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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A51759	The voyages & travels of Sir John Mandevile, Knight wherein is set down the way to the Holy Land, and to Hierusalem, as also to the lands of the great Caan, and of Prestor John, to Inde, and divers other countries : together with many strange marvels therein.	Mandeville, John, Sir.; Jean, d'Outremeuse, 1338-ca. 1399.	1677 (1677)	Wing M415; ESTC R21151	84,811	129

Duke nor Earl ANd from this place men go ten dayes journy through the land of the great Caane which is a very good Isle and a great Kingdom and the King is very mighty And in this Isle is a rich man which is neither King Prince Duke nor Earl but he hath each year four thousand Horses charged with Rice and Corn and he liveth Nobly and richly after the manner of the country for he hath fifty Damesels that serve him every day at his meat and bed and do what he will And when he sitteth at the Table they bring him meat and at each time five Messes together and they sing in the bringing in a Song and they cut his meat and put it into his mouth and he hath very long Nails on his hands for that is great Nobility in that country and therefore they let their Nails grow as long as they may and some let them grow so long that they come about their hands and that is great Honour and gentry and the gentry of a woman is to have small feet and therefore so soon as they are born they bind their feet so straight that they cannot wax half as they should And he hath a very fair Palace and rich where he dwelleth of which the Wall is two mile about and therein is many fair Gardens and all the Pavements of the Hall and Chambers is of Gold and Silver and in the midest of one of his Gardens is a little Hill whereon is a place made with Towers and Pinacles all of Gold and there he will sit often to take the air and disport for it is made for nothing else From this Land men may go to the Land of Caane CHAP. CVII How all the Lands Isles and Kingdoms before rehearsed have some Articles of our Faith ANd ye shall understand that all these men and folk that have reason that I have spoken of have some Articles of our Faith and though they be of divers Laws and Beliefs yet they have some good points of our Faith and they believe in God as the Prophesie saith Et meruent eum omnes fines terrae that is to say And all the Ends of the Earth shall fear him And in another place Omnes gentes servient ei That is to say all Nations shall serve him But they cannot speak perfectly but as their natural wit teacheth them netther of the Son nor of the holy Ghost but they can well speak of the Bible and especially of Genesis and the Books of Moses And they say that those Creatures which they worship are no Gods but they worship them for the great vertue that is in them which may not be without the special grace of God and of Simulacres and Idols they say that all men have Simulacres whereby they mean the papists who have Images of our Lady and others but they think that they worship the Images of Stone and of Wood and not the Saints whom they do represent for as the Letter teacheth Clerks how they shall believe so Images and Pictures teach Lay-men they say also that the Angel of God speaketh to them in their Idols and doth Miracles and they say thus but it is the evil Angel that doth Miracles to maintain them in their Idolatry CHAP. CVIII How Sir John Mandevile leaveth many marvels unwritten and the causes wherefore THere are many other countries where I have not yet been nor seen and therefore I cannot speak properly of them Also in countries where I have been are many marvels that I speak not of for it were to long a Tale and therefore hold you apaid at this time with that I have said for I will say no more of marvels that are there so that other men that go thither may find enough for to say that I have not told CHAP. CIX What time Sir John Mandevile departed out of Engeland ANd I John Mandevile Knight was born in England in the Town of Saint Albans went out of my Country and passed the sea in the year of our Lord 1332 on St. Michaels day and have passed through many lands Isles and Countries and now come to rest I have compiled this Book and write it the year of our Lord 1364 thirty two years after my departing from my Country The rather for the pleasure of all such as delight to read the strange and wonderful marvels of other forraign countries as also for a direction to all such as shall desire to see either all or some of these countries herein specified and because some things herein spoken of may seem strange and scarcely credible therefore I have thought good to make known unto all that will see more proof hereof in the Book called Mappa mundi there they shall find the most part of the same ratified and confirmed And I pray all that shall read this Book and look for no further proof to judge favourable thereof since they shall in conceipt see as much at home without much paine as I did after many weary and dangerous steps passed and I pray to God of whom all grace cometh that he will fullfil with his grace the Readers and Hearers hereof and save them body and soul and bring them to his Ioy that ever shall last Amen FINIS THE TABLE THe way toward to Hierusalem on Horse on Foot or by Sea Chap. 1. Of the Land of Greece Chap. 2. To come again to Constantinople to go to the holy Land Ch. 3. Of a terrible D●agon Chap. 4. Of a young Man and his Lemman Chap. 5. Of the manner of hunting in Cypres Chap. 6. Of the Haven named Jaffe Chap. 7. Of the Haven Tyre Chap. 8. Of the Hill of Carme Chap. 9. How Sampson slew the King and his Enemies Chap. 10. The way to Babylon where the Souldan dwelleth Chap. 11. Yet here followeth of the Souldan and Kingdoms that he hath conquered which he holdeth strongly by force Chap. 12. For to return from Sinay to Hierusalem Chap. 13. As men are passed the Wilderness again coming to Hierusalem Chap. 14. Here followeth a little of Adam and Eve and other things Chap. 15. Of the dry Tree Chap. 16. From Ebron to Bethlem Chap. 17. Of a fair Maiden that should be put to death wrongfully Chap. 18. Of the City of Jerusalem Chap. 19. Yet of the holy City of Jerusalem Chap. 20. Of the Church and of the old Sepulchre Chap. 21. Of the Temple of God Chap. 22. Yet of the Temple of God Chap. 23. Of King Herod Chap. 24. Of Saint Salvator● Church Chap. 25. The Field of Acheldemack which was bought with the thirty pence Chap. 26. Of the Mount Jov. Chap. 27. Of the Castle of Bethania Chap. 28. Of Jericho and of other things Chap. 29. Of the holy place between Bethania and the River Jordan with other things Chap. 30. Of Abraham and his Generation Chap. 31. Of the River Jordan Chap. 32. Of many other marvels Chap. 33. Of the Samaritans Chap. 34. Of Galile Chap. 35. Of

time many good men and holy Hermits of whom the Book of the Fathers Lives make mention but now they are inhabited by Painims and Sarasins yet when it pleaseth God as these Lands were lost through the sin of Christians so through the help of God by Christians they shall be won again In the middest of this Church is a Tomb in the which Joseph of Aramathea laid the Body of our Lord when he had taken him off the Cross and upon the same place did he wash the féet of our Lord and that place men say is the middest of the world CHAP. XXXI Of the Church of the holy Sepulchre WIthin that Church by the Sepulchre on the North side is the place where our Lord was Imprisoned and there is a part of the Chain with the which he was bound and there he appeared first to Mary Magdalen when he was risen from death and she thought he had béen a Gardiner In the Church of the Sepulchre was wont to be the Canons of Saint B●nnet and they had a Priory and the Patriarch was their Soveraign and without the doors of the Church on the right side as men go up eightéen steps our Lord said to his Mother Mulier Ecce filius tuus that is Woman behold thy Son Deinde dixit Discipulo Ecce mater tua that is Then afterward he said to his Disciple Behold thy Mother And these words he said when he hanged upon the Cross. And upon these steps went our Lord when he bare the Cross upon his Shoulder and under these stayers is a Chappel where the Priests sing And near there is the stone where our Lord rested him when he was weary with bearing of the Cross. And ye shall understand that before the Church of the Sepulchre is a most strong city and the great plain that is betwéen the city and the Church on the East side without the Walls of the city is the Vale of Josaphat that cometh even to the Walls In this Vale of Josaphat without the city is the Church of St. Stephen where he was stoned to death and thereby is a gate builded that may not be opened Through this gate our Lord entred on Palm Sunday upon an Ass and the gate opened unto him when he would go to the Temple and in full hard stones there are three steps like the steps of an Ass which the people say are the steps of the Ass that our Lord did ride on Before the Church of the Sepulchre two hundred paces is a great Hospital of St. John in the which Hospital are fifty four Pillars made of Stone And to go toward the East from the Hospital is a right fair Church that men call our Lady the Great and then is there another Church by that that men call our Lady of the Latin and there it was that Mary Cleophe and Mary Magdalen rent their Hair when our Lord was put to death CHAP. XXII Of the Temple of God AND from the Church of the Sepulchre toward the East at seventeen paces is Templum Domini that is a fair House and it is all round and right high and covered with Lead and it is well Paved with white Marble but the Sarasins will suffer no Christians nor Jews to come therein for they say that such sinful men should not come into that holy place but I was suffered to go in and into other places where I would for I had letters of the Soldan with his great seal and commonly other men have but of his signet and men bear his letter with his seal before them hanging on a spear and men do great worship thereto and they kneel to it and adore it as if it were a God also those men to whom it is sent before they take it do bow thereto and they take it and lay it upon their heads and afterward they kiss it and then they read it all bowing with great worship and then they prosser them to do all that the Bringer will And in this Templum Domini were wont to be Canons Regulars and they had an Abbot to whom they were obedient In this Temple was Charlemain when the Angel brought him the Prepcio of our Lord when he was circumcised and alter King Charles brought it to Acon into our Ladies Chappel CHAP. XXIII Yet of the Temple of God AND ye shall understand that this is not the Temple that Solomon made for that Temple lasted but one thousand one hundred and two years For Titus Vespasian his Son that was Emperour of Rome laid siege against Hierusalem for to discomfit the Jews because they had put Christ to death without leave of the Emperour When he had taken the City he burnt the Temple and cast it down and took all the Iews and put to death eleven hundred thousand and the rest he imprisoned and sold thirty for a penny for he said that they bought Iesus Christ for thirty pence And since Julian Aposlata gave leave to the Iews to build the Temple of Hierusalem again but he forsook his Law And when the Iews had builded again the Temple then came the Earthquake as God would and cast down all that they had made Since that Adrian the Emperour who was of Troy made Hierusalem again and the Temple in that same manner that Solomon made it and commanded that no Iew should dwell there but Christians for although he himself was not a Christian yet he loved the Christians more than other men save men of his own faith This Emperour did also enclose and wall the Church of the holy Sepulchre within the City that before was far without the City and he would have changed the name of Hierusalem and called it Helam but that name lasted not long And ye shall understand that the Sarasins do worship in that Temple and they say that place is holy and when they go in They go barefoot and before I and my Fellows came herein we put off our Harness and came barefoot into the Temple and thought that we ought to do as much or more than they that were Infidels And this Temple is thréescore and thrée cubits in wideness and as much in length and thirty two cubits in height and covered with lead and it is within full of Pillars of Marble And in the middest of the Temple is an Altar of twenty and four steps of height This place the Jews called Sanctus Sanctorum that is Holy of Holyest and in that place cometh none but their Prelate that maketh their Sacrifice and the people sit all about in divers seats as they are in dignity and there be four Entrings into the Temple and the doors are of Cypress and within the East door our Lord said Here is Ierusalem And on the North side within the door is a Fountain and it runneth out of the which holy Writ speaketh and saith Vidiaquam egredientem de Templo I saw water coming out of the Temple And upon the other side is a Rock that men called

Heaven And if they may find a Book with Gospels such as Missus est Angelus they do it great Worship and they fast one Moneth in the year and eat only a night and they keep them from their Wives but they that are sick are not constrained to it And their Book Alkaron speaketh of Jews and saith they are wicked people for they will not believe that Iesus Christ is of God Further they say that the Jews speak falsly of our Lady and her Son Iesus Christ in saying that they did not hang him on the Cross. Their Book Alkaron forbiddeth Murther and Theft and commandeth them to do so to others as they would have others do to them for the Sarasins believe so near our Naith that they are easily converted when men preach the Law of Iesus Christ. They say also that they know right well by their Prophesies that their Law of Mahomet shall fail as the Jews Law doth and that the Law of Christians shall last to the Worlds end And if a man ask them wherein they believe they say that they believe in God Almighty that is the Maker of Heaven and Earth all other things and without him is nothing done and at the day of Iudgment every man shall be rewarded after his deserving and that all things are truth that God spake by the mouth of his Prophets CHAP. XLV Yet further concerning Mahomet ALso Mahomet had writ in his Book Alkaron that every man should have two Wives or three or four but now they have nine and as many Lemmans as them liketh and it any of these Wives do wrong to their Husbands he may drive her out of his House and take in another but he must give part of his goods Moreover where men speak of the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost they say that they are not three Persons but one God for their Book Alkaron speaketh not thereof nor of the Trinity but they say that God spake or else he was dumb and that God had a Ghost or else he was not alive They say Gods Word hath great strength and so saith their Alkaron and they say that Abraham and Moses were greatly in favour with God for they spake with him and Mahomet was a true Messenger of God and they have many good Articles of our Faith and some understand the Scriptures Prophets Gospels and the Bible for they have them written in their Language In their manner they know holy Writ but they understand it but after the Letter and so do the Iews for they understand it not Spiritually but after their Letter and therefore saith Saint Paul Litera occidit Spiritus autem vivificar that is the Letter killeth but the Spirit quickneth The Sarasins likewise say that the Jews are wicked for they keep not the Law of Moses which he gave them and also Christians are evil for they keep not the Commandments of the Gospel that Iesus Christ sent unto them And further I shall tell you what the Soldan told me upon day in his Chamber shutting out all other men as Lords Knights and others for he would speak with me in counsel and then he asked me how Christians governed themselves in our Country I answered him and said Right well thanks be to God but he said secretly nay for he said that our Priests made no force of Gods Service for they should give good example to men to do well and they give ill example and therefore when the people should go on the Holy days to Church to serve God they go to the Tavern to sin in gluttony both day and night eating and drinking as Beasts that wot not when they have enough He said also that there was much contention among Christians and one would defraud another and they were so proud that they wist not how to clothe them now short now long now strait now wide and of all fashions whereas they should be humble and meek giving their alms as Iesus Christ did in whom they believe He said also that they were so covetous that for a little money they would sell their children sisters or wives one man taking another mans wife and no man keeping his promise Therefore said he for their sins hath God given these Lands to our hands and not through our strength but all for your sins For we know certainly that while ye truly serve God he will help you so that no man shall win of you if that ye serve God as ye ought to do but while ye live so sinfully as ye do we have no dread of you for God will not help you And then I asked him how he knew the state of Christians in that manner and he said that he knew well the state both of Lords and of Commons by his Messengers which he sent through all the Countries as it were Merchants with precious Stones and other Merchandise to know the manner of every Country And then he did call again all the Lords into his Chamber to us and then shewed he unto me three persons that were great Lords of that Country who shewed unto me the manner of my Country and of all Christendom as though they had béen men born in the same parts and they spake French right well and the Soldan also and then I had great marbel of this slander of our Faith and so they that should be turned by our good examples to the Faith of Iesus Christ they are drawn away through our evil living and therefore it is no wonder if that they call us evil for they say truth but the Sarasins are true for they keep truly the Commandments of their Alkaron CHAP. XLVI Of the Birth of Mahomet ANd ye shall understand that Mahomet was born at Ithareb in Araby and his Father was a Painim and his Mother a Jew their names were Abdal and H●mna and they were but poor folk and he was first a poor drudge and kept horse and afterward he followed Merchandise And it befell sometime that Christians become Sarasins either through poverty simpleness or wickedness and therefore their Archbishop when he received them said Laelles ella Mahomet ros sella that is to say there is no God but one and Mahomet is his Messenger And seeing I have told you a part of their Law and their Customs Now I shall tell you of their Letters with their Names First they have for a almoy b bethat c cathi d delphy e ethoti f thy g gatophin h hecum i iochi k kathi l lothum m malach n nahalht o orthy p th●zui q zo●hii r ruchelat s chotimus t salathy v yrichom x m●z●r z z●l●phin johe-t●ncon these are the names Four Letters have they yet more for diversity of their Language forasmuch as they speak so in their throats as we have in our Language and speech in England Two Letters more they also have in their A. B. C. that is to say the which are called thrane and zawx CHAP. LVII