Early Travels in Palestine Part 3

[38] John, iv. 20.

[39] Lions were ever of very rare occurrence in Syria: perhaps it was some other wild animal peculiar to the country that Willibald saw. It may, however, be pointed out as a curious ill.u.s.tration of the words of Jeremiah (xlix. 19, and l. 44), "He shall come up like a _lion_ from the swelling of Jordan."

[40] _Petrae oleum._ No doubt the writer means naphtha, bitumen, or asphaltum.

[41] Nov. 30, 724.

[42] _Infernus Theodorici._ In the legends of this age, the craters of volcanoes were believed to be entrances to h.e.l.l. A hermit, who resided on the Isle of Lipari, told a friend of pope Gregory the Great that he had seen the soul of the Gothic king, Theodoric, thrown into the crater of the Isle of Vulcano (Gregor. Magn. Dialog., lib. iv. c. 30). Hence the name given to it in Willibald's narrative.

[43] The medieval scribes made constant use of the pumice-stone, for smoothening their vellum and for making erasures.

THE VOYAGE OF BERNARD THE WISE.

A.D. 867.

In the year from the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ 867, in the name of the Lord wis.h.i.+ng to visit the holy places at Jerusalem, I, Bernard, having taken for my companions two brother monks, one of whom was of the monastery of St. Vincent at Beneventum, and named Theudemund, and the other a Spaniard, named Stephen, we went to Rome, to Pope Nicholas, and obtained the desired licence to go, along with his benediction and a.s.sistance.

Thence we went to Mount Gargano, in which is the Church of St. Michael, under one stone, covered above with oak trees; which church is said to have been dedicated by the archangel himself. Its entrance is from the north, and it is capable of containing sixty men. In the interior, on the east side, is the image of the angel; to the south is an altar on which sacrifice is offered, and no other gift is placed there. But there is suspended before the altar a vessel in which gifts are deposited, which also has near it other altars. Benignatus is abbot of this place, and presides over a numerous brotherhood.

Leaving Mount Gargano, we travelled a hundred and fifty miles, to a city in the power of the Saracens, named Bari[44], which was formerly subject to Beneventum. It is seated on the sea, and is fortified to the south by two very wide walls; but to the north it stands exposed to the sea. Here we obtained from the prince of the city, called the sultan, the necessary arrangements for our voyage, with two letters of safe conduct, describing our persons and the object of our journey, to the prince of Alexandria, and to the prince of Babylonia[45]. These princes are under the jurisdiction of the Emir-al-Mumenin, who rules over all the Saracens, and resides in Bagada and Axinarri, which are beyond Jerusalem.

From Bari we proceeded to the port of the city of Tarentum, a distance of ninety miles, where we found six s.h.i.+ps, having on board nine thousand captives of the Christians of Beneventum. In the two s.h.i.+ps which sailed first, and which were bound for Africa, were three thousand captives; and in the two which followed them, and which went to Tunis, there were also three thousand. The two others, which likewise contained the same number of Christian captives, carried us to the port of Alexandria, after a voyage of thirty days. Here we were prohibited from landing by the captain of the sailors, who had sixty under his command, until we had given six _aurei_ for our leave. Thence we went to the prince of Alexandria, and showed him the letter which the sultan had given us, to which, however, he paid no attention, but obliged each of us to pay thirteen deniers, and then gave us letters to the prince of Babylonia.

It is the custom of these people to take in weight only what can be weighed; and six of our sols and six deniers make three sols and three deniers of their money.

The city of Alexandria is adjacent to the sea. It was here that St.

Mark, preaching the gospel, bore the episcopal dignity; and outside the eastern gate of the city is the monastery of the saint, with the church in which he formerly reposed. But the Venetians coming there obtained his body by stealth, and carrying it on s.h.i.+pboard, sailed home with it.

Without the western gate is a monastery called The Forty Saints, in which, as well as in the former, there are a number of monks. The port is to the north of the city; on the south is the entrance to the Gyon, or Nile, which waters Egypt, and, running through the middle of the city, empties itself into the sea in the aforesaid port. We entered the river, and sailed to the south six days, and came to the city of Babylon of Egypt, where once reigned king Pharaoh, under whom Joseph built the seven granaries still remaining. When we went on sh.o.r.e at Babylon, the guards of the city carried us before the prince, a Saracen named Adalhacham, who inquired of us the object of our journey, and asked us from what princes we had letters. Whereupon we showed him the letters of the aforesaid sultan, and those of the prince of Alexandria; but they were of no service to us, for he sent us to prison, where we remained six days, and then, having consulted together, we obtained our liberty by giving more money. He then gave us letters, which effectually protected us from any further exactions, for he was second in command to the Emir-al-Mumenin aforesaid. Nevertheless, when we entered the cities mentioned in the following narrative, we were never allowed to leave them until we had received a paper or impression of a seal, for which we had to pay one or two deniers.

There is in this city a patriarch, by name Michael[46], who by the grace of G.o.d rules over the bishops, monks, and other Christians throughout Egypt. These Christians are tolerated by the pagans, on condition of paying for each person an annual tribute to the aforesaid prince, and they live in security and freedom. This tribute is three, or two, or one aureus, or for a meaner person thirteen deniers. But he who cannot pay thirteen deniers, whether he be a native or a stranger, is thrown into prison, until G.o.d or some good Christian redeem him.

We now returned by the river Gyon, and came to the city of Sitinulh, and thence proceeded to Malla; and from Malla we sailed across to Damietta, which has the sea to the north, and on all other sides the river Nile, with the exception of a small strip of land. We sailed thence to the city of Tamnis, in which the Christians are very pious, and exceedingly hospitable. This city possesses no land, except where the churches stand; and there is shown the field of Thanis, where lie, in the manner of three walls, the bodies of those who died in the time of Moses[47].

From Tamnis we came to the city of Faramea, where is a church of St.

Mary, on the spot to which, by the admonition of the angel, Joseph fled with the child and its mother. In this city there is a mult.i.tude of camels, which are hired from the natives by travellers to carry their baggage across the desert, which is a journey of six days. At this city the desert begins; and it may well be called a desert, for it bears neither gra.s.s nor fruit of any kind, with the exception of palm-trees, and it is white, like a plain covered with snow. In the middle of the route there are two caravanserais, one called Albara, the other Albacara, in which the Christians and pagans traffic for the things necessary on the journey. But around them the earth is as barren as in the rest of the desert. After Albacara the earth becomes fruitful, and continues so to the city of Gaza, which was the city of Samson, and is very rich in all things. Then we came to Alariza, and thence we went to Ramula, near which is the monastery of St. George the Martyr, in which he rests. From Ramula we hastened to the castle of Emaus; and thence we went to the holy city of Jerusalem, where we were received in the hostel founded there by the glorious emperor Charles[48], in which are received all the pilgrims who speak the Roman tongue; to which adjoins a church in honour of St. Mary, with a most n.o.ble library, founded by the same emperor, with twelve mansions, fields, vineyards, and a garden in the Valley of Jehoshaphat. In front of the hospital is a market, for which every one trading there pays yearly to him who provides it two aurei.

Within this city, besides others, there are four princ.i.p.al churches, connected with each other by walls; one to the east, which contains the Mount of Calvary, and the place in which the cross of our Lord was found, and is called the Basilica of Constantine; another to the south; a third to the west, in the middle of which is the sepulchre of our Lord, having nine columns in its circuit, between which are walls made of the most excellent stones; of which nine columns, four are in front of the monument itself; which, with their walls, include the stone placed before the sepulchre, which the angel rolled away, and on which he sat after our Lord's resurrection. It is not necessary to say more of this sepulchre, since Bede has given a full description of it in his history[49]. I must not, however, omit to state, that on Holy Sat.u.r.day, which is the eve of Easter, the office is begun in the morning in this church, and after it is ended the _Kyrie Eleison_ is chanted, until an angel comes and lights the lamps which hang over the aforesaid sepulchre[50]; of which light the patriarch gives their shares to the bishops and to the rest of the people, that each may illuminate his own house. The present patriarch is called Theodosius[51], and was brought to this place on account of his piety from his monastery, which is fifteen miles from Jerusalem, and was made patriarch over all the Christians in the Land of Promise. Between the aforesaid four churches is a parvis without roof, the walls of which s.h.i.+ne with gold, and the pavement is laid with very precious stone; and in the middle four chains, coming from each of the four churches, join in a point which is said to be the middle of the world.

There is, moreover, in the city, another church on Mount Sion, which is called the Church of St. Simeon, where our Lord washed the feet of his disciples, and in which is suspended our Lord's crown of thorns. St.

Mary is said to have died in this church. Near it, towards the east, is a church in honour of St. Stephen, on the spot where he is believed to have been stoned. And, indirectly to the east, is a church in honour of St. Peter, in the place where he denied our Lord. To the north is the Temple of Solomon, having a synagogue of the Saracens[52]. To the south of it are the iron gates through which the angel of the Lord led Peter out of prison, and which were never opened afterwards.

Leaving Jerusalem, we descended into the Valley of Jehoshaphat, which is a mile from the city, containing the village of Gethsemane, with the place of the nativity of St. Mary. In it is a round church of St. Mary, containing her sepulchre, on which the rain never falls, although there is no roof above it. There is also a church on the spot where our Lord was betrayed, containing the four round tables of his Supper. In the Valley of Jehoshaphat there is also a church of St. Leon, in which it is said that our Lord will come at the Last Judgment. Thence we went to Mount Olivet, on the declivity of which is shown the place of our Lord's prayer to the Father. On the side of the same mountain is shown the place where the Pharisees brought to our Lord the woman taken in adultery, where there is a church in honour of St. John, in which is preserved the writing in marble which our Lord wrote on the ground[53].

At the summit of the mountain, a mile from the Valley of Jehoshaphat, is the place of our Lord's ascension, in the middle of which, on the spot from which he ascended, is an altar open to the sky, on which ma.s.s is celebrated. Thence we proceeded to Bethany, which is to the south, on the ascent of the mountain, one mile from the top; there is here a monastery, with a church containing the sepulchre of Lazarus; near which, to the north, is a pool in which, by our Lord's command, Lazarus washed himself after he had been raised from the dead; and he is said to have been subsequently bishop in Ephesus forty years. On the western declivity of Mount Olivet is shown the marble from which the Lord descended on the foal of an a.s.s. Between these, to the south, in the Valley of Jehoshaphat, is the pool of Siloah.

When we left Jerusalem on the way to Bethlehem, the place of our Lord's nativity, distant six miles, we were shown the field in which Habakkuk was at work when the angel of the Lord ordered him to carry his meal to Daniel in Babylon, which is to the south, where Nebuchadnezzar reigned, but which is now the haunt of serpents and wild beasts. At Bethlehem there is a very large church in honour of St. Mary, in the middle of which is a crypt under a stone, the entrance of which is from the south, and the egress from the east, in which is shown the manger of our Lord, on the west side of the crypt. But the place in which our Lord cried, is to the east, having an altar where ma.s.ses are celebrated. Near this church, to the south, is a church of the Blessed Innocents, the martyrs.

One mile from Bethlehem, is the monastery of the Holy Shepherds, to whom the angel appeared at our Lord's nativity. Lastly, thirty miles to the east of Jerusalem is the river Jordan, on which is the monastery of St.

John; in which s.p.a.ce there are also many other monasteries. Among them, one mile to the south of the city of Jerusalem, is the church of St.

Mamilla, in which are many bodies of martyrs slain by the Saracens, and diligently buried there by her.

We returned from the holy city of Jerusalem direct to the sea, where we took s.h.i.+p, and sailed sixty days in very great peril, from the violence of the wind. At length we landed at _Mons Aureus_, where is a crypt containing seven altars, and having above it a great forest; which crypt is so dark, that none can enter it without lamps. The abbot there is Dom Valentine. Thence we went to Rome, within which city, to the east, in a place called Lateran, is a well-built church in honour of St. John the Baptist, where is the special see of the popes; and there, every year, the keys are carried to the pope from every part of the city. On the west side of Rome is the church of St. Peter, the chief of the Apostles, where he rests; the magnitude of which is unequalled by any church in the whole world, and it contains a variety of ornaments. In which city repose innumerable bodies of saints.

Here I separated from my companions; I myself proceeded thence to St.

Michael _ad Duas Tumbas_[54], which is a place situated on a mountain that runs out two leagues into the sea. At the summit of this mountain is a church in honour of St. Michael; the mountain is surrounded by the tide twice every day, at morning and evening, and men cannot go to the mountain until the sea retires. But on the Feast of St. Michael the sea does not join round the mountain when the tide comes in, but stands like walls to the right and left, so that on that day all who wish to perform their devotions there can pa.s.s to the mountain any hour of the day, which they cannot do on other days. There Phinimontius, a Breton, is abbot.

Now I will tell you how the Christians keep G.o.d's law both at Jerusalem and in Egypt. The Christians and Pagans have there such a peace between them, that if I should go a journey, and in the journey my camel or a.s.s which carries my baggage should die, and I should leave everything there without a guard, and go to the next town to get another, on my return I should find all my property untouched. The law of public safety is there such, that if they find in a city, or on the sea, or on the road, any man journeying by night or by day, without a letter, or some mark of a king or prince of that land, he is immediately thrown into prison, till the time he can give a good account whether he be a spy or not.

The people of Beneventum, in their pride, slew their prince, Sichard, and did great injury to the Christian faith; then they had quarrels and contentions among themselves, until Louis, the brother of Lothaire and Charles[55], obtained the empire over them. And in Romania many crimes are committed, and there are bad people there, banditti and thieves, and so men cannot go to Rome to visit St. Peter, unless they join together in troops, and go armed. In Lombardy, under the reign of the aforesaid Louis, there is tolerably good peace. The Bretons also have peace among themselves; and it is there the custom that if any one injure another, a third immediately comes, whoever he may be who witnesses it, and takes up the cause of the injured man as though he were his neighbour. And if any one is proved to have stolen more than four deniers, they slay him, or hang him on a gallows[56].

I will add, in conclusion, that we saw in the village of Gethsemane squared marble stones of that fineness that a man might see any thing he liked in them, as in a looking-gla.s.s.

FOOTNOTES:

[44] The Saracens had established themselves at Bari in the early part of the century, and it was now the head seat of their power on the coast of Italy. Their predatory excursions into the territory of Beneventum caused the emperor Louis II. to prepare an expedition against them, and he took Bari after a siege of four years, and returned to Beneventum in 871, while his troops laid siege to Tarentum, which, however, was not taken from the Saracens till a somewhat later period. The Christian captives mentioned by Bernard, as carried in such numbers into slavery in Africa and Egypt, had been carried off in the incursions into the territory of Beneventum. To judge from the numbers embarked in one s.h.i.+p, they must have been packed up almost as close as negroes in a slave-s.h.i.+p.

[45] This is the Egyptian Babylon, now Fostat, or, as it is often called, Old Cairo. Bagdad (Bagada) was, for many ages, the capital of the Saracen empire, and residence of the khalifs. It is doubtful what place is meant by _Axinarri_, which, in Mabillon's text, is called _Axiam_.

[46] This was the patriarch Michael I., who ruled over the Melchite portion of the Coptic Christians from 859 to 871. There was at this time a schism among the Christians of Egypt.

[47] Of the places here visited by Bernard, Sitinulh is perhaps Menuph; Malla is Mahalleh; and Tamnis is Tennis, or Tennesus, the field of Thanis, answering to "the field of Zoan," Psal. lxxviii. 12. Faramea (in the next page), is Farama or Pelusium. The caravanserais are perhaps _al-bir_ (the well) and _al-bakara_ (the pulley), both common names given to wells; but it is uncertain now what were the particular spots alluded to by Bernard. Alariza would seem to be Al-arish.

[48] Charlemagne. We have no other account of Charlemagne's foundations at Jerusalem; but the khalif Haroun-er-Raschid is said to have shown great favour to the Christian pilgrims from respect for the Frankish emperor, and even to have sent him the keys of the Holy Sepulchre and of Jerusalem. A legend prevalent in the twelfth century made the emperor visit Jerusalem in person; and an Anglo-Norman poem on Charlemagne's pretended voyage to the Holy Land, composed in that century, was printed by M. Fr. Michel in 1836.

[49] See "Bede's Ecclesiastical History," book v. chaps. 16 and 17. Bede professedly takes his account from Ad.a.m.nan's narrative of the travels of bishop Arculf, and the description referred to will be found at p. 2 of the present volume.

[50] This was a very celebrated miracle in the middle ages, and will be remembered as the cause of the persecution of the Christians in the Holy City, and of the destruction of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, by the khalif Hakem, in A.D. 1008 or 1010. An eastern Christian writer, Abulfaragius, tells us that "the author of this persecution was some enemy of the Christians, who told Hakem that, when the Christians a.s.sembled in their temple at Jerusalem, to celebrate Easter, the chaplains of the church, making use of a pious fraud, greased the chain of iron that held the lamp over the tomb with oil of balsam; and that, when the Arab officer had sealed up the door which led to the tomb, they applied a match, through the roof, to the other extremity of the chain, and the fire descended immediately to the wick of the lamp and lighted it. Then the wors.h.i.+ppers burst into tears, and cried out _kyrie eleison_, supposing it was fire which fell from heaven upon the tomb; and they were thus strengthened in their faith." This miracle was probably inst.i.tuted after the time when so much encouragement was given to the pilgrims under the reign of Charlemagne. It is not mentioned in the works that preceded Bernard, but it is often alluded to in subsequent writers, and continues still to be practised by the Greeks.

[51] Theodosius was patriarch of Jerusalem from 863 to 879.

[52] _i. e._ the Mosque of Omar.

[53] The event alluded to occurred in the Temple, and not on the Mount of Olives. The notion mentioned in the text must have arisen from a wrong reading of the first verses of John, viii. It is stated in the Gospel, John, viii. 6, "But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not." This writing on the ground was worked up into a popular legend in the middle ages, according to which Christ is represented as writing on the ground the secret sins of all the persons a.s.sembled to condemn the woman; and this, we are told, was the cause that they all slunk away ashamed.

[54] Mount St. Michel, on the coast of Brittany, which was commonly called St. Michel _ad tumbam_ or _ad tumbas_, and was a place of great celebrity in the romantic, as well as in the religious, legends of the middle ages. It is more than probable that, before the foundation of the monastery, the top of the mount was occupied by a cromlech, like so many of the islands on this coast.

[55] Sichard was a cruel and oppressive tyrant, and was deservedly hated by his subjects. At length, having attempted to violate the wife of one of his n.o.bles, the latter excited the people of Beneventum to revolt; and they burst into his palace; and slaughtered him, towards the end of the year 839. This act of popular vengeance was succeeded by a period of domestic troubles, which favoured the designs of the Saracens, and ultimately brought Beneventum under the power or protection of the emperor Louis II., or the Germanic, (the brother of Lothaire and Charles the Bald, and grandson of Charlemagne,) who was emperor and king of Germany from 840 to 876.

[56] Salomon III. was count of Brittany at this time; but history hardly bears out Bernard's boasts of the peace and good government of the country under his rule.

THE TRAVELS OF SaeWULF.

A.D. 1102 AND 1103.

I, Saewulf, though conscious of my own unworthiness, went to offer up my prayers at the Holy Sepulchre; but, owing to my sins, or to the badness of the s.h.i.+p, being unable to proceed thither by the direct course on the open sea, I will commence with an enumeration of the different islands at which we touched.