In his description of Constantinople, Benjamin of Tudela starts with a brief description of the government before turning to discuss the architecture. He focuses on especially on the great wealth displayed in the city. Wealth that he claims is drawn from a great market housing traders from across the known world and tribute from the surrounding areas that serve to greatly enrich the city. However, after discussing the great wealth and influence of the Greeks, Benjamin turns to the segregated area outside of the city, called Pera, where the Jews are forced to live. He describes the Jews there as wise, upstanding, and occasionally rich individuals who are nevertheless subjected to cruel mistreatment by the Greek majority. The readers once again learn nothing of Benjamin’s personal experience, but given that he is a Jewish traveler, he likely stayed in Pera and perhaps personally experienced or saw the oppression Jews in Constantinople endured.
Benjamin established the people of Constantinople as wealthy elites. They, especially the King Emanuel, have enough gold to plate every possible surface in it and to drape themselves in rich cloth of purple and gold silk. Equally he admires the grandeur of their festivities. He claims with a sense of awe that both the wealth and the entertainment found in Constantinople are unmatched anywhere on earth (21). However, he also states that the people are feeble and incapable of fighting. This contrast of splendor and might shows a chink in the gilded façade of the Greeks. Although he describes the magnificent churches and palaces in awe, he has very little to say about the Greeks as people. He briefly claims that they are rich and learned, but weak. While Benjamin is clearly an appreciator of the great splendor in the places he visits, he pays little attention to cultures outside of his own. His interest in others is in their monuments not their lives. Hence why in regions with little splendor to describe he moves from place to place at a rapid pace.
Benjamin’s description of the Jewish community, however, is far more personal. He lists the specific names of important individuals, both in major and minor cities. They are noted as “good, kindly, and charitable” as well as wealthy through trading and silk weaving (24). This attention to their personalities frames the Jews as real people more than the Greeks who are simply another sight to be observed. Their goodly personalities are even more relevant when contrasted with the oppression they face. Benjamin very rarely describes any action, but he takes the time to tell how the tanners throw dirty water on the Jews doorsteps and how they are beaten in the streets. Great empathy is devoted to the struggles of his community. His Jewish readership would be equally empathetic as they, especially those suffering under the inquisition in his native Spain, have similarly endured great hardship and discrimination. In the interpretation that this book was intended to let Jewish travelers know where was safe to go this passage informs them that although there is a large Jewish community of good people in Constantinople it is not a place with good conditions to live. Though the city itself is full of beauty to the traveler and opportunity for the merchant, there is danger to be wary of for any Jew passing through.
Category: Benjamin of Tudela (Page 2 of 2)
Benjamin of Tudela was a Jew from Sepharad, now Spain. His journey most likely began sometime in the mid-1160s, though exact dates are debated upon. Benjamin of Tudela’s travels took him through Europe, Asia, and Africa over the course of about eight years, and he wrote an account of his experiences, which has been published as The Itinerary of Benjamin of Tudela and remained a well-known account of travel in the Middle Ages since the 12th century. In this excerpt, Benjamin travels to Rome. This is early in his travels; he began in his home town of Saragossa, and traveled from the Iberian Peninsula to France, stopping in several cities, the last of which was Marseilles. From Marseilles he takes a ship to Genoa, Italy, then from Genoa to Pisa, Lucca, and finally Rome. It’s unclear how much time he spends in each place before moving on. Benjamin does not often describe much about logistics, simply that it takes this or that amount of time to get from one place to the next. He often doesn’t specify what mode of transportation he used, though does mention taking ships in a few cases, such as from Marseilles to Genoa.
Benjamin describes Rome as the seat of Christianity, though it contains about 200 Jews who “occupy an honourable position and pay no tribute.” He writes that there are great Jewish scholars in Rome who live alongside the Christians, and even some who are officials of the Pope. He notes several individuals by name, various rabbis and respected scholars of Judaism. Benjamin’s travel account focuses mostly on Jewish culture, monuments, and people. At most locations, he makes note of the most important scholars and leaders who reside there, the size of the Jewish community, and the state of the community and its privileges (or lack thereof). He does not talk as much about the native populations outside of his own people.
While the previous cities have only taken up a few paragraphs each, he spends the better part of two pages describing the city of Rome. He describes St. Peter’s, the palaces of emperors including Caesar, the Colosseum, and many ruins which were already ancient by the 12th century. He seems to take a particular interest in art and architecture, as well as Jewish and Christian legends and landmarks. He references some stories of old battles fought in the city, and of the catacombs of a King Tarmal Galsin; the only reference I could find to this king is in the Itinerary, so perhaps this was a myth he was told by a local, or a name he misspelled of an existing figure. Another story he describes is about the Church of St. John the Lateran, which contained two columns taken from the Temple. The Roman Jews tell him that once a day every year the columns exude water. He clearly enjoyed his time in Rome, and he finishes his descriptions of the city by saying that it is full of “remarkable sights beyond enumeration.”
The Hebrew introduction to the compiled travel writings of Benjamin of Tudela appears to have been added after his death, but by people who were familiar with him. The author(s) praise him as a wise, understanding, and learned man, and say that “wherever we have tested his statements we have found them accurate, true to fact and consistent; for he is a trustworthy man.” It’s impossible to know how they “tested” his statements and if Benjamin of Tudela’s writings are entirely accurate, but it seems that he was a well-respected man in his own community. Also according to the introduction, Benjamin was creating a record of “stories and sights unknown in the land of Sepharad (Spain), which he brought back with him on his return to Castile.” The purpose of his account may have been simply to bring knowledge of far-away places to his homeland, perhaps hoping for Spanish Jews in his community to use his writings to learn more about the world. It could have also served as a sort of guide for Jewish travelers who wished to know what places were safe and which families and scholars lived in certain kingdoms and cities.
In his description of Rome, Benjamin of Tudela spends the vast majority of the passage describing the architecture. The only other factor he notes is the notable Jewish scholars who live there. He describes the palaces of the Roman emperors with specific emphasis given to Titus’ as it related to the capture of Jerusalem. The storage location of Titus’ pillaged temple relics is also specifically noted. He also talks about the Colosseum and catacombs with stories about the bones and statues contained within each. None of this, however, is done with much detail. His writing is very direct and to the point with little elaboration on any of his statements. No mention is given (at least this far into the reading) to the practical elements of travel aside from the number of days’ travel between locations. Also absent are Benjamin’s personal thoughts or opinions on any of the places he visits or sights he sees.
The most prominent feature of Benjamin’s writing up to this point is the presence of Jewish communities in the places he visits. Even in cities where he has nothing else written, he documents the notable rabbis and the approximate number of Jews. This shows the importance of the Jewish community to both his motivation for travel and his intended audience. He appears to be writing for a diasporic Jewish population to give them a sense of what community they can expect to find in various locations across the lands he travels. The bare bones descriptions and lack of narrative places this text squarely within the realm of travel accounts rather than narratives. This more utilitarian tone indicates that the text is meant more as a source of information rather than entertainment or ethnography. He centers the presence of Jewish community in his writing as it is the relevant touchstone for his audience and the core of what would be important for them to know about a place. The references to history also focus on events that hold specific relevance to Jewish history that his audience is more likely to recognize.
Benjamin’s focus on architecture shows his reverence for Rome as a city with great historical importance and lasting influence. Even the basic descriptions of its monuments are much more than what is given to the other cities he has passed through thus far. Genoa and Pisa have scant mentions of their fortifications, but nothing of beauty. Rome is prioritized as the first cultural center he is passing through. Benjamin is showing his scholarly merit through his knowledge of history. The cultural artifacts he notes are those of scholarly importance which indicate a minimum degree of education in his audience, as they would have to be aware of the names he was referencing. He is writing for an educated Jewish population that might find use in knowing the relative size of Jewish populations and their leaders in various locations. He lets them know who to contact and where they might find further learning, as all the most notable figures are scholars like himself.