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\u2019s religious heritage, and he picks back up on this a few pages later when he talks about religious differences between Greek and English Christians.<\/p>\n
Mandeville also writes about buildings, discussing the Emperor\u2019s palace and drawing attention to its beauty. He claims the palace \u201cis really lovely and beautifully adorned\u201d and notes its practical design features as well as the aesthetic elements, stating that the Emperor\u2019s stables were built underneath tiered seats in a jousting court (using space that may otherwise have been wasted) and that the stables\u2019 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 \u201cConstantinople is a very beautiful and great city with strong walls and it is three-cornered\u201d (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\u2019s palace.<\/p>\n
Mandeville links beautiful buildings with religion in his description of St. Sophie\u2019s church, which he calls \u201cthe finest and most beautiful church in the world\u201d (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\u2019s political power. Mandeville claims that \u201cpeople have tried many times to put the apple back into the statue\u2019s hand again, but it will not hold it; this apple signifies the lordship he once had over the world\u201d (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.<\/p>\n
Mandeville states his purpose in recording \u201cthings [that] are not relevant to the journey\u201d 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 \u201cmany people take great pleasure and comfort to hear talk of unfamiliar things\u201d (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.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
(pp. 7-14)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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