Category: Felix Fabri (Page 5 of 6)

Felix Fabri describes Venice as a beautiful and wonderful city, full of old stone and great architecture. Fabri calls Venice, “the mistress of the Mediterranean, standing in wondrous fashion in the midst of the waters, with lofty towers, great churches, splendid houses and palaces” (21). He makes these observations as he and his traveling companions float along the Grand Canal. This section is much more descriptive than his other entries, implying that he has a greater appreciation for architecture than natural scenery such as mountains. Fabri also describes Venice as “famous, great, wealthy and noble” (21). His admiration for the city is quite obvious when compared to his previous descriptions, which lacked such enthusiasm. His previous descriptions differ in other ways as well. For example, he was previously more focused on the people he came across and the churches and festival days of the locals.

Fabri notes that they are staying in the inn of St. George and that he’s stayed there before. He calls the innkeepers by name, Master John and Mistress Margaret, as well as describing them in warm and friendly terms. Fabri writes that the inn is completely inhabited by German speakers, quipping that “no word of Italian was to be heard in the house” (22). Fabri informs the reader that he and his companions arrive at the inn by boat and had to hike up sixty-two steps with their luggage. He also goes on to list off all twelve of his traveling companions, their titles, and personality traits. In a very interesting section, Fabri spends a while describing the innkeepers’ dog, who by his account, loves all Germans and dislikes Italians.

Fabri’s description of the German-loving dog isn’t just fascinating, but it’s also very revealing. Fabri writes that the dog greets all Germans with “joy”, but “when Italians or Lombards, Gauls, Frenchmen, Slavonians, Greeks, or men of any other country except Germany […] he becomes so angry you would think he was gone mad” (22). Aside from it being impossible that a dog could know whether someone was German or not on sight alone, this reveals that Fabri has a very strong sense of nationalism and prides himself in being a German. He even goes on to say that this dog is proof that Germans and Italians will never agree, stating that “each nation has a hatred of the other rooted in its very nature” (22). Fabri goes on to insist that humans restrain their feelings of hatred with reason, but animals can’t deny their nature which includes a hatred for other countries. This particular view of nationalism is very aggressive and confrontational. While most other travel narratives define themselves and other people through religion, Fabri divides people based on where they are from. Fabri’s insistence that it is natural to hate people of other nationalities is a little bizarre, but helps explain his disdain for people living in the Italian countryside and Italians who can’t speak German. Maybe Fabri’s vehement nationalism stems from existing conflicts. It would be interesting to contextualize this information with the contemporary political climate.

Felix Fabri describes the town of Valscian, also known as In der Burg, in his second pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Fabri’s party rode through Valscian on their way from Trent, Italy to Spiteli, Italy, stopping only for a “short rest” in the town (17). The journey from Trent to Spiteli was only one day’s travel; they left Trent on the 22nd of April after Mass and arrived at Spiteli during the night. Most of Fabri’s account of Valscian is centered on the history of the town’s name and the geography of the surrounding area, with a focus on language.

Fabri describes Valscian as a “long, wide, and fertile valley” with inhabitants that speak both German and Italian (17). In his first mention of the town’s name, Fabri notes that it is only called Valscian in the “vulgar tongue,” which refers to and shows Fabri’s bias against the Italian language. When he finds a resident that speaks German, Fabri asks why Valscian is called as such, which highlights Fabri’s interest in language and the meaning and history behind the name. In telling the history of Valscian, the man from Valscian tells Fabri that the name ‘Valscian’ translates to ‘the dry valley’ and details how the valley had been filled with water in ancient times. The recounting of Valscian’s history reveals that there are iron rings to moor ships on the sides of the mountains surrounding the valley, which illustrates the level of water previously in it and how the culture and uses of the valley have changed over time. Fabri specifically writes that he gains a greater understanding of the local geography from the townsperson’s story, but words it in a way that makes it seem as if he is giving himself all of the credit for discovering this revolutionary fact that the townsperson just told him: “[f]rom this story [Fabri] was able to note that all the valleys in these mountains which trend towards the sea were once full of water, and were channels leading into the Mediterranean Sea, even as now happens in lands close to the sea, as [Fabri had] said before” (17).  By seeming to give himself the credit for making this connection, Fabri places himself above the townsperson in intellect or possibly just ignores the role of the townsperson in general to focus on himself. In the next sentence, Fabri writes that the “Germans call Valscian In der Burg,” reestablishing the role of Germany and the German people in his recount and in the identity of the town, even though Valscian is in Italy and should probably therefore be called by its Italian name (17-18). Including a brief statement about why Germans call the town In der Burg, Fabri reasserts his interest in the histories and names of places. Alternatively, it could be argued that Fabri is comparing the history and relevancy of each name, although the connotation of his descriptive phrase about the history of the German name In der Burg comes off as fairly neutral. From his added tangent of the reason behind Germans calling Valscian In der Burg, Fabri includes more geographic information about the Vascian: “there are two castles overlooking the town, and the town lies within the castle wall,” which highlights his interest in the physical and geographic aspects of location (18).

Spiteli is a small town in Italy and Fabri notes that the name means “Little Hospice” (18). Fabri doesn’t describe the physical features of the town or the inn in which he stayed, etc. Rather, Fabri focuses on when the lords asked him to give a Mass in order to celebrate the Mass of St. George. While he is recounting this anecdote, Fabri is critical of the lack of religious supplies. He is upset that there are no wafers or bread, he notes that he had “great difficulty” getting the chapel open, and due to the lack of bread he is forced to perform what is referred to as an “empty” Mass. He discusses the weather, which he finds disagreeable as well.

In Fabri’s account of his first journey, he wasn’t very focused on the details of the trip, but in this section, he notes down dates and modes of travel. He mentions that he’s riding on horseback and is accompanied by a retinue. His traveling group stops in Spiteli on the 22nd of April and they spend the night. They had left their previous stopping place after they ate dinner and didn’t arrive at the village of Spiteli until very late at night. His group usually spends the night at the local inn, accompanied by other pilgrims and, very often, knights on crusade. Fabri isn’t interested in writing down his physical surroundings too much. He often recounts stories about the people he meets or local lords, kings, dukes, etc. He’s also very interested in local religious practices and individual people.

One thing I found fascinating in this particular section was Fabri’s distinct disdain for the Italian common-people. He at one point mentions that they had expressions of “wonderment and surprise” after he gave the Mass, and said that it was because they “had never heard a sermon preached in their church in German except by me” (18). This quote isn’t necessarily insulting, but it is revealing in that it tells us what Fabri expects the villagers to know and not know. He jumps to the conclusion that the Italian villagers aren’t very well-traveled or worldly despite being unable to know this for sure. Later on in the passage, Fabri notes that some Italian villagers only spoke Italian and “were not accustomed to serve the nobility, nor had they the materials for serving them with proper respect” (18). He categorizes this situation as disagreeable and notes that the servants of the lords were unhappy with the villagers because of this as well. Despite this condescension towards the Italian villagers, Fabri never directly insults them and calls them “good, simple people” (18). This attitude, however, is condescending and portrays the Italian villagers as uneducated and not intelligent. Fabri also paints himself as kind and benevolent, while making sure to keep himself in a position of superiority. This dynamic is fascinating because Fabri obviously looks down on these people, but presents his condescension as complimentary and charitable.

Felix Fabri describes the town of Feltre, Italy in the account of his second pilgrimage to Jerusalem. In his writing, Fabri explains that his party only wanted to pass through Feltre, but ended up being detained for a day due to the weather. Most of the account of Feltre focuses on the effects of the weather on their travel, the people of the inn Fabri’s party stayed in, and the general layout of and a brief explanation of the history of the town.

Fabri’s party experienced heavy rains on their journey and planned to stop at Felte for a few hours, or until the rain stopped. Fabri recounts with annoyance, however, that the rain instead grew worse, and they had no choice but to stay. Even now, it is undesirable to drive through heavy rain, so it makes sense that the weather would be such a cause of delay in their plans. Upon a break in the storm, Fabri’s party left Feltre and rode on despite the “rising waters,” “swift rivers,” and overflowing torrent beds that made travel extremely dangerous. Their insistence to travel despite the overwhelming danger of post-storm conditions reflects the serious nature of their purpose for journey; Fabri’s party was willing to risk dangerous conditions to complete their pilgrimage to Jerusalem.

Fabri writes that staying in the inn in Feltre longer than absolutely necessary was “disagreeable” due to the landlord, landlady, and household.  As it was an inn in Italy, everyone except Fabri’s party only spoke Italian. His annoyance at the language barrier seems strange because all of the blame is placed on the local people. He does not place the blame on his party for not knowing Italian when they knew they would be traveling through Italy for a while, but focuses on the fact that the local people do not speak his foreign language that they have little reason to know. This misplaced annoyance reveals the Fabri’s ego; he expects to be accommodated. This annoyance is not only placed on the language barrier, but also on the landlord, landlady, and household’s lack of knowledge on how to serve nobility and the proper materials to serve them “with proper respect.” Again, the people of the inn should not be expected to know how to serve German nobility property since they are not German and it is assumed that they do not serve nobility in general often, if at all. Fabri puts himself on a pedestal as a compassionate and understanding man because he realized that they were “good, simple people, and did all that they could” and wrote that because of this, he was more considerate than the lordships’ servants. Through these comments, Fabri’s demonstrates his condescending and ‘holier than thou’ attitude towards both the people of the inn and the lordships’ servants, which tells us more about his mentality and personality.

During their stay in Feltre, Fabri’s party attended Mass at the local church. Their insistence to brave the continued bad weather for their religion again shows their dedication to it. After Mass, they viewed the town of Feltre. Fabri tells of its history as a town built by Antenor to defend the mountain country, telling a short story in his usual romanticized fashion, and comments on the town’s geographical layout. In regards to the contents of the city, Fabri only wrote that it has old buildings, a bishop, and monasteries, which fits with the theme of his focus on religion.

Felix Fabri’s account of the town of Feltre reveals how he thinks about himself in relation to others, his dedication to his religious purpose, and the effect of weather on medieval travelers.

Felix Fabri describes his Botzen, now modern-day Bolzano, Italy, in the accounts of each of his pilgrimages to Jerusalem. His second account, however, describes the town in much more detail. Fabri focuses his second description on the people and culture of Bolzano, mainly on their tendency to be “sinful, given to drunkenness, luxury, and pride beyond measure” and so often overcome with fever symptoms that it ceases to be considered an illness (13). Interested in the ethnic composition of the town as well, Fabri notes that the majority of its citizens, as of a few years prior, were Italian, making the common language Italian, but that Botzen is now a German town. Commenting on the relationship of the people to their buildings, Fabri highlights that the town had recently almost entirely burned, a recurring incident that left many displaced, with more expensive buildings being constructed in the ruins.

Fabri’s group only stayed in Botzen for one night, the 20th of April , before continuing on their journey. They arrived after dinner on the 20th and left after dinner on the 21st. Fabri mentions that Botzen’s wine is “especially good” and “all fruits are sweet” there, but does not mention what they ate at the monastery or elsewhere (13).

To explain the cause of the widespread fever symptoms, Fabri explains that mountains on one side of the town block the “fresh wholesome air” so that the wind only comes from the nearby “pestilent marshes,” thus briefly describing the terrain of Botzen (13).

The climate of Botzen is described through Fabri’s telling of his previous visit with a friend. The friend jokes that the town must be the coldest town in the world to cause such widespread fever symptoms, but Fabri replies that it may be one of the warmest in actuality. A dry and hot climate would explain the widespread fires, too.

Some of the most interesting details of this account are revealed when Fabri describes the religious buildings, such as the monasteries and churches that were not touched by the flames, “as though by a miracle” (12). It is slightly confusing as to why Fabri refrains from directly calling the event a miracle, even though he readily tells the story of how the convent dormitory roof was saved from being devoured by flames when the Prior “called upon the Blessed Virgin for help” and accepts that the fire was caused by the “vengeance of Heaven” on the sinful town (13). Obviously, he fully believes in the interference of divine power in the town, so his reaction is a bit out of character.

It’s interesting to think that the constantly changing ethnic composition of Botzen and how it seems to directly influence which district and nation the town is considered part of. Fabri says that it was initially Italian, then switched to a German town. That shift caused the Botzen’s convent to switch from belonging to the province of St. Dominic to belonging to Fabri’s province. Since Botzen is now part of Italy again, it would be interesting to revisit the religious affiliations of the town.