John Mandeville refers to Constantinople largely as a landmark in the routes to and from Jerusalem. He uses it almost like a gas station, often referencing things as being “ such-and-such many miles from Constantinople”, or referencing it as a place you must pass through in order to get somewhere else. For John Mandeville, Constantinople is not a destination worth visiting in and of itself, but rather a rest stop on the way to more worthy places. He is brief in his descriptions of the city, although what little physical description he does give is positive. This is in stark contrast to his descriptions of Jerusalem, which were incredibly specific and detail-oriented. Jerusalem had paragraphs dedicated to descriptions of things like counting numbers of steps and illustrating architecture and religious monuments for his readers. This is likely because The Book of John Mandeville expected a large majority Christian audience, and Jerusalem is a very important city in the Christian faith. For a monk who had never really travelled to either city ,Jerusalem was most definitely considered more important and worthwhile in his own mind. It is also entirely possible that the author of The Book of John Mandeville just did not have enough information about Constantinople to write about it in the same amount of detail. As a monk writing from his monastery, most of the information he received was likely material of religious importance, and so he may have been deliberately vague about Constantinople with the goal of hiding his lack of knowledge about the city. However, what little description he does include is full of praise. He describes Constantinople as being “a very beautiful and great city with strong walls and it is three-cornered”. He also praises the Emperor of Constantinople’s architecture, saying “the Emperor’s palace is really lovely and beautifully adorned”. He specifically praises the “pretty court for jousting”, the “tiered seats in which one can sit and watch and not impede other people’s views”, and the pillars, which are “made of marble”. While these are praise-worthy objects, it is strange that John Mandeville singled them out specifically, especially when he seems highly concentrated on only those things which have religious significance in other sections. While it is possible that John Mandeville just had an appreciation for the cleverness of the Emperor’s architecture, it also seems like the kind of thing a knight or other kind of warrior would take note of. It seems likely that the monk writing as John Mandeville received some of his information about Constantinople from a knight’s report.

Where John Mandeville does not go into detail of the physical descriptions of Constantinople, he spends a lot of time criticizing the Greeks, specifically the Greek Christians. He spends paragraphs explaining exactly how different their faith is from the Christianity of Western Europe. While he does not outright condemn the Greek Christians, it is clear he does not approve of their practices, even going so far as to say “that is an immense scandal” when describing some of their methods. He finishes that description with a sanctimonious “ God can correct it when He wills it”. He ends by acknowledging that his description of the Greeks may not be relevant to the journey, but he defends himself, saying “they are nevertheless relevant in so far as I have undertaken to show some of the customs and manners and differences of these countries”. He is clear on the point that Greek Christianity varies from and conflicts with the Christianity he wishes to teach, and goes on to say “I have written it hear so that you can see the differences between our faith and theirs…”. It seems like he feels the need to end his account this way almost to make sure he keeps his audience; he does not want anyone reading to mistake the Greek faith as his, or as the correct or proper one. John Mandeville is very clear that the only true faith is his version of Christianity, and while he does not personally work to combat any variants, he is certain they will be taken down in their own time.