanged, but all men wot[24] not that, & that is evil done but for the getting of the offering they say that it is the crosse of our Lorde, and ye shall understande that the crosse of our Lorde Jesus Christ was made of foure maner of trees, as it is conteyned in this verse following.

_In cruce fit Palma, Cedrus, et Cypressus, Oliva._

For the piece that went ryght up from the earth unto the head was of Cipres, and the piece that went overthwart, to the which his handes were nayled, was of Palme, and the stock that stood within the earth in the which they had made a morteys, was of Cedre, and the table aboue his head was a foote and a half long, on which y^e tytle was written, y^t was of Olyve. Y^e Jewes made this crosse of these foure maner of trees for they thought y^t our Lord shold have hanged as long as y^e crosse might last, therefore they made the foote of Cedre, for Ceder may not in the erth ne[25] in water rot; they thought that the body of Christ shold have stonken, they made the piece y^t went from the yearth upwarde of Cipres so that the smell of his body shold greve no man that came by, and that overthwart was made of Palme in signification of Victory. And the table of the tytle was made of Olive, for it betokeneth peace, as the story of Noe witnesseth, when y^e dove brought y^e braunch of Olive that betokened peace made between God and man. And you also shal understande, that the Christen men that dwell over the sea, say that the pece of the Crosse that we call Cipres was of the tree that Adam eate the appell of, and so finde they written, and they say also that their scripture saith, that when Adam was sicke he sayd to his son Seth that he shold go to Paradise and pray that the Aungel that kepeth Paradise, y^t he wold send him oyle of the tree of mercy for to anoynte him that he might have health, & Seth went, but the Aungel would not let him com in at the gate, but said unto him that he might not have y^e oyle of mercy, but he took him three carnels[26] of the same tree that his father eate the appell of, and bad him as sone as his father was dead, that he should put these carnels under his tongue and bury him, and he did so, and of these three carnels sprang a tree, as the Angel sayd and when the tree bare fruite, then shold Adam be made whole. And when Seth came againe and founde his father dead, he did with the carnels as the Aungell commaunded him, of the which came three trees, whereof a crosse was made that bare good fruite, that is to say, our saviour Jesu Christ, through whom Adam and all that came of him should be saved and delivered from everlasting death, but[27] if it be their owne defaute.[28] This holy crosse had the Jewes hid under the earth in y^e rock of the mount of Calvery, & it laye there two hundreth yeares and more, as they say, unto the tyme that Saint Elene found it, the which Saint Elene was daughter of Coel King of Englande, that then was called Britaine, and after maried to Constantius, fyrst Consul and after Emperour of Rome, who had by hir issue Constantine the great, born in England and afterward Emperour of Rome, which Constantine turned the name of Bezansium into Constantinople, he reedified that citie, and made it monarcall seate of all Europa and Asia Minor. Also ye shall understande that the crosse of our Lord was in length viii cubites and that the piece that went overthwart was three cubites[29] and a halfe.

A part of the crowne of our Lord Jesu wherewith he was crowned & one of the nayles, and the speare head and many other reliques are in France at Paris in the chapell of the King, and the crowne lyeth in a vessell of cristall wel dight and richly, for y^e French King bought these reliques sometime of the Jewes, to whome the Emperour had laid them to pledge for a great sume of golde. And although men say that this Crowne was of thornes--ye shall understand that it was of Jonkes[30] of the sea, which be white and pricketh as sharp as thornes, for I have seene and beheld many times that at Paris, and that at Constantinople, for they were both of one, and made of Jonkis of the sea. But men have departed him in two partes, of the which one parte is at Paris, and the other part at Constantinople, and I haue a point thereof that seemeth a white thorne, and that was given me for a great friendeship--for there are many of them broken and fallen into the vessell, when they shew the Crowne to great men or lordes that come theither. And ye shall understande that our Lord in that night that he was taken, he was led into a garden, and there he was examined sharply, & there the Jewes crowned him with a crown of abbespine[31] braunches that grew in the same garden & set it on his head so fast, that the blood came downe by many places of his visage, necke, and shoulders, and therefore hath the abbespine many vertues, for he that beareth a braunche of it about him, no thunder, nor any maner of tempest may hurt him, nor the house that it is in may no evill ghost come, nor in no place where it is. And in that same garden Sainct Peter denied our Lord thrise. And afterward was our Lord led before the Bishop and ministers of the lawe into another gardein of Anne[32] and there was he examined, scorned & crowned efte[33] with a swete thorn that men called barbareus[34] that grew in the same gardein and that hath many vertues. And afterward he was led to a gardein of Caiphas, and there he was crowned again with eglentine,[35] and after that he was led to a chamber of Pilate & there he was crowned, and the Jewes set him in a chaire and clad him in a mantell of purpure[36] and then made they a crowne of Jonkes of the sea and there they kneled to him & scorned him saying _Ave rex Judeorum_. That is to say, haile King of Jewes. And of this crowne, halfe is in Paris and the other halfe at Constantinople, the which our Saviour Jesu Christ hadde on his head, when he was nayled on the crosse, and therefore shall men honour and worship it, and holde it more worthy then any of the other. And the speare shaft hath the Emperour of Almaine, but the head which was put in his side is at Paris they say, in the holy chappell, and oft tymes sayth the Emperour of Constantinople, that he hath the speare head & I have often seen it, but it is greater than that at Paris. Also at Constantinople lyeth Sainct Anne our ladie's mother, whom Saint Elene caused to be brought from Hierusalem, and there lieth also the body of Saint John Chrisostome that was bishop of Constantinople. There lyeth also sainct Luke the Evangelist, for his bones were brought from Bethany where he was buried: and many other relyques are there, and there is of the vessell of stone as it were marble, which men call Idryus, that evermore droppeth water & fylleth himselfe every yeare once. And ye shall wete that Constantinople is a fayre citie and well walled & it is three cornered, and there is an arme of the sea that men call Hellespon, and some men call it the bunch[37] of Constantinople and some call it the brace[38] of sainct George, and this water encloseth two partes of the citie, and upward to the sea upon that water was wont to be the great citie of Troy in a fayre plaine, but that citie was destroyed by the Grekes.

[Footnote 1: Germany.]

[Footnote 2: Sclavonia.]

[Footnote 3: Comania may now be placed as being on the
north-west side of the Caspian Sea.]

[Footnote 4: Or Rosia, was Russia proper, by the Baltic; the
huge Empire now so termed being then called Muscovy.]

[Footnote 5: _Pynson_ says Nyflond, and in some MSS. it is
written indifferently Nyfland, Nyflond, Nislan, and Neflond;
but I have no doubt but that by it is meant Livonia, as
is explained Apian's _Cosmographie_: "qui est la derniere
Province d'Alemaigne, et de la Chrestiété, vulgairement
appelee Liefland;" and this is the more likely as Siprus
is spelt in _Pynson_ and other editions Pruysse, _i.e._,
Prussia.]

[Footnote 6: _Pynson_ says Chypron, other authorities
Schyppronne, Cypron, and Chippronne.]

[Footnote 7: Neuburgh; sometimes written Neaseburghe, Newbow,
or Newborewe.]

[Footnote 8: In other editions "evyll."]

[Footnote 9: Cresses is rendered in other editions as Grece
or Greece, but this is impossible, as also is Crochie, which
_Pynson_ calls Tracy, and others call Thracie or Thrace. It
probably means Croatia, and he has muddled up the Save or Sau,
a tributary to the Danube, which rises not far from Lombardy,
joining the Danube at Belgrade.]

[Footnote 10: _Pynson_ and others say 20 miles.]

[Footnote 11: Belgrade.]

[Footnote 12: Now called the Morava.]

[Footnote 13: _Pynson_ says Pynteras, others Pyncemartz, and
Pyncoras.]

[Footnote 14: _Pynson_ says Sternys, others Sternes, or
Scernys.]

[Footnote 15: Written elsewhere Affynpayn, Assynpayn, and ad
fines Epapie.]

[Footnote 16: This will best explain the difficulty of placing
the localities, for this means Adrianople.]

[Footnote 17: Byzantium, the ancient name for Constantinople,
the seat of the Western Empire.]

[Footnote 18: _Pynson_ has Sophy, now the Mosque of St
Sophia.]

[Footnote 19: Probably an orb.]

[Footnote 20: Judæa.]

[Footnote 21: _Pynson_ says West, but others give East.]

[Footnote 22: Menace.]

[Footnote 23: The names of the penitent and impenitent thieves
vary slightly in different accounts. In the Apocryphal book of
Nicodemus, cap. 7, vv. 10, 11, they are thus given: "But one
of the two thieves who were crucified with Jesus, whose name
was Gestas, said to Jesus, If thou art the Christ, deliver
thyself and us. But the thief who was crucified on his right
hand, whose name was Dimas, answering, rebuked him, and said,
Dost thou not fear God, who art condemned to this punishment?
We indeed receive rightly and justly the demerit of our
actions: but this Jesus, what evil hath he done?"

But in the Apocryphal book, I. Infancy, cap. 8, vv. 1-7 (a
Nestorian and Gnostic book), the names are given differently:
"In their journey from hence they came into a desert country,
and were told it was infested with robbers; so Joseph and St.
Mary prepared to pass through it in the night.

And, as they were going along, behold they saw two robbers
asleep in the road, and with them a great number of robbers,
who were their confederates, also asleep.

The names of those two were Titus and Dumachus; and Titus
said to Dumachus, I beseech thee let those persons go along
quietly, that our company may not perceive any thing of them;

But Dumachus refusing, Titus again said, I will give thee
forty groats, and as a pledge, take my girdle, which he gave
him before he had done speaking, that he might not open his
mouth, or make a noise.

When the Lady St. Mary saw the kindness which this robber did
show them, she said to him, The Lord God will receive thee to
his right hand, and grant thee pardon of thy sins.

Then the Lord Jesus answered and said to his mother, When
thirty years are expired, O Mother, the Jews will crucify me
at Jerusalem.

And these two thieves shall be with me at the same time upon
the cross, Titus on my right hand, and Dumachus on my left,
and from that time Titus shall go before me into Paradise."]

[Footnote 24: Know.]

[Footnote 25: Nor.]

[Footnote 26: Kernels--another edition says Greynes.]

[Footnote 27: Except.]

[Footnote 28: Fault.]

[Footnote 29: This measure varied. It was generally accepted
as being the length of a man's arm from the elbow to the
extremity of the little finger. The Roman cubit is usually
reckoned as 17-4/10 in., the Scriptural cubit at 22 in., and
the English cubit at 18 in.]

[Footnote 30: Rushes. _Juncus Maritimus._]

[Footnote 31: Albespine--probably meant for _White thorn_.]

[Footnote 32: Annas.]

[Footnote 33: Again.]

[Footnote 34: ? _berberis_.]

[Footnote 35: Honeysuckle.]

[Footnote 36: Purple.]

[Footnote 37: _Bouche_, the mouth.]

[Footnote 38: Arm. _Lat._ _brachium_, as we should say, an arm
of the sea.]

CAP: II.

_Of the Ilandes of Grece._

ABOUT Grece be many yles that men cal Calastre,[1] Calcas Settygo, Thoysoria, Mynona, Faxton, Molo, Carparte and Lempne, and in this yle is mount Athos that passeth the clowdes & there are divers speaches and many countries that are obedient to the Emperour of Constantinople, that is to say Turcoply, Pyncy, Narde, Comage and many other, Tracy & Macedony, of which Alexander was king. In this countrey was Aristotle borne, in a citie that men call Strages, a little from the citie of Tragie, & at Strages is Aristotle buried, and there is an aulter on his tombe, and there they make a greate feast every yeare as he were a saint, & upon his aulter the lordes holde their great counsayles and assemblies and they think, that through the inspiration of God & him, they should have the better councill. In this countrey are right highe hilles, there is an hill that men call Olimphus that departeth Macedonie and Tracy, and is as high as the cloudes, and the other hill that men call Athos is so highe, that the shadow of him stretcheth unto Olimphus and it is neare lxxvii myle between, and above that hill is the aire so cleere, that men may fele no wynde there, and therefore may no beast live there the ayre is so drye, and men say in the countrey that Philosophers somtyme went up to these same hilles and helde to their noses a sponge wet with water for to have ayre, for the ayre was so drye there & above in the pouder[2] of the hill they wrote letters with their fingers, and at the yeares ende they came againe and found those letters which they had written the yeare before without any defaute,[3] and therefore it seemeth well that these hilles passe the cloudes to y^e pure aire.

At Constantinople is the Emperours palaice which is fayre and well dight,[4] and therein is a palaice for justing,[5] and it is made about with stages that eche man may well see and none greve,[6] other & under these stages are stables vauted for the Emperours horses and all the pillers of these stables are of marble. And within the church of Saint Sophy, an Emperour wold haue layd the body of his father when he was dead, and as they made the grave they found a body in the earth & upon that body lay a great plate of fine gold & there upon was written in Ebrew, Greke & Latin letters that sayde thus: _Jesus Christus nascetur de virgine Marie, et ego credo in eum_. That is to say, Jesu Christ shal be borne of the Virgin Mary & I believe in him. And the date was that it lay in the earthe 200[7] yeare before our Lord Jesu Christ was borne, and yet is that plate in the treasory of the Church, and men say that it was Hermogenes[8] the wise man. And neverthelesse if it be so that men of Grece be Christen, yet they vary from our fayth, for they say that the holy ghoste commeth not out of the sonne, but all onely of the father, and as they are not obedient to the Church of Rome, nor to the Pope, and they saye that theyr Patryarkes haue as much power over the sea, as the Pope hath on this syde the sea. And therefore Pope John the XXII. sente letters to them, how Christen fayth should be all one, and that they shoulde be obedient to a pope that is Christes Vykar in earthe, to whome God gave plaine[9] power to binde and to assoyle,[10] and therefore they should be obedient to him. And they sent him divers aunsweres, and among other they said thus. _Potentiam tuam summam circa subjectos tuos firmiter credimus. Superbitatem tuam sustinere non possumus. Avaritiam tuam satiare non intendimus. Dominus tecum fit, quia Dominus nobiscum est. Vale._ That is to say, we beleve wel that thy power is great upon thy subjectes. We may not suffer thy pryde. We are not in purpose to fulfille thy covetyse.[11] Our Lorde be with thee, for our Lorde is with us. Farewell. And other aunswere might not be haue of them. And also they make theyr sacrament of the aulter of therf bread,[12] for our Lord made it of therf bread when he made his maunde.[13] And on sherthursday[14] make they theyre bread in tokening of the maunde, and they dry it at the sonne,[15] and kepe it all the yeare & give it to sick men instede of gods body. And they make but one unction when they Christen Children, and they anoynt no sick men, and they say there is no purgatory, and soules shall haue neither joy ne payne untill the day of dome.[16] And they say that fornication is no deadly sinne, but a kindly thing, and that men & women shoulde wed but once, and who so weddeth more than once theyr children are bastards and gotten in sinne, and theyr priestes also are wedded, and they say that usury or simony is no deadly sinne and they sell benefices of holy churche, and so did men of other places and is great sclaunder,[17] for now is Simony King crowned in holy churche, God amende it when his will is. And they say that in Lent men should not singe masse but on the Saterday and on the Sonday, and they fast not the Saterday no tyme in the yeare, but if it be Christmas or Easter even. And they suffer no man that is on this side the Grece sea to sing at theyr aulters, and if it fall that they do through any hap,[18] they wash theyr aulters as sone without tarieng with holy water, and they say that there should be but one masse sayde at one aulter in a day. And they say that our Lorde did neuer eate meate but that he made a token[19] of eating. And also they say that we sinne deadly in shaving of our berdes, for the berde is a token of a man, and a gift of our Lord and they saye that we sinne in eating of beastes that were defended[20] in the olde lawe, as swyne, hares and other beastes.

And thus they saye that we sinne in eating of fleshe on the dayes before Ashwednesday, and in eating of fleshe on the Wednesdaye, and when we eate chese or egges on the Fryday and they curse all those that eate no fleshe on the Saterday. Also the Emperour of Constantinople maketh the Patriarkes, Archebishoppes and Bishoppes, and he giveth all the dignities of the churches, and depryveth them that are unworthy, although it be so that these touch not the way, nevertheless they touch that which I haue behight[21] to shew a parte of the custome, maners, and diversitie of countries, and for this is the first countrey that is discordaunt from our faithe and letteth[22] our faithe on this side the sea, therefore haue I sette it here that ye may see the diversitie between our faith & theirs, for many men haue great liking to here speake of straunge things.

[Footnote 1: Calliste, which Ferrarius, in his _Lexicon
Geographicum_ (edit. 1670), says is an island in the Ægean
Sea. The other islands have different names in different MSS.,
but are not worth the trouble of identifying, except Lampne
as Lemnos--where Mandeville places Mount Athos. _Plutarch_
and _Pliny_ said that, in the summer solstice this mountain
projected its shadow on the market-place of Myrina, the
capital city of Lemnos, and that a brazen cow was there
erected to mark the termination of the shadow; but this is as
probable as the distance given, namely, seventy-seven
miles, which is manifestly erroneous. The spelling of the
geographical names is very bad, and renders it a difficult
task to identify them: for instance, if it were not a
well-known fact that Aristoteles was born and buried at
Stagira, it would be very difficult to identify Strages as
being the same place. Again, Olimphus is used instead of
Lemnos, in connection with the shadow of Mount Athos.]

[Footnote 2: Powder, dust.]

[Footnote 3: Uninjured.]

[Footnote 4: Furnished.]

[Footnote 5: Jousting or tilting.]

[Footnote 6: Inconvenience.]

[Footnote 7: _Pynson_ and other editions say Two thousand.]

[Footnote 8: Here the chronology is somewhat involved, as
Hermogenes lived in the time of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus,
_who was born_ A.D. 121.]

[Footnote 9: Plenary.]

[Footnote 10: Absolve.]

[Footnote 11: Covetousness.]

[Footnote 12: Unleavened bread.]

[Footnote 13: Last Supper.]

[Footnote 14: Shrove Thursday.]

[Footnote 15: In the sun.]

[Footnote 16: Doom, or the day of judgment.]

[Footnote 17: Scandal.]

[Footnote 18: If by chance they should do so.]

[Footnote 19: Only seemed to eat.]

[Footnote 20: Forbidden.]

[Footnote 21: Promised.]

[Footnote 22: Hinders.]

CAP: III.

_To come againe to Constantinople for to go toward the holy land._

NOW come we againe for to know the way from Constantinople. He that will go through Turkey, he goeth through the citie of Nyke,[1] and passeth through the gate of Chivitot that is right highe, and it is a myle and a halfe from Nyke, and who so wyll go by the brache[2] of Sainct George, and by the Greeke sea there as Sainct Nicolas lyeth, and other places. First men come to the yle of Silo, and in that ile groweth mastike upon small trees as plomtrees, or chery trees. And then after men go through the ile of Pathmos, where Saint John the Evangelist wrote the Apocalips and I do you to wete,[3] when our Lorde Jesu Christ died, Saint John the Evangelist was of the age of xxxii yeare and he lived after the passion of Christ lxiii[4] year and then died. Fro Pathmos men go to Ephesim which is a faire citie and neare to the sea, and there died sainct John & he was buried behind the high aulter in a tombe, and there is a fayre church, for Christen men were wont to holde that place, but in the tombe of sainct John is nothing but Manna, for his body was translated[5] into paradise, & the Turkes hold now that citie and the church, and all Asia the lesse, & therefore is Asia the lesse called Turkey. And ye shall understand that sainct John did make his grave ther in his lyfe and laied himselfe therein all quick[6] & therefore some say he dyed not, but that he resteth there unto the day of judgement, and therefore truely there is a great marvaile, for men may see there apertly[7] y^e earth of the tombe many times stirre and move, as there were a quick thing under. And from Ephesim, men go through many iles in the sea unto the citie of Pateran[8] where sainct Nicolas was borne and so to Marca[9] where he by the grace of God was chosen Bishop, and there groweth right good wyne and strong, that men call the wyne of Marca. From thence men go to the yle of Crete, which the Emperor gave sometime to Jonais.[10] And then men passe through the yles of Cophos and Lango[11] of the which yles Ipocras[12] was lord, and some say that in the yle of Lango is Ipocras daughter in maner of a Dragon, which is a hundred foote long as men saye, for I have not seene it, and they of the yles call hir the lady of the countrey, and she lyeth in an olde castell and sheweth hir thrise in the yeare, and she doth no man harme and she is thus changed from a damosell to a dragon through a goddesse that men call Diana, and men say that she shall dwell so unto the tyme that a knighte come that is so hardy as to go to hir and kisse hir mouthe, and then shall she tourne againe to hir owne kinde, and be a woman, and after that she shall not live long. And it is not long sith[13] a knight of the Rodes[14] that was hardy and valiant said that he would kisse hir, and whan the Dragon began to lifte up hir head againste him, and he saw it was so hideous, he fled awaye, and the Dragon in hir anger bare the knight on a roche, and of[15] that cast him into the sea and so he was lost.

[Footnote 1: ? Salonika.]

[Footnote 2: See foot note, _ante_, p. 19.]

[Footnote 3: Know.]

[Footnote 4: _Pynson_ says 67.]

[Footnote 5: Taken up to heaven.]

[Footnote 6: Living, alive.]

[Footnote 7: Openly.]

[Footnote 8: Patera, a city of Lycia.]

[Footnote 9: Myra, also in Lycia.]

[Footnote 10: The Genoese.]

[Footnote 11: The island of Cos.]

[Footnote 12: Hippocrates, the famous physician, who was born
at Cos.]

[Footnote 13: Since.]

[Footnote 14: The island of Rhodes.]

[Footnote 15: Off.]

[Decoration]

CAP: IIII.

_Yet of the same Dragon._

ALSO a young man that wist not of the Dragon, went out of a shippe and went through the yle till he came to a Castell, and came into the cave and went so long till he founde a chamber, and there he saw a damosell that kemde[1] hir heade & loked in a mirrour, and she had much treasure aboute hir, and he trowed[2] she had been a common woman that dwelled ther to kepe men, and he abode[3] the damosel, and the damosel saw the shadowe of him in the mirrour, & she tourned toward him and asked what he would, and he said he would be hir paramoure or lemman,[4] and she asked him if he were a knight, and he sayd nay, and she sayd then might he not be hir lemman, but she bad him go againe to his fellowes and make him knighte and come againe on the morow and she woulde come oute of the cave and then hee shoulde kisse hir on the mouth, and she badde him haue no dread, for she would do him no harme, although she semed hidious to him, she sayd it was done by inchauntment, for she sayd that she was such as he saw hir then, and she sayd that if he kissed hir, he should haue all the treasure, and be hir lord, and lord of all those yles. Then he departed from hir and went to his fellowes in the ship, and made him knight, and came againe on the morow to kisse the damosel, and when he saw hir come out of the cave in forme of a dragon, he had so great dread, that he fled to the ship, and she folowed him, and when she saw that he tourned not againe, she began to crye as a thing that had much sorow, and tourned again, and sone after the knight dyed, and sithen[5] hetherto might no knight see hir but he died anon. But when a knight commeth that is so hardy to kisse hir, he shall not dye, but he shall tourne that damosel into hir right shape and shal be lord of the countrey aforsayde. And from thence men go to the yle of Rodes, the which the hospitallers held and governed, and that they took sometime from the Emperour, and it was wont to be called Colles[6] and so yet the Turkes call it Colles. And sainct Paule in his Epistels writeth to them of the yle Collocenses.[7] This yle is nere CLxxx[8] myle from Constantinople. And from this yle of Rodes, men go into Cipres where are many vines, the first is red and after a yeare they war all white, and those vines that are most white, are most cleare and best smelling, And as men passe by the way by a place where was wont to be a great citie that men call Sathalay, and all that countrey was lost through the folly of a young man, for he had a faire damosell that he loved well, and she dyed sodenly & was buried in a grave of Marble & for the great love he hadde to hir, he went in a nighte to hir tombe and opened it, & went and lay by hir and when he had done he went away, & when it came to the ende of ix monthes a voice came to him & sayd in this maner as in the next chapter foloweth.

[Footnote 1: Kemped or combed.]

[Footnote 2: Thought.]

[Footnote 3: _Pynson_ says "obeyed unto the damsell"--that is,
made obeisance, or bowed to her.]

[Footnote 4: Sweetheart.]

[Footnote 5: Since then.]

[Footnote 6: From the Colossus there, a statue of Jupiter 70
cubits high, and which was accounted as one of the wonders of
the world.]

[Footnote 7: This is not so. The Epistle to the Colossians
was addressed to the inhabitants of Colossæ, a city in
Phrygia--which is clearly shown by his referring in cap. 4, v.
13, to two neighbouring cities. "For I bear him record, that
he hath a great zeal for you, and them that are in _Laodicea_,
and them in _Hierapolis_."]

[Footnote 8: _Pynson_ and others say 800.]

[Decoration]

CAP: V.

_Of a young man and his lemman._

GO unto the tombe of the same woman that you hast lien by & op[=e] it, behold well that which thou hast begotten on hir and if thou let for to go, thou shalt haue a great harme, and he went and opened the tombe and there flew out an head[1] right hideous for to see, the which head flew all about the citie and countrey, and sone after the citie and the countrey sanke downe, & ther are many perilous passages. Fro Rodes to Cipres is five hundred mile and more, but men may go to Cipres and come not at Rodes. Cipres is a good yle & a great, and there are many good cities, and there is an Archbishoppe at Nichosy,[2] and foure other Bishops in the lande. And at Famagost is one of the best havens on the sea that is in the worlde, and there are christen men and Sarasins and men of all nations. In Cipres is the hill of the holy crosse, and there is the crosse of the good thefe Dismas, as I sayd before, and some wene[3] that there is halfe of the crosse of our lord, but it is not so, and they do wrong that make men to believe so. In Cipres lieth S. Simeon, of whome the men of the countrey make a great solempnitie, and in the Castell of Amours lyeth the body of Saint Hillarion, and men kepe it worshipfully, and beside Famagost was sainct Barnarde[4] borne.

[Footnote 1: An edder, or adder--really meaning a winged
serpent.]

[Footnote 2: Nicosia.]

[Footnote 3: Imagine.]

[Footnote 4: Barnabas.]

[Decoration]

CAP: VI.

_Of the maner of hunting in Cipres._

IN Cipres men hunte with Pampeons[1] that be lyke to Leopards, and they take wylde beastes right well and they are somewhat more than lions, and they take more sharply wilde beastes then houndes. In Cipres is a maner that lordes and other men eate upon the earthe, for they make diches within the earth all about the hall depe to the knee, and they pave them, and when they will eate, they goe therein & sit there, this they do to be more freshe, for that lande is hotter then it is here. And at great feastes and for strange men, they set formes and bordes as they do in this countrey, but they had lever[2] sit in the earth. From Cipres men go by lande to Hierusalem, and by sea, and in a day and a night he that hath good wind may come to that haven of Tyre that now is called Sur, and it is also at the entre of Surry.[3] There was sometime a fayre citie of christen men, but the Sarasins haue destroyed the most parte thereof, and they kepe y^e hauen righte well, for dread that they haue of Christen men. Men might go right to that haven and come not in Cipres, but they go gladly to Cipres to rest them on the lande, or else to by[4] thinges that they haue nede of to their living. Upon the sea side men may find many rubies, and there is a well that holy write speaketh of

_Fons ortorum et puteus aquarum viventum._

That is to say, The well of gardeines and diches of waters living. In the citie of Tyre sayde the woman to our Lorde, _Beatus venter qui te portavit et ubera que succisti_. That is as much to say, Blessed be the body that bare thee, and the pappe of the which thou suckest. And there our Lorde forgave the woman of Canee hir sinnes, and there was also in that place wont to be the stone on which our Lord sat and preached & on the same stone was founded the Church of Sainct Saviour. And upon that See is the citie of Saphon, Sarep, or Sodome and there was wont to dwell Elias the prophet & there was raised Jonas the prophete the widowes sonne, and fiue myle from Saphen is the citie of Sydon, of which citie Dido that was Eneas wife after the destruction of Troy was queene, and that founded the Citie of Carthage in Affryke and now is called Didonsart. And in the citie of Tyre raigned Achilles, the father of Dido and a myle[5] from Sidon is Beruth, & from Beruth to Sardena is three days journey and from Sardena is five myle to Damas.

[Footnote 1: Large wild dogs; they are described by _Jacobus
de Vitriaco_ (the Cardinal), in his _Historiæ Orientalis_,
thus: "_Papiones_ quos appellant, canes silvestres, acriores
quam lupi."]

[Footnote 2: Liefer, rather.]

[Footnote 3: Syria.]

[Footnote 4: Buy.]

[Footnote 5: Other editions say 16 miles.]

CAP. VII.

_Of the haven of Jaffe also named._

WHO so will go lenger upon the sea and come nerer to Hierusalem--you shall go from Cipres by sea to porte Jaffe, for that is the next haven to Hierusalem, for from that haven it is but a days journey & a halfe to Hierusalem And that haven is called Jaffe, and the towne Affe after one of Noyes[1] sonnes that men call Japheth that founded it, and now it is called Jops. And ye shall understand that it is the eldest town of the world, for it was made before Noes floud and there be the bones of a giaunts side that be XL fote long.

[Footnote 1: Noah's.]

CAP: VIII.

_Of the haven of Tyre._

AND who arriveth at the first haven of Tyre, or of Surrey beforesayde, may go by land if he will to Hierusalem, and he goeth to the citie of Acon in a day, it was called Tholomayda, and it was a citie of christen men sometime, but it is now destroyed and it is on the sea. And it is from Venice to Acon by the sea two thousand and Lxxx myle of Lombardy & from Calabre or fro Cicill it is to Acon a thousand three hundred miles of Lombardy.

CAP. IX.

_Of the hill Carme._

AND the yle of Grece[1] is right in the mid way, and beside this citie of Acon towarde the sea at viii[2] hundred furlonges on the righte hande towarde the southe is the hil Carme[3] where Elias the prophet dwelled, and there was the ordre of Carme[4] fyrst founded. This hyl is not ryghte greate, ne hygh, and at the foote of this hill was sometime a good citie of chrysten men, that was called Cayphas, for Cayphas founded it, but it is nowe all wasted. And at the lyfte syde of the hyll is a Town that men call Saffre, and that is sette upon another hil, there was Sainct James and saynt John borne, and in the worshippe of them is there a faire church made. And from Tholomayda that men now call Acon, to a great hill that men call Ekale[5] de Tyrreys is an hundred furlongs, and beside that citie of Acon runneth a lyttle ryver that men call Belyon, and there nere is the fosse of Minon[6] all round that is a hundred cubytes or shaftments[7] broade, and it is all full of gravell, cleare shyninge, whereof men make white glasse cleare, and men come from far countreys by shippe, and by lande with cartes to take of the gravell & if there be never so much taken thereof in a daye, on the morow it is full againe as ever it was, and that is great marvaile, and there is alwaye winde in that fosse that styreth alway the gravell and maketh it troubled. And if a man put or do therein any mettal, as sone as it is therein it waxeth glasse, and the glasse that is made of this gravell if it be done[8] into the gravell tourneth againe into the gravell as it was before & some say that it is a swallow[9] of the sea gravell.[10]

[Footnote 1: Crete.]

[Footnote 2: _Pynson_ and others say 120 furlongs.]

[Footnote 3: Carmel.]

[Footnote 4: Carmelite friars.]

[Footnote 5: The scale, or ladder, of Tyre.]

[Footnote 6: Meaning the sepulchre of Memnon.]

[Footnote 7: A shaftment was a measure taken from the top of
the extended thumb to the outmost part of the palm--usually
taken as six inches.]

[Footnote 8: Buried.]

[Footnote 9: Whirlpool.]

[Footnote 10: This story is said to come from Solinus, and is
mentioned in Münster's Cosmographia, and in other books.]

CAP. X.

_How Sampson slew the King and his enimies._

ALSO from Acon beforesaid, men go three[1] journeys to the citie of Philisten, that now is called Gaza, that is to say the rich citie & it is right fayre and full of folke and it is a little uppon the sea, and from that citie broughte the strong Sampson the gates of the Citie uppon a highe hill, where he was taken in the Citie, and there he slewe the King in his palace, and many thousande more with him, for he made an house to fall on them. And from thence shal men go to the citie of Cesaryen,[2] and so to the castell of Pylleryns[3] and then to Askalon, and so forth to Japhat[4] and so unto the holy citie of Hierusalem.

[Footnote 1: _Pynson_ and others say four.]

[Footnote 2: Cæsarea.]

[Footnote 3: Pilgrims.]

[Footnote 4: Jaffa.]

CAP. XI.

_The waye to Babylon whereas the Soudan dwelleth._

AND whoso wyll go through the lande of Babylon where the Soudan[1] dwelleth, to have leave to go more sykerly[2] throughe the Churches & countreys, and to go to mount Sinay before he come to Hierusalem, and then turne agayne by Hierusalem; he shall goe from Gaza to the castell Dayre. And after a man commeth out of Surry, and goeth in the wildernesse, where the waye is full sandy, and the wyldernesse lasteth eyght Journeys,[3] where men findeth all that them nedeth of vytayles and men call that wyldernesse Archelleke,[4] and whan a man commeth out of this deserte, hee entreth into Egypte, and they call Egypte, Canopat,[5] and in another language men call it Mersyne,[6] and the fyrste goode towne that men fynde is called Beleth, and it is at the ende of the Kingdome of Alape,[7] and from thence men come to Babylon and to Kayre,[8] and in Babylon is a fayre churche of our lady, where she dwelled vii yeare when she was oute of the lande of Jewes, for dreade of Kynge Herode. And there lyeth the bodye of Saynte Barbara vyrgyn, and there dwelled Joseph whan he was solde of his brethrene, and there made Nabugodonosor put the children in (_the_) fire, for they were of right[9] trouth, the which chyldren men call Anania, Azaria, and Misael (as y^e psalme of Benedicite saith) but Nabugodonosor called them thus, Sydrac, Mysac, Abdenago, that is to say, God glorious, God victorious, God over all Kingedomes, and that was for myracle that he made Goddes sonne, as he sayd, go wyth those chyldren throughe the fyre. There dwelleth the Soudan, for there is a faire citie and a stronge castell and it standeth upon a rocke. In that Castell is always dwellyng to kepe the castell and to serve the soudan, above viii[10] thousand persons or folk that take all theyr necessaries at the Soudans courte. I should well knowe it, for I dwelled with him soudiour[11] in his warres a great while agayne the Bedions,[12] and he wold haue wedded me to a great princes daughter ryght richly, if I would haue forsaken my faith.

[Footnote 1: Sultan.]

[Footnote 2: Certainly, surely.]

[Footnote 3: Day's march.]

[Footnote 4: Athylec, Abylech, Alhylet, Alhelet, Abylet.]

[Footnote 5: Query Canopus, a city 12 miles from Alexandria,
named after the pilot of Menelaus' vessel, who was buried
here.]

[Footnote 6: Mersur, Morsyn.]

[Footnote 7: Aleppo.]

[Footnote 8: Cairo.]

[Footnote 9: True faith.]

[Footnote 10: Other editions say 6,000.]

[Footnote 11: Soldier.]

[Footnote 12: Bedouins.]

CAP. XII.

_Yet here followeth of the Soudan and of his Kingdomes that he
hath conquered, which he holdeth strongly with force._