Part 7

THIS flom Jordan is no great ryver nor depe, but there is much good fishe therein, and it commeth from mount Lybany from two welles, that men call Jor and Dane and of them it taketh the name. And upon the one syde of that river is mount Gelboe,[1] and there is a fayre playne. And on that other syde men goe by mount Lybany, to the desert of Pharon.[2] These hylles departe the kingdome of Surry and the countreys of Phenys.[3] On that hyll grow Cedres that beare longe apples which are as muche as a mannes heade. Thys flom Jordan departeth Galily and the lande of Idumea and the lande of Botron[4] & it runneth into a playne that men call Meldam[5] in Sarasyns language, and in Englyshe, fayre, because ofte tymes bee there kepte great fayres, and in the playne is the tombe of Job. In this flom Jordane our Lord was baptised, and there was the voice of the Father hearde saying, _Hic est filius meus dilectus, in quo mihi bene complacui, ipsum audite_. That is to saye in English, Here is my sonne that I love, in whome I am well pleased, heare him. And the holy ghost descended on him in lykenesse of a doue & so was there in thys baptysing all the Trinitie. And through the flome Jordan passed the children of Israell all dry, and they sette stones in the myddest of the water, in token of great myracle. And also in that flome Naaman of Surry bathed him, that was mesel, and he was made hole, and a lyttle from thence is the citie of Hay, the which Josue assayled and toke. And about flom Jordan are many churches where Christen men dwel, also by flom Jordan, is the vale of Mambre that is a fayre vale & a plenteous.

[Footnote 1: Gilboa.]

[Footnote 2: Pharan.]

[Footnote 3: Ph[oe]nicia.]

[Footnote 4: Betron.]

[Footnote 5: In all probability the same as the Arabic word _Multamin_, which means a congregation of visitors.]

CAP. XXXIII.

_Of many other mervailes._

AND ye shall understande, that for to go from the dead sea afterward out of the marche of the land of promissions, is a stronge Castell that men call Carran[1] in Sermoys, that is to saye, the kinges hyll in English. This castell did a King of Fraunce make, that men call Baudewin, that had conquered all that lande, and put it into Christen mens handes to kepe, and under that castell is a fayre towne that men call Sabaoth, and there about dwell many Christen men under tribute. And then go men to Nazareth, of the which our Lord had his name. And from Nazareth unto Hierusalem is three dayes journey. Also men go through the province of Galyle, through Romacha,[2] through Sophyn,[3] and through the hygh hill of Effrayne,[4] where Anna that was Samuells mother the prophet dwelled, & there was the prophete borne and after his deathe was buried at mount Joye as I have sayde. And after come men to Sybula,[5] where the Arke of God was kepte under Helye[6] the Prophete. And there made the people of Israell[7] theyr sacrafyce unto our Lorde. Also there spake our Lorde fyrst unto Samuell and there mynistered God the sacrament. Also nere there at the lefte side is Gabaon[8] and Rama[9] & Benjamin of the which holy writ speaketh. After that come men to Sychem, that some men call Sycar and this is in the province of Samaritanes, and sometime there was a Church, but it is all wasted, and it a faire vale and plenteous, and there is a good citie that men call Neople,[10] and from thence it is a dayes journey unto Hierusalem. And there is the well where oure Lorde spake to the woman of Samaritane, and Sechen is ten myle from Hierusalem and it is called Neople, that is to saye, the new towne. And there is the Temple of Joseph, Jacobs sonne, that governed Egipte, and from thence were his bones brought and layde in the temple, and thyther came Jewes often in pilgrimage with great devotion, and in that citie was Jacob's daughter Diana ravished, for whom hir brethren slewe many men, and thereby is the citie of Garysim[11] where the Samaritanes make their sacrifyce.

On this hill wold Abraham haue sacryfised his sonne Isaac and there nere is the vale Dotaym,[12] and there is the cesterne that Josephe was cast in of his bretherne before that they solde him, and it is two myle to Sichar, and fro thence men come to Samary,[13] that men call Sabaste, and that is the chiefe citie of that countrey, and in that citie was the seat of the twelve Kynges of Israell, but it is not so great as it was. And there was saint John Baptist buried betwene two prophetes Helyas[14] and Abdon,[15] but he was beheaded in the castell of Makaryn besyde the dead sea and he was translated[16] of his disciples and buried at Samary, but there dyd Julius apostata take hys bones and brente[17] them, for he was that tyme Emperour, but that finger with whiche hee shewed our Lord saying, _Ecce Agnus dei_, That is to say, Beholde the lamb of God, and that finger might not bee brent, and sainct Tecla[18] the Virgin did bring this finger under the Alphen,[19] that be mountaynes, where they do it great worshippe. And there was sainct Jhon Baptist head closed in a wall, but the Emperour Theodosius did take it out, and found it lapped in a clothe all bloudie, and bare it to Constantinople, and there is yet the one halfe of the head, and the other is at Rome in Saint Sylvesters church, & the vessell wherein his head was layde when it was smitten of is at Geene,[20] and they do it great worship. Some saye that Sainct Jhons hedde is at Amiens in Pycardy, and some say it is saincte Johns head the byshop. I wot not but to God it is knowne.

[Footnote 1: In some other editions called Carak.]

[Footnote 2: Ramoth.]

[Footnote 3: Sodom.]

[Footnote 4: Ephraim.]

[Footnote 5: Shiloh.]

[Footnote 6: Eli.]

[Footnote 7: Hebron.]

[Footnote 8: Gibeon.]

[Footnote 9: Ramah.]

[Footnote 10: Neapolis.]

[Footnote 11: Gerizim.]

[Footnote 12: Dothan.]

[Footnote 13: Samaria.]

[Footnote 14: Elisha.]

[Footnote 15: Abdias.]

[Footnote 16: Carried away.]

[Footnote 17: Burnt.]

[Footnote 18: Was an English woman, and was invited by St. Boniface into Germany, where she was made Abbess of Kissengen, near Wurtzburg in Bavaria.]

[Footnote 19: Alps.]

[Footnote 20: Genoa.]

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.

[Footnote 1: Regard, consider, or suppose.]

CAP. XXXV.

_Of Galyle._

FROM this countrey that I have spoken of, men go to the playne of Galyle and leave the hyll on the one side and Galyle is of the province of the lande of promyssion and in that province is the lande of Naym and Capharnaym and Corasaym and at Bethsayda was Saint Peter & Saint Andrew borne. At Carasaym shall Antechrist be borne, and as some men say he shall be borne in Babilon therefore sayd the Prophet, _De babilonia Coluber exiet, qui totum mundum devorabit_, That is to say, Of Babilon shall come a serpent that shall devoure all the worlde. And this Antechrist shall be nourished in Bethsayde and shall raign in Corasaym, therefore sayth holy writ, _Ve tibi Corasaim Ve tibi Bethsayda_, that is to say, Wo be to the Corasaim, Wo be to the Bethsayda. And the cave of Galyle is foure myle from Nazareth. Of that citie was the woman of Cananee, of whome the Gospell speaketh, and there our Lorde did the fyrst myracle at the wedding at the Archedeclyne[1] when he turned water into wine. And from thence men go unto Nazareth that was sometime a great Citie, but now there is but a lyttle towne and it is not walled, and there was our Lady borne, the name toke our Lorde of this Citie, but our Ladie was gotten at Hierusalem. At Nazareth Joseph toke our lady to wyfe whan she was fourtene yeare of age, and there the aungell saluted hir sayinge, _Ave gratia plena Dominus tecum_, That is to saye, Hayll full of grace the Lord be with thee. And there was sometime a great Church, and now is there but a lyttle closet to receive the offryngs of the Pylgrymes, and there is the well of Gabryell where our Lorde was wont to bathe him in wan he was lyttle. At Nazareth was our Lord nouryshed, and Nazareth is to say floure of gardeyn & it may be well called so, for there was nourished the floure of lyfe, that was our lorde Jesu Christ. At halfe a myle from Nazareth is the bloude[2] of our Lorde, for the Jewes ledde him upon an hyghe roche to cast him downe & slea him, but Jesu Christ passed them and lepte on a roche where his steps be yet sene, & therefore some when they dreade them of theves or else of enemies, say thus, _Jesus autem transiens per medium illorum ibat_. And they say also these verses of the Psalter three tymes, _Irruat super eos formido & pavor in magnitudine brachii tui Domine Fiant immobiles quasi lapis, donec per transeat populus tuus domine, & populus iste quem redemisti_. And so when all this is sayd, a man may go without any lettyng.[3] Also ye shall understande and know that our blessed Lady bare hir chylde whan she was xv yeare of age, and she lived with hym xxxii[4] yeare and three monethes, and after his passion she lived xxii[4] yeare.

[Footnote 1: _Pynson_ says Archetryclyne, [Greek: Architriklinos], the president of a banquet.]

[Footnote 2: Should be _leap_.]

[Footnote 3: Hindrance.]

[Footnote 4: Other editions say 33 and 24, which would make the Virgin's age 72 when she died (see _ante_, p. 70).]

CAP. XXXVI.

_The way of Nazareth to the mount or hyll of Tabor._

AND from Nazareth to the mounte Tabor is thre[1] myle, and there our Lord transfygured hym before sainct Peter, sainct Jhon & sainct James. And there they saw ghostly[2] our Lorde and Moyses and Helye the prophetes. And therefore Sainct Peter sayde, _Bonum est nos hic esse, faciamus tria tabernacula_, That is to say, It is good to us to be here, make we three tabernacles. And our lord Jesu Chryste bad them that they should say it to no man, unto the time that he was rysen from death to lyfe. And uppon the same hyll shall foure aungels sowne[3] theyr trompets, and rayse all men that are dead to lyfe, and then shall they come in bodie and Soule to the Judgement, but the Judgement shall be in the Vale of Josaphat on Easterday, at the same tyme as our Lorde rose from death to lyfe. And also a myle from mounte Tabor is mount Hermon, and ther was the citie of Namy,[4] before the gates of the Citie our Lord raysed the wydowes sone, that had no more Chyldren.

[Footnote 1: Others say 4.]

[Footnote 2: In a spiritual shape.]

[Footnote 3: Sound.]

[Footnote 4: Nain.]

CAP. XXXVII.

_Of the sea of Galyle._

AND from thence men go to a citie that men call Tyberyen,[1] that sitteth[2] on the sea of Galyle, it is no sea ne arme of the sea, for it is but a staumble[3] of fresh water, and it is no more than an hundred furlongs long and XL brode, and therein is many good fyshes. And by that same sea, standeth many good cities, and therefore thys sea chaungeth often his name after the cities that stande thereupon, but it is all one water or sea and upon this sea, our Lorde went dry fote and there sayde he to Peter when he came on the water, & was nere drowned, _Modice fidei quare dubitasti?_ That is to saye, Thou of lyttle fayth, why hadst thou doubte.

[Footnote 1: Tiberias.]

[Footnote 2: On the borders of.]

[Footnote 3: A pool or lake.]

CAP. XXXVIII.

_Of the table whereon Christ eat after his resurrection._

IN this citie of Tiberyen is the table that Christ eat on with his disciples after his resurrection & they knew him in breaking of bread (as holy writ saith) _Et cognoverunt eum in fractione Panis_. That is to say, they knew him in breaking of bread. And aboute the hyll of Tiberien is the citie where our Lord fed v thousand people with five Barly loves and two fishes, and in that same citie did men cast in anger a fierbrand or burning stick after our Lord, but the same burning sticke did fall on the earth, and incontinent grew out of the same sticke a tree, and is waxen a bigge tree, and groweth yet, and the scales of the tree be all blacke. And ye shall understand that flom Jordan beginneth under the hill of Libany, & there beginneth the lande of promission, and it lasteth under Barsabe[1] of length, & from the North part to the South, it holdeth ix score myle and of breadth from Jerico to Jaffe it is XL mile, and ye shall understande that the lande of promission beginneth at the Kingdome of Surry and lasteth unto the wildernesse of Araby.

[Footnote 1: Beersheba.]

CAP. XXXIX.

_Of straunge maners and divers._

AND in this countrey & in many other landes over the sea, it is a maner when they have warre and cities or castels beseged so strongly that they may send no messages to any lordes for socour then they write their letters & binde them about the neckes of doves and let them flie their wayes, bicause the dove is of that nature that he will returne againe to the place where he is brought up, and thus they do commonly in that countrey. And ye shal wete that among the Sarasins in many places dwel christen men under tribute and they are of divers maners, and divers maners of monkes, and they are all christened and have divers lawes, but they all beleve well in our Lord God, the father, the sonne, & in the Holy ghost, but yet they fayle in the articles of our faith, and they are called Jacobyns. For sainct James converted theym to the fayth, and sainct John baptised them, and they say that men shall onely shryve[1] them unto God, & not unto man for they saye that God bad not man shryve him unto another man. And therefore saith David in the Psalter in this maner of wise, _Confitebor tibi, domine in toto Corde meo, &c._ That is to saye, Lord I shall shrive me unto thee in all my hart. And in another place he saith thus, _Delictum meum tibi cognitum feci_. That is to saye, My trespasse I have made knowne unto thee. And in another place, _Deus meus es tu & confitebor tibi_. That is to saye, Thou art my god and I shall be shriven to thee. And in another place _Quoniam cogitatio hominis confitebitur tibi_, &c. That is to say, The thought of man shal be shriven to thee, and they knowe well the Bible and Psalter but they say it not in latin, but in their owne language, and they saye that David and other prophetes have sayde it. But Sainct Austyn and Saynct Gregory say, _Qui scelera sua cogitat, & conversus fecerit, veniam sibi credat_, That is to say, Who so knowith his syn and turneth, he may beleve to have forgivenesse. And Sainct Gregory sayth thus, _Dominus potius mentem, quam verbum considerat_, That is to saye, Our Lord taketh more kepe[2] to thought, than to worde, and Sainct Hilarius sayth, _Longorum temporum crimina, ictu oculi pereunt, si cordis nata fuerit compunctio_, That is to say, Synnes that are done of olde tyme perysh in twinkling of an eye, if despising of them be born in a mans heart. And therefore say they, men shal shrive them onely to God, by these authorities, & this (_it_) was the Apostles, & popes that came sithen haue ordeyned, that men shall shrive them to priestes & men as they are, & the cause is this, for they saye that a man that hath a sicknesse, men may giue him no good medecines but they know y^t kinde of the sicknesse, also they say a man may give no covenable[3] penaunce but if he know y^e sin. For there is a maner of synne that is grevouser to one man than it is to another, and therefore it is nedefull that a man should know and understande the kinde of sinne. And there be also other men that men call Surryens and they hold halfe our faith, and halfe the faith of the Grekes and they have longe berdes as the Grekes have.

And there ben[4] other that men call Georgiens, whome sainct George converted, and they doe more worship to halowes[5] of heaven than other doe, and they haue their crownes shaven, the clerkes haue rounde crowns, and the lewde[6] have crownes square, & they holde the Grekes lawe. And there be other that men call christen men of gyrding,[7] for as much as they were gyrdels underneth, some other men call Nestoryens, some Aryens, some Nubyens, some Gregours, and some Indiens that are of Prester Johns lande, and euery one of those haue some artycles of our belefe. But eche of them varye from other, and of their varyaunce it were to muche to declare.[8]

[Footnote 1: Confess.]

[Footnote 2: Heed.]

[Footnote 3: Convenient.]

[Footnote 4: Be.]

[Footnote 5: Saints.]

[Footnote 6: Common people.]

[Footnote 7: This arose from a curious ordinance in A.D. 856 of the Khalif Motawakkel, who ordered both Jews & Christians to wear leather girdles; hence those Christians who lived in Syria were called "Christians of the girdle."]

[Footnote 8: Tell.]

CAP. XL.

_For to turne on this syde of Galyle._

NOW sythen I haue tolde you of many maners of men, that dwell in the countreys before said, now will I tourne againe to my waye for to tourne uppon this side. Now he that will tourne from the lande of Galyle, that I spake of, to come on this syde, he shall go through Damas that is a fayre citie & full of good marchaundises, and it is three Journeys from the sea and five journeis from Hierusalem, but they cary marchaundises upon camels, mules, horses and dromedaries and other maner of beastes. This citie of Damas founded Helyzeus, that was Abrahams servaunte before Ysaac was borne, and he thought to haue bene Abrahams heyre and therefore he named that citie Damas. And in that place slew Cayne his brother Abel, and besyde Damas is y^e mount of Syry, and in y^t Citie is many a Phisicion & y^t holy man. S. Paule was a phisicion to saue mens bodys before y^t he was Converted, and after, he was a phisicyon of soules. And from Damas men come by a place called our Lady of Sardmarch,[1] that is fiue myle from Damas & it is on a roch & there is a fayre churche and there dwell Monkes & Nunnes, crysten, in the church, behynde the high auter is a table of tree,[2] on the whiche table the ymage of our lady was depainted that many tymes was turned into fleshe, but the ymage is now sene but a lyttle, but evermore through grace of God, the table droppeth oyle, as it were an Olyfe, & there is a vessell of marble under the table to receive the oyle, thereof they giue to Pylgrimes, for it maketh whole many sicknesses, and he that kepeth it clenely a year, after a yeare, it turneth to fleshe and bloud. Betwene the citie of Darke and the citie of Raphane is a ryver that men call Sabatory, for on the Saterday it runneth fast, and all the weeke else it standeth styll and runneth not or little. And there is another ryver that in the night freseth fast and upon the day no frost is seene. And so men go by a citie that men call Berugh,[3] and there men go into the sea that will go into Cipres and they aryve at a porte of Sur or of Thyrry[4] & then men go to Cipres, or else men go or may goe from the porte of Thyry ryght, and come not to Cypres and arryve at some haven of Grece & there come men into those countreys by ways that I haue spoken of before.

[Footnote 1: Others say Sardenak.]

[Footnote 2: On wood panel.]

[Footnote 3: Others say Beruthe.]

[Footnote 4: Tyre.]

CAP. XLI.

_How a man may go furdest and longest in those countreys as heare are rehersed._

NOWE have I tolde you of wayes by the whiche men goe furthest and longeste, as by Babylon and mount Synay, and other places many, through the which landes men turne againe to the lande of promission. Now will I tell you the way of Hierusalem, for some men will not passe it, some for they have no company[1] and many other causes resonable and therefore I shall tell you shortely how a man may go with lyttle coste and short tyme.

A man that commeth from the lande of the Weast, he goeth through Fraunce, Burgoyn,[2] Lumberdy & to Venys or to Geen[3] or some other haven of those marches, and take there a ship and go to the yle Gryffe,[4] and so arryveth he in Grece, or else at port Myrock,[5] or Valon or Duras or some other haven of those marches, and to go lande for to reste hym, and goeth againe to the sea and arryveth at Cypres and commeth not in the yle of Rodes and arriveth at Famagost that is the Chiefe haven of Cypres or else at Lamaton, And then enter shyppe againe, and passe besyde the haven of Tyre and come not to lande, and so passeth by all the havens of the coste, untill he come to Jaffe, that is the next hauen to Hierusalem, for it is xxviii[6] myle betwene. And from Jaffe men go to the Citie of Ramos[7] & that is but little thence, & it is a fayre citie & beside Ramos is a fayre churche of our lady, where our lord shewed hym unto hir in three shadowes, that betokeneth the trinitie, and there nere is a church of Sainct George where his head was smitten of, and then to the Castell of Emaux, and then to the mount Joye & from thence pilgrimes see Hierusalem, and then to mount Modyn & then go to Hierusalem. At mount Modyn lyeth the prophet Machabe,[8] and over Ramatha[9] is the towne of Donke, whereof Amos the prophet was.

[Footnote 1: _i.e._, it was unsafe to go alone.]

[Footnote 2: Burgundy.]

[Footnote 3: Genoa.]

[Footnote 4: In some editions Gryffh, Grif, or Gresse, probably Crete.]

[Footnote 5: In other editions Moroche or Myroche.]

[Footnote 6: Others say 27.]

[Footnote 7: Rames, Ramla.]

[Footnote 8: Maccabeus.]

[Footnote 9: Ramah Gibeon.]

CAP. XLII.

_Of othar wayes for to go by lande unto Hierusalem._