Month: February 2022 (Page 5 of 6)

The Itinerary of Benjamin of Tudela: Constantinople

February 16, 2022 / winterch / 0 Comments

During the long travels of Benjamin of Tudela, he found himself at a center of the medieval world and the point between Europe and Asia: Constantinople. At this time, the city was under the rule of the Greeks and served as the capital of the Greek Empire, which is today understood to be the Byzantine Empire. Due to the city’s position between Europe and Asia, it was a multicultural hub between the Christian, Islamic, and Jewish worlds.

If there is one thing that Benjamin of Tudela notices, it is the incredible wealth of Constantinople. There are countless churches across the 18-mile circumference of the city (pp. 20-21), and these churches are lavishly decorated. At one site in particular, he recounts that “there are pillars of gold and silver, and lamps of silver and gold more than a man can count,” (p. 21).

Among members of the ruling class, whose names he charmingly appears to find strange (p. 19-20), there are even more impressive displays of wealth and power. At the court of the King Emanuel, “men from all the races of the world […] introduce lions, leopards, bears, and wild asses, and they engage them in combat with one another,” (p. 21). Such a show was unlike anything else in the world at the time, and the ability of one man with enough influence to establish such a strange event was clearly something that impressed our author.

Second to wealth and influence, Benjamin of Tudela was also concerned with the plight of Jews in Byzantium. It would not be accurate to say the Jews of Constantinople, “for they have been placed behind an inlet of the sea,” (p. 23), effectively banished from life in the city. Benjamin of Tudela was himself a Jewish rabbi, and therefore sees the Jewish situation in Constantinople plainly as oppression, and he uses that word repeatedly to describe all aspects of the treatment of Jews (p. 23-24).

Despite all of this, he still takes time to appreciate the charitability and cheerfulness of these people. Our author does not often remark on the characteristics of the people he meets, and therefore one must imagine that he spent some good time with these banished people. He also does not discuss much of his personal experience, accounting for a lack of information about the practicalities of traveling through the city itself but being Jewish himself and spending time with the oppressed Jews, it is quite possible that Benjamin himself experienced this oppression firsthand, despite the fact that it is not mentioned.

Benjamin of Tudela seems to be consistently concerned with how Jews are living in the areas that he passes through, but also allows his eye to be caught by the flashiest parts of the city, primarily its wealth and public displays of power. There are also minor details that surprise, such as his descriptions of the Sea of Russia and the Sea of Sepharad, which seem to describe the bodies today known as the Black Sea and the Mediterranean or Marmara Sea respectively. His account also reflects the fact the way he viewed the “Greek Empire” (p. 19) is vastly different than the modern understanding of the Byzantine Empire. Nowhere is there a mention of Romans or Byzantium, and it seems that the majority of the city’s inhabitants were culturally Greek.

This particular account documents some moments in intense detail, and other facets of his travel such as the practicalities of living in the city are not mentioned at all. It’s difficult to discern who this may have been written for, but it seems like it would be best in helping Jews heading to the area know what to expect. Perhaps specifically Jewish merchants, since so much of his writing is concerned with how money is handled in Constantinople.

The Book of John Mandeville: Constantinople

February 16, 2022 / Juliana / 0 Comments

Mandeville is especially concerned in this section with the religious history and religious significance of Constantinople. He writes at length about relics that are housed there, including the sponge and reed which Jesus drank from on the cross, one of the nails that held him to the cross, and part of the crown of thorns which he wore as he died (8-10). He also writes about saints who were buried in Constantinople, listing St. Anne, St. Luke the evangelist, and St. John Chrysostom. It seems that he wants his readers to know the fullest extent of Constantinople’s religious heritage, and he picks back up on this a few pages later when he talks about religious differences between Greek and English Christians.

Mandeville also writes about buildings, discussing the Emperor’s palace and drawing attention to its beauty. He claims the palace “is really lovely and beautifully adorned” and notes its practical design features as well as the aesthetic elements, stating that the Emperor’s stables were built underneath tiered seats in a jousting court (using space that may otherwise have been wasted) and that the stables’ pillars were made of marble (12). He draws attention to the wealth of Constantinople through these details, as well as when he describes the geography; he writes that “Constantinople is a very beautiful and great city with strong walls and it is three-cornered” (11). Mandeville seems to make a connection between wealth, beauty, and political strength by listing beauty, greatness, and strength as equal descriptors of the city, and echoes this sentiment when describing the Emperor’s palace.

Mandeville links beautiful buildings with religion in his description of St. Sophie’s church, which he calls “the finest and most beautiful church in the world” (8). He continues to describe a statue of the Emperor Justinian in front of the church. Here Mandeville slips from describing what he sees to reporting what people tell him: he presents a legend about this statue, explaining that it used to hold an apple which represented the emperor’s political power. Mandeville claims that “people have tried many times to put the apple back into the statue’s hand again, but it will not hold it; this apple signifies the lordship he once had over the world” (8). This moment is interesting to me in its intersection of politics and religion; not only does a statue of an emperor stand outside of a church, but the symbolism of a fallen apple reminds me of the fall of Adam and Eve in Christian mythology. I wonder if Mandeville is making an implicit connection that his contemporary readers would have picked up on.

Mandeville states his purpose in recording “things [that] are not relevant to the journey” at the end of this chapter, after he spends three long paragraphs describing the ways Greek Christians differ from English Christians in the ways they practice their faith (13-14). He claims he wants to show his readers differences in faith and culture for entertainment purposes, arguing that “many people take great pleasure and comfort to hear talk of unfamiliar things” (14). This points both to his purpose in writing and what his audience would have found unusual; Mandeville provides an impressive list of the differences in Greek Christianity compared to the Christianity of his readers (13), giving the impression that these details would provide a kind of shock value to his audience.

(pp. 7-14)

The Travels of Marco Polo: Armenia/Turkey

February 16, 2022 / emilye / 0 Comments

Marco Polo arrives in the land of Armenia, a country which he describes as being two separate countries, the Lesser Armenia and the Greater Armenia, and Turkey. The majority of Polo’s descriptions of these countries that he visits are centered around their economic success and potential due to the variety and abundance of natural resources at their disposal.

Polo spends extensive time detailing the expansive and varied quantity of commodities available to the Armenians to sell to traveling merchants. He mainly describes the people of Lesser Armenia in the context of their sellable resources and rarely mentions further details about the type of people they are, what they look like, or how they live. Though he does not speak much of it, Polo does mention the Lesser Armenians “live off their flock” and notes the sweltering climate of the country (47). He comments on the excruciating heat of the climate as being “far from healthy”, which he then attributes to the inappropriate, “craven and “mean-spirited” behavior, and the excessive drinking of these people (46). Marco also mentions how the Turks breed good quality horses and mules and the Armenians have a large silver mine available to them (47). Additionally, the Turks are able to weave the “choicest and most beautiful carpets in the world” so they make a living by selling their crafts (47).

Most of the observations Polo includes in his account of his visit to the Armenians are related to the potential merchant interest in what products the country offers. He makes particular note of the abundance of goods the countries have due to their flourishing environmental surroundings. Polo describes a very tall mountain in the “heart” of Greater Armenia, which fertilizes their fields (48). At the mountain, which the Armenians call the Mountain of Noah’s Ark due to its cube shape, Noah’s ark is said to have once rested at its top, the “snow lies so deep all the year round that no one can ever climb it” and never fully melts (48). However, the lower slopes on the mountains gather the moisture from the higher slopes creating such luscious vegetation that animals flock to their land so the people are never low on supply of food and create the “best summer pasturage for beasts” (48).

Given Marco Polo’s family background of wealthy, well-respected merchants, it would be expected that most of his observations were directed towards the commerce and craftsmanship of the countries he visits. His comments in this passage focus on how the varying resources at the disposal of the Armenians and the Turks would be of interest to a merchant, like himself and his family. He frequently details the quality or abundance of different goods provided by the countries’ citizens, as a merchant would judge potential purchases. As well, his notes about the way the Lesser Armenians react to their hot climate showcases his privilege as a young merchant growing up under the wing of a widely successful merchant, his father. His father had achieved such a high status that royalty respected them enough to treat them better than some of their own citizens when they would make their travels. Marco’s description of the Lesser Armenians reaction to the heat, depicting them as uncivilized alcoholics, reveals his negative interpretation of impoverished individuals due to his inherited wealth and status.

Ibn Fadlān and the Land of Darkness: Bukhārā

February 16, 2022 / Payton Hull / 0 Comments

I decided to start with the first major location that Ibn Fadlān visits, Bukhārā. In his description he focuses on the people he meets with. He and his party have a meeting with Amir Nasr ibn Ahmad, arranged by his minister Jayhānī. Ibn Fadlān notes that Jayhānī is called “the venerable support” in Khurāsān. He also says that they “spent several days waiting and then Jayhānī requested an audience” with the amir for them. This suggests something about the status and job description of the minister; either he has the power to decide when people are seen by the amir or he is familiar enough with his schedule to know when a good time to request a meeting be set. Fadlān does not say much directly about the amir, except that he is “a beardless youth”. The notes suggest that Nasr ibn Ahmad was only sixteen or seventeen when they met (5). The party stayed in Bukhārā waiting for Ahmad ibn Mūsā, who was meant to be travelling with them, but they were ushered out of the city before winter. Another thing Fadlān was interested in was the different use of coins in the area, specifically that they were counted instead of weighed in some transactions. Of course, this system might be used for other types of purchases that he has not mentioned, but it is definitely used for settling dowries and buying slaves and property.

When the party arrived in Bukhārā they were immediately given a house to stay in and a servant to provide them with “anything” they might want (5). Considering that we know this travelling party wouldn’t be small, I think it is safe to assume that this was only for the upper members of the group if they all fit into one house. They stayed for twenty eight days in the late fall.

The first unusual thing I noticed is that we begin to hear about temperature differences at the very beginning of the story. So far, they have only moved about 400 miles north of Baghdad, though about 1,200 miles east, and today Bukhārā has a low of around thirty degrees in February. To me, this does not seem too bad. However, it adds some perspective to the coming description of “the cold of hell” (8). To people who have lived in warm temperatures their entire lives, any colder temperatures would feel even more extreme, and even painful, as they move northward.

The purpose of Ibn Fadlān writing this account is to share information with the caliph. When he describes Amir Nasr ibn Ahmad he mentions that he is young and, technically, not a man yet. But greater care is taken to describe how the amir reacts to the letters of instruction Fadlān brings him from the caliph. He seems to accept the instructions happily. However, he was meant to transfer the revenue overseen by al-Fadl ibn Mūsā to Ahmad ibn Mūsā, who is trying to catch up to the group. But Ahmad ibn Mūsā never reaches the group because someone tips off al-Fadl ibn Mūsā, who has him caught on the road and dealt with. I suppose this means there was no one to whom the amir could transfer the funds, since al-Fadl ibn Mūsā ushered the group out of the city by convincing some of the party that they needed to leave now, or they would have to stay the whole winter. This is a very helpful comment which keeps the group appraised of the weather conditions in an unfamiliar area and, incidentally, saves the man al-Fadl ibn Mūsā works for a lot of money. The person who tipped him off could have been the amir. Maybe he isn’t as loyal to the caliph as he made it sound.

Ibn Fadlān also says that they greeted Nasr ibn Ahmad with the title of amir, which to me implies they had a choice. Maybe, since they are from another province, they have the option to recognize the rule of someone else, though this seems unlikely to me. The detailed description of the use of different coins tells me that there are less types of coins in Baghdad and that counting them instead of weighing them is different, but that it isn’t weird to pay for marriage or have slaves.

The Travels of Ibn Battutah: Alexandria

February 15, 2022 / rices / 0 Comments

During Ibn Battutah’s pilgrimage to the Holy House in Mecca, he spent a considerable amount of time in Alexandria (al-Iskandariyah), Egypt, to explore the city and its culture. Battutah arrived on April 5, 1326, via a travel caravan from Tunis, and he stayed in Alexandria for several weeks. This section of Battutah’s travel narrative reflects his interest in the city’s culture, both via descriptions of cultural monuments as well as descriptions of the individuals with whom he interacted. He frequently expresses extreme awe towards the city from a visual, economic, and social perspective, and relays several positive experiences during his time there.

Battutah’s positive attitude towards Alexandria is first shaped by its beautiful and practical visual features. He specifically focuses on the city’s architecture, as it is not only visually appealing but also has aspects of functionality. The city includes a large citadel, secular buildings, religious edifices, and an impressive sea port. While describing the various structures in the city, he claims that they are built “in the way of embellishment and embattlement” that reflect “architectural perfection”(6). Battutah’s use of the word “embellishment” refers to the physical beauty of the city’s structures, while “embattlement” focuses on their strength and functionality. With his word choice, Battutah does not appreciate outward beauty without simultaneously considering its rational purpose. This reflects Battutah’s cultural values as a practicing Muslim; members of the Islamic faith express disdain towards waste and extravagance, so it makes sense for Battutah to justify Alexandria’s outward beauty and extravagance with its practicality and purpose.

While describing the city’s architecture, Battutah goes on to explain the structure and purpose of the city’s port. He credits some of the port’s success to its well-built structure, but also considers Alexandria’s geographic location as a key factor to its success. He refers to the city and its port as a mediator between the East and the West, indicating its vital role in the world of trade, communication, and travel. When describing the city as a whole, Battutah focuses on the man-made features; when describing the port, however, he references the man-made features as well as the geographical features in relation to the city’s success. The narrator’s shift in description shows that Alexandria’s success, especially in regards to trade, communication, and travel, relies on civilization competence just as much as geographic luck. For cities to thrive, they need to be in an economically beneficial location; this was especially true in the medieval ages because limited knowledge and resources made it more difficult to overcome limiting geographic features.

Battutah’s narrative also describes his interactions with the citizens of Alexandria. He considers all of the city’s people to be friendly and hospitable, but mainly interacts and describes his time spent with other educated, religious individuals such as Burhan al-Din the Lame and Shaikh Yaqut al-Habashi. In his narrative, Battutah describes these two individuals based on those with whom they interact. For example, he explains how Burhan al-Din the Lame has family in India and China, and mentions that Shaikh Yaqut al-Habashi has relations with a famous saint named Abul Hasan al-Shadhili (9). Describing people based on their relation to other people supports the trend of network communication via word of mouth. The limited nature of medieval travel and communication made it so that networks of “people who know people who know people” could be used to communicate. So, while interacting with Burhan al-Din the Lame and Shaikh Yaqut al-Habashi, Battutah also learns about other people and places to visit. This information is incredibly influential, as it actually leads Battutah to alter the trajectory of his journey to visit a pious figure known by Shaikh Yaqut al-Habashi. Because all of this information is delivered via word of mouth, though, its accuracy and truthfulness inherently comes into question. Errors can easily occur when people speak to each other, yet Battutah does not address this potential issue. It remains unclear whether this is due to ignorance or acceptance of his inability to solve the issue.

Ibn-Baṭṭūṭa Muḥammad Ibn-ʿAbdallāh, and Tim Mackintosh-Smith. The Travels of Ibn Battutah. Translated by Gibb Hamilton Alexander Rosskeen, Picador, 2002.