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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 35: CAP. XXVII.
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. XXVII.

Of mount Joye.

TWO myle from Hierusalem is the mounte Joye that is a fayre place and a liking, & there lieth Samuell the prophete in a fayre tombe, and it is called mount Joye for there many pylgrims se first Hierusalem. And in the middle of the Vale of Josaphat is a lyttle ryver that is called Torrens1 Cedron, and over thwart this laye a tree, of the which the crosse was made, that men passed over on. Also in ye vale is a churche of our lady, and there is the sepulchre of our lady, and our lady was of age when she dyed, lxxii yeare. And there nere is the place where our Lorde forgaue Sainct Peter all his sinnes and mysdedes that he had done. And beside that is a chappell where Judas kissed our Lorde, that men call Getsemay,2 and he was taken of the Jewes, and there lefte Christ his disciples before his passion, when he went to praye, and seyd, Pater si fieri potest, transeat a me calix iste, that is to say in English, Father if it may be done, let this chalice go from me. Also thereby is a chapell where our Lord swet both bloud & water and there is the tombe of King Josaphat, of whom the Vale had the name, and on the syde of that Vale is the mount Olivet, and it is called so for there groweth many Olive trees, and it is higher than Hierusalem & therefore from that hill men may see into the streetes of Hierusalem. And betwene that hill and the citie is nothing but the vale of Josaphat and that is not full large, and uppon that hyl stode our Lorde when he went into heaven, and yet semeth there the steppe3 of his left foote in the stone. And there is an Abbey of black chanons that was great sometime, but now there is but a church. And but a little thence xviii paces is a chapell, and there is the stone on the which our Lord God sate and when he preched, and sayde thus, Beati pauperes spiritu, quoniam ipsorum est regnum celorum. That is to saye in English, Blessed be they that are poore in spirite, for theyrs is the Kingdome of heaven, and ther he taught his disciples theyr Pater noster. There also is a churche of that blessed woman Mary Egypcian, and there is she buryed. And uppon the other side towarde the East three bow shotes from thence, standeth Bethephage, where our Lorde Jesu Christ sente Sainct Peter and saynte James, for to fetch an asse on Palme Sonday.

1:  The Brook Kedron.

2:  Gethsemane.

3:  Footprint.