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 42: CAP. XXXIIII.

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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. XXXIIII.

Of the Samaritanes.

FROM Sebasten to Hierusalem is xii myle and betwene the hylles of this countrey is a well, that men call fons Jacob, That is to say Jacobs well, that chaungeth foure times in the yeare his coloure, for sometyme it is redde, sometymes cleare, sometime grene and sometyme thycke, and men that dwell there are called Samarytanes, & they were converted through the Apostles and theyr law varieth from Christen law and Sarasins lawe and also from Jewes & Paynims. They beleve well in one God that all shall deme,¹ and beleve the Byble after the lettre, and they lappe theyr heads in redde linnen cloth, for difference of other, for Sarasins wrap theyr heads in white cloth & christen men that dwell there in blew cloth, and Jewes in yelow, and in this country dwell many Jewes paying tribute as Christen men doth.

1: Regard, consider, or suppose.