Sir John Mandeville

“ He that will passe over the sea, he may go many wayes both by sea and by lande, after the countreys that he cometh from, and many of them cometh to one ende, but think not that I will tell all the townes, cities & castelles that men shall goe by, for then I should make to long a tale, but only some countries and most principall cities and townes that men shall go by and through to go the right way. ”

“ Never in all my life did I see so great a city: for it containeth in circuit an hundreth miles; neither sawe I any plot thereof, which was not throughly inhabited: yea, I sawe many houses of tenne or twelve stories high, one aboue the other. It hath mightie large suburbs containing more people then the citie it selfe. Also it hath twelue principall gates: and about the distance of 8 miles, in the high way unto euery one of the saide gates standeth a city as big by estimation as Venice, and Padua. ”

“ Like many other marvellous stories related by Sir John Mandeville, they were told by Pliny, in his Natural History, nearly 1200 years previously. For instance, in Book 7, chap, li., devoted to Man, he quotes Ctesias as saying that in India is another race of men, who are known as Monocoli, who have only one leg, but are able to leap with surprising agility. The same people are also called Sciapodœ, because they are in the habit of lying on their backs during the time of extreme heat and protect themselves from the sun by the shade of their feet. ”

“ Going on further, I came unto a certaine Kingdome called Tebek,2 which is in subjection unto the great Can also, wherein I thinke there is more plenty of bread and wine then in any other part of the worlde besides. The people of the sayd countrey do, for the most part, inhabit in tents made of blacke felt. Their principall city is invironed with faire and beautifull walls, being built of most white and blacke stones, which are disposed checkerwise one by another, and curiously compiled together: likewise all the high wayes in this countrey are exceedingly well paved. ”

“ And in one of the corners of a certaine great pallace, all the Philosophers or Magicians remaine for certaine howers, and do attend upon points or characters; and when the point and hower which the sayd Philosophers expected for, is come, a certain crier crieth out with a loud voice, saying, Incline or bowe your selves before your Emperour; with that all the Barons fall flat upon the earth. Then hee crieth oute againe: Arise all, and immediately they all arise. ”

“ And as the people doe, euen so doe their king and Queene. This people worshippeth also a dead idole which from the navel upward, resembleth a man, and from the navel downward an oxe. The very same Idol delivers oracles unto them, and sometimes requireth the blood of fourtie virgins for his hire. And therefore the men of that region do consecrate their daughters and their sonnes unto their idols, euen as Christians do their children unto some Religion or Saint in heaven. ”

“ Cipres is a good yle & a great, and there are many good cities, and there is an Archbishoppe at Nichosy,2 and foure other Bishops in the lande. And at Famagost is one of the best havens on the sea that is in the worlde, and there are christen men and Sarasins and men of all nations. In Cipres is the hill of the holy crosse, and there is the crosse of the good thefe Dismas, as I sayd before, and some wene3 that there is halfe of the crosse of our lord, but it is not so, and they do wrong that make men to believe so. ”

“ And in this lande are many marvailes, for in that lande is the gravely sea, that is of sande and gravaile and no drop of water, and ebbeth and floweth with righte great waves as another sea doth, and it is never standing still, nor never in rest, and no man may passe that land beyond it. And al if it so be that there bee no water in the sea, yet men may finde therein right good fishe, and of other fashion & shape than is in any other seas, and also they are of full good savour & swete, and good to eat. ”

“ IN the kingdome of Mobar there is a wonderfull strange idole, being made after the shape and resemblance of a man, as big as the image of our Christopher, & consisting all of most pure and glittering gold. And about the necke thereof hangeth a silke riband, ful of most rich & precious stones, some one of which is of more value than a whole kingdome. ”

“ CAP. LXXVIII. When the Emperour is dead how they chose and make an other.
AND then when the Emperour is dead the seaven linages gather them togither, and they touch his son or the next of his blood, & they say thus, We wyll, and we ordeyne, and we pray thee that thou wilt be our lord & Emperour, and he enquireth of them and sayth, if ye will that I raigne upon you, then must ye doe all that I bidde you to doe. And if he bid that any shal be slaine, he shal be slaine, & they aunswere all with one voyce, yt ye bid shall be done. ”

“ And thereby is the kingdome of Albany, which is a great lande and it is called so bicause that men are more whiter there than in other places, & in this countrey are great houndes and stronge, so that they overcome Lions and slay them. ”

“ NOW sythen I haue tolde you of many maners of men, that dwell in the countreys before said, now will I tourne againe to my waye for to tourne uppon this side. Now he that will tourne from the lande of Galyle, that I spake of, to come on this syde, he shall go through Damas that is a fayre citie & full of good marchaundises, and it is three Journeys from the sea and five journeis from Hierusalem, but they cary marchaundises upon camels, mules, horses and dromedaries and other maner of beastes. ”

“ FOR as muche, as many men may not suffer the savour of the sea, & better it is to go by lande even if it be more payne, and a man shall go to one of the havens of Lumberdy as Venys or another, and he shall passe into Grece to port Myroche, or another and shall goe to Constantinople, and shall passe the water that is called the brache of Saynt George that is an arme of the sea. ”

“ Now, albeit the wife dieth before her husband, that law bindeth not the husband to any such inconvenience but he may marry another wife also. Likewise, ye said nation hath another strange custome, in that their women drink wine, but their men do not. Also the women haue the lids & brows of their eyes & beards shaven, but the men haue not: with many other base and filthie fashions which the said women do use contrary to the nature of their sexe. From that kingdome I traveiled 10 daies journey unto another kingdome called Mobar,4 which containeth many cities. ”

“ And ye shall understande that no man living may go unto yt Paradise, for by land he may not go for wylde beastes which are in the wyldernesse, and for hylls and rocks where no man may passe. Nor by those ryvers may no man passe, for they come with so great course and so great waves that no ship may saile against them. ”

“ Howbeit there is one kinde of stratageme, which the enemies of this nation, knowing the vertue of the sayd stones, doe practise against them: namely, they provide themselues armour of yron or steele against their arrowes, & weapons also poisoned with the poyson of trees & they carry in their hands wooden stakes most sharpe and hard pointed, as if they were yron: likewise they shoot arrowes without yron heads, & so they confound and slay some of their unarmed foes trusting too securely unto the vertue of their stones. ”

“ And before the borde of the Emperour standeth great lordes and no man is so hardy to speke unto hym, except it be musicians for to solace the Emperour. And all the vessell that is served in his hall or chambres, are of precious stones and namely at tables [pg 162] where great lordes eate, that is to say, of Jasper, crystall, amatyst, or fyne golde, and the cuppes are of Emeraudes, saphyres, topaces, and many other maner of stones; and (of) silver haue they no vessell, for they praise silver but little to make vessell of, but they make of silver greces, pylers & paviments of halles & chambres. ”

“ I have sometime dronke of that well, and methinketh yet that I fare the better; some call it the well of youth, for they that drinke thereof seme to be yong alway, and live without great sicknesse, and they saye this well, cometh from Paradise terrestre, for it is so vertuous, and in this lande groweth ginger, and thither come many good marchauntes for spyces. In this countrey men worship the Oxe for his great simpleness and mekenesse, and the profite that is in him, for they make the Oxe to travaile vi or vii yere and then men do eate him. ”

“ Some go with halters about their necks, some with their hands bound behind them, some with knives sticking on their armes or legs: and if after their peregrination, the flesh of their wounded arme festereth or corrupteth, they esteeme that limme to be holy, & thinke that their God is wel pleased with them. Neare unto the temple of that idol is a lake made by men in an open and common place, whereinto the pilgrimes cast gold, silver and precious stones, for the honour of the idol and the repairing of his temple. ”

“ Also when men speake of the Father, and the Sonne, and holy Ghost, they saye they are three persons, but not one God, for their boke Alkoran speaketh not thereof, nor of the trinitie, but they say that God spake or else he was dumb, and that God hath a ghost,1 or else he were not alive, & they say Gods word hath great strength, and so saith theyr Alkaron & they say that Abraham and Moyses were greatly in favor with God, for they spake with him, & Machomet was right messenger of God. ”

“ AND from thence men go uppon a river that men call Ceremosan, and this river goeth throughe Cathay1 & doth many times harme when it waxeth great. Cathay is a faire countrey & rich, ful of goods and merchandises, thether come marchauntes everye yeare for to fetch spices and other marchandises more commonly than they do in other countreys. And ye shall understand that marchaunts that come from Venice or from Gene or from other places of Lombardy, or of Italy, they go by sea and land, xi monthes and more or they may come to Cathay. ”

“ Neere unto the wall of the sayd palace there is a mount artificially wrought with golde and silver, whereupon stand turrets and steeples, and other delectable things for the solace and recreation of the foresayd great man. ”

“ God that is almighty sent me to thee, & it is his will that thou saye to the vii linages yt thou shalt be theyr Emperour, for ye shall conquere all the lande about you, and they shall be in your subjection as you have bene in theirs. And when morow came he rose up and sayde it to the vii linages, and they scorned him and sayde he was a fole, and the next night the same knighte came to the vii linages and bad them of gods behalfe to make Chanius their Emperour, and they shold be out of all subjection. ”

“ Se and beholde how good and gracious a man this was, that ye aungels of God come for to fetch him & beare him into Paradise. And then thinketh ye son of the same man that he is greatly worshipped when birds haue eaten his father, and where are most plenty of byrds, there is most worship. And then cometh the sonne home with all his friendes, and maketh them a great feast, the sonne maketh cleane his fathers head and giveth them drynke thereof, & the fleshe of the head he cutteth of, and giveth it to his moste speciall fryends, some a lyttle, & some a lyttle, for deynty. ”

“ The men of this province are of a faire and comely personage, but somewhat pale, having their heads shaven but a little, but the women are the most beautiful under the sunne. The first city of the said India which I came unto, is called Ceuskalon, which being a daies journey distant from the sea, stands upon a river, the water whereof, nere unto the mouth, where it exonerateth it selfe into the sea, doth overflow the land for the space of 12 daies journey. ”

“ Concerning this India I inquired of Christians, of Saracens, & of Idolaters, and of al such as bare an office under the great Can; who all of them with one consent answered, that this province of Mancy hath mo then 2000 great cities within the precincts thereof & that it aboundeth with all plenty of victuals, as namely with bread, wine, rise, flesh, and fish. All the men of this province be artificers & marchants, who, though they be in never so extreme penurie, so long as they can help themselues by the labor of their handes, will neuer beg almes of any man. ”

“ Ah dere God, what love he had to his subjects, when he that had done no trespasse, would for us trespassours suffer death: for a more worthy catell5 he might not have sette for us, then his owne blessed bodie and his owne precious bloud the which he suffered for us: right wel ought men to love, worship dreade, and serve such a Lord, and prayse such an holy lande that brought forth a lord of such fruite, through the which eche man is saved but if it be his own defaute. ”

“ In this island there do inhabit most wicked persons, who devour & eate rawe flesh, committing all kinds of uncleannes & abominations in such sort, as it is incredible. For the father eateth his son, & the son his father, the husband his owne wife & the wife her husband: & that after this maner. If any mans father be sick, the son straight goes unto the sooth-saying or prognosticating priest, requesting him to demand of his god, whether his father shall recover from his infirmity or no ”

“ In this lande are many Christen men of good faith & good lawe, and they haue prestes to sing masse, and they make the sacrements as men of Grece do, but they say not but that ye Apostles said as saint Peter, and saint Thomas, and other apostles when they song masse and said Pater noster, and the wordes with the which Gods body is sacred; we haue many addicions of Popes that haue bene ordeyned of which men in those countreys know not. ”

“ FROM Ethyope men go into Inde through many dyverse countreys, and it is called Inde the more, and it is departed in three parties, that is to say, Inde the more that is a full hote lande, & Inde the lesse is a temperate land, and the thyrde part that is toward the north there it is right cold, so that for greate colde, frost & yce, the water becommeth Cristal & upon that groweth the good diamondes yt is like a trouble1 colour, & that Diamonde is so harde that no man may breake it. ”

“ In it there are stately palaces altogether destitute of inhabitants, notwithstanding it aboundeth with great store of victuals. From hence travailing through many countreys, at length I came unto the land of Job called Hus, which is full of all kinde of victuals and very pleasantly situated. Thereabouts are certaine mountaines having good pastures for cattell upon them. Here also Manna is found in great aboundance. Four partriges are here solde for lesse than a groat. In this countrey there are most comely olde men. Here also the men spin and card, and not the women. ”