Part 3

A part of the crowne of our Lord Jesu wherewith he was crowned & one of the nayles, and the speare head and many other reliques are in France at Paris in the chapell of the King, and the crowne lyeth in a vessell of cristall wel dight and richly, for y^e French King bought these reliques sometime of the Jewes, to whome the Emperour had laid them to pledge for a great sume of golde. And although men say that this Crowne was of thornes--ye shall understand that it was of Jonkes[30] of the sea, which be white and pricketh as sharp as thornes, for I have seene and beheld many times that at Paris, and that at Constantinople, for they were both of one, and made of Jonkis of the sea. But men have departed him in two partes, of the which one parte is at Paris, and the other part at Constantinople, and I haue a point thereof that seemeth a white thorne, and that was given me for a great friendeship--for there are many of them broken and fallen into the vessell, when they shew the Crowne to great men or lordes that come theither. And ye shall understande that our Lord in that night that he was taken, he was led into a garden, and there he was examined sharply, & there the Jewes crowned him with a crown of abbespine[31] braunches that grew in the same garden & set it on his head so fast, that the blood came downe by many places of his visage, necke, and shoulders, and therefore hath the abbespine many vertues, for he that beareth a braunche of it about him, no thunder, nor any maner of tempest may hurt him, nor the house that it is in may no evill ghost come, nor in no place where it is. And in that same garden Sainct Peter denied our Lord thrise. And afterward was our Lord led before the Bishop and ministers of the lawe into another gardein of Anne[32] and there was he examined, scorned & crowned efte[33] with a swete thorn that men called barbareus[34] that grew in the same gardein and that hath many vertues. And afterward he was led to a gardein of Caiphas, and there he was crowned again with eglentine,[35] and after that he was led to a chamber of Pilate & there he was crowned, and the Jewes set him in a chaire and clad him in a mantell of purpure[36] and then made they a crowne of Jonkes of the sea and there they kneled to him & scorned him saying _Ave rex Judeorum_. That is to say, haile King of Jewes. And of this crowne, halfe is in Paris and the other halfe at Constantinople, the which our Saviour Jesu Christ hadde on his head, when he was nayled on the crosse, and therefore shall men honour and worship it, and holde it more worthy then any of the other. And the speare 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 tymes sayth the Emperour of Constantinople, that he hath the speare head & I have often seen it, but it is greater than that at Paris. Also at Constantinople lyeth Sainct Anne our ladie's mother, whom Saint Elene caused to be brought from Hierusalem, and there lieth also the body of Saint John Chrisostome that was bishop of Constantinople. There lyeth also sainct Luke the Evangelist, for his bones were brought from Bethany where he was buried: and many other relyques are there, and there is of the vessell of stone as it were marble, which men call Idryus, that evermore droppeth water & fylleth himselfe every yeare once. And ye shall wete that Constantinople is a fayre citie and well walled & it is three cornered, and there is an arme of the sea that men call Hellespon, and some men call it the bunch[37] of Constantinople and some call it the brace[38] of sainct George, and this water encloseth two partes of the citie, and upward to the sea upon that water was wont to be the great citie of Troy in a fayre plaine, but that citie was destroyed by the Grekes.

[Footnote 1: Germany.]

[Footnote 2: Sclavonia.]

[Footnote 3: Comania may now be placed as being on the north-west side of the Caspian Sea.]

[Footnote 4: Or Rosia, was Russia proper, by the Baltic; the huge Empire now so termed being then called Muscovy.]

[Footnote 5: _Pynson_ says Nyflond, and in some MSS. it is written indifferently Nyfland, Nyflond, Nislan, and Neflond; but I have no doubt but that by it is meant Livonia, as is explained Apian's _Cosmographie_: "qui est la derniere Province d'Alemaigne, et de la Chrestiété, vulgairement appelee Liefland;" and this is the more likely as Siprus is spelt in _Pynson_ and other editions Pruysse, _i.e._, Prussia.]

[Footnote 6: _Pynson_ says Chypron, other authorities Schyppronne, Cypron, and Chippronne.]

[Footnote 7: Neuburgh; sometimes written Neaseburghe, Newbow, or Newborewe.]

[Footnote 8: In other editions "evyll."]

[Footnote 9: Cresses is rendered in other editions as Grece or Greece, but this is impossible, as also is Crochie, which _Pynson_ calls Tracy, and others call Thracie or Thrace. It probably means Croatia, and he has muddled up the Save or Sau, a tributary to the Danube, which rises not far from Lombardy, joining the Danube at Belgrade.]

[Footnote 10: _Pynson_ and others say 20 miles.]

[Footnote 11: Belgrade.]

[Footnote 12: Now called the Morava.]

[Footnote 13: _Pynson_ says Pynteras, others Pyncemartz, and Pyncoras.]

[Footnote 14: _Pynson_ says Sternys, others Sternes, or Scernys.]

[Footnote 15: Written elsewhere Affynpayn, Assynpayn, and ad fines Epapie.]

[Footnote 16: This will best explain the difficulty of placing the localities, for this means Adrianople.]

[Footnote 17: Byzantium, the ancient name for Constantinople, the seat of the Western Empire.]

[Footnote 18: _Pynson_ has Sophy, now the Mosque of St Sophia.]

[Footnote 19: Probably an orb.]

[Footnote 20: Judæa.]

[Footnote 21: _Pynson_ says West, but others give East.]

[Footnote 22: Menace.]

[Footnote 23: The names of the penitent and impenitent thieves vary slightly in different accounts. In the Apocryphal book of Nicodemus, cap. 7, vv. 10, 11, they are thus given: "But one of the two thieves who were crucified with Jesus, whose name was Gestas, said to Jesus, If thou art the Christ, deliver thyself and us. But the thief who was crucified on his right hand, whose name was Dimas, answering, rebuked him, and said, Dost thou not fear God, who art condemned to this punishment? We indeed receive rightly and justly the demerit of our actions: but this Jesus, what evil hath he done?"

But in the Apocryphal book, I. Infancy, cap. 8, vv. 1-7 (a Nestorian and Gnostic book), the names are given differently: "In their journey from hence they came into a desert country, and were told it was infested with robbers; so Joseph and St. Mary prepared to pass through it in the night.

And, as they were going along, behold they saw two robbers asleep in the road, and with them a great number of robbers, who were their confederates, also asleep.

The names of those two were Titus and Dumachus; and Titus said to Dumachus, I beseech thee let those persons go along quietly, that our company may not perceive any thing of them;

But Dumachus refusing, Titus again said, I will give thee forty groats, and as a pledge, take my girdle, which he gave him before he had done speaking, that he might not open his mouth, or make a noise.

When the Lady St. Mary saw the kindness which this robber did show them, she said to him, The Lord God will receive thee to his right hand, and grant thee pardon of thy sins.

Then the Lord Jesus answered and said to his mother, When thirty years are expired, O Mother, the Jews will crucify me at Jerusalem.

And these two thieves shall be with me at the same time upon the cross, Titus on my right hand, and Dumachus on my left, and from that time Titus shall go before me into Paradise."]

[Footnote 24: Know.]

[Footnote 25: Nor.]

[Footnote 26: Kernels--another edition says Greynes.]

[Footnote 27: Except.]

[Footnote 28: Fault.]

[Footnote 29: This measure varied. It was generally accepted as being the length of a man's arm from the elbow to the extremity of the little finger. The Roman cubit is usually reckoned as 17-4/10 in., the Scriptural cubit at 22 in., and the English cubit at 18 in.]

[Footnote 30: Rushes. _Juncus Maritimus._]

[Footnote 31: Albespine--probably meant for _White thorn_.]

[Footnote 32: Annas.]

[Footnote 33: Again.]

[Footnote 34: ? _berberis_.]

[Footnote 35: Honeysuckle.]

[Footnote 36: Purple.]

[Footnote 37: _Bouche_, the mouth.]

[Footnote 38: Arm. _Lat._ _brachium_, as we should say, an arm of the sea.]

CAP: II.

_Of the Ilandes of Grece._

ABOUT Grece be many yles that men cal Calastre,[1] Calcas Settygo, Thoysoria, Mynona, Faxton, Molo, Carparte and Lempne, and in this yle is mount Athos that passeth the clowdes & there are divers speaches and many countries that are obedient to the Emperour of Constantinople, that is to say Turcoply, Pyncy, Narde, Comage and many other, Tracy & Macedony, of which Alexander was king. In this countrey was Aristotle borne, in a citie that men call Strages, a little from the citie of Tragie, & at Strages is Aristotle buried, and there is an aulter on his tombe, and there they make a greate feast every yeare as he were a saint, & upon his aulter the lordes holde their great counsayles and assemblies and they think, that through the inspiration of God & him, they should have the better councill. In this countrey are right highe hilles, there is an hill that men call Olimphus that departeth Macedonie and Tracy, and is as high as the cloudes, and the other hill that men call Athos is so highe, that the shadow of him stretcheth unto Olimphus and it is neare lxxvii myle between, and above that hill is the aire so cleere, that men may fele no wynde there, and therefore may no beast live there the ayre is so drye, and men say in the countrey that Philosophers somtyme went up to these same hilles and helde to their noses a sponge wet with water for to have ayre, for the ayre was so drye there & above in the pouder[2] of the hill they wrote letters with their fingers, and at the yeares ende they came againe and found those letters which they had written the yeare before without any defaute,[3] and therefore it seemeth well that these hilles passe the cloudes to y^e pure aire.

At Constantinople is the Emperours palaice which is fayre and well dight,[4] and therein is a palaice for justing,[5] and it is made about with stages that eche man may well see and none greve,[6] other & under these stages are stables vauted for the Emperours horses and all the pillers of these stables are of marble. And within the church of Saint Sophy, an Emperour wold haue layd the body of his father when he was dead, and as they made the grave they found a body in the earth & upon that body lay a great plate of fine gold & there upon was written in Ebrew, Greke & Latin letters that sayde thus: _Jesus Christus nascetur de virgine Marie, et ego credo in eum_. That is to say, Jesu Christ shal be borne of the Virgin Mary & I believe in him. And the date was that it lay in the earthe 200[7] yeare before our Lord Jesu Christ was borne, and yet is that plate in the treasory of the Church, and men say that it was Hermogenes[8] the wise man. And neverthelesse if it be so that men of Grece be Christen, yet they vary from our fayth, for they say that the holy ghoste commeth not out of the sonne, but all onely of the father, and as they are not obedient to the Church of Rome, nor to the Pope, and they saye that theyr Patryarkes haue as much power over the sea, as the Pope hath on this syde the sea. And therefore Pope John the XXII. sente letters to them, how Christen fayth should be all one, and that they shoulde be obedient to a pope that is Christes Vykar in earthe, to whome God gave plaine[9] power to binde and to assoyle,[10] and therefore they should be obedient to him. And they sent him divers aunsweres, and among other they said thus. _Potentiam tuam summam circa subjectos tuos firmiter credimus. Superbitatem tuam sustinere non possumus. Avaritiam tuam satiare non intendimus. Dominus tecum fit, quia Dominus nobiscum est. Vale._ That is to say, we beleve wel that thy power is great upon thy subjectes. We may not suffer thy pryde. We are not in purpose to fulfille thy covetyse.[11] Our Lorde be with thee, for our Lorde is with us. Farewell. And other aunswere might not be haue of them. And also they make theyr sacrament of the aulter of therf bread,[12] for our Lord made it of therf bread when he made his maunde.[13] And on sherthursday[14] make they theyre bread in tokening of the maunde, and they dry it at the sonne,[15] and kepe it all the yeare & give it to sick men instede of gods body. And they make but one unction when they Christen Children, and they anoynt no sick men, and they say there is no purgatory, and soules shall haue neither joy ne payne untill the day of dome.[16] And they say that fornication is no deadly sinne, but a kindly thing, and that men & women shoulde wed but once, and who so weddeth more than once theyr children are bastards and gotten in sinne, and theyr priestes also are wedded, and they say that usury or simony is no deadly sinne and they sell benefices of holy churche, and so did men of other places and is great sclaunder,[17] for now is Simony King crowned in holy churche, God amende it when his will is. And they say that in Lent men should not singe masse but on the Saterday and on the Sonday, and they fast not the Saterday no tyme in the yeare, but if it be Christmas or Easter even. And they suffer no man that is on this side the Grece sea to sing at theyr aulters, and if it fall that they do through any hap,[18] they wash theyr aulters as sone without tarieng with holy water, and they say that there should be but one masse sayde at one aulter in a day. And they say that our Lorde did neuer eate meate but that he made a token[19] of eating. And also they say that we sinne deadly in shaving of our berdes, for the berde is a token of a man, and a gift of our Lord and they saye that we sinne in eating of beastes that were defended[20] in the olde lawe, as swyne, hares and other beastes.

And thus they saye that we sinne in eating of fleshe on the dayes before Ashwednesday, and in eating of fleshe on the Wednesdaye, and when we eate chese or egges on the Fryday and they curse all those that eate no fleshe on the Saterday. Also the Emperour of Constantinople maketh the Patriarkes, Archebishoppes and Bishoppes, and he giveth all the dignities of the churches, and depryveth them that are unworthy, although it be so that these touch not the way, nevertheless they touch that which I haue behight[21] to shew a parte of the custome, maners, and diversitie of countries, and for this is the first countrey that is discordaunt from our faithe and letteth[22] our faithe on this side the sea, therefore haue I sette it here that ye may see the diversitie between our faith & theirs, for many men haue great liking to here speake of straunge things.

[Footnote 1: Calliste, which Ferrarius, in his _Lexicon Geographicum_ (edit. 1670), says is an island in the Ægean Sea. The other islands have different names in different MSS., but are not worth the trouble of identifying, except Lampne as Lemnos--where Mandeville places Mount Athos. _Plutarch_ and _Pliny_ said that, in the summer solstice this mountain projected its shadow on the market-place of Myrina, the capital city of Lemnos, and that a brazen cow was there erected to mark the termination of the shadow; but this is as probable as the distance given, namely, seventy-seven miles, which is manifestly erroneous. The spelling of the geographical names is very bad, and renders it a difficult task to identify them: for instance, if it were not a well-known fact that Aristoteles was born and buried at Stagira, it would be very difficult to identify Strages as being the same place. Again, Olimphus is used instead of Lemnos, in connection with the shadow of Mount Athos.]

[Footnote 2: Powder, dust.]

[Footnote 3: Uninjured.]

[Footnote 4: Furnished.]

[Footnote 5: Jousting or tilting.]

[Footnote 6: Inconvenience.]

[Footnote 7: _Pynson_ and other editions say Two thousand.]

[Footnote 8: Here the chronology is somewhat involved, as Hermogenes lived in the time of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, _who was born_ A.D. 121.]

[Footnote 9: Plenary.]

[Footnote 10: Absolve.]

[Footnote 11: Covetousness.]

[Footnote 12: Unleavened bread.]

[Footnote 13: Last Supper.]

[Footnote 14: Shrove Thursday.]

[Footnote 15: In the sun.]

[Footnote 16: Doom, or the day of judgment.]

[Footnote 17: Scandal.]

[Footnote 18: If by chance they should do so.]

[Footnote 19: Only seemed to eat.]

[Footnote 20: Forbidden.]

[Footnote 21: Promised.]

[Footnote 22: Hinders.]

CAP: III.

_To come againe to Constantinople for to go toward the holy land._

NOW come we againe for to know the way from Constantinople. He that will go through Turkey, he goeth through the citie of Nyke,[1] and passeth through the gate of Chivitot that is right highe, and it is a myle and a halfe from Nyke, and who so wyll go by the brache[2] of Sainct George, and by the Greeke sea there as Sainct Nicolas lyeth, and other places. First men come to the yle of Silo, and in that ile groweth mastike upon small trees as plomtrees, or chery trees. And then after men go through the ile of Pathmos, where Saint John the Evangelist wrote the Apocalips and I do you to wete,[3] when our Lorde Jesu Christ died, Saint John the Evangelist was of the age of xxxii yeare and he lived after the passion of Christ lxiii[4] year and then died. Fro Pathmos men go to Ephesim which is a faire citie and neare to the sea, and there died sainct John & he was buried behind the high aulter in a tombe, and there is a fayre church, for Christen men were wont to holde that place, but in the tombe of sainct John is nothing but Manna, for his body was translated[5] into paradise, & the Turkes hold now that citie and the church, and all Asia the lesse, & therefore is Asia the lesse called Turkey. And ye shall understand that sainct John did make his grave ther in his lyfe and laied himselfe therein all quick[6] & therefore some say he dyed not, but that he resteth there unto the day of judgement, and therefore truely there is a great marvaile, for men may see there apertly[7] y^e earth of the tombe many times stirre and move, as there were a quick thing under. And from Ephesim, men go through many iles in the sea unto the citie of Pateran[8] where sainct Nicolas was borne and so to Marca[9] where he by the grace of God was chosen Bishop, and there groweth right good wyne and strong, that men call the wyne of Marca. From thence men go to the yle of Crete, which the Emperor gave sometime to Jonais.[10] And then men passe through the yles of Cophos and Lango[11] of the which yles Ipocras[12] was lord, and some say that in the yle of Lango is Ipocras daughter in maner of a Dragon, which is a hundred foote long as men saye, for I have not seene it, and they of the yles call hir the lady of the countrey, and she lyeth in an olde castell and sheweth hir thrise in the yeare, and she doth no man harme and she is thus changed from a damosell to a dragon through a goddesse that men call Diana, and men say that she shall dwell so unto the tyme that a knighte come that is so hardy as to go to hir and kisse hir mouthe, and then shall she tourne againe to hir owne kinde, and be a woman, and after that she shall not live long. And it is not long sith[13] a knight of the Rodes[14] that was hardy and valiant said that he would kisse hir, and whan the Dragon began to lifte up hir head againste him, and he saw it was so hideous, he fled awaye, and the Dragon in hir anger bare the knight on a roche, and of[15] that cast him into the sea and so he was lost.

[Footnote 1: ? Salonika.]

[Footnote 2: See foot note, _ante_, p. 19.]

[Footnote 3: Know.]

[Footnote 4: _Pynson_ says 67.]

[Footnote 5: Taken up to heaven.]

[Footnote 6: Living, alive.]

[Footnote 7: Openly.]

[Footnote 8: Patera, a city of Lycia.]

[Footnote 9: Myra, also in Lycia.]

[Footnote 10: The Genoese.]

[Footnote 11: The island of Cos.]

[Footnote 12: Hippocrates, the famous physician, who was born at Cos.]

[Footnote 13: Since.]

[Footnote 14: The island of Rhodes.]

[Footnote 15: Off.]

[Decoration]

CAP: IIII.

_Yet of the same Dragon._

ALSO a young man that wist not of the Dragon, went out of a shippe and went through the yle till he came to a Castell, and came into the cave and went so long till he founde a chamber, and there he saw a damosell that kemde[1] hir heade & loked in a mirrour, and she had much treasure aboute hir, and he trowed[2] she had been a common woman that dwelled ther to kepe men, and he abode[3] the damosel, and the damosel saw the shadowe of him in the mirrour, & she tourned toward him and asked what he would, and he said he would be hir paramoure or lemman,[4] and she asked him if he were a knight, and he sayd nay, and she sayd then might he not be hir lemman, but she bad him go againe to his fellowes and make him knighte and come againe on the morow and she woulde come oute of the cave and then hee shoulde kisse hir on the mouth, and she badde him haue no dread, for she would do him no harme, although she semed hidious to him, she sayd it was done by inchauntment, for she sayd that she was such as he saw hir then, and she sayd that if he kissed hir, he should haue all the treasure, and be hir lord, and lord of all those yles. Then he departed from hir and went to his fellowes in the ship, and made him knight, and came againe on the morow to kisse the damosel, and when he saw hir come out of the cave in forme of a dragon, he had so great dread, that he fled to the ship, and she folowed him, and when she saw that he tourned not againe, she began to crye as a thing that had much sorow, and tourned again, and sone after the knight dyed, and sithen[5] hetherto might no knight see hir but he died anon. But when a knight commeth that is so hardy to kisse hir, he shall not dye, but he shall tourne that damosel into hir right shape and shal be lord of the countrey aforsayde. And from thence men go to the yle of Rodes, the which the hospitallers held and governed, and that they took sometime from the Emperour, and it was wont to be called Colles[6] and so yet the Turkes call it Colles. And sainct Paule in his Epistels writeth to them of the yle Collocenses.[7] This yle is nere CLxxx[8] myle from Constantinople. And from this yle of Rodes, men go into Cipres where are many vines, the first is red and after a yeare they war all white, and those vines that are most white, are most cleare and best smelling, And as men passe by the way by a place where was wont to be a great citie that men call Sathalay, and all that countrey was lost through the folly of a young man, for he had a faire damosell that he loved well, and she dyed sodenly & was buried in a grave of Marble & for the great love he hadde to hir, he went in a nighte to hir tombe and opened it, & went and lay by hir and when he had done he went away, & when it came to the ende of ix monthes a voice came to him & sayd in this maner as in the next chapter foloweth.

[Footnote 1: Kemped or combed.]

[Footnote 2: Thought.]

[Footnote 3: _Pynson_ says "obeyed unto the damsell"--that is, made obeisance, or bowed to her.]

[Footnote 4: Sweetheart.]

[Footnote 5: Since then.]

[Footnote 6: From the Colossus there, a statue of Jupiter 70 cubits high, and which was accounted as one of the wonders of the world.]