Chapter XVI

. as well, because it contained a reference to it.

That it has been left to the editor (who has hitherto rather avoided that name) of a series of popular reprints to restore whole phrases and sentences to the text of a famous book is not very creditable to English scholarship, and amounts, indeed, to a personal grievance; for to produce an easily readable text of an old book without a good critical edition to work on must always be difficult, while in the case of a work with the peculiar reputation of ‘Mandeville’ the difficulty is greatly increased. Had a critical edition existed, it would have been permissible for a popular text to botch the few sentences in which the tail does not agree with the beginning, and to correct obvious mistranslation without special note. But ‘Mandeville’ has an old reputation as the ‘Father of English Prose,’ and when no trustworthy text is available, even a popular editor must be careful lest he bear false witness. The Cotton version is, therefore, here reproduced, ‘warts and all,’ save in less than a dozen instances, where a dagger indicates that, to avoid printing nonsense, an obvious flaw has been corrected either from the ‘Egerton’ manuscript or the French text. When a word still survives, the modern form is adopted: thus ‘Armenia’ and ‘soldiers’ are here printed instead of ‘Ermony’ and ‘soudiours.’ But a new word is never substituted for an old one, and the reader who is unfamiliar with obsolete words, such as ‘Almayne’ (Germany) or ‘dere’ (harm),—there are surprisingly few for a book written five centuries ago,—must consult the unpretentious glossary. Of previous editions, that of 1725 and the reprints of it, including those of Halliwell-Phillipps, profess, though they do not do so, to reproduce the manuscript exactly. Thomas Wright’s edition is really a translation, and that issued in 1895 by Mr. Arthur Layard often comes near to being one, though the artist-editor has shown far more feeling for the old text than his too whimsical illustrations might lead one to expect. It is hoped that the plan here adopted preserves as much as possible of the fourteenth century flavour, with the minimum of disturbance to the modern reader’s enjoyment.

The plan of this series forbids the introduction of critical disquisitions, and I am thus absolved from attempting any theory as to how the tangled web of the authorship of the book should be unravelled. The simple faith of our childhood in a Sir John Mandeville, really born at St. Albans, who travelled, and told in an English book what he saw and heard, is shattered to pieces. We now know that our Mandeville is a compilation, as clever and artistic as Malory’s ‘Morte d’Arthur,’ from the works of earlier writers, with few, if any, touches added from personal experience; that it was written in French, and rendered into Latin before it attracted the notice of a series of English translators (whose own accounts of the work they were translating are not to be trusted), and that the name Sir John Mandeville was a _nom de guerre _borrowed from a real knight of this name who lived in the reign of Edward II. Beyond this it is difficult to unravel the knot, despite the ends which lie temptingly loose. A Liège chronicler, Jean d’Outremeuse, tells a story of a certain Jean de Bourgogne revealing on his deathbed that his real name was Sir John Mandeville; and in accordance with this story there is authentic record of a funeral inscription to a Sir John Mandeville in a church at Liège. Jean de Bourgogne had written other books and had been in England, which he had left in 1322 (the year in which “Mandeville” began his travels), being then implicated in killing a nobleman, just, as the real Sir John Mandeville had been implicated ten years before in the death of the Earl of Cornwall. We think for a moment that we have an explanation of the whole mystery in imagining that Jean de Bourgogne (he was also called Jean à_ _la Barbe, Joannes Barbatus) had chosen to father his compilation on Mandeville, and eventually merged his own identity in that of his pseudonym. But Jean d’Outremeuse, the recipient of his deathbed confidence, is a tricky witness, who may have had a hand in the authorship himself, and there is no clear story as yet forthcoming. But the book remains, and is none the less delightful for the mystery which attaches to it, and little less important in the history of English literature as a translation than as an original work. For though a translation it stands as the first, or almost the first, attempt to bring secular subjects within the domain of English prose, and that is enough to make it mark an epoch.

Mandeville is here reprinted rather as a source of literary pleasure than as a medieval contribution to geography, and it is therefore no part of our duty to follow Mr. Warner in tracking out the authorities to whom the compiler had recourse in successive chapters. But as there was some space in this volume to spare, and a very pleasant method of filling it suggested itself, a threefold supplement is here printed, {0} which may be of some use even to serious students, and is certainly very good literature. When Richard Hakluyt, at the end of the sixteenth century, was compiling his admirable work, ‘The Principall Navigations, Voiages, and Discoveries of the English Nation, made by sea or over land, within the compasse of these 1500_ _yeeres,’ he boldly overstepped the limits set forth on his title-page, and printed in the original Latin, with translations into good Elizabethan English, the narratives of three of the earlier travellers, all of them foreigners, from whom the compiler of Mandeville had drawn most freely. “And because,” he tells us, “these north-eastern regions beyond Volga, by reason of the huge deserts, the cold climate, and the barbarous incivilitie of the people there inhabiting, were never yet thoroughly travelled by any of our Nation, nor sufficiently known unto us; I have here annexed unto the said Englishman’s {ix} traveils the rare and memorable journals of two friers who were some of the first Christians that travailed farthest that way, and brought home most particular intelligence of all things which they had seen.” These two friars were John de Plano Carpini, sent on an embassy to the great Chan by Pope Innocent IV. in 1246, and William de Rubruquis, who travelled in the interests of Louis IX. of France in 1253. In the same way in his Second Part, Hakluyt adds ‘The Voyage of Frier Beatus Odoricus to Asia Minor, Armenia, Chaldaea, Persia, India, China, and other remote parts,’ Odoric being a Franciscan of Pordenone in North Italy, who dictated an account of his travels in 1330. Anyone who compares these three narratives (more particularly Odoric’s) with Mandeville’s Travels will see how the compiler used his materials, and they have also very considerable interest of their own.

As this volume of the Library of English Classics has brought with it an unusual editorial responsibility, I may be permitted an editor’s privilege in making two acknowledgments. The first, to my friend Mr. G. F. Warner, my readers must share with me, for without the help of his splendid edition of the ‘Egerton’ version and the French text, the popular ‘Mandeville’ could not have been attempted. My second acknowledgment is of a more personal nature. Roxburghe Club books are never easy to obtain, and the few copies of the Mandeville allowed to be sold were priced at £20 each. In noticing Mr. Warner’s edition in the ‘Academy’ (from a borrowed copy), I remarked rather ruefully that the gratitude which students of moderate means could feel towards the Club for printing so valuable a work was somewhat tempered by this little matter of the price. I was then helping Mr. Charles Elton with the catalogue of his library, and on reading my review, he wrote me a pretty letter to say that by the rules of the Club he was the possessor of a second copy, and that he thought I was the best person to give it to. Students who have to think a good many times before they spend £20 on a

## book do not often receive such a present from wealthy book-lovers; and at

the risk of obtruding more of my own concerns than my rough-and-ready editing entitles me to do, I cannot send out this ‘Mandeville,’ within a few weeks of Mr. Elton’s too early death, without telling this little story of his kindness.

A. W. POLLARD.

CONTENTS

THE TRAVELS OF SIR JOHN MANDEVILLE: CHAP. PAGE THE PROLOGUE, 1 I. To teach you the Way out of England to 6 Constantinople, II. Of the Cross and the Crown of our Lord Jesu 8 Christ, III. Of the City of Constantinople, and of the 11 Faith of the Greeks, IV. Of the Way from Constantinople to Jerusalem. 16 Of Saint John the Evangelist. And of the Ypocras Daughter, transformed from a Woman to a Dragon, V. [Of diversities in Cyprus; of the Road from 19 Cyprus to Jerusalem, and of the Marvel of a Fosse full of Sand], VI. Of many Names of Sultans, and of the Tower of 23 Babylon, VII. Of the Country of Egypt; of the Bird Phoenix 30 of Arabia; of the City of Cairo; of the Cunning to know Balm and to prove it; and of the Garners of Joseph, VIII. Of the Isle of Sicily; of the way from Babylon 36 to the Mount Sinai; of the Church of Saint Katherine and of all the marvels there, IX. Of the Desert between the Church of Saint 43 Catherine and Jerusalem. Of the Dry Tree; and how Roses came first into the World, X. Of the Pilgrimages in Jerusalem, and of the 49 Holy Places thereabout, XI. Of the Temple of our Lord. Of the Cruelty of 54 King Herod. Of the Mount Sion. Of Probatica Piscina; and of Natatorium Siloe, XII. Of the Dead Sea; and of the Flome Jordan. Of 67 the Head of Saint John the Baptist; and of the Usages of the Samaritans, XIII. Of the Province of Galilee, and where 73 Antichrist shall be born. Of Nazareth. Of the age of our Lady. Of the Day of Doom. And of the customs of Jacobites, Syrians; and of the usages of Georgians, XIV. Of the City of Damascus. Of three ways to 81 Jerusalem; one, by land and by sea; another, more by land than by sea; and the third way to Jerusalem, all by land, XV. Of the Customs of Saracens, and of their Law. 88 And how the Soldan reasoned me, Author of this Book; and of the beginning of Mohammet, XVI. Of the lands of Albania and of Libia. Of the 96 wishings for watching of the Sparrow-hawk; and of Noah’s ship, XVII. Of the Land of Job; and of his age. Of the 102 array of men of Chaldea. Of the land where women dwell without company of men. Of the knowledge and virtues of the very diamond, XVIII. Of the customs of Isles about Ind. Of the 108 difference betwixt Idols and Simulacres. Of three manner growing of Pepper upon one tree. Of the Well that changeth his odour every hour of the day; and that is marvel, XIX. Of the Dooms made by St. Thomas’s hand. Of 115 devotion and sacrifice made to Idols there, in the city of Calamye; and of the Procession in going about the city, XX. Of the evil customs used in the Isle of 119 Lamary. And how the earth and the sea be of round form and shape, by proof of the star that is clept Antarctic, that is fixed in the south, XXI. Of the Palace of the King of the Isle of Java. 125 Of the Trees that bear meal, honey, wine, and venom; and of other marvels and customs used in the Isles marching thereabout, XXII. How men know by the Idol, if the sick shall 132 die or not. Of Folk of diverse shape and marvellously disfigured. And of the Monks that gave their relief to baboons, apes, and marmosets, and to other beasts, XXIII. Of the great Chan of Cathay. Of the royalty 139 of his palace, and how he sits at meat; and of the great number of officers that serve him, XXIV. Wherefore he is clept the great Chan. Of the 145 Style of his Letters: and of the Superscription about his great Seal and his Privy Seal, XXV. Of the Governance of the great Chan’s Court, 151 and when he maketh solemn feasts. Of his Philosophers. And of his array, when he rideth by the country, XXVI. Of the Law and the Customs of the Tartarians 162 dwelling in Cathay. And how that men do when the Emperor shall die, and how he shall be chosen, XXVII. Of the Realm of Tharse and the Lands and 167 Kingdoms towards the Septentrional Parts, in coming down from the Land of Cathay, XXVIII. Of the Emperor of Persia, and of the Land of 169 Darkness; and of other kingdoms that belong to the great Chan of Cathay, and other lands of his, unto the sea of Greece, XXIX. Of the Countries and Isles that be beyond the 174 Land of Cathay; and of the fruits there; and of twenty-two kings enclosed within the mountains, XXX. Of the Royal Estate of Prester John. And of a 178 rich man that made a marvellous castle and cleped it Paradise; and of his subtlety, XXXI. Of the Devil’s Head in the Valley Perilous. 185 And of the Customs of Folk in diverse Isles that be about in the Lordship of Prester John, XXXII. Of the goodness of the folk of the Isle of 192 Bragman. Of King Alexander. And wherefore the Emperor of Ind is clept Prester John, XXXIII. Of the Hills of Gold that Pismires keep. And 198 of the four Floods that come from Paradise Terrestrial, XXXIV. Of the Customs of Kings and other that dwell 202 in the Isles coasting to Prester John’s Land. And of the Worship that the Son doth to the Father when he is dead,

THE PROLOGUE

FOR as much as the land beyond the sea, that is to say the Holy Land, that men call the Land of Promission 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 of the precious body and blood of our Lord Jesu Christ; in the which land it liked 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 enombre him in the said blessed and glorious Virgin Mary, 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 liked 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 be contained in them, would all only be clept king of that land, when he said, _Rex sum Judeorum_, that is to say, ‘I am King of 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 midst of all the world, witnessing the philosopher, that saith thus, _Virtus rerum in medio consistit_, that is to say, ‘The virtue of things is in the midst’; and in that land he would lead his life, and suffer passion and death of Jews, for us, to buy and to deliver us from pains of hell, and from death without end; the which was ordained for us, for the sin of our forme-father Adam, and for our own sins also; for as for himself, he had no evil deserved: for he thought never evil ne 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, there to suffer his passion and his death. For he that will publish anything to make it openly known, he will make it to be cried and pronounced in the middle place of a town; so that the thing that is proclaimed and pronounced, may evenly stretch to all parts: right so, he that was former of all the world, would suffer for us at Jerusalem, that is the midst of the world; to that end and intent, that his passion and his death, that was published there, might be known evenly to all parts of the world.

See now, how dear he bought man, that he made after his own image, and how dear he again-bought us, for the great love that he had to us, and we never deserved it to him. For more precious chattel ne greater ransom ne might he put for us, than his blessed body, his precious blood, and his holy life, that he thralled for us; and all he offered for us that never did sin.

Ah dear God! What love had he to us his subjects, when he that never trespassed, would for trespassers suffer death! Right well ought us for to love and worship, to dread and serve such a Lord; and to worship and praise such an holy land, that brought forth such fruit, through the which every man is saved, but it be his own default. Well may that land be called delectable and a fructuous land, that was be-bled and moisted with the precious blood of our Lord Jesu Christ; the which is the same land that our Lord behight us in heritage. And in that land he would die, as seised, to leave it to us, his children.

Wherefore every good Christian man, that is of power, and hath whereof, should pain him with all his strength for to conquer our right heritage, and chase out all the misbelieving men. For we be clept Christian men, after Christ our Father. And if we be right children of Christ, we ought for to challenge the heritage, that our Father left us, and do it out of heathen men’s hands. But now pride, covetise, and envy have so inflamed the hearts of lords of the world, that they are more busy for to dis-herit their neighbours, more than for to challenge or to conquer their right heritage before-said. And the common people, that would put their bodies and their chattels, to conquer our heritage, they may not do it without the lords. For a sembly of people without a chieftain, or a chief lord, is as a flock of sheep without a shepherd; the which departeth and disperpleth and wit never 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 trow well, that within a little time, our right heritage before-said should be reconciled and put in the hands of the right heirs of Jesu Christ.

And, for as much as it is long time passed, that there was no general passage ne voyage over the sea; and many men desire for to hear speak of the Holy Land, and have thereof great solace and comfort; I, John Mandeville, Knight, albeit I be not worthy, that was born in England, in the town of St. Albans, and passed the sea in the year of our Lord Jesu Christ, 1322, in the day of St. Michael; and hitherto been long time over the sea, and have seen and gone through many diverse lands, and many provinces and kingdoms and isles and have passed throughout Turkey, Armenia the little and the great; through Tartary, Persia, Syria, Arabia, Egypt the high and the low; through Lybia, Chaldea, and a great part of Ethiopia; through Amazonia, Ind the less and the more, a great part; and throughout many other Isles, that be about Ind; where dwell many diverse folks, and of diverse manners and laws, and of diverse shapes of men. Of which lands and isles I shall speak more plainly hereafter; and I shall devise you of some part of things that there be, when time shall be, after it may best come to my mind; and specially for them, that will and are in purpose for to visit the Holy City of Jerusalem and the holy places that are thereabout. And I shall tell the way that they shall hold thither. For I have often times passed and ridden that 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. But lords and knights and other noble and worthy men that con Latin but little, and have been beyond the sea, know and understand, if I say truth or no, and if I err in devising, for forgetting or else, that they 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 that mind of man ne may not be comprehended ne withholden, for the frailty of mankind.

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