Early Travels in Palestine Comprising the Narratives of Arculf, Willibald, Bernard, Sæwulf, Sigurd, Benjamin of Tudela, Sir John Maundeville, de la Brocquière, and Maundrell

EARLY TRAVELS
    IN
    PALESTINE,

    COMPRISING THE NARRATIVES OF
    ARCULF, WILLIBALD, BERNARD, SÆWULF, SIGURD,
    BENJAMIN OF TUDELA, SIR JOHN MAUNDEVILLE,
    DE LA BROCQUIÈRE, AND MAUNDRELL.


    EDITED, WITH NOTES,
    BY THOMAS WRIGHT, ESQ., M.A., F.S.A., &c.


    LONDON:
    HENRY G. BOHN, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN.

    MDCCCXLVIII.




    TO HIS GRACE
    THE LORD ARCHBISHOP OF YORK,
    THIS VOLUME
    IS VERY RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED
    BY
    THE EDITOR.




CONTENTS.


                                                                  PAGE

  INTRODUCTION by the Editor                                       vii

  The Travels of BISHOP ARCULF, in the HOLY LAND, towards A.D. 700   1

  The Travels of WILLIBALD, A.D. 721-727                            13

  The Voyage of BERNARD THE WISE, A.D. 867                          23

  The Travels of SÆWULF, A.D. 1102 and 1103                         31

  The Saga of SIGURD THE CRUSADER, A.D. 1107-1111                   50

  The Travels of RABBI BENJAMIN, of TUDELA, A.D. 1160-1173          63

  The Book of SIR JOHN MAUNDEVILLE, A.D. 1322-1356                 127

  The Travels of BERTRANDON DE LA BROCQUIÈRE, A.D. 1432 and 1433   283

  The Journey of HENRY MAUNDRELL, from ALEPPO to JERUSALEM,
  A.D. 1697                                                        383




[Illustration: PLAN OF JERUSALEM]




REFERENCES TO PLAN OF JERUSALEM,

REDUCED FROM A LARGE PLAN, CONSTRUCTED BY SCHULTZ, PRUSSIAN CONSUL AT
JERUSALEM.


  1.  Chapel of Scourging.
  2.  Scala Sancta.
  3.  Pilate's House.
  4.  Chapel of Crowning with Thorns.
  5.  Arch of '_Ecce Homo_.'
  6.  First place where Simon carried the Cross.
  7.  Second do.       do.
  8.  Gate of Judgment (Porta Judiciaria).
  9.  House of Urias.
  10. Bath of Bathsheba.
  11. House of the High Priest Zacharias.
  12.   "      St. Marcus.
  13.   "      St. Thomas.
  14.   "      High Priest Annas.
  15.   "         "        Caiphas.
  16. Room in which the Last Supper was instituted.
  17. House of the Virgin Mary.
  18. Place where St. Peter wept.
  19. House of Sta. Anna.
  20.   "      the Pharisee Simon.
  21. Place where Stephen was stoned.
  22.     "       Jesus sweated blood.
  23.     "       the Disciples slept.
  24.     "       Judas kissed Christ.
  25.     "       Jesus taught the Lord's Prayer.
  26.     "        "    wept over Jerusalem.
  27.     "       the Apostles learned the Creed.
  28.     "       Judas hanged himself.
  29. Tomb of Jehoshaphat.
  30.    "    Absolom.
  31.    "    Jacob.
  32.    "    Zacharias.




INTRODUCTION.


The attentive reader of history cannot fail to remark how often, in the
confusion of the middle ages, the very movements or principles which
seem in themselves most barbarous, or are most strongly tinctured with
the darkest shades of superstition, have been those which, in the
sequel, gave the strongest impulse to the advancing spirit of
civilization which has at length changed that dark past into this bright
present. It is in the contemplation of this oft-recurring fact, that we
trace, more distinctly, perhaps, than in any other, the inscrutable but
unerring ways of that higher Providence to whose rule all things are
subjected. Few of those duties enjoined by the ancient Romish Church
were accompanied with, and seemed to lead to, more abuses and scandals
than the pilgrimages to the Holy Land, so natural an attraction to every
Christian; few were attended with so much bigotry, and blindness, and
uncharitableness, or ended in observances and convictions so grossly
superstitious and so degrading to the intelligence of mankind. Yet it
was this throwing of people upon the wide and distant scene, on which
they were forced into continual intercourse, hostile or friendly,
according to the circumstances of the moment, with people of different
manners, creed, sentiment, and knowledge, that gradually softened down
all prejudices, and paved the way for the entire destruction of that
system to which it seemed intended to give support. If the seeds of
civilization ever existed in the cloister, they were seeds cast upon the
barren rock, and it was not until they were transplanted to another and
richer soil, that they began to sprout and give promise of fruit.

Even in this point of view the narrative of those early pilgrimages must
possess no ordinary degree of interest, and it gives us no little
insight into the history of the march of intellectual improvement to
accompany these early travellers in their wanderings, as they have
themselves described them to us, and to watch their feelings and hear
their opinions. The human mind is one of those important objects of
study that we can never look upon from too many standing-places. But
there is another point of view in which the narratives of the early
pilgrims, of which so many have been preserved, are perhaps still more
interesting.