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The Voiage and Travayle of Sir John Maundeville Knight / Which treateth of the way towards Hierusalem and of marvayles of Inde with other ilands and countreys cover

The Voiage and Travayle of Sir John Maundeville Knight / Which treateth of the way towards Hierusalem and of marvayles of Inde with other ilands and countreys

Chapter 27: CAP. XIX.
By Sir John Mandeville
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About This Book

The narrator offers a medieval travelogue that traces routes toward Jerusalem and across regions of Asia, Africa, and India, blending eyewitness-style observations, borrowed reports, and fantastic tales. It catalogs cities, landscapes, animals, plants, trade goods, and unfamiliar customs, alternating itinerary notes with moral and religious commentary. Frequent digressions present marvels and monstrous races alongside practical details about pilgrim routes, local rites, and fortifications, producing a text that shifts between guidebook information and imaginative storytelling. The structure mixes descriptive chapters with episodic anecdotes, inviting readers to weigh veracity while encountering the era's geographical knowledge, commerce, and popular curiosities.

CAP. XIX.

Of the citie of Hierusalem.

FOR to speake of Hierusalem, ye shall understande that it standeth fayre among hylles, and there is neither ryver nor well, but water commeth by conduit from Ebron, and ye shall wete that men called it first Jebus and sythen it was called Salem unto the time of King David, and he set those two names togither and called it Hierusalem and so it is called yet. And aboute Hierusalem is the Kingdome of Surry, & thereby is the lande of Palestyne and Askalon, but Hierusalem is in the lande of Jude, and it is called Judee, for Judas Maccabeus was King of that lande, and also it marcheth afterward on the Kingedome of Araby, on the South side on the lande of Egipt, on the west side on the great sea, on the north syde on the Kingdome of Surry and the sea of Cipres. About Hierusalem are these cities. Ebrone at viii1 myle, Jerico at vi myle Barsebe at viii myle Askalon xviii2 myle, Jaffa at xxv3 Ramatha at iiii4 mile. At Bethlem towarde the South is a church of saint Markerot,5 that was abbot there, for whom they made much sorow when he should dy & it is painted there how they made dole6 when he dyed, and it is a piteous thing to beholde. This lande of Hierusalem hath ben in dyvers nations hands, as Jewes, Cananens, Assyrians, Percians, Macedons, Grekes, Romayns & Chrysten men, Sarasins, Barbaryans, Turkes & many other nacions. For Chryste wyll not that it be long in the handes of traytours ne sinners be they Christen or other. And now hath the mistrowing7 men holden that lande in theyre handes Lx yeare & more, but they shall not holde it long and if8 God wyll.

1:  Other editions say respectively 7, 17, 16.

2:  As Footnote 1.

3:  As Footnote 1.

4:  Other editions say 3 miles.

5:  Variously written, Markertot, Karitot, Karscati, and Mercaritot.

6:  Grieved, from Lat. Dolor.

7:  Unbelieving, or heathen.

8:  Unless it is God's pleasure.