After many weeks aboard the ship across the Mediterranean, Felix Fabri and his fellow travellers finally made it to The Holy Land. Travel by sea was difficult and not luxurious, despite Fabri’s well funded adventure, and he welcomed the land with great enthusiasm. Landing on the shore of Jaffa Port is an ecstatic experience “we cast ourselves down upon our faces and kissed the sacred earth with great devotion. By merely touching the holy land we received plenary indulgences for the remission of sins” for Fabri (Fabri ch. 4). Despite the joy of arriving in the Holy Land, Fabri continues to notice and document geographic features. He is not so overcome by the divine to forget the terrain – he describes different rock formations and the edge of the sea. He also categorizes the people as “Saracens, Moors” who are guarding the gates and recording the pilgrims (Fabri ch.4). Felix Fabri continues to be fascinated by language: “my name of Felix causes I know not what difficulty in their language, for both in my former pilgrimage and in this one I was obliged to repeat my name to them several times, and even then they could neither pronounce it or write it without putting some outlandish diphthong before it, and gurgling its syllables in their throats” an observation that further illuminates his idea of German superiority (Fabri ch. 4). Although he is typically focused on language as a means to prove superiority, in this case he uses it to show cultural differences exemplified through language. 

Despite his previous pilgrimage, Fabri seems shocked at some of the rites and rituals of the Holy Land. He comments on the squalor “our abode was abominably defiled and befouled with filth, nor was there any place to sit down save upon filth” but uses this test to further prove his obedience and belief (Fabri ch.4). The “place of abominations” is just one more test Fabri must face to prove his faith through the pilgrimage (Fabri ch.4). Unlike other stops on his pilgrimage, Fabri is very interested in the various cultures of The Holy Land and the behaviors of the people. He separates Saracens from others and relays details of their trading goods, markets, and resources, aspects he was previously less interested in. Felix Fabri details customs around food “they cooked eggs in a frying-pan with oil, and some of them brought loaves of bread, some cool water, some fruit, some salads, and some hot cakes made of eggs” a cultural aspect previously forgone in much of his narrative (Fabri ch.4). This newfound fascination could be because he is now so far away from his native German culture and lifestyle, so all differences are exacerbated. Alternatively, it could be Fabri’s desire to present a factual and detailed description of his time in Jerusalem as expressed in the beginning of The Wanderings. Regardless, Fabri presents a more well-rounded depiction of not only the people, but also the culture to really craft a sense of his time in the Holy Land, or as I’ve detailed, Jaffa Port. 

Felix Fabri’s narrative describing his second pilgrimage to the Holy Land of Jerusalem provides an incredibly detailed understanding of travel methods, geography, German Christianity and ideas of piety, as well as emerging ideas of German supremacy. The Dominican monk presents his travels as absolutely factual and grounds his experience in various religious sites and accurate travel descriptions. He continuously affirms the importance of Christianity and presents it through a German hegemonic lens, separating his native culture first from Italians, and later from the inhabitants of the Holy Land. While there is much to say about Fabri’s extensive narrative, he stands out as narrator because of his unique motivation, previous experience, and fascination with language.