Mapping the Global Middle Ages

Month: February 2018 (Page 4 of 4)

The Book of Margery Kempe: Jerusalem

February 14, 2018 / / 0 Comments

When Margery Kempe sees Jerusalem from above, she prays for God to reveal to her the heavenly as well as the earthly city of Jerusalem, and feels that she gazes on heaven. Overwhelmed with grace, she almost falls off the ass she is riding, and mentions that two German pilgrims and a priest assist her.

She describes her movements through Jerusalem as something like a religious city tour. Beginning at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the pilgrims follow friars through the city. The friars carry a cross, and the pilgrims carry candles. During the tour, over the course of three weeks, they visit Mt. Calvary, “the grave where the Lord was buried,” the place of Christ’s crucifixion, a marble stone where his body lay, Mt. Zion, the location of the last supper, the place where the disciples received the Holy Spirit, and the burial place of the Virgin Mary. At many of these sites, Kempe is able to receive mass and plenary remissions (or indulgences). Kempe experiences strong religious emotions, and cries, screams, and prays. She also describes seeing visions and hearing voices. At Mt. Calvary, she describes a vision of Christ’s crucified body. The only features of the landscape that Kempe describes are mountains (specifically Mts. Zion and Calvary) and hills. Descriptions of Kempe’s journey to Jerusalem reveal that she travelled with a group of other pilgrims (all men), although she frequently argued with them and at one point travelled alone with an old man she met along the way. She and her companions stayed in the houses of wealthy people in each city, and travelled by foot, ass, and boat.

It is clear from these facts that Kempe saw almost everything from a religious perspective. She doesn’t describe the people or buildings of Jerusalem, but rather focuses on each location’s association to Christ. Rather than describing the physical aspect of pilgrimage sites, she describes her own reaction to them, what Christ did there, and any visions or voices she experiences in prayer. Kempe’s focus is not ethnographic in any sense. She began her pilgrimage in order to increase her worth in the eyes of God, and she is only interested in the religious significance of the places that she visits. This can also potentially reveal something about the Jerusalem that Kempe visited. It appears from her descriptions that the city had a complex infrastructure in place for accommodating religious pilgrims. Upon her arrival to the city, she immediately interacts with two pilgrims from Germany, revealing that pilgrims are common enough for her to happen to find them in her time of need, and that they come from various locations. In addition, there are friars ready to escort the pilgrims through the city, taking them primarily to religious sites. Masses and plenary remissions are offered at these sites, which seem to be set up to accommodate (and perhaps attract) pilgrims. This implies that the city receives enough pilgrims to necessitate such infrastructure, and that the city encourages the influx of pilgrims. Kempe’s account shows how religious pilgrimages were able to function within a prearranged infrastructure without interacting too much with the non-religious life of a city— although this may also reflect Kempe’s singular devotion to her task.

The Itinerary of Benjamin of Tudela: Rome

February 14, 2018 / / 0 Comments

It is unclear when exactly Benjamin of Tudela traveled to Rome, and for how long he stayed, however the journey from Lucca to Rome took him six days. From the start of his travel accounts, it is evident that Benjamin was concerned with the subject of religion. In Rome, Benjamin delved into the presence of Judaism in a city that acts as the kingdom of Christendom, as well as the relationship between the Judaism and Christianity since both religions were present in the city. Benjamin began, as he did with most other places he traveled to, by documenting the number of Jews present at the time that he was visiting— in this case, there were 200 Jews in Rome. He noted that they did not need to pay tribute and upheld honorable positions. He went on to describe the Jewish population in greater detail by highlighting those that were officials of Pope Alexander, great scholars, and important Rabbis.

Benjamin then turned his attention towards the physical landscape and edifices of the city. He observed that Rome is split in two by the River Tiber, and that the city itself is 24 miles in circumference. He made note of significant structures, namely the 80 palaces that belonged to the 80 kings that lived there and even described the histories of some of these palaces, particularly those that housed kings who were important to the Jewish religion. He described other important structures such as the sturdily built palace of Vespasianus, as well as the Colosseum and some of its historical background. Furthermore, he described the catacombs of King Tarmal Galsin. He then payed special attention to various structural elements of buildings. Of these, he described the two bronze columns engraved by King Solomon and taken from the Temple that are now in the church of St. John in the Lateran. His interest in these columns was marked by his allusions to their historical significance in Judaism. He also noted that there are of statues of Samson and Absalom in marble in front of St. John in the Lateran, as well as a statue of Constantinus the Great who built Constantinople.

It is clear that religion played a great role in Benjamin’s travels, yet what is most striking was the way he wrote of it. Benjamin was a Jewish traveler and evidently had a substantial interest in the presence and influence of Judaism within the places that he traveled to. With every new place he visited, his first observation was a count of the number of Jews in that area. He thereby associated the number of Jews with how strong the presence of Judaism was despite a place’s history. Yet, he did not write in a tone that was critical of other religions, or that placed Judaism as superior. Instead he wrote in a more matter-of-fact tone and didn’t hesitate to show the ways in which Judaism and Christianity overlapped as the city developed into the Rome it is today. Benjamin also made sure to include the histories and subsequent significance of the people and buildings he mentioned, revealing that he believed all the details he documented to be important enough to preserve and retell. It would seem to me that Benjamin’s purpose in writing his travel narrative was tell of the presence of Judaism around the world and how it was being preserved— despite the number of Jews present. I therefore believe that Benjamin’s travels were written for those that shared and still share his faith and religion, so that they too could see Judaism’s influence throughout the world.

The Book of the Wanderings of Felix Fabri: Venice

February 13, 2018 / / 0 Comments

Felix Fabri doesn’t write about his physical surroundings and he only identifies his geographical location by the names of the towns and cities that he visits. Instead, Fabri is focused on the people he meets: who they are, whether they’re traveling, where they’re from, etc. In his section on Venice, Fabri describes the other travelers he meets at the inn of St. George where he’s staying, identifying them by occupation, gender, social position, and which country they’ve traveled from. He is most interested in noting the religious figures he comes across, mentioning the “priests, monks, and laymen, gentle and simple, from Germany, from Gaul, and France, and especially two bishops” (3). He is mostly interested in people who are also embarking on pilgrimages. At one point, he describes six wealthy old women who are planning to embark on their own pilgrimage. He seems to admire them, writing that he ‘was astonished at [their] courage” (3). Fabri also mentions the noblemen he’s traveling with, describing them as “proud” and “haughty” (3-4). The nobles were displeased by the old women embarking on the pilgrimage with them, and refused to share the same ship with them. Fabri disagrees with this sentiment, prompting him to label the nobles “proud” and “haughty”. He goes so far as to write that he hopes the old women’s “holiness would render our voyage safer” (4).

In terms of the practical aspects of Fabri’s journey, he keeps track of how he gets from place to place and what he does there. In this section, Fabri writes that they arrive in Venice by barque, and ask about inns for knights and pilgrims when they arrive at the Fondaco de’ Tedeschi. Fabri never mentions the date or time or how long he resides and any given place. He only briefly mentions the practical details of his journey and doesn’t feel the need to elaborate.

I found Fabri’s reaction to the traveling old women very interesting considering the time and place he inhabits. Whereas other people met these women with scorn and displeasure, Fabri found them to be all the more admirable and holy for their gender and age. He writes about their love for the Holy Land and their courage, impressed with their willingness to go through the trials and hardships of travel despite their age and lack of strength. He is obviously very religious and concerned with his own piety as well as the piety of others. His descriptions of these women seem to say that he finds suffering and the conquering of tribulation to be what makes pilgrimage holy. Fabri also mentions how their “love for the Holy Land” is what allowed these women to “forget their own frailty” and undergo “the labours of strong men” (3). He finds these women holy because they are motivated by love and that love gives them the strength to overcome the labor of travel. Given the way he views these women, we can assume that Fabri is mostly concerned with other people’s motivations to go on a pilgrimage and that he highly values devotion to God and admires people’s ability to overcome hardship in the name of God.

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