good townes In his kingdome are many great Iles and large for this land of Inde is parted into Iles because of great flouds that come out of Paradise and also in the sea are many great Iles. The best cittie that is in the I le of Pantrore is called Nile that is a noble cittie and a rich Prester Iohn hath vnder him many kings and diuers people and his land is good and rich but not so rich as the land of the great Caane for merchants come not so much thether as they doe into the land of the great Caane for it is too long a iourney And also they finde in the I le of Cathay all things that they haue néede of as spicery clothes of gold and other riches and although they might haue better cheape in the land of Prester Iohn then in the land of Cathay and more fine neuerthelesse they wil not go thether by reason of the length of the iourney and great perils on the sea for there are many places in the sea where are many rocks of a stone that is called Adamand the which of his owne kinde draweth to him all manner of iron and therefore there may no ships that haue iron nayles passe but it draweth them to it and therefore they dare not go into that country with ships for dread of the Adamand I went once into that sea saw as it had béene a great I le of trées stocks branches growing and the shipmen told me that those were great ships that abode there through the vertue of the Adamands and of things that were in the ships whereof those trées sprong and waxed and such rocks are there many in diuers places of that sea and therefore dare there no shipmen passe that way And another thing also is that they dread the long way and therefore they go most to Cathay and that is néere vnto them And yet it is not so néere but that from Venice or Gene by Sea to Cathay is xi or xij moneths iourney The land of Prester Iohn is long and Merchants passe thether through the land of Persia and come vnto a Cittie that men call Hermes for a Philosopher that was called Hermes founded it and then passe an arme of the Sea come to another Cittie that men call Saboth and there finde they all marchandises and popiniayes as great plenty as larks in our country In this Country is little wheate or barly and therefore they eat rice milke and chéese and other fruits This Emperour Prester Iohn weddeth commonly the daughter of the great Caane and the great Caane his Daughter In the land of Prester Iohn is many diuers things and many precious stones so great and so large that they make of them vessels platters and cups and many other things of which it were too long to tell but somwhat of his law and of his faith I shall tell you Of the faith and beleefe of Prester Iohn but he hath not all the full beliefe as wee haue Chap. lxxxvij THis Emperour Prester Iohn is christened and a great part of his land also but they haue not all the articles of our Faith but they beléeue well in the Father the sonne and the holy Ghost and they are full deuoute and true one to another and they make no force of cattell And hée hath vnder him lxxii Prouinces and countries and in each one is a king and those kings haue other kings vnder them And in this land are many meruailes for in this land in the gauely sea that is of sand and grauaile and no drop of water and it ebbeth and floweth with right great waues as an other sea doth and it is neuer standing still and neuer in rest and no man may passe that land beyond it And although there bée no water in the sea yet men may finde therein right good fish and of other fashion and shape then are in any other seas and also they are of a full good sauor and swéete and good to eat And thrée dayes iourney from that sea are many great hils through which runneth a great floud that commeth from Paradise and it is full of precious stones and no drop of water and it runneth with great waues into the grauely Sea And this floud runneth thrée dayes in the wéeke so fast and stirreth great stones of the rockes with him that make much noyse as soone as they come into the grauely sea they are no more séene and in those thrée dayes when it runneth thus no man dare come in it but the other dayes men goe therein when they will And so béeyond that floud toward that wildernesse is a great plaine among hils all sandy and grauely and in that plaine grow trées that at the rising of the Sun each day begin to grow and so grow they till mid-day and beare fruit but no man dare eate of that fruit for it is a manner of yron and after midday it turneth againe to the earth so that when the Sun goeth downe it is nothing séene and so doth it euery day and there is in that wildernesse many wilde men with hornes on their heads right hedious and they speake not but rout as swine and in that country are many popiniayes that they call in their language Pistak and they speake through their owne kinde partly as a man and those that speake well haue long tongues and large and on euery foote fiue toes but there are some that haue but thrée toes but those speake naught or very ill Of another Iland where also dwelleth good people therein and is called Sinople Chap. lxxxviij THen is there an other I le that is called Synople wherein also are good people and true and full of good faith and they are much like in their liuing to the man béefore said and they go all naked Into that Iland came king Alexander and when hée saw their good faith and trouth and their good beléefe hée said that hée would doe them no harme and bad them aske of him riches or ought else and they stould haue it And they answered that they had riches enough when they had meat and drinck to sustaine their bodies and they said also that riches of this world is nought worth but if it were so that hée might graunt them that they should neuer dye that would they pray him And Alexander sayd that might hée not do for hée was mortall and should die as they should Then said they why art thou so proud and wouldest win all the world and haue it in thy subiection as it were a God and hast no terme of thy life and thou wilt haue all riches of the world the which shall forsake thée or thou forsake it and thou shalt beare nothing with thée but it shall remaine to other but as thou were borne naked so shalt thou be done in earth And Alexander was greatly astonied at this speach and though it be so that they haue not the Articles of our
that it is in may no euill ghost come nor in no place where it is And in that same garden saint Peter denyed our Lord thrice and afterward was our Lord lead before the Bishop Ministers of the Law into another garden of Anne and there hée was examined scourged and crowned oft with a swée Thorne that men call Harbareus that grew in the same Garden and that hath many vertues And afterward he was lead to a garden of Caiaphas and there he was crowned againe with Eglentine after that hée was lead to a chamber of Pilate and there hée was crowned and the Iewes set him in a chayre and clad him in a mantell of purple And then made they a crowne of Ioukes of the sea and there they knéeled to him scorned him saying Aue rex Iudeorum That is to say haile king of Iewes And of this crowne halfe is at Paris and the other halfe at Constantinople the which our sauiour Iesus Christ had on his head when hée was nailed on the crosse And the speares shaft hath the Emperour of Almaine but the head which was put in his side is at Paris they say in the holy chappell and oft times saith the Emperour of Constantinople that he hath the speares head I haue séene it but it is greater then that at Paris Also at Constantinople lyeth saint Anne our ladies mother whom saint Elene caused to bée brought from Ierusalem and ther lieth also the body of saint Iohn Chrisostome that was Bishop of Constantinople There lyeth also Saint Luke the Euangelist for his bones were brought from Bethany where he was buryed and many other reliquies are there and ther is of the vessel of stone as it were marble which men call Hidrius that euermore droppeth water filleth himselfe euery yeare once And yée shall wit that Constantinople is a fayre citty and well walled and it is thrée cornered and there is an arme of the sea that men call Hellespon some men call it the bunch of Constantinople and some men call it the brach of saint George and this water encloseth two parts of the citie vpward to the sea vpon that water was wont to bée the great citie of Troy in a faire plaine but that citie was destroied by the Gréekes Of the Ilands of Greece Chap. ij ABout Gréece be many Iles that men cal Calastre Calcas Settico Thoysoria Minona Faxton Molo Carpate and Lempne And in this I le is mount Athoes that passeth the clouds and there are diuers speaches many countries that are obedient to the Emperour of Constantinople that is to say Turcoply Pincy Narde Comage and many other Thracy and Macedonie of which Alexander was King In this countrie was Aristotle borne in a Citty that men cal Strageris a little from the citty of Tragie and at Strageris is Aristotle buried and there is an Alter on his tombe and there make they a great feast euery yeare as he were a Saint and vpon his alter the Lords hold their great counsailes assembles they thinck that through the inspiration of God and him they should haue the better counsell In this Countrie are right high hils there is an hill that men call Olimphus that parteth Macedonie and Thracia and is as high as the cloudes and the other hill that men call Athoes is so high that the shadow of him stretcheth vnto Olimphus and it is néere lxxvij mile betwéene and aboue that hill is the ayre so cléere that men may féele no winde there and therefore may no beast liue there the ayre is so dry and men say in the country that Philosophers somtime went vp to these same hils and held to their noses a spounge wet with water for to haue ayre for the ayre was so dry there and aboue in the pouder of the hill they wrote letters with their fingers and at the yeares end they came againe and found those letters which they had written the yéere before without any default therefore it séemeth well that these hils passe the cloudes to the pure ayre At Constantinople is the Emperours Pallaice which is faire and well dight and therein is a place for iusting and it is made about with stages that each man may well sée none grieue other and vnder these stages are stables vauted for the Emperours horses all the pillers of these stables are of marble And within the Church of saint Sophie an Emperor would haue laid the body of his Father when hée was dead and as they made the graue they found a body in the earth and vpon the body lay a great plate of fine gold and thervpon was written in Ebrew Gréeke and Latin letters that said thus Iesus Christus nascetur de virgine Maria ego credo in eum That is to say Iesu Christ shall be borne of the virgin Marie and I beléeue in him And the date was that it lay in the earth two hundreth yéere béefore our Lord Iesu Christ was borne and yet is that plate in the treasurie of the Church men say that it was Hermogenes the wise man And neuerthelesse if it be so men of that Gréece bée Christians yet they vary from our faith for they say that the holy Ghost commeth not out of the son but all onelie of the father and they are not obedient to the Church of Roome nor to the Pope they say that their Patriarks haue as much power ouer the sea as the Pope hath on this side the sea And therefore Pope Iohn the xxij sent letters to them how Christian men should bée all one and that they should be obedient to a Pope that is Christs Vicar on earth to whom God gaue plaine power to binde and to assoyle and therefore they should be obedient to him And they sent him diuers aunsweres and among other they said thus Potentiam tuam summam circa subiectos tuos firmiter credimus Superbiam tuam summā tollerare non possimus Auaritiam tuam summam satiare non intendimus Dominus tecū sit Quia Dominus nobiscum est Vale. That is to say We beléeue well that thy power is great vpon thy subiects We may not suffer thy pride We are not in purpose to fulfill thy couetise our Lord be with thée for our Lord is with vs Farewell And other aunsweare might be not haue of them And also they make their sacramēt of the Alter of therf bread for our Lord made it of therf bread when he made his maund on sherthurs day make they their bread in tokening of the maund and they dry it at the Sun kéepe it all the yeare and giue it to sicke men in stead of Gods body And they make but one vnction when they christen children and they annoint no sick men and they say there is no purgatory and soules shall haue neither ioy nor paine vntill the day of dome And they say that fornication is no deadly sin but a
of Gréece is right in the mid way and beside this cittie of Acon toward the sea some viij hundred furlongs on the right hand toward the South is the hill Carme where Elias the prophet dwelled there was the order of Carmes first founded This hill is not right great ne high and at the foot of this hill was somtime a good cittie of christian men that was called Caiphas for Cayphas founded it but it is now all wasted at the left side of the hill is a towne that men call Saffre that is set vpon another hill there was Saint Iames and Saint Iohn borne in worship of them is there a fayre church made And from Tholomoda that men now call Acon to a great hill that men call Ekale de Tyrees is an hundred fourlongs and beside that cittie of Acon runneth a little riuer that men call Belion and there néere is the fosse of Minon all round that is an hundred cubites or shaftments broad and it is all full of grauell cléere shining whereof men make white glasse cléere and men come from far countries by ship and by land with carts to take of the grauell and if there be neuer so much taken therof on a day on the morrow it is full againe as euer it was and that is great meruaile and there is alway winde in the fosse that striketh away the grauell maketh it trouble And if a man put therein any mettall as soone as it is therein it waxeth glasse the glasse that is made of this grauell if it bée done into the grauell turneth againe into the grauell as it was before and some say that it is a gulfe of the sea grauell How Sampson slew the King and his enimies Chap. x. ALso from Acon before said men goe thrée dayes iourney to the Cittie of Philisten that now is called Gaza that is a rich cittie right faire and full of folke and it is a little vpon the Sea and from that Cittie brought the strong Samson the gates of the Cittie to an high hill and was taken in the said Cittie and there he slew the king in his seat and many thousands more with him for hée made an house to fall on them And from thence shall men goe to the cittie of Cesarien and so to the castell of Pillerins and then to Askalon and so forth to Iaphat and so vnto the holy cittie Hierusalem The way to Babilon whereas the Souldan dwelleth Chap. xj AND who so will go through the land of Babilon where the Souldan dwelleth to haue leaue to goe more securely through the churches and countries and to goe to mount Sinay before he come to Hierusalem and then turne againe by Hierusalem he shal go from Gaza to the castell Dayr And after a man commeth out of Surry and goeth by the wildernesse where the way is full sandy and the wildernesse lasteth eight dayes iourney where men findeth all that them néedeth of vittailes and men call that wildernesse Archelleke and when a man commeth out of this desert he entreth into Aegypt and they call Aegypt Canopat and in an other language men call it Mersine and the first good towne that men finde is called Beleth and it is at the end of the kingdome of Alape and from thence men come to Babilon and to Kayre and in Babilon is a fayre Church of our Lady where shée dwelled seauen yéere when shée was out of the land of the Iewes for dread of king Herod And there lyeth the body of Saint Barbara virgin and there dwelled Ioseph when hée was sold of his brethren and there caused Nabuchodonosor to put the children in fire for they were of right truth the which children men call Anania Azaria and Misaell as the Psalme of Benedicite saith but Nabuchodonosor called them thus Sidrac Misac and Abednago that is to say God glorious and victorious God ouer all kingdomes and that was for miracle that hée made Gods son as he said goe with those children through the fire There dwelleth the Souldan for there is a fayre cittie and a strong Castle and it standeth vpon a rock In that Castle is alway dwelling to kéepe the castle and to serue the Souldan aboue eight thousand persons that take all their necessaries of the Souldans Court. I well know it for I dwelled with him Souldier in his wars a great while against the Bedions and he would haue wedded me to a great princes daughter right richly if I would haue forsaken my faith Yet here followeth of the Souldan and of his kingdomes that he hath conquered which he holdeth strongly with force Chap. xij ANd yée shal vnderstand that the Souldan is Lord of seauen kingdomes the which hée hath conquered and gotten to him by strength and these be they the kingdome of Canopate the kingdome of Aegipt the kingdome of Hierusalem wherof Dauid and Salomon were kings the kingdome of Surry of the which the citty of Damas was the chiefe the kingdome of Alape in the land of Dameth and the kingdome of Arabia which was one of the thrée kings shat made offering to our Lord when hée was borne and many other lands hée holdeth in his hand and also hée holdeth Calaphas that is a great thing to the souldan that is to say among them of Royes Ile and this vale is cold And then men goe vpon the mount of Saint Katherin and that is much higher then the mount Moyses And this saint Katherin was grauen in no Church ne castle ne other dwelling place but there is an hill of stones gathered together about the place where shée was buried there was wont to be a chappell but it is all cast downe and yet lyeth there a great part of the stones But vnder the foot of mout Sina is a monastery of Monks and there is the Church of saint Katherin wherein be many lamps burning and they haue oyle oliue enough to eate and to burne and that they haue by miracle of God there come certaine of all manner of birds euery yéere once like pilgrims and each of them bringeth a braunch of oliue in token of offering whereof they make much oyle For to returne from Sina to Hierusalem Chap. xiij NOw sithen a man hath visited this holy place of saint Katherin and he will turne to Hierusalem if he shall first take leaue at the Monkes and recommend him specially to their prayers then those said monks giue with a good will to Pilgrims vittails to passe with through the wildernesse to Surry and that lasteth well xiij dayes iourney And in that wildernesse dwell many Arabins that men call Bedions and Ascoperds these are folke that are full of all manner of ill conditions and they haue no houses but tents the which they make of beasts skins as of Cammels and other beasts the which they eate and there vnder they lye and they séeke to dwell in places where they may find water néere the red sea for in that wildernes is great
the Cittie is nothing but the vale of Iosaphat and that is not very large and vpon that hill stoode our Lord when hée went into heauen and yet séemeth there the step of his lefte foote in the stone and there is an abbey of black Chanons that was great sometime but now is there but a Church And a little thence xviij paces is a Chappell and there is the stone on the which our Lord God sate when hée preached and said thus Beati pauperes spiritu quoniam ipsorum est regnum coelorum that is to say in English Blessed bée they that are poore in spirit for theirs is the kingdome of heauen and there hée taught his Disciples their Pater noster There also is a Church of that blessed woman Mary Egyptian and there is shée buryed And vpon the other side toward the East thrée bow shootes from thence standeth Bethphage where our Lord Iesus Christ sent Saint Peter and Saint Iames for to fetch an Asse on Palme Sunday Of the Castle of Bethania Chap. xxviij THere toward the East is a castle that men call Bethania and there dwelled Simon the Leper that harboured our Lord and them that were baptised of his disciples and hée was called Iulian and was made Bishop and that is hée that men call on for good Harboure In that same place our Lord forgaue Mary Magdalene her sins and there shée washed his féete with teares and wiped them with her heire and there was Lazarus raised when hée was foure dayes dead Of Iericho and other things Chap. xxix IN the retourning to mount Olyuet is the place where our Lord wept vpon Hierusalem and therby our Lady appeared to Saint Thomas after her assumption and gaue him her girdle and thereby is the stone on the which our Lord sate often and preached and thereon hée shall sit at the day of iudgement as himselfe sayd And there is mount Galile where the Apostles were gathered when Mary Magdalene told them of Christs rising Betwéene mount Oliuet and mount Galile is a Church where the Angell told our Lady when shée should dye And from Bethany to Iericho is fiue myle Iericho was sometime a little cittie but it was wasted and now it is but a little towne that towne tooke Iosua through the miracle of God and bidding of the Angell and destroyed it and cursed all those that builded it againe Of that cittie was Rahab that common woman that receiued messengers of Israell and kept them from many perils of death and therfore shée had a good reward as holy writ saith Quando accipis Prophetam in nomine meo mercedem Prophetae c. That is to say hée that taketh a Prophet in my name hée shall receiue the reward of a Prophet Of the holy place betweene Bethany and the riuer Iordane and other things Chap. xxx ALso from Bethany men goe to the riuer of Iordane through the wildernesse and it is néere a daies iourney betwéene Toward the East is a great hill where our Lord fasted xl daies and vpon this hill was Christ tempted of the Diuel when he said to him Dic vt lapides isti panes fiunt That is to say Commaund that these stones be made bread and there is an hermitage where dwelled a manner of Christians called Georgiens for saint George conuerted them and vpon that hill dwelled Abraham a great while and as men goe to Iericho sate many sicke men crying Iesu fili Dauid miserere nobis that is to say Iesu the Sonne of Dauid haue mercy vpon vs. And two mile from Iericho is the riuer Iordane yée shal vnderstand that the dead sea parteth the land of Inde Araby the water of that sea is right bitter and it casteth out a thing that men call Aspatum as great péeces as an horse and Hierusalem is two hundred fourlongs from the sea and it is called the dead sea because it runneth not neither may any man or beast liue therein and that hath beene proued many times for they haue cast therein men that were iudged to death nor no man may drinck of that water and if men cast yron therein it commeth vp againe but if a man cast a feather therein it sinketh which is against kinde And thereabout grow Trées that beare fruite of faire coulour and séeme ripe but when a man breaketh or cutteth them hée findeth naught in them but coales or ashes in token that through the vengeance of God these Citties were burnt with the fire of hell And some men call that lake the lake of the Alphited and some call it the poole of the diuell and some call it the stinking poole for the water thereof stinketh There sancke these fiue citties through the wrath of God that is to say Sodome Gomor Aldema Solome and Segor for the sin of Sodome that reigned in them but Segor through the prayer of Lot was saued a great while for it stood vpon an hill and yet appeareth much thereof aboue the water and men may sée the wals in cléere weather and in this cittie of Segor Lot dwelled a great while and there he was made dronk by his daughters and lay by them and they thought that God would haue destroyed all the world as hée did with Noes floud and therefore they lay by their father that men might be borne of them into the world but if he had not béene dronken he had not lyen by them And at the right side of this sea standeth Lots wife in a piller of salt because shée looked back when the cittie sanck downe Of Abraham and his generation Chap. xxxj AND yée shall vnderstand that Lot was Aarons sonne Abrahams brother and Sara Abrahams wife was Lots sister and Sara was xc yéere olde when she bare Isaac and Abraham had an other sonne named Ismaell that hée had gotten of his mayden Agar and hée was xiiij yéeres of age when Isaac was borne and when Isaac was viij dayes old hée was circumcised and his other sonne Ismael was Circumcised the same day and was xiiij yéeres of age therefore the Sarasins that be of the generation of Ismael doe circumcise them at xiiij yéeres of age and the Iewes that bée of the generation of Isaac doe circumcise them the eight daye of their age And into that dead Sea aforesaid runneth the riuer Iordane and maketh there an end and this is within a mile of Saint Iohns Church and a little beneath that same Church Westward were the Christians wont to bath them and a mile thence is the riuer Loth through which Iacob went when hée came from Mesopotamia Of the riuer Iordane Chap. xxxij THis riuer Iordane is no great nor no déepe riuer but there is much good fish therein and there commeth from Mount Lybany two Wels that men call Ior and Dane and of them it taketh the name and vpon the one side of that riuer is mount Gelboe and there is a fayre plaine And on that other side men goe by Mount Libany
a rock where his steps bée yet séene and therefore some when they dread them of Théeues or else of Enimies say thus Iesus autem transiens per mediam illorū ibat and they say also these verses of the Psalter thrée times Irruat super eos formido te pauor in magnitudine brachij Domine fiant immobiles quasi lapis donec pertranseat populus tuos Domine populus iste quem redemisti And so when this is said a man may goe without any letting Also yée shall vnderstand and know that our blessed Lady bare her Childe when shée was xv yéeres of age and shée liued with him xxxij yéere and thrée moneths and after his passion shée liued xxij yéeres The way of Nazareth to the mount or hill of Tabor Chap. xxxvj ANd from Nazareth to the mount Tabor is thrée mile there our Lord was transfigured before S. Peter Saint Iohn and saint Iames. And there they saw spiritually our Lord and Moyses and Elias the Prophet And therefore Saint Peter said Bonum est nos hic esse faciamus tria tabernac c. That is to say It is good for vs to bée here let vs make thrée tabernacles And our Lord Iesus Christ bad them that they should tell it to no man vnto the time that hée was risen from death to life And vpon the same hill shall foure Angels sound their Trumpets and raise all men that are dead to life and then shal they come in body and Soule to the Iudgement but the Iudgement shall bée in the Vale of Iosaphat And also a mile from mount Tabor is the mount Hermon and there was the Citie of Naim before the gates of this Cittie our Lord raised the sonne of the widdow that had no more children Of the Sea of Galile Chap xxxvij ANd from thence men goe to a Cittie that is called Tyberias that butteth on the Sea of Galile though it be called the Sea of Galile it is no Sea nor arme of the sea for it is but a streame of fresh water it is more then an hundred forlongs long and xl broad and therein is many good fishes and by that same sea standeth many good citties therefore this sea changeth often his name after the Citties that stand therevpon but it is all one water or sea and vpon this sea our Lord walked and there said hée to Peter when he came on the water and was néere drowned O exigua fide praedite quid dubitasti That is to say O Thou of little faith why didst thou doubt Of the table whereon Christ eate after his resurrection Chap. xxxviij IN this cittie of Tyberyas is the table that Christ eate on with his Disciples after his resurrection they knew him by breaking of bread as holy writ saith Et cognouerunt eum in fractione panis That is to say They knew him in breaking of bread and about the hill of Tyberyas is a cittie where our Lord fed fiue thousand people with fiue Barly loaues and two fishes and in that cittie did men cast in anger a firebrand or burning stick after our Lord but that same burning stick did fal on the earth and incontinent grew out of the same stick a trée and is waxen a big trée and there groweth yet and the scales of the trée be all black Yée shall vnderstand that the Riuer Iordane beginneth vnder the hill of Labany and there beginneth the Land of promise and it lasteth vnto Barsabe of length and from the North part to the South is nine score mile and of breadth from Iericho to Iaffe it is fortie mile and yée shall vnderstand that the land of promise beginneth at the kingdome of Surry and lasteth vnto the wildernesse of Araby Of straunge manners and diuers Chap. xxxix AND in this country and in many other lands beyond the sea it is a custome when they haue war that if a cittie or castle bée besieged so strongly that they may send no messengers to any Lords for succour then they write their Letters and binde them about the necks of Doues let them flie their wayes because the Doue is of that nature that he wil returne againe to the place where hée is bred and thus they doe commonly in that countrie And yée shall vnderstand that among the Sarasins in many places dwell Christians vnder tribute and they are of diuers manners and sundry sortes of monks who haue diuers lawes though they be all Christians and beléeue all well in our Lord God the Father the Sonne and the holy Ghost but yet they faile in the Articles of our saith and they are called Iacobins For Saint Iames conuerted them to the faith and Saint Iohn Baptised them and they say that men néed only confesse their sins vnto God and not vnto man for they say that God bad not man confesse him vnto another man And therefore saith Dauid in this manner Confitebor tibi Domine in toto corde meo That is to say Lord I will confesse my selfe vnto thée in all my heart And in another place hée saith thus Peccatum meum cognitum tibi feci that is to say my trespasse I haue made knowne vnto thée And in another place Deus meus es tu confitebor tibi That is to say Thou art my God and I will confesse my selfe vnto thée And in another place Quoniā cogitatio hominis confitebitur tibi that is to say The thought of man shall bée knowne vnto thée and they read often the Bible Psalter but they say it not in Latine but in their owne language and they say that Dauid and other Prophets haue said it But Saint Austen and Saint Gregory say Qui scelera sua cogitat conuersus fuerit veniā sibi credat That is to say Who so knoweth his sin turneth hée may beléeue to haue forgiuenesse And Saint Gregory saith thus Dominus potius mentem quam verbum confiderat That is to say Our Lord taketh more héed to thought then to word And Saint Hillarius saith Longorū temporū crimina ictu oculi perient si corde nata fuerit temptatio That is to say Sins that are done of old time perish in twinkling of an eye if despising of them bée borne in a mans heart And therefore say they by these authorities that men shall confesse them onely to God and this way the Apostles taught but Popes that came since haue ordayned that men shall shriue them to priests and men as they are and the cause is this For they say that a man that hath sicknes men may giue him no good medicines except they know that kinde of sicknesse also they say a man may giue no couenable penance except hée know the sinne For there is a manner of sin that is grieuouser to one man then it is to another and therefore it is néedefull that a man know and vnderstand the kinde of sin And there bée also other men that are called Surriens and they hold
halfe our faith and halfe the faith of the Gréekes and they haue long beards as the Gréekes haue For to returne againe on this side of Galile Chap. xl NOw séeing I haue told you of many manners of men that dwell in the countries aforesaid Now will I turne againe to my way for to turne vpon this side for hée that will turne from the land of Galile that I spake of to come on this side hée may go through Damas that is a faire cittie and full of good marchandises it is thrée daies iourney from the sea fiue from Hierusalem but they carry marchandise vpon Cammels Mules Horses Dromedaries and other manner of Beasts This cittie of Damas founded Helizeus that was Abrahams seruant before Isaac was borne and he should haue béene Abrahams heire and there he named that cittie Damas in that place slew Caine his Brother Abel and beside Damas is the mount of Syry in this cittie be many Phisitions and that holy man Saint Paul was a Phisition to saue mens bodies before that hée was conuerted and after he was a Phisition of soules And from Damas men goe to a place called our Lady of Sardmarch that is fiue mile from Damas it is on a rock and there is a faire Church and there dwell Christian Monks and Nuns in that Church Betwéene the cittie of Darke the cittie of Raphane is a Riuer called Sabatory for on the Satterday it runneth fast and all the wéeke else it standeth still and runneth not or but a little And there is another riuer that on the night fréeseth fast and vpon the day no frost is séene And so men goe by a cittie that men call Berugh and ther those that will go to Cipres take ships and they ariue at a hauen of Sur or of Tyry and then goe men to Cipres also men may goe right from the hauen of Tyry and come not at Cipres but ariue at some hauen of Gréece and by these wayes men come into the countries before spoken of How a man may goe furthest and longest in the countries that are here rehearsed Chap. xli NOw haue I told you of wayes by the which men go furdest and longest as by Babylon and mount Sinay and other places many through the which men turne againe to the land of promise Now will I tell you the shortest way to Hierusalem for many will not goe the long way some for want of company and many other reasonable causes and therefore I shall tell you shortly how a man may goe with little cost and in short time A man that commeth from the land of the West hée goeth through Fraunce Burgoyn Lumbardy and to Venice or to Gene or some other hauen of those marches and taketh there a ship and goeth to the I le of Griffe so ariueth hée in Gréece or else in port Myroch or Valon or Duras or some other hauen of those marches and goe to land for to rest him and goeth againe to the sea and ariueth in Cipres and commeth not in the I le of Rodes but ariueth at Famagost that is the chiefe hauen of Cypres or else at Lamaton then enter ship againe and passe beside the hauen of Tyre and come not to land and so passeth by all the hauens of the coast till hée come to Iaffe that is the next hauen to Hierusalem for it is xxviij mile betwéen And from Iaffe men goe to the cittie of Ramos and that is but little thence and it is a fayre cittie and beside Ramos is a fayre Church of our Lady where our Lord shewed him selfe vnto her in thrée shadowes betokening the Trinitie and there néere is a Church of Saint George where his head was smitten off and then to the Castle of Emear and then to the mount Ioy and from thence pilgrimes sée Hierusalem then to mount Modyn and then goe to Hierusalem At mount Modin lyeth the Prophet Malache ouer Ramatha is the towne of Donke whereof Amos the Prophet was Of other wayes for to goe by land to Hierusalem Chap. xlij FOrasmuch as many men may not suffer the sauour of the sea and better it is to goe by land although it bée more paine and a man shall goe to one of the hauens of Lumberdy as Venice or an other and yée shall passe into Gréece to Port Myroch or an other and yée shall goe to Constantinople and shal passe the water that is called the brath of S. George that is an arme of the sea And from thence yée shall come to Puluerall and then to the castle of Synople and so to Capadocia which is a great Country wherein is many great hils and ye shall goe through Turkey and to the Cittie of Nike the which they wonne from the Emperour of Constantinople and it is a faire Cittie and well walled and there is a riuer that is called the Lay and then men go by the Alpes of Mormaunt and through the vales of Malebrynes and the vale of Ernax and so more easily to Antioche which standeth richly on the Riuer and therabout are many good hils and faire and many faire woods and wilde beasts And hée that will go an other way hée goeth by the Romaine coast the Romaine sea on that coast is a faire castle that is called Florage and when a man is out of the hils hée passeth through the cittie of Moryach and Artose where is a great bridge vpon the riuer of Ferne that men call Fassor and it is a great riuer bearing ships and beside the cittie of Damas is a riuer that commeth from the mount of Libany which is called Alban at the passing of this riuer Saint Eustage lost his two Sons when hée had lost his wife it runneth through the plaine of Archades and to the red sea and then men goe to the Cittie of Fermine and so to the Cittie of Ferne and then to Antioche and that is a faire cittie and well walled and it is two mile long and there is a bridge ouer the riuer and hath at each piller a good tower and is the best Cittie of the kingdome of Surrie From Antioche men goe to the cittie of Locuth and so to Geble and to Tortouse thereby is the land of Lambre and a stronge castle that men call Mambeke And from Tortouse men goe to Tripelle on the sea and by this sea men goe to Dacres and there is two wayes to Hierusalem by the way on the left hand men come first vnto Damas by the riuer Iordane and on the right side men go through the land of Flagme so to the Cittie Caiphas in which Cittie Caiphas was Lord some call it the castle Pellerins and from thence is foure dayes iourney to Hierusalem and they goe through Cesary Philyp and Iaffe and Ramas Eumaux and so forth to Hierusalem Yet an other way by land toward the land of Promise Chap. xliij NOW haue I told you some wayes by land by
best that is in the world for all the stares of his hall and chambers are made one of gold and another of siluer and all the walles are plated with fine gold and siluer and in those plates are written stories of knights and battailes and the floures of the hall and chambers are of gold and siluer so that no man would beléeue the great riches that are there except hée had séene it and the king of this I le is so mighty that hée hath many times ouercome the great Caane of Cathay which is the mightiest Emperor that is in all the world there is often war betwéene them for the great Caane would make him hold his land of him Of the kingdome of Pathen or Salmasse which is a goodly land Chap. lvij ANd for to goe forth by the Sea there is an I le that is called Pathen and some call it Salmasse for it is a great with many faire citties In this land growes trées that beare meale of which men make faire bread while of good sauour it séemeth like as it were wheate And there be other trées which beare venim against the which is no medicine but onely to take of the leaues of the same trées and stampe them and temper them with water and drinck it or else hée shall dye sodainely for nothing else may helpe him And if yée will know how these trées beare meale I shall tell you men hewe with an hatchet about the roote of the trée by the earth they pearce it in many places and then commeth out a licour the which they take in a vessell and set it in the Sunne and drie it and when it is drie they carry it vnto the mill to grind and so it is faire meale and white Also hony wine and venim are drawne out of other trées in the same manner and they put it in vessels to kéepe In that I le is a dead sea which is a water that hath no bottome and if any thing fall therein it shall neuer bée found beside that sea groweth great Canes and vnder their rootes men finde a precious stone of great vertue for hée that beareth one of those stones about him ther may no Iron gréeue him nor draw bloud on him and therefore they that haue those stones fight full hardly for there may no weapon that is of Iron grieue him therefore they that know the manner make their weapons without yron and so they slay them Of the kingdome of Talonach the king whereof hath many wiues Chap lviij THen is there another I le that men call Talonach the same is a great land and therein is great plentie of fish other goods as you shal hereafter heare And they king of that land hath as many wiues as he wil a thousand and moe and he neuer lyeth but once by any one of them also in that land is a great meruaile for all manner of fishes of the sea commeth thether once a yéere one after another and lyeth néere the land somtime on the land and so lie thrée dayes and men of that land come thether and take of them what they will and then go those fishes away and an other sort commeth and lyeth also thrée dayes men take of them and thus do all manner of fishes till all haue béene there and men haue taken what they will But no man can tell the cause why it is so But they of that country say that those fishes come so thether to doe worship to their king for they say hée is the worthiest king of the world for he hath so many wiues and getteth so many children of them And that same king hath xiiij M. Elephants or moe which bée tame and they be kept for his pleasure by the men of the country so that hée may haue them ready at his hand when hée hath any warre against any King or Prince and then hée doth put vpon their backs castles and men of war as the vse of the land is and likewise doe other kings and princes thereabout Of the Iland called Raso where men be hanged as soone as they are sicke Chap. lix AND from this I le men goe to another I le called Raso and the men of this I le when their friends are sicke and that they beléeue surely that they shall dye they take them and hang them vp quicke on a trée and say it is better that birds that are Angels of God eate them then wormes of the earth From thence men goe to an I le where the men are of an il kind for they nourish hounds for to strangle men And when their friends are sicke that they hope they shall dye then doe those hounds strangle them for they will not that they die a kindely death for then should they suffer too great paine as they say and when they are thus dead they eate their flesh for venison Of the Iland of Melke wherein dwelleth euill people Chap. lx FRom thence men goe by sea through many Iles vnto an I le called Melke and there bée full ill people for they haue none other delight but for to fight and slay men for they drinke gladly mans blood which blood they call good and they that may slay most is of most fame among them And if there bée two men at strife and after bée made at one then must they drinke eyther others blood or else the accord is of no value From this I le men goe to an other I le that is called Traconit where all men are as beasts for they are vnreasonable and they dwell in caues for they haue not wit to make houses these men eate Adders and speake not but make such a noise as Adders doe one to another and they make no force of riches but of a stone that is of forty coulours and it is called Traconit after that I le they know not the vertue thereof but they couet it for the great fairenesse Of the Iland named Macumeran whereas the people haue heads like hounds Chap. lxi FRom that I le men goe to an other that is called Macumeran which is a great Ile a faire and the men and women of that country haue heades like hounds they are reasonable and worship an Oxe for their God they goe all naked but a litle cloath before their priuie members they are good men to fight and they beare a great Target with which they couer all the body and a speare in their hand and if they take any man in battaile they send him to their king which is a great Lord and deuout in his faith for hée hath about his neck on a Corde thrée hundred Pearles great and orient and as wée say our Pater noster and other prayers right so their king saith euery day thrée hundred praiers to his God before hée eyther eate or drinck and he beareth also about his neck a Ruby orient fine and good that is néere a foote and fiue fingers
Hungary and through the Citie that men call Cipanum and through the castle of Nurburgh by the I le Torne toward the end of Hungary and so by the riuer of Danubie that is a full great riuer and goeth into Almaine vnder the hils of Lumbardy it taketh into it fortie other riuers and it runneth throughout Hungary and through Cresses and Crochie and goeth into the sea so strongly and with so great might that the water is fresh thirty miles within the sea afterward men goe to Belgraue and entreth into the land of Bugres and there men passe a bridge of stone that is ouer the riuer of Morack so men passe through the land of Pinseras and come to Gréece to the citie of Stermisse and to the citie of Affinpane that was sometime called Bradre the noble and so the citie of Constantinople that was sometime called Bessalneron and there dwelled commonly the Emperour of Gréece At Constantinople is the best and the fayrest Church of the world and it is of Saint Steuen And before this Church is a guilt Image of Iustinian the Emperour and it is sitting vpon a horse and crowned and it was wont to holde a round apple in his hand and men say there that it is a token that the Emperour hath lost a part of his lands for the apple is fallen out of the Images hand and also hée hath lost a great part of his Lordship For hée was wont to bée Emperour of Roome of Gréece and of all Asia the lesse of Surry and of the land of Iudea in the which is Hierusalem and of the land of Aegipt of Percia and Arabia but he hath lost all but Gréece and that land he holdeth onely men would put the apple in the Images hand but it will not hold it This apple betokeneth the Lordship that he had ouer all the world and the other hand he lifteth vp against the East in token to menasse misdoers This Image standeth vpon a piller of marble In Cruce sit Palma Cedrus Cypressus Oliua For the péece that went right vp from the earth vnto the head was of Cipres and the péece that went ouerthwart to the which his hands were nailed was of Palme the stock that stood within the earth in the which they had made a morteys was of Ceder and the table aboue his head was a foote and a halfe long on which the title was written that was of Oliue the Iewes made this crosse of these foure manner of trées for they thought that our Lord should haue hanged as long as the crosse might last therfore made they the foot of Ceder for Ceder may not in the earth ne in water rot they thought that the body of Christ shold haue stoncken they made the péece that went from the earth vpward of Cipres so that the smell of his body should grieue no man that came by and that ouerthwart was made of Palme in signification of victorie And the table of the title was made of Oliue for it betokeneth peace as the story of Noe witnesseth when the Doue brought the branch of Oliue that betokened peace made betwéene God and man And also you shall vnderstand that the Christian men that dwell ouer the Sea say that the péece of the crosse that we call Cipres was of the trée that Adam eate the apple off and so they finde written and they say also that their Scripture saith that when Adam was sick he said to his son Seth that hée should go to Paradise and pray the Angel that kéepeth Paradise that he would send him oyle of the trée of mercy for to annoynt him that hée might haue health Seth went but the Angell would not let him come in at the gate but said vnto him that he might not haue of the oyle of mercy but he tooke him thrée carnels of the same trée that his father eate the apple off and bad him as soone as his father was dead that hée should put these carnels vnder his tongue burie him and he did so and of these thrée carnels sprang a trée as the Angel said and when the trée bare fruit then should Adam be made whole And when Seth came againe and found his father dead hée did with the carnels as the Angell commaunded him of the which came thrée trées whereof a Crosse was made that bare good fruit that is to say our Sauiour Iesu Christ through whom Adam and all that came of him should be saued deliuered from euerlasting death but if it be their owne default This holy crosse had the Iewes hid vnder the earth in the rock of the mount of Caluery and it lay there two hundred yéeres and more as they say vnto the time that Saint Elene found it the which saint Elene was the daughter of Coel king of England that then was called Britaine and after marryed to Constantius first Consull and after Emperour of Rome who had by her issue Constantine the great borne in England and afterward Emperour of Rome which Constantine turned the name of Bezansium into Constantinople he réedified that Citie made it the monarcal seat of all Europa and Asia Minor also ye shall vnderstand that the Crosse of our Lord was in length viij cubites and the péece that went ouerthwart was thrée cubuites and a halfe A part of the crowne of our Lord Iesu Christ wherwith he was crowned one of the nailes the speare head and many other reliques are in Fraunce at Paris in the chappell of the kings and the crowne lyeth in a vessel of cristall wel dight and richly for the French king bought these reliques sometime of the Iewes to whom the Emperor had laid them to pledge for a great sum of gold And although men say that this Crowne was of thornes ye shall vnderstand that it was of Ioukes of the sea which be white and pricketh as sharp as thornes for I haue séene and beheld many times that at Paris and that at Constantinople for they were both of one made of Ioukes of the Sea But men haue departed it in two parts of the which one part is at Paris and the other part at Constantinople and I haue a point thereof that séemeth a white thorne and that was giuen me for a great friendship For there are many of them broken fallen into the vessell when they shew the crowne to great men or Lords that come thether And yée shall vnderstand that our Lord in that night that hée was taken hée was lead into a Garden and there hée was examined sharply and there the Iewes crowned him with a Crowne of Abbespine branches that grew in the same Garden and set it on his head so fast that the bloud ranne downe by many places of his visage necke and shoulders and therefore hath the Abbespine many vertues for hée that beareth a braunch of it about him no thunder nor no manner of tempest may hurt him nor the house
water how men may goe to Hierusalem And if it be so that there be many other waies that men goe by after the countries that they come from neuerthelesse they turne all to one end yet is there a way all by land to Hierusalem and passe no sea but to France or Flanders but that way is full long and perillous and of great trauaile and therefore few goe that way but hée that will goe that way must goe by Almaine and Pruse and so to Tartary this Tartary is holden of the great Caane of whom I shal speake afterward for thether lasteth his Lordship and all the Lords of Tartary yéeld to him tribute Tartary is a full euill land sandy and a little fruit bearing for there groweth but little corne or fruite but Beastes are there great plentie and therefore eate they flesh without bread and they sup the broth and they drinck milcke of all manner of Beasts they eate cats and all manner of wild beasts as rats mice and they haue little wood and therefore they dresse their meat with horse doung and other beast doung when it is dry Princes and other Lords eate but once in the day and that is very little and they bée foule folke and of euill liking and in Summer there is many tempests and thunders that slayeth many men and beasts sodainly it is right cold and againe on the sodaine it is right hot The Prince that gouerneth that land they call Roco and hée dwelleth at a cittie that men call Orda but very few men doe desire to dwell in that Land for it is good to sow thornes and wéedes in but other good there is none as I heard say for I was not that way but I haue béene in other Countries marching thereon as in the land of Rossie and Nisland and the kingdome of Grecon and Lectow and the kingdome of Grasten and in many other places but I went neuer that way to Hierusalem and therefore I cannot well tell it for I haue vnderstood that men may not well goe that way but in Winter when the waters and mires that bée in that land bée frosen and couered with snow so that men may passe thereon for were not the snow there might no man goe in that land but hée were lost And yée shall vnderstand that a man must goe thrée dayes iourney from Pruse to passe this way before hée can come to the land of Sarasins that men dwell in And if by chance any Christians passe that way as once a yéere they doe they carry their vittaile with them for they should finde nothing there but a manner of thing that they call Syles and they carry their vittailes vpon the Ise on sleds and chariots without whéeles and as long as their vittailes last they may dwell there but no longer And when the spies of the countries sée Christians come they runne to the townes and castles and cry aloud kara kara kara and as soone as they haue cryed then doth the people arme them And yée shall vnderstand that the Ise there is harder then it is here and euery man hath a stew in his house and therein they eate and do all things that them néedeth and that is at the North part of the world where it is commonly cold for the Sun appeareth nor shineth but a little in that country and that land is in some places so cold that there may no man dwell therin and on the South side of the world it is in some places so hot that there can no man dwell the Sunne giueth so great heate in those countries Of the faith of the Sarasins and of the booke of their law named Alkaron Chap. xliiij IN as much as I haue told you of the Sarasins of other Lands I purpose to set downe a part of their law and of their beliefe after as their booke saith that they call Alkaron and some call that booke Mysap some call it Harme in diuerse language of countries which booke Mahomet gaue them in the which booke hée wrote among other things as I haue often read and séene that they that are good shall goe to Paradise and the euill folks to hell and that beléeue all Sarasins And if a man aske of what Paradise they meane they say it is a place of delights where a man shall finde all manner of fruits at all times and waters and riuers running with milke and hony wine and fresh water and they shall haue faire houses and good as they haue deserued and those houses are made of precious stones gold and siluer and euery man shall haue ten wiues and maydens and he shall euery day once haue to doe with them and yet shal they still bée maydens Also they speake often of the blessed virgin Mary and tell of the incarnation that Mary was learned of Angels and that Gabryel said to her that she was chosen before all other from the beginning of the world and that witnesseth well their booke and Gabriell told her the incarnation of Iesus Christ and that she should conceiue and beare a childe and they say that Christ was a holy Prophet in word and déede and also méeke and right wise to all men and one not any blame worthy and they say that when the Angel told to her of the incarnation she had great dread for shée was very young and there was one in that Country that practised sorcery who was called Takina that with inchauntments could make him like an Angell and he went often and lay with maidens and therefore was Mary the more afraid of the Angell and thought in her minde that it had béene Takina who went to maydens and shée charged him in the name of God to tell her if he were the same Takina and the Angell bad her haue no dread for hée was for certaine a true messenger of Iesus Christ Also their booke of Alkaron saith that shée had a childe vnder a Palme trée then was shée greatly ashamed and wished her selfe dead but as soone as her childe was borne hée spake and comforted her saying Ne timeas Maria. That is to say Be not afraid Mary And in many other places saith their booke Alkaron that Iesus Christ spake as soone as hée was borne and the booke saith that Iesu Christ was sent of almightie God to bée ensample to all men and that God shall Iudge all men the good to heauen and the wicked to hell that Iesus Christ is the best Prophet of all other and next to God and that he was a holy Prophet for he gaue to the blinde their sight and healed all diseases hée raised men and was taken quicke into heauen and if they may finde a booke with Gospels namely Missus est Angelus they doe it great worship for they fast one month in the yéere and eate onely on the night and they kéepe them from their wiues but they that are sick are not constrained to it And their booke Alkaron speaketh of