WORKS ISSUED BY

THE BONDAGE AND TRAVELS OF
JOHANN SCHILTBERGER.

No. LVIII.

A NATIVE OF BAVARIA,
IN EUROPE, ASIA, AND AFRICA,
1396–1427.
TRANSLATED FROM THE
HEIDELBERG MS. EDITED IN 1859 BY PROFESSOR KARL FRIEDRICH NEUMANN,
BY
Commander J. BUCHAN TELFER, R.N.,
F.S.A., F.R.G.S.

With Notes by
PROFESSOR P. BRUUN,
OF THE IMPERIAL UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH RUSSIA, AT ODESSA;

AND A PREFACE, INTRODUCTION, AND NOTES BY THE
TRANSLATOR AND EDITOR.

Ne respice ad eum qui dixit, sed respice ad id quod dixit.—Scaliger, Proverb. Arab.

WITH A MAP.

LONDON:
PRINTED FOR THE HAKLUYT SOCIETY.
MDCCCLXXIX.

T. RICHARDS, PRINTER, 37, GREAT QUEEN STREET, W.C.

FRIDERICO GVLIELMO


HEREDITARIO GERMANIAE PRINCIPI

HAEC NARRATIO ANGLO IDIOMATA CONSCRIPTA

DE CASIBVS MISERRIMIS CVIVSDAM BAVARI MILITIS

IPSIVS PRINCIPIS GRATIA ET ASSENSV

REVERENTER ET IN OBSEQVI TESTIMONIAM

INSCRIPSIT

IOANNES BVCHAN TELFER.

COUNCIL
OF
THE HAKLUYT SOCIETY.

The world is indebted to the late Professor Karl Friedrich Neumann, for having rendered the perusal of Johann Schiltberger’s travels generally accessible. Until his edition of the Heidelberg MS. appeared, in 1859, there had been no publication of the interesting work, in its integrity, since the year 1700, the supposed date of an edition, sine anno, sine loco; so that, as a fact, the work had become scarce, and could be consulted in a few libraries only, or in private collections of rare books. In 1813, and again in 1814, was published Abraham Jacob Penzel’s edition of what was known as the Nuremberg MS.; but its sole merit consisted in the insertion of Proper and Geographical names in their original orthography, the work being otherwise vitiated by its modern and paraphrased style, and by the introduction of passages, ofii which Schiltberger never could have been the author.

Scheiger1 condemns this book as being written in a very extraordinary and uncommonly empty style, in which the narrative of the honest old Bavarian drags itself along very uncouthly. Tobler2 stigmatises it as being an unhappy translation into modern German, with no Introduction; and Neumann,3 a still severer critic, says:—“This edition, in its modern garb, does honour to nobody. The additions to the original text are absurd, and testify to the editor’s ignorance of Schiltberger’s character, and of the times in which he lived. Take, for instance, the following sentence, with which Penzel concludes the author’s address to the reader:—‘Just as the doctor smears with honey the glass of physic prepared for a sick child, so have I also, as an agreeable pastime, introduced here and there some wonderful stories which, I flatter myself, will prove agreeable and instructive reading.’” Neumann might have added, that Penzel was not even the originator of the idea conveyed in this passage, evidently borrowed from Tasso!

iii

In 1823 these travels were again published, in 8vo., at Munich; but this is a copy of which it would seem that very little is known.

Judging by the numerous editions of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, each issue being an almost exact transcript of the copy that preceded it, Schiltberger must have been a popular author during that period. One long blank occurs from 1557 to 1606, after which the book of travels was not again reprinted until 1700.

The version now offered is a literal translation of Neumann’s edition in mittelhoch Deutsch, an exact transcript of the Heidelberg MS., with the exception of a few errors that have been rectified, and slight alterations in the headings of some chapters. Neumann believes his book to be the first printed edition that faithfully represents what Schiltberger wrote, the wording in all previous editions having been changed to suit the language of the times. He has added aniv Introduction and Notes by himself, and Notes by Fallmerayer and Hammer-Purgstall; such of those Notes as are referred to in the new Notes at the end of this volume, appear in their proper places at foot in the text, each bearing the initial of the writer.

Koehler4 finds fault very unsparingly with Neumann, whom he reproaches with neglect in not correcting and elucidating the wording of the text. Tobler, on the contrary, considers Neumann’s work more acceptable than Penzel’s unfortunate translation into modern German, because there is an Introduction, and the Oriental names employed by the author are explained.

The travels of Johann Schiltberger had never been translated into any tongue until Professor Bruun’s edition, in Russian, appeared at Odessa in 1866; although a somewhat free interpretation of the original, it has been of no small assistance to me where passages in the old German seemed obscure, as also in the identification of names. I am under a deep sense of gratitude to that learned gentleman, for having enriched my translation with a large number of most valuable and interesting Notes. They were supplied to me in French, and to ensure their faithful reprovduction, my MS. in the first instance, and the proofs afterwards, were sent to Odessa, for the Professor’s corrections or alterations, and approval.

I have to express my thanks to Aly Bey Riza, Cadri Bey, and Rassek Bey of Alexandria, for their kind aid in simplifying the Turkish and Arabic sentences that occur in various chapters; to Mr. Mnatzakan Hakhoumoff, of Shousha, for making clear to me the several phrases in Armenian; and to Dr. Niccolo Quartano de Calogheras, of Corfu, for his explanation of customs and rites as they are now observed in the Greek Church. I am also desirous of acknowledging the courtesy of those gentlemen who have been good enough to reply to my enquiries, for information that would assist me in compiling a Bibliography of existing editions of Schiltberger’s travels; and it gives me much pleasure to name the Rev. Leo Alishan, Venice; Dr. K. A. Barack, Strasburg; the Rev. A. Baumgarten, at the Kremsmünster near Wels; Mr. A. Bytschkoff, St. Petersburg; Mr. E. Förstemann, Dresden; Mr. A. Gutenæker, Munich; M. Edouard Hesse, Paris; Professor Heyd, Stuttgard; Dr. M. Isler, Hamburg; Mr. J. Kraenzler, Augsburg; Professor Lepsius, Berlin; Dr. J. E. A. Martin, Jena; Dr. Noack, Giessen; Dr. Joh. Priem, Nuremberg; Dr. E. Ritter von Birk, Vienna; Dr. G. T. Thomas,vi Munich; and Professor Karl Zangemeister, Heidelberg; also the Principal Librarian of the public library at Frankfort, and of the Bibliotheca Medicea-Laurentiana at Florence. I have likewise to express my obligations to Colonel Yule, for some useful and timely hints, so readily given.

Many of the Proper and Geographical names that occur in the Notes, and they are very numerous, are spelled as they ordinarily appear in English works, the orthography of the rest being in accordance with their pronunciation by a Persian and an Armenian gentleman, who did me the favour to settle my doubts. It being impossible to produce certain sounds with vowels that are so variously pronounced in the English language, I have had recourse to giving a phonetic value to various letters, in some instances accentuating the word for the sake of stress, with the acute or grave accent as in the Greek. The apostrophe ’ denotes an independent but rather soft breathing of a letter.

London,
LonJuly 18th, 1879.

1. A MS. of Schiltberger’s travels, undoubtedly of the fifteenth century, preserved in the University Library at Heidelberg and known as the Heidelberg MS., consists of ninety-six carefully and neatly written sheets of paper, in good style, and evidently the work of a professional scribe. It is about eight inches long by six inches broad, bound in leather, with bronze corner plates and clasps, and bears on the upper board a portrait in gold of the Elector, with the initials O. H.—P. C., Otto Heinrich—Palatinus Comes, and the date 1558. Another date, 1443, probably the year in which the MS. was written, appears inside the binding, which is beautifully ornamented with illustrations from the Old and New Testaments. This volume was included in the Palatine Library that was carried off by Tilly in 1621, and presented by Maximilian, duke of Bavaria, to Gregory XV. as a trophy of the Catholic cause. After the general peace of 1815, Pius VII. restored the collection to Heidelberg, at the instance of the King of Prussia.

2. The ducal library at Donaueschingen possesses a MS. on paper, of the fifteenth century, consisting of 134 leaves in sheepskin boards, with brass corner plates and clasps. The work is contemporary with the Heidelberg MS., or at all events not of a later period.

At the last page is the Pater Noster in the Armenian and Tatar tongues.1

3. Another MS. of Schiltberger’s travels, of the end of the fifteenth or of the early part of the sixteenth century, in the public library at Nuremberg, is entitled:

Concluding paragraph at the end.

This MS. was formerly the property of Adamnanus Rudolph Solger, protestant pastor of the church of St. Laurence in Nuremberg, whose library was sold in 1766, for the sum of 15,000 florins, to the municipality of the free ixtown of Nuremberg, and now forms part of the public library in that city. The MS. is bound in the same volume with others, and is thus described in Solger’s Catalogue.5

4. In 1488, a MS. of Schiltberger’s travels was in the possession of a Receiver of Revenue, named Matthias Bratzl, who caused it to be bound in one volume, with MSS. of Marco Polo, St. Brandon, Sir John Mandevile, and Ulrich of Frioul, and then wrote on the fly-leaf a note to the following effect:—“Having acquired the herein-named books, I have had them bound together, and have added a valuable and accurate map. Should the reader of these writings not know where the countries are, whose customs and habits are described, they are to look into the map. The map will also serve to complete what may be wanting in the books, and indicate the roads by which the travellers went. The map and the books quite agree. Whoever inherits this volume after my death, is to leave the different books together, and the map with them.” When Gottlieb von Murr, the distinguished bibliographer and antiquary (1733–1811), saw the volume, the map was missing.

This MS. was originally at Munich, but being sent to xNuremberg for the purpose of being published, was there kept in the city library. Schlichtegroll, the biographer, sanctioned the loan of it to Penzel, who turned its contents into modern German, producing the editions of 1813 and 1814. Penzel died at Jena in 1819, leaving his body to the anatomical theatre, his books to the public library, and all his debts to the grand-duke of Weimar. He had not returned the MS., and it was never afterwards recovered. Neumann thinks that it may have been in the author’s own handwriting.

(1.) s.a. s.l. fol. with woodcuts; 37 lines (?) in each page.

Printed, probably, by Günther Zainer, Ulm. 1473?

A copy of this edition is in the public library at Augsburg; another is at Munich, but in a very defective state.

This edition, believed to be the earliest, is mentioned by Panzer, Ebert, Kobolt, Brunet, Hain, Ternaux-Compans, and Grässe.

(2.) s.a. s.l. fol. with 15 woodcuts.

Forty-six leaves without pagination, register or catch-words; 33, 34, 35, or 36 lines in each page.

Printed, probably, by A. Sorg, Augsburg. 1475?

xi

A copy at the British Museum is bound in one volume with duke Ernest of Bavaria; S. Brandon, abbot; and Ludolphus de Suchem. Another copy is in the public library, Munich.

(3.) s.a. s.l. Fifty-seven leaves.

A copy at the public library, Munich, is bound in one volume with duke Ernest, and S. Brandon. A duplicate is defective. The imperial and royal library at Vienna also possesses a copy.

(4.) 1494. Frankfort. 4^o.

Mentioned by Tobler who quotes Grässe.

(5.) 1513.

Tobler mentions an edition of this date, being a reprint of Zainer’s edition, 1473?

(6.) s.a. J. v. Berg and U. Newber, Nuremberg. 4^o. with woodcuts. No pagination, but with catch-words.

Copies of this edition are in the royal library, Dresden, and the public library, Munich.

Mentioned by Ebert and Tobler.

(7.) 1549. Herman Gülfferich, Frankfort. 4^o. with 37 woodcuts. Seventy leaves; 32 lines in each page. No pagination, but with catch-words. Has a preface.

xii

Copies of this edition are in the British Museum, in the public library, Munich, and imperial public library, St. Petersburg.

Mentioned by Panzer, Ebert, Kobolt, Ternaux-Compans, Grasse, and Tobler.

(8.) 1549? Nuremberg. 4^o.

Mentioned by Panzer who quotes Meusel.

(9.) s.a. s.l. small 4^o.

Scheiger saw at Wels, in Austria, a copy which was supposed to be of the year 1551, and published at Munich. It was stated in a MS. marginal note, that Schiltberger was born at mid-day, on the 8th day of May.

(10.) s.a. Weygandt Han, Frankfort. 4^o. with 37 woodcuts, similar to those in the edition of 1549. Seventy leaves; 32 lines in each page. No pagination, but with catch-words. Has a preface.

Copies of this edition are in the British Museum, where it is catalogued, 1554? In the royal library, Dresden; public library, Frankfort; public library, Hamburg; imperial public library, St. Petersburg.

xiii

Mentioned by Panzer, Ebert, and Tobler who says that the above Title, and the Title of the edition printed at Nuremberg by J. v. Berg and U. Newber (see 6), are identical!

(11.) 1557. Frankfort. 4^o.

(12.) 1606. J. Francke, Magdeburg. 4^o., with woodcuts.

A copy of this edition is in the library of the imperial university, Strasburg.

Mentioned by Freytag, Ebert, Kobolt, Tobler who quotes Grässe, and Ternaux-Compans from whom we learn of another edition—

(13.) 1606. Frankfort. 8vo.

(14.) s.a. s.l.

Supposed by Tobler to be of the year 1700.

(15.) 1813. Edited by A. J. Penzel. Munich, small 8vo.

(16.) 1814. Edited by A. J. Penzel. Munich, small 8vo.

A copy of the last edition, with similar title-page.

(17.) 1823. Munich. 8vo.

Thus quoted by Grässe.

(18.) 1859. Edited by Prof. K. F. Neumann. Munich, small 8vo.

With Introduction and Notes by the editor, and Notes by Fallmerayer and Hammer-Purgstall.

In the copy of this edition at the Institut, Paris, are several loose sheets containing a resumé of the Travels, in MS., by D’Avezac.

(19.) 1866. Edited by Professor Philip Bruun. Odessa. 8vo.

Published in the Records of the Imperial University of New Russia, vol. i.

This attempt at a Bibliography of the Travels of Johann Schiltberger is no doubt far from being complete; but I believe it to be the first of its sort. The details given by Bibliographers are not, in many cases, very explicit, and no little difficulty has been experienced in collecting desirable information, replies to enquiries not being always readily obtained.

According to Tobler, for instance, the university at Berlin possesses copies of six different editions; but my requests for particulars have not been successful—and so in other quarters.

xv

If any reliance is to be placed in a MS. marginal note that appears on a page of an old edition of the Travels of Schiltberger, presumed to be of the year 1551, and preserved at Wels in Austria,1 then the author of the work before us was born at mid-day on the 9th day of May—in the year 1381, according to his own showing, because he states in the opening of his narrative, that he had not yet attained his sixteenth year when at the battle of Nicopolis (Sept. 28, 1396). So completely does Schiltberger eschew all reference to himself, that he leaves us quite in the dark even with regard to the place of his birth; for, in addressing the Reader, he states that his home was near the city of Munich; but upon his return to Bavaria, he xviproceeds to Frisingen, near which town he was born. Nothing whatever is known of his parentage or childhood; and that he has not remained entirely neglected and forgotten is owed to Thurnmaier, better known as Aventinus, who states, that upon his return from bondage, Schiltberger was taken in hand by the duke Albrecht III., and nominated his Chamberlain, an appointment that was probably made, in Neumann’s opinion, before the duke’s reign began, in 1438. This is all the Bavarian annalist has to say of his interesting countryman.

In the Introduction to his edition, Neumann offers a few particulars on the Schiltberge family, as they were communicated to him by Cölestin von Schiltberg, Manager of the Royal Salt Mines at Reichenhall.

The origin of the ancient name of Schiltberger, or Schiltberge, is not known, but it is, in all probability, composite, from Schild—a coat of arms—and Berg, the mount on which the arms were raised. A certain Berchtholdus Marescalcus de Schiltberg is mentioned in a document of the year 1190, and others of the name appear at later dates as burghers, and marshals to the dukes of Bavaria.2

The Schiltberges of to-day trace their pedigree to our author, who is styled Chamberlain and Commander of the Body-guard to Albrecht III. Several of their xviiancestors, during the 18th century, were Counsellors in the Bavarian Electorate, and two Schiltberges, Johann Peter and Franz Joseph, were Professors of Law at the University of Ingolstadt. An Imperial decree, dated March 27, 1786, raising three brothers of the “ancient and noble lineage of Schiltberg” to the dignity of nobles of the State, having been confirmed by the Bavarian Electorate, the Schiltberges have ever since been included in the peerage of Bavaria.

Neumann’s complaint that our author has never been fully appreciated by his countrymen, appears to be only too true; but the same cannot be said of aliens. Leunclavius has availed himself largely, in his Pandects,3 of the information supplied by an eye-witness, for the purpose of illustrating the history of the Turks; and in later times, such men as J. R. Forster, M. C. Sprengel, J. Chr. von Engel, Hugh Murray, Hammer, Scheiger, Aschbach, Vivien de Saint-Martin, Fallmerayer, D’Avezac, Bruun, and Yule, have borne witness to the worth of what Schiltberger has left behind. If he is charged by Karamsin with making confused and senseless statements, the historian at least believes him to be truthful, and to have really been at all the places he claims to have visited.

Johann Schiltberger left his home in the year 1394, as he himself informs us, with his master, Leonard Richartinger. That was two years before the battle of Nicopolis was fought, ten months of which time be xviiispent in Hungary, where his lord was in all probability serving in the auxiliary forces under Sigismund, king of that country. He must therefore have been launched into the world when in his fourteenth year only, and whatever the state of his education at that early age, certainly no opportunities could have been afforded him for improving it, during his long term of servitude. The composition of his work, throughout, and the diversified and undetermined mode of spelling Proper and Geographical names, show that the scribe was not a careful one, and tends to prove Schiltberger’s inability to read what was written, and correct the mistakes that were made; it is thus fairly conclusive, I venture to say, that his book, like so many other narratives of the Middle Ages, was written under dictation, a fact exhibiting marvellous retention of memory, when it is considered that the incidents extend over the space of about thirty-three years. That no journal was kept, is apparent from errors in computation of time. Of this there are two striking instances; the first, in the estimate of length of service under Bajazet, from September 1396 to July 1402, which is calculated at twelve years; and the author’s statement that he was six years with Timour, when, as a matter of fact, the actual period extended from July 1402 to February 1405.

Schiltberger no doubt dictated his adventures soon after his return to his native country, because in the concluding chapter he explains “how and through what countries I have come away”. The various incidents of his career in the East are recorded withxixout method, and were evidently related just as the recollection of them occurred to him, so that the attempt to follow in his footsteps, with any precision, becomes a hopeless task; and irregularly interspersed with his narrative, are descriptions of places and events, that he learnt from hearsay only, not having been either a spectator or participator. This inconsistent and incongruous style, again, betokens the man wanting in instruction; but every page affords evidence of the intelligence, veracity, modesty, and high principles of the honest-minded Bavarian; indeed the whole, so straightforward, truthful, and certainly useful, will compare favourably with the most trustworthy of mediæval writers, not excepting even Marco Polo. “Notwithstanding a few historical and geographical errors,” says Hammer, “this book of Travels remains a precious monument of the history and topography of the middle ages, of which Bavarians may be as justly proud as Venice is of her Marco Polo.”4 There is nothing to show that Schiltberger was a reading man, or that he availed himself of the writings of others, except in one instance, in which it can scarcely be doubted that he had recourse to some authority when giving the dimensions of the walls of Babylon, which coincide so exactly with what is found recorded in Herodotus. How otherwise could the poor slave have traced and verified such measurements?

xx

Schiltberger has wisely distinguished what he heard from what he himself saw, and therefore does not hesitate to indulge in the recital of the marvellous and ridiculous, without, however, the least touch of humour or criticism. A battle was fought between serpents and vipers, near Samsoun on the Black Sea coast; not whilst he was in the city, but “during the time I was with Bajazet”. Entering with childlike pleasure into the fullest particulars on the Castle of the Sparrow-hawk, he takes care to say, that when one of his companions wanted to visit it and see the virgin who resided there, nobody could be found to show the way, because the castle was hidden by trees, and the Greek priests also forbade approach to it. Then there is the story of the destruction of the mirror at Alexandria, related in the most perfect simplicity, and, as is his custom, without a word of comment; but that the Pope’s conduct was iniquitous in the sight of good Schiltberger is very certain, for he seeks to excuse his lesson of dissimulation to the priest, on the plea that all was done “for the sake of the Christian faith”. Vera sunt vera et falsa sunt falsa; sed si ecclesia dicit vera esse falsa et falsa esse vera, falsa sunt vera et vera sunt falsa. If Bellarmine was really the first to pen these lines, verily it was no new precept that he was promulgating. Another instance of Schiltberger’s appreciation of the truth is to be found in his relation of the tale of the saintly man in Khorasan, who had attained his three hundred and fiftieth year. “So the Infidels said,” are the words added. Such is the manner in which Schiltberger treats thesexxi and all the other absurd inventions to which he listened in his leisure hours.

When the text is largely illustrated with Notes—in the present work they form the greater part of the volume—little room is left for introductory remarks; nor is it necessary to recapitulate the substance of the text. It will therefore suffice to give a rapid outline of the author’s movements during his lengthened captivity.

The battle of Nicopolis is the most important episode in the busy and eventful career of Schiltberger, whose circumstantial account of the action fully agrees with what we learn from other sources. He escaped the general massacre of prisoners, upon the defeat and flight of Sigismund, through the timely intervention of Souleiman, the eldest son of Bajazet. Thurnmaier says that Schiltberger was spared on account of his good looks, and at once appointed page to the Sultan;5 but this is probably a fancy of the Bavarian annalist, because it is very distinctly asserted in the text that none under twenty were executed, and the youthful captive was barely sixteen years of age. He suffered considerably from the effects of three wounds, a circumstance to which he casually and most modestly refers in a subsequent chapter. Whilst in the service of xxiiBajazet, he was employed as one of his personal attendants in the quality of runner; he possibly took part in the siege of Constantinople; was in an expedition sent to Egypt for the relief of the sultan Faradj, when he probably embarked at some port in Cilicia; and in various expeditions in Asia Minor.

Upon the fall of Bajazet at the battle of Angora, July 20th, 1402, our runner became the prisoner of Timour, with whom he remained in Asia Minor; the Sultan himself being a captive in the camp. The fable of the iron cage is scarcely worth recalling to mind; but had there been a shadow of truth in it, Schiltberger would not have failed to notice the circumstance of the powerful monarch he had served so long being thus ignominiously treated.

Schiltberger’s first acquaintance with Armenia and Georgia was made upon the occasion of Timour’s invasion of those countries after his conquests in Asia Minor. Then followed the expedition to Abhase, the period of rest in the plain of Karabagh, and the return to Samarkand across the Araxes and through the kingdoms of Persia.

As the victories of the invincible Timour in India, Azerbaijan, and Syria, were related to him by his new comrades, so has Schiltberger recorded them, with some fresh details on the horrible atrocities committed.

Upon the death of Timour, at Otrar, in 1405, our author passed into the hands of his son, Shah Rokh, probably taking part in the expeditions of that monarch into Mazanderan and the Armenian provinces, Samarkand, and the territories about the Oxus, xxiiispending his winters in the plain of Karabagh, where good pasturage was to be found; but after the defeat of Kara Youssouf, Chief of the Turkomans of the Black Sheep, he remained in the contingent left by Shah Rokh, at the disposal of his brother, Miran Shah. This amir was afterwards himself overthrown by Kara Youssouf, and Schiltberger became subject to Aboubekr, a son of Shah Rokh, under whom he served for some time, first at Kars6 and then at Erivan, where he had frequent opportunities for again enjoying the society of his friends and co-religionists, the Armeno-Catholics, and perfecting himself in their language.

From Erivan, Schiltberger was dispatched with four other Christians as part escort to the Tatar prince, Tchekre, recalled to assume the supreme power in the Golden Horde. Traversing the provinces on the western shore of the Caspian Sea, and passing through Derbent into Great Tatary, they reached a place that we find named “Origens”, and which Professor Bruun is at some pains to prove was no other than Anjak, at one time a port on the Caspian, near Astrahan. Some curious details are given on the succession to the Khanate of the Golden Horde, which serve to authenticate historical accounts, as will be found on reference to the Notes thereon; and we also read of the warlike qualities of the Tatars of the Horde, of their hardy mode of living, eating meat raw and drinking the blood of their horses, a custom of war mentioned by Marco Polo.

We now come to what may be considered to be xxivabout the most interesting portion of the travels before us, viz.: the expedition to Siberia for the purpose of conquest. The customs, religion, food, mode of travelling, and clothing of its inhabitants, are so circumstantially laid before the reader, that it cannot be doubted Schiltberger saw with his own eyes all he recounts; he would never otherwise have observed that there were many wild beasts in the country, the names of which he could not tell, because they did not exist in Germany; nor would he have concluded the chapter in which he speaks of these things, by saying: “All this I have seen, and was there with the above-named king’s son, Zeggra.”

In alluding to the sledge-dogs of Great Tatary and Siberia, Rubruquis, Marco Polo, and Ibn Batouta, dwell upon their large size. It is not a little remarkable that Marco Polo, who never saw those animals, should have heard that they were as big as donkeys; the very simile employed by Schiltberger. They now are certainly much inferior in size.

The conquest of Siberia by Ydegou, was followed by that of Great Bolgara; after which, Tchekre returned into Great Tatary, and in due course became ruler of the Horde. Upon his death, the author fell into the hands of one of his counsellors, named “Manstzusch”, who, being forced to flee, traversed the kingdom of Kiptchak, and arrived at Kaffa in the Crimea. It was when upon this journey that Schiltberger saw the river Don; the city of Tana, Solkhat the capital of Kiptchak, and the cities of Kyrkyer and Sary Kerman.

xxv

In Chapter 37, the author says that he was present at the marriage festivities of a daughter of the sultan, Boursbaï, a monarch who ascended the throne in 1422; and as he did not lose his lord, Tchekre, until about the year 1424 or 1425, it follows that he must have gone to Egypt, at least for the second time, subsequently to the latter date, but by what route and for what purpose there are no means of determining; although this was probably the occasion of his passing the island of Imbros, and touching at the port of Salonica. During his sojourn in Egypt, the author was afforded the opportunity of witnessing the reception of foreign ambassadors at the Court of the Mamelouk monarch, some portion of the ceremonial observed upon those occasions reminding us of the brilliant doings in the palace of the Greek Emperors, amongst whose earliest predecessors those magnificent state formalities were introduced by the Romans, who had themselves adopted them from the Kings of Persia, after their conquests in the far East.

From Egypt, Schiltberger was sent into Palestine, when he visited several of the holy places, and to Arabia, where it may be taken for granted that he assisted at one of the customary Mahomedan pilgrimages. Being too devotedly attached to his own Church to entertain the least sympathy for Islamism, our traveller is careful to avoid saying anything that might be construed into a semblance of his having renounced his religion, under whatsoever circumstances; but that he must have done so, inevitably, may be accepted as an unquestionable fact, for where is the page in thexxvi history of Bajazet, of Timour, and of his successors, that tells of a Christian having been spared persecution, followed by torture and death? Nor is it credible that the presence of a slave, professing Christianity, would have been at all tolerated in the camps of those barbarous and fanatic rulers. Schiltberger has taken delight in supplying all the information he was able to obtain on the forms and solemnities of the Armenian and Greek Churches, showing at the same time the respect in which he held Saints in general, by never failing to relate the miracles attributed to them, for

but he has equally proved his proficiency in Mahomedanism, in devoting no less than eleven chapters to an exposition of its history, doctrines, and legends.

Whether or not Schiltberger traversed the Hyjaz of Arabia, will possibly remain a controverted point; the probability is that he did do so, not from the shores of the Red Sea, but from Syria and Palestine. We find him describing from personal observation, first, the pelican, a bird which, according to Buffon, frequents the borders of Palestine and Arabia, and even the arid wastes of Arabia and Persia; then the “giant’s shin-bone”, that spanned a ravine between two mountains and served as a bridge; an indication that leads Professor Bruun to the neighbourhood of Kerak and Shaubek, on the beaten track to the Hyjaz. More than this, mention is made of the tomb of the prophet at a place called “Madina”, its situation and ornamentations being clearly explained; accuracy that is quite exxxviiceptional, as nearly all mediæval notices of the tomb of Mahomet place it at Mecca. If our author did indeed travel into Arabia from Palestine, he would have been the predecessor of Varthema (1503) by that route, and he is also the first European known to have visited the holy places of Islam.

Quitting Egypt, Schiltberger returned to the Crimea, afterwards accompanying his lord, “Manstzusch”, to the Caucasus, where he found the slave trade in full swing, a traffic he vigorously condemns by saying of the people, who sold even their own children, that they were “bös lüt”. Whilst in Circassia, at that time tributary to the Golden Horde, the Great Khan required of its ruler that “Manstzusch” should be expelled his territory. That prince being thus forced to change his residence, proceeded to Mingrelia, through Abhase and Soukhoum its chief town. An unhealthy country, says our author, when describing the peculiar customs, dress, and religion of the people.

It is singular that, although Schiltberger notices the existence of Christians at Samsoun, Joulad, in Georgia, the Crimea, and other places, he makes no mention of the large European community at Savastopoli, as Soukhoum was called by the Genoese, who, especially, were very numerous, and had had a consul at that port from the year 1354. That there were many Roman Catholics at Savastopoli is very certain, for the place was constituted a bishop’s see, a condition not at all gratifying to the native population which belonged to the Greek Church, as would appear from the following circumstance:—

xxviii

In 1330, Peter, bishop of Senascopoli (sic) or Savastopoli, addressed a letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury and the bishops of England, collectively, in which he complains of the oppression practised on Christians in the East, who were carried off into slavery; an infamous traffic he was unable to suppress because the local authorities, who belonged to the schismatic Greek religion, were inimical to him. He entreats the bishops of England to present the bearer of the letter, one Joachim of Cremona, to the warriors of England, who fight for God and aspire to power! That letter is preserved in the public library at Ratisbon, and can scarcely be supposed to have reached its destination at any time.

Being in Mingrelia, Schiltberger was in a Christian country temptingly situated on the borders of the Black Sea. It is most likely that he received sufficient encouragement from the people to induce him to attempt to regain his liberty, and, at a favourable moment, he and four of his Christian comrades made their escape and succeeded in reaching the coast at Poti,7 where they had hoped to find some friendly vessel that would receive them. Failing in this, they rode along the shore to the hills in Lazistan, and one evening, after dark, had the good fortune to communicate, by means of signal fires, with a European ship off the land. Our traveller and his companions were obliged to prove their identity by repeating the Pater Noster, Ave Maria, and Credo, before the boat’s crew could be prevailed upon to take them off to the ship; and after a xxixtedious voyage of many weeks, during which the vessel was chased by pirates and detained by contrary gales, and the crew had suffered from want of provisions, Constantinople was reached. There the runaways were kindly received and cared for by the emperor (John VIII. Palæologos), who placed them in charge of the patriarch, in whose house they lived. Schiltberger is full of admiration for the great palaces, the church of St. Sophia, and the magnificent walls of the imperial city; but not being free to move about as he pleased, during his long stay in it, the account of Constantinople and of its marvels is exceedingly meagre, when compared with the descriptions left by other visitors. Indeed, what little Schiltberger was able to do in the way of sight-seeing was effected surreptitiously, with the connivance of the patriarch’s servants, whom he accompanied on their errands as opportunities offered.

At the expiration of three months, our author and his comrades were sent to Kilia at the estuary of the Danube. Hence Johann Schiltberger easily found his way to his native country, where he arrived some time in the year 1427, offering thanks to Almighty God for his escape “from the Infidel people and their wicked religion”, and for having preserved him from “the risk of perdition of body and soul”.

xxx-xxxi

I, Johanns Schiltberger, left my home near the city of Munich, situated in Payren, at the time that King Sigmund of Hungary left for the land of the Infidels. This was, counting from Christ’s birth, in the thirteen hundred and ninety-fourth year,1 with a lord named Leinhart Richartingen. And I came back again from the land of the Infidels, counting from Christ’s birth, fourteen hundred and twenty seven. All that I saw in the land of the Infidels, of wars, and that was wonderful, also what chief towns and seas I have seen and visited, you will find described hereafter, perhaps not quite completely, but I was a prisoner and not independent. But so far as I was able to understand and to note, so have I [noted] the countries and cities as they are called in those countries, and I here make known and publish many interesting and strange adventures, which are worth listening to.

From the first, King Sigmund appealed in the above-named year, thirteen hundred and ninety-four, to Christendom for assistance, at the time that the Infidels were 2doing great injury to Hungern. There came many people from all countries to help him;(1) then he took the people and led them to the Iron Gate, which separates Ungern from Pulgery and Walachy, and he crossed the Tunow into Pulgary, and made for a city called Pudem.(2) It is the capital of Pulgery. Then came the ruler of the country and of the city, and gave himself up to the king; then the king took possession of the city with three hundred men, good horse and foot soldiers, and then went to another city where were many Turks. There he remained five days, but the Turks would not give up the city; but the fighting men expelled them by force, and delivered the city to the king. Many Turks were killed and others made prisoners. The king took possession of this city also, with two hundred men, and continued his march towards another city called Schiltaw, but called in the Infidel tongue, Nicopoly.(3) He besieged it by water and by land for XVI days, then came the Turkish king, called Wyasit, with two hundred thousand men, to the relief of the city. When the king, Sigmund, heard this, he went one mile to meet him with his people, the number of whom were reckoned at sixteen thousand men. Then came the Duke of Walachy, called Werterwaywod,1(4) who asked the king to allow him to look at the winds.2 This the king allowed, and he took with him one thousand men for the purpose of looking at the winds, and returned to the king and told him that he had looked at the winds, and had seen twenty banners, and that there were ten thousand men under each banner, and each banner was separate from the other. When the king heard this, he wanted to arrange the order of battle. The Duke of Walachy asked that he might be the first to attack, to which the king would willingly have consented. When the 3Duke of Burguny heard this, he refused to cede this honour to any other person, for the just reason that he had come a great distance with six thousand men,(5) and had expended much money in the expedition, and he begged the king that he should be the first to attack. The king asked him to allow the Ungern to begin, as they had already fought with the Turks, and knew better than others how they were armed. This he would not allow to the Ungern, and assembled his men, attacked the enemy, and fought his way through two corps; and when he came to the third, he turned and would have retreated, but found himself surrounded, and more than half his horsemen were unhorsed, for the Turks aimed at the horses only, so that he could not get away, and was taken prisoner. When the king heard that the Duke of Burgony was forced to surrender, he took the rest of the people and defeated a body of twelve thousand foot soldiers that had been sent to oppose him. They were all trampled upon and destroyed, and in this engagement a shot killed the horse of my lord Lienhart Richartinger; and I, Hanns Schiltberger his runner, when I saw this, rode up to him in the crowd and assisted him to mount my own horse, and then I mounted another which belonged to the Turks, and rode back to the other runners. And when all the [Turkish] foot-soldiers were killed, the king advanced upon another corps which was of horse. When the Turkish king saw the king advancing, he was about to fly, but the Duke of Iriseh, known as the despot,(6) seeing this, went to the assistance of the Turkish king with fifteen thousand chosen men and many other bannerets, and the despot threw himself with his people on the king’s banner and overturned it; and when the king saw that the banner was overturned and that he could not remain, he took to flight.3 Then came he of Cily,4 and Hanns, Burgrave of Nuremberg, 4who took the king and conducted him to a galley on board of which he went to Constantinoppel. When the horse and foot soldiers saw that the king had fled, many escaped to the Tünow and went on board the shipping; but the vessels were so full that they could not all remain, and when they tried to get on board they struck them on the hands, so that they were drowned in the river; many were killed on the mountain as they were going to the Tunow. My lord Lienhart Richartinger, Wernher Pentznawer, Ulrich Kuchler, and little Stainer, all bannerets, were killed in the fight, also many other brave knights and soldiers. Of those who could not cross the water and reach the vessels, a portion were killed; but the larger number were made prisoners. Among the prisoners were the Duke of Burgony(7) and Hanns Putzokardo,5 and a lord named Centumaranto.6 These were two lords of France, and the Great Count of Hungern. And other mighty lords, horsemen, and foot-soldiers, were made prisoners, and I also was made a prisoner.

And now when the King Weyasat had had the battle, he went near the city where King Sigmund had encamped with his army, and then went to the battle-field and looked upon his people that were killed; and when he saw that so many of his people were killed, he was torn by great grief, and swore he would not leave their blood unavenged, and ordered his people to bring every prisoner before him the next day, by fair means or foul. So they came the next day, each with as many prisoners as he had made, bound with a cord. I was one of three bound with the same cord, and was taken 5by him who had captured us. When the prisoners were brought before the king, he took the Duke of Burgony that he might see his vengeance because of his people that had been killed. When the Duke of Burgony saw his anger, he asked him to spare the lives of several he would name; this was granted by the king. Then he selected twelve lords, his own countrymen, also Stephen Synüher and the lord Hannsen of Bodem.(1) Then each was ordered to kill his own prisoners, and for those who did not wish to do so the king appointed others in their place. Then they took my companions and cut off their heads, and when it came to my turn, the king’s son saw me and ordered that I should be left alive, and I was taken to the other boys, because none under XX years of age were killed, and I was scarcely sixteen years old. Then I saw the lord Hannsen Greiff, who was a noble of Payern, and four others, bound with the same cord. When he saw the great revenge that was taking place, he cried with a loud voice and consoled the horse- and foot-soldiers who were standing there to die. “Stand firm”, he said, “when our blood this day is spilt for the Christian faith, and we by God’s help shall become the children of heaven.” When he said this he knelt, and was beheaded together with his companions. Blood was spilled from morning until vespers, and when the king’s counsellors saw that so much blood was spilled and that still it did not stop, they rose and fell upon their knees before the king, and entreated him for the sake of God that he would forget his rage, that he might not draw down upon himself the vengeance of God, as enough blood was already spilled. He consented, and ordered that they should stop, and that the rest of the people should be brought together, and from them he took his share and left the rest to his people who had made them prisoners. I was amongst those the king took for his share, and the people that were killed on that day were reckoned at ten thousand men. The prisoners of6 the king were then sent to Greece to a chief city called Andranopoli, where we remained prisoners for fifteen days. Then we were taken by sea to a city called Kalipoli;(2) it is the city where the Turks cross the sea, and there three hundred of us remained for two months confined in a tower. The Duke of Burgony also was there in the upper part of the tower with those prisoners he had saved; and whilst we were there, the King Sigmund passed us on his way to Windischy land.(3) When the Turks heard this, they took us out of the tower and led us to the sea, and one after the other they abused the king and mocked him, and called to him to come out of the boat and deliver his people; and this they did to make fun of him, and skirmished a long time with each other on the sea. But they did not do him any harm, and so he went away.

On the third day after the Turkish king had killed the people and sent us prisoners to the above named city, he marched upon Ungern and crossed the river called the Saw, at a city called Mittrotz, and took it and all the country around; and then he went into the Duchy of Petaw, and took with him from the said country sixteen thousand men with their wives and children and all their property, and took the city of the above name and burnt it; and the people he took away and some he left in Greece.1(1) And after he passed the river called the Saw, he sent orders to Karipoli that we were to be taken across the sea; and when we were taken across the sea, we were taken to the king’s capital called Wursa, where we remained until he himself came. And when he arrived in the city he took the Duke of 7Burgony and those the duke had saved, and lodged them in a house near to his palace. The king then sent a lord named Hoder of Ungern, with sixty boys, as a mark of honour to the king-sultan;(2) and he would have sent me to the king-sultan, but I was severely wounded, having three wounds, so for fear I might die on the way I was left with the Turkish king. Other prisoners were sent as an offering to the king of Babilony(3) and the king of Persia,(4) also into White Tartary,2(5) into Greater Armenia,(6) and also into other countries. I was taken to the palace of the Turkish king; there for six years I was obliged to run on my feet with the others, wherever he went, it being the custom that the lords have people to run before them. After six years I deserved to be allowed to ride, and I rode six years with him, so that I was twelve years with him; and it is to be noted what the said Turkish king did during these twelve years, all of which is written down piece by piece.

From the first he was at war with his brother-in-law, who was called Caraman, and this name he had because of his country. The capital of the country is called Karanda,(1) and because he would not be subject to him, he marched upon him with one hundred and fifty thousand men. When he knew that King Weyasit had advanced, he went to meet him with seventy thousand men, the best he had in the land, and with whom he intended to resist the king. They met each other on the plain in front of the city called Konia, which belonged to the said lord, Caraman. Here they attacked each other and began to fight, and had on the same day two 8encounters by which one tried to overcome the other, and both sides had rest at night, that one might not do harm to the other. That same night Karaman made merry with trumpets, with drums, and with his guards, with the object of causing alarm to Weyasit; but Weyasit arranged with his people that they should not make a fire except for cooking, and should immediately again put it out. At night he sent thirty thousand men to the rear of the enemy, and said to them that when he should attack in the morning they should also attack. When the day broke, Weyasit went against the enemy, and the thirty thousand men attacked in the rear as they were ordered, and when Karaman saw that the enemy was attacking him in front and behind, he fled into his city of Konia, and remained in it to defend himself. Weyasit lay siege to the city for XI days without being able to take it; then the citizens sent word to Weyasit that they would surrender the city if he would secure to them their lives and property. To this he agreed. Then they sent word to say that they would retire from the walls when he came to storm, and thus he might take the city. And this occurred. And when Karaman saw that Weyasit was entering the city, he attacked him with his warriors, and fought with him in the town, and if he had received the least assistance from the inhabitants he would have forced Weyasit out of the city; but when he saw that he had no assistance, he fled, but was taken before Weyasit, who said to him: “Why wilt thou not be subject to me?” Karaman answered, “Because I am as great a lord as thyself.” Weyasit became angry, and asked three times if there was anybody who would rid him of Karaman. At the third time came one who took him aside and cut off his head and went back with it to Weyasit, who asked what he had done with him? He answered, “I have beheaded him.” Then he shed tears and ordered that another man should do to him what he did to Karaman, and he was taken to the place where he9 beheaded Karaman and he was also beheaded. This was done because Weyasit thought that nobody should have killed so mighty a lord, but should have waited until his lord’s anger had passed away. He then ordered that the head of Karaman should be fixed on a lance and carried about the country, so that other cities might submit to him on hearing that their lord was killed. After this he occupied the city of Konia with his people and marched upon the city of Karanda, and called upon them to surrender as he was their lord, and if they would not do so he would compel them with the sword. Then the citizens sent out to him four of their most eminent [fellow citizens], to beg that he would ensure to them their lives and their property, and begged, as their lord Karaman was dead, and they had two of his sons in the city, that he would appoint one of them to be their lord; and should he do so, they would surrender to him the city. He replied that he should spare their lives and property, but when he would have possession of the city, he should know what lord to appoint, whether the son of Karaman or one of his own sons. And so they parted. When the citizens heard Weyasit’s answer they would not give up the city, and said that although their lord was dead he had left two sons, under whom they will recover or die. And so they defended themselves against the king until the fifth day. And as Weyasit saw that they continued to resist, he sent for more people and ordered arquebuses to be brought, and platforms to be constructed. When Karaman’s sons and their mother saw this, they sent for the chief citizens and said to them: “You see plainly that we cannot resist Weyasit, who is too powerful for us; we should be sorry if you died for our sakes, and we have agreed with our mother that we will trust to his mercy.” The citizens were pleased at this, and the sons of Karaman and their mother, and the chief citizens of the city, opened the gates and went out. And as they were advancing, the mother took a son in each hand and went up10 to Weyasit, who, when he saw his sister with her sons, went out of his tent towards her, and when they were near him they threw themselves at his feet, kissed them, and begged for mercy, and they gave the keys of the gates and of the city. When the king saw this, he ordered his lords who were near him to raise them. When this was done he took possession of the city, and appointed one of his lords to be governor, and he sent his sister and her two sons to his capital called Wurssa.

There was a vassal named Mirachamad who resided in a city called Marsüany; it was on the border of Karaman’s country. When Mirachamad heard that King Weyasit had conquered Karaman’s country, he sent to him to ask him to drive away also the king of Sebast, who was called Wurthanadin, who had seized upon his territory because he could not himself expel him, and he should give him the territory in exchange for one in his own country. Weyasit sent to his assistance his son Machamet with thirty thousand men, and they forcibly expelled the king called Wurthanadin out of the country.1 Then Mirachamad bestowed upon Machamet2 the capital and all the territory, because his first engagement had been in its behalf. Then Weyasit took Mirachamad with him to his own country, and gave him another territory for his own.

And when Weyasit came to his capital, there were sixty of us Christians agreed that we should escape, and made a 11bond between ourselves and swore to each other that we should die or succeed together; and each of us took time to get ready, and at the time we met together, and chose two leaders from amongst ourselves by lot, and whatever they ordered we were to obey. Then we rose after midnight and rode to a mountain and came to it by daybreak. And when we came to the mountain we dismounted, and let our horses rest until sunrise, when we remounted and rode the same day and night. And when Weyasit heard that we had taken to flight, he sent five hundred horse with orders that we were to be found, that we were to be caught, and brought to him. They overtook us near a defile, and called to us to give ourselves up. This we would not do, and we dismounted from our horses and defended ourselves against them as well as we could. When their commander saw that we defended ourselves, he came forward and asked for peace for one hour. We consented. He came to us and asked us to give ourselves up as prisoners; he would answer for the safety of our lives. We said we would consult, and did consult, and gave him this answer: We knew that so soon as we were made prisoners, we should die so soon as we came before the king, and it would be better that we should die here, with arms in our hands, for the Christian faith. When the commander saw that we were determined, he again asked that we should give ourselves as prisoners, and promised on his oath that he would ensure our lives, and if the king was so angry as to want to kill us, he would let them kill him first. He promised this on his oath, and therefore we gave ourselves up as prisoners. He took us before the king, who ordered that we should be killed immediately; the commander went and knelt before the king, and said that he had trusted in his mercy and had promised us our lives, and asked him also that he should spare us because he had even sworn that such would be the case. The king then asked him if we had done any harm? He said: No.12 Then he ordered that we should be put into prison; there we remained for nine months as prisoners, during which time twelve of us died. And when it was the Easter-day of the Infidels, his eldest son Wirmirsiana,1(1) begged for us, then he set us free, and ordered that we should be brought to him; then we were obliged to promise him that we should never try to escape again, and he gave us back our horses and increased our pay.

Afterwards, in the summer, Wyasit took eighty thousand men into a country called Genyck, and lay siege to a capital called Samson. This city was built by the strong man Samson, from whom it has its name. The lord of the country was of the same name as the country, Zymayd, and the king expelled the lord out of the land; and when it was heard in the city that their lord was driven away, the people gave themselves up to Weyasit, who occupied the city and all the country with his people.

A great miracle is to be noted which took place near the said city of Samson, during the time that I was with Weyasit. There came around the city such a lot of vipers and serpents, that they took up the space of a mile all round. There is a country called Tcyenick which belongs to Sampson; it is a wooded country in which are many forests. One part of the vipers came from the said forests, and one part came out of 13the sea. The vipers remained for xi days, and then they fought with each other, and nobody dared to leave the city on account of the vipers, although they did no harm either to men or to cattle. Then the lord of the city and of the country gave orders that likewise no harm should be done to these reptiles, and said it was a sign and a manifestation from Almighty God. And now on the tenth day, the serpents and vipers fought with each other from morning until the going down of the sun, and when the lord and the people of the city saw what was done, the lord caused the gate to be opened, and rode out with a few people out of the city, and looked where the vipers were fighting, and saw that the vipers from the sea had to succumb to those of the forests. And the next morning early, the lord again rode out of the city to see if the reptiles were still there; he found none but dead vipers, which he ordered to be collected and counted. There were eight thousand. He then ordered a pit to be made, and ordered all to be thrown in and covered with earth, and he sent to Weyasit, who at that time was lord in Turkey, to tell him of the marvel. He took it for a piece of luck, as he had only just taken the city and country of Samson, and almost rejoiced that the forest adders had succumbed to the sea adders, and said it was a manifestation from Almighty God, and he hoped that as he was a powerful lord and king of the sea-board, so he would also, by the help of God the Almighty, become the powerful lord and king of the sea. Samson consists of two cities opposite to each other, and their walls are distant, one from the other, an arrow’s flight. In one of these cities there are Christians, and at that time the Italians of Genoa(1) possessed it. In the other are Infidels to whom the country belongs. At that time the lord of the city and country was a duke called Schuffmanes, son of [the duke of] Middle Pulgrey, the chief city of which country is Ternowa,(2) and who at that time had three hundred fortified towns, cities, and castles. This14 country was conquered by Weyasit who took the duke and his son. The father died in prison, and the son became converted to the faith of the Infidels, so that his life might be spared. Weyasit conquered Samson and the country, and conquered Zyenick; and the city and the country he gave to him for his lifetime, in place of his fatherland.

It is the custom among the Infidels for some lords to lead a wandering life with their cattle, and when they come to a country that has good pasturage, they rent it of the lord of the country for a time. There was a Turkish lord called Otman, who wandered about with his cattle, and in the summer came to a country called Tamast, and the capital of the country is also so called. He asked the king of Tamast, who was called Wurchanadin,(1) that he would lend him a pasturage where he and his cattle might feed during the summer. The king lent him such a pasturage, to which he went with his dependants and cattle, and remained there the summer; and in autumn he broke up and returned to his country, without the king’s permission and knowledge; and when the king heard of this he became very angry, and took one thousand men with him and went to the pasturage that Otman had occupied, and encamped there, and sent four thousand horsemen after Otman, and ordered that they should bring back Otman alive, with all his belongings. And when Otman heard that the king had sent after him, he hid himself in a mountain, so that those who rode after him could not find him; and they encamped on a meadow in front of the mountain where Otman was with his people, and remained there that night without troubling themselves15 about him. And when the day dawned, Otman took one thousand of his best horsemen to look at the winds, and when he saw that they were not on their guard, and were without care, he rode towards them and suddenly took them by surprise, so that they could not defend themselves, and many of them were killed; the others took to flight. The king was told how Otman had annihilated his expedition, but he would not believe it, and thought that fun was being made of him, until some of them came running to him. Even then he would not believe it, and sent one hundred horsemen to see if such was the case; and when the hundred horsemen went to see about it, Otman was on his way with his people to attack the king; and when he saw the hundred horsemen he overtook them, and came with them into the camp. And when the king and his people saw that they were overtaken, and that they could not defend themselves any more, they took to flight. The king himself had scarcely time to mount his horse, and took to flight to a mountain; but one of Otman’s servants saw him, and hastened after him on the mountain; then the king could fly no farther, and the soldier called upon him to surrender; but he would not give himself up. Then he took his bow and would have shot him, when the king made himself known and asked him to let him go, promising to give him a fine castle, and he wanted to give him the ring he had on his hand as a pledge. The soldier would not do so, and made him a prisoner and brought him to his lord. And Otman pursued the people all day until the evening, and killed many of them, and encamped where the king had stayed, and sent for the people and cattle that he had left to run about the mountains. And when the people came with the cattle, he took the king, and went to the capital called Tamastk, where he encamped with all his people, and sent word into the city that he had captured the king, and that if they would deliver to him the city, he would give peace and16 security. The city made this answer: If he had their king, they had his son, and they had lords enough, as he was too weak to be a lord. He then said to the king, that if he wanted his life to be spared, he should speak to the citizens that they give up the city. So they took him before the city, and he asked the citizens that they should deliver him from death, and give up the city to Otman. They replied: We will not give up the city to Otman, because he is too feeble a lord for us; and if thou shouldst no longer care to be our lord, we have thy son, whom we will have for our lord. When Otman heard this, he was angry, and seeing his anger, the king begged him to spare his life, promising to give him the city of Gaissaria, with all its dependancies. This Otman would not do, and he ordered the king to be beheaded in sight of the people of the city, and ordered that afterwards he should be quartered, each part being fixed on a stake stuck in the ground in sight of the city, and the head on the point of a lance, together with the four quarters. And whilst the king lay before the city, the king’s son sent to his father-in-law, the powerful ruler of White Tartary, that he should come to his assistance, because Otman had killed his father and many others, and that he was before the city. And so soon as his father-in-law heard this, he took with him all his people, with their wives, children, and all their cattle, as is the custom of the country, because he intended going to Tamast to deliver the country from Otman, and his people were numbered at forty thousand men, without including women and children. When Otman heard that the Tartar king was approaching, he went with his people to the mountains, where he encamped. The Tartar king encamped before the city, and so soon as Otman heard of it, he took fifteen hundred men and divided them into two parts, and when night came he marched upon them on both sides with loud cries. When the Tartar king heard of this, he thought they wanted to betray him, and fled into17 the city, which, when his people heard, they also took to flight. Otman pursued them and killed a great many, and captured much booty. They returned to their country, and Otman took with him to the mountain where he had left his cattle, the cattle and the booty that he had taken from them. Before it was day, the Tartar king rode after his people to make them turn back; this they would not do, so he turned back again. Then Otman again lay siege to the city, and invited them to give him the city, and he would do as he had promised. This they would not do, and sent to beg Weyasit to come and drive Otman out of the country, and they would surrender the city to him. Weyasit sent his eldest son, with twenty thousand horsemen and four thousand foot-soldiers, to the help of the town; and I also was in this expedition. And when he heard that the son of Weyasit was coming, he sent his property and cattle to the mountain where he had been, and he himself remained in the plain with one thousand horsemen. Then the king’s son sent two thousand horsemen to see if they could find Otman; and when they saw Otman, they attacked each other. And when they saw that they could not overcome him, they sent for assistance. Then came Weyasit’s son, with all his people. But when Otman saw him, he rode against him, and would quickly have put him to flight, for the people were not close together. The king’s son cried to his people, and they began to fight, and they fought for three hours consecutively. And when they were fighting with each other, four thousand foot-soldiers attacked the tent of Otman, and when he heard this, he sent four hundred horsemen, who, with the assistance of those who kept the goods and cattle, expelled the foot-soldiers out of the tent. Otman went with a force into the mountain, where his property was, and sent it away, and remained during that time before the mountain. Then the king’s son appeared before the city, and the citizens opened the gates of Damastchk,18 and rode out and asked him to take the city. This he would not do, and sent to his father, that he should come and take the city and territory. He came with one hundred and fifty thousand men, took the city and country, and gave them to his son Machmet, and not to him who had expelled Otman from being king of the city and country.(2)

After Weyasit had installed his son in the kingdom, he sent to the king-sultan in respect to a city called Malathea,(1) and the country that belonged to the city, because the city and the country belonged to the above-named kingdom which was in the possession of the king-sultan, and therefore required that he should surrender the city of Malathea and the territory, because he had conquered the kingdom. The king-sultan sent word to him that he had won the kingdom by the sword, and he who wished to have it must also win it by the sword. When Weyasit received this answer, he went into the country with two hundred thousand men, and lay siege to the city for two months; and when he found that it would not surrender, he filled up the ditches and surrounded the city with his people, and began to storm. When they saw this they asked for mercy, and gave themselves up. Then he took the city and the country, and occupied it.

At about the same time, the White Tartars besieged the city called Angarus, which belonged to Weyasit; and when he heard of this, he sent to its assistance his eldest son with thirty-two thousand men. He fought a battle, but he was obliged to return to Wyasit, who ordered more men, and sent him back again. But he fought with him, and took19 the Tartar lord and two vassals, and brought them as prisoners to Weyasit, and thus the White Tartars gave themselves up to Weyasit. He put another lord over them, took the three lords to his capital, and then marched against another city called Adalia,1 which belonged to the sultan, and the city is not far from Zypern; and in the country to which the city belongs, there are no other cattle but camels. After Weyasit took the city and the country, the country made him a present of ten thousand camels; and after he occupied the city and the country, he took the camels into his own country.

About this time died the king-sultan, named Warchhoch, and his son named Joseph became king; but one of his father’s dependants went to war with him for the kingdom. Then Joseph sent to Weyasit, and became reconciled with him, and asked him that he should come to help him. So he sent twenty thousand men to help him, in which expedition I was also. Thus Joseph expelled his rival, and became a powerful king.(1) After this it was told him, that five hundred of his dependants were against him, and were in favour of his rival. He ordered that they should be taken to a plain, where they were all cut into two parts. Afterwards, we again returned to our lord, Weyasit.

20

When Weyasit had expelled Otman from Tamast, as has already been stated, he went to his lord named Tämerlin, to whom he was subject, and complained of Weyasit, how he had driven him away from the kingdom of Tamask, which he had conquered, and at the same time asked him to help him to reconquer his kingdom. Tämerlin said that he would send to Weyasit, to restore the country. This he did, but Weyasit sent word that he would not give it up, for as he had won it by the sword, it might as well be his as another’s. So soon as Tämerlin heard this, he assembled ten hundred thousand men, and conducted them into the kingdom of Sebast, and lay siege to the capital, before which he remained XXI days, and he undermined the walls of the city in several places, and took the city by force, although there were in it five thousand horsemen sent by Weyasit.(1) They were all buried alive in this way. When Tämerlin took the city, the governor begged that he would not shed their blood. To this he consented, and so they were buried alive. Then he levelled the city, and carried away the inhabitants into captivity in his own country. There were also nine thousand virgins taken into captivity by Tämerlin to his own country.(2) Before he took the city, he had at least three thousand men killed. Then he returned to his own country.

Scarcely had Tämerlin returned to his own country,(1) than Weyasit assembled three hundred thousand men, and went into Lesser Ermenia and took it from Tämerlin, and21 took the capital called Ersingen, together with its lord who was named Tarathan,(2) and then went back to his own country. So soon as Tämerlin heard that Weyasit had conquered the said country, he went to meet him with sixteen hundred thousand men; and when Weyasit heard this, he went to meet him with fourteen hundred thousand men. They met near a city called Augury, where they fought desperately. Weyasit had quite thirty thousand men of White Tartary, whom he placed in the van at the battle. They went over to Tämerlin; then they had two encounters, but neither could overcome the other. Now Tämerlin had thirty-two trained elephants at the battle, and ordered, after mid-day, that they should be brought into the battle. This was done, and they attacked each other; but Weyasit took to flight, and went with at least one thousand horsemen to a mountain. Tämerlin surrounded the mountain so that he could not move, and took him.1 Then he remained eight months in the country, conquered more territory and occupied it, and then went to Weyasit’s capital and took him with him, and took his treasure, and silver and gold, as much as one thousand camels could carry; and he would have taken him into his own country, but he died2 on the way3 (3). And so I became Tämerlin’s prisoner, and was taken by him to his country. After this I rode after him. What I have described took place during the time that I was with Weyasit.

22

After Tämerlin had overcome Weyasit and returned to his own country, he went to war with the king-sultan, who is the chief king among Infidels. He took with him XII hundred thousand men, went into his territory, and lay siege to a city called Hallapp, which contains four hundred thousand houses. Then the lord and governor of the city took with him eighty thousand men, and went out and fought with Tämerlin, but he could not overcome him, and fled again into the city, and many people were killed in his flight. He continued to defend himself, but Tämerlin took a suburb on the fourth day, and the people he found in it he threw into the moat of the city, put timber and mire upon them, and filled the moat in four places. The moat was twelve fathom deep, and [cut] in the solid rock. Then he stormed the city, and took it by assault and captured the governor, and fully occupied the city, and then went to another city called Hrumkula, which surrendered. Then he went to another city called Anthap. There he lay siege for VIIII days, and took it on the tenth day by assault, and pillaged it, and went to another city called Wehessum. There he lay siege for XV days. After that they gave themselves up and he occupied it. The cities I have named are chief cities in Syria.(1) Then he went to another city called Damaschk; it is the principal capital in the country. When the king-sultan heard that he was laying siege to Tamasch, he sent and begged that he would not injure the city, and spare the temple. To this he consented, and went further on. The temple in the city of Tamasch is so large, that it has externally forty gates. Inside the temple hang twelve thousand lamps, of which number IX thousand are lit daily. But every week, on Friday, all of them are lit. Amongst these lamps23 are many in gold and silver, made by the order of kings and great lords. So soon as Tämerlin had gone out from the city, the king-sultan left his capital Alchei Terchei, with thirty thousand men, hoping to arrive before Tämerlin took it, and he sent twelve thousand men to Tamaschen. When Tämerlin heard this, he marched towards him, and the king-sultan returned again to his capital. Tämerlin pursued him, and where the king-sultan passed the night, there in the morning he caused the water and the grass to be poisoned; and wherever Tämerlin came, he suffered great losses amongst his people and cattle, and could not overtake him. Then he turned again against Tamaschen and besieged it for III months, but could not take it. During those three months they fought every day, and when the twelve M men saw that they had no assistance from their lord, they asked Tämerlin to be allowed to pass. He consented, and they left the city at night and returned to their lord. Then Tämerlin stormed the city and took it by assault. And now, soon after he had taken the city, came to him the Geit, that is as much as to say a bishop, and fell at his feet, and begged mercy for himself and his priests. Tämerlin ordered that he should go with his priests into the temple; so the priests took their wives, their children and many others, into the temple for protection, until there were thirty thousand young and old. Now Tämerlin gave orders that when the temple was full, the people inside should be shut up in it. This was done. Then wood was placed around the temple, and he ordered it to be ignited, and they all perished in the temple. Then he ordered that each one of his [soldiers] should bring to him the head of a man. This was done, and it took three days; then with these heads were constructed three towers, and the city was pillaged.(2) After this he went into another country called Scherch,(3) a country where no cattle are bred, and this country gave itself up. He ordered them to bring food for his people who were24 famished, although they had been before a city so rich in spices. Then he returned to his country, having left that country and occupied the cities.

Now when he returned from the land of the king-sultan, he took ten hundred thousand men with him and marched upon Babiloni. When the king1 heard this, he left a garrison in the city and went out of it. Tämerlin besieged it for a whole month, during which time he undermined the walls, took the city and burnt it. Then he had the earth ploughed and barley planted there, because he had sworn that he would destroy the city, so that nobody should know whether there had been houses or no. Then he went to a fortress; it stood in a river, and the king kept his treasure there.(1) He could not take this fortress, across the water, so he turned away the water, and found under the water three leaden chests full of gold and silver; each chest was two fathoms long, and one fathom broad. The king sank them here, so that if the fortress was taken, the gold would remain. The chests he removed, and he took the fortress and found fifteen men in it. They were hanged. They also found in the fortress four chests full of silver and gold, which he also took away, and then conquered three cities. Then summer began, so that on account of the heat he could not remain in the country.

When Tämerlin returned home from Babiloni, he sent word to all in his land that they were to be ready in four 25months, as he wanted to go into Lesser India, distant from his capital a four months’ journey. When the time came, he went into Lesser India with four hundred thousand men, and crossed a desert of twenty days’ journey; there, is a great want of water, and then he got to a mountain which it took him eight days, before he came out of it. On this mountain there is a path, where camels and horses must be bound to planks and lowered. Then he came to a valley where it is so dark, that people cannot see each other by the light of day, and it is of half a day’s journey.(2) Then he came to a high mountainous country, in which he travelled for three days and three nights, and then got to a beautiful plain, where lies the capital of the country. He stopped with his people in the plain, near the wooded mountain, and sent word to the king of the country: Mirttemirgilden, that is as much as to say, Give up thyself, the lord Tämerlin is come.(3) When the king received the message, he sent word to tell him that he would settle with him with the sword. Then he marched against Tämerlin with four hundred thousand men, and with four hundred elephants trained for war; upon each elephant was a turret, in each of which were at least ten armed men. When Tämerlin heard of this, he advanced with his people to meet him; in the mean time the king placed the elephants in the front, and when they engaged, Tämerlin might easily have conquered; but he could not overcome the king, because his horses were afraid of the elephants and would not advance. This went on from morning until mid-day, so that Tämerlin retired and had his counsellors to consult, how the king and his elephants were to be overcome? One named Suleymanschach advised, that camels should be taken and wood fastened on them, and when the elephants advanced, the wood should be ignited, and the camels driven up against the elephants; thus would they be subdued by the fire and the cries of the camels, because the elephants are afraid of fire. Then26 Tämerlin took twenty thousand camels and prepared them as above described, and the king came with his elephants in front. Tämerlin went to meet him, and drove the camels up against the elephants, the wood on them being on fire. The camels cried out, and when the elephants saw the fire and heard the great cries, they took to flight, so that none could hold them. When Tämerlin saw this, he pursued them with all his force, and of the elephants many were killed.(4) When the king saw this, he went back into his capital. Tämerlin followed him up and besieged the city for ten days. In the mean time the king agreed with him, to give him two zentner of gold of India, which is better than the gold of Arabia, and he also gave him many precious stones, and promised to lend him thirty thousand men whenever he might want them; and so they were reconciled with each other. The king remained in his kingdom, and Tämerlin returned to his country, and took with him one hundred elephants and the riches the king had given him.

When Tämerlin returned from Lesser India, he sent one of his vassals named Chebakh, with ten thousand men, to the city of Soltania,1 (1) to bring to him the five-yearly tribute of Persia and Ermenia which was kept in that city. He came, and took the tribute, and loaded one thousand waggons, and then he wrote to a lord in the country of Massan27der, who was his friend. He came with fifty thousand men, they made an alliance with each other, and the treasure was taken to Massenderam. When Tämerlin heard of this, he sent a great many people to conquer the above-named country, and bring to him the two lords as prisoners. When the people got to the country, they could not do any harm because of the large forests which surround it, and they sent to Tämerlin for more people. He sent other seventy thousand men to clear the woods and make a road. They did so for ten miles, but could not conquer the territory. They sent to tell Tämerlin, and he ordered them to go home, which they did, without having done anything.

Then he went into a kingdom called Hisspahan and made for the capital, Hisspahan, and required it to surrender. They gave themselves up, and went to him with their wives and children. He received them graciously, occupied the city with six thousand of his people, and took away with him the lord of the city, whose name was Schachister. And so soon as the city heard that Tämerlin was gone out of the country, they closed all the gates and killed the six thousand men. When Tämerlin knew this, he returned to the city and besieged it for XV days, but he could not take it, and made peace with them on condition that they should lend him the archers that were in the city, for an expedition; after that, he should send them back. They sent to him twelve thousand archers; he cut off all their thumbs, and forced them back into the city and himself entered it. He assembled all the citizens, and ordered all those over fourteen years to be beheaded, and the boys under XIIII years he ordered to be spared, and with the heads was constructed a28 tower in the centre of the city; then he ordered the women and children to be taken to a plain outside the city, and ordered the children under seven years of age to be placed apart, and ordered his people to ride over these same children. When his counsellors and the mothers of the children saw this, they fell at his feet, and begged that he would not kill them. He would not listen, and ordered that they should be ridden over; but none would be the first to do so. He got angry, and rode himself [amongst them] and said: “Now I should like to see who will not ride after me?” Then they were all obliged to ride over the children, and they were all trampled upon.(1) There were seven thousand. Then he set fire to the city, and took the other women and children into his own city; and then went to his capital called Semerchant, where he had not been for twelve years.

At about this time, the great Chan, king of Chetey, sent an ambassador with four hundred horsemen, to demand of him the tribute which he had forgotten, and kept for five years. Tämerlin took the ambassador with him, until he came to his above-named capital, and sent him from there to tell his lord, that he would neither pay tribute nor be subject to him, and that he should himself pay him a visit. Then he sent messengers all over his country that they should prepare, as he wished to advance on Cetey, and taking eighteen hundred thousand men, he marched for a whole month. He then came to a desert that was seventy days journey across; there he travelled ten days, and lost many people there for want of water. Great harm also befel his horses and other cattle, because it was very cold in that 29country;(1) and when he perceived his great losses amongst his people and cattle, he turned and went back to his capital and fell ill.

It is to be noted, that three causes made Tämerlin fret, so that he became ill, and died of that same illness. The first cause was grief that his vassal had escaped with the tribute; the other it is to be noted was, that Tämerlin had three wives, and that the youngest, whom he loved very much, had been intimate with one of his vassals whilst he was away. When Tämerlin came home, his eldest wife told him that his youngest wife had cared for one of his vassals, and had broken her vow. He would not believe it. She came to him and said: “Come to her and order her to open her trunk: you will find a ring with a precious stone, and a letter which he has sent to her.” Tämerlin sent to tell her that he would pass the night with her, and when he came into her room, he told her to open her trunk. This was done, and he found the ring and the letter. He sat down near her, and asked whence the ring and letter had come to her? She fell at his feet, and begged he would not be angry, because one of his vassals had sent them to her without any right.1 After this he went out of the room, and ordered that she should be immediately beheaded. This was done. He then sent five thousand horsemen after this same vassal, that they might bring him as a prisoner; but he was warned by the commander who was sent after him, and the vassal took with him five hundred men, his wife and children, and fled to the country of Wassandaran. There Tämerlin could not get at him. It fretted him so much that he had killed his wife, and that the vassal had escaped, that he died, and was 30buried in the country with great magnificence. Be it also known that, after he was buried, the priests that belong to the temple, heard him howl every night during a whole year. His friends gave large alms, that he should cease his howlings. But this was of no use. They asked advice of their priests, and went to his son and begged that he would set free the prisoners taken by his father in other countries, and especially those that were in his capital, who were all craftsmen he had brought to his capital, where they had to work. He let them go, and so soon as they were free, Tämerlin did not howl any more. All that is written above, happened during the six years that I was with Tämerlin,2 and I also was present.

You should know that Tämerlin left two sons. The eldest was named Scharoch, who had a son to whom Tämerlin gave his capital and the country that belonged to it, and to each of his two sons, Scharoch and Miraschach, he gave a kingdom in Persia, and other large territories that belonged to them. After the death of Tämerlin, I came to his son named Scharoch, who had the kingdom of Horossen, the capital of which is called Herren. Here Schiltberger remained with Miraschach, the son of Tämerlin.

The younger son of Tämerlin had in Persia a kingdom called Thaures, and after his father’s death came a vassal named Joseph, who expelled Miraschach from his kingdom. He sent to his brother Scharoch, and asked him to help him to recover his kingdom. His brother came with eighty thousand men, and sent thirty thousand men to his brother, 31that he might expel the vassal, and kept to himself forty-two thousand men. With these he marched against Joseph, who, on learning this, went to meet him with sixty thousand men, and they fought a whole day, without either the one or the other being overcome. Then Mirenschach asked his brother, Scharoch, to come with the rest of his people, He came. Then he fought with Joseph and drove him away, and Mirenschach returned to his kingdom. There were also two countries that were subdued by Joseph; the one was called Churten,1 the other was Lesser Armeny. Scharoch went into these countries and conquered them, and bestowed them on his brother, and then returned into his own country, leaving, for the assistance of his brother, twenty thousand men from amongst his people, with whom I also remained.(1)

After Mirenschach had remained in peace for one year, Joseph entered his country with a large number of people, which, when he perceived, he went to meet him with fully four hundred thousand men. They met each other at a plain called Scharabach,1(1) and fought together for two days. Mirenschach was overcome and made a prisoner. 32 Soon afterwards, Joseph ordered he should be beheaded. It is to be noted why Joseph killed Mirenschach. Joseph had a brother named Miseri, who killed a brother of Mirenschach, called Zychanger. When they met in a battle, Mirenshach took Miseri and killed him in prison, so that Mirenschach also was put to death;(2) and Joseph had Mirenschach’s head stuck on a spear, and taken to the city called Thaures after the kingdom, and showed it there, that they might give themselves up the sooner. When they saw that their lord was dead, they gave themselves up; and then he took the city and the whole kingdom with all its dependencies.

And now when Joseph had taken the kingdom, the king of Babilonie sent to him that he should give up the kingdom, as it belonged to his own kingdom, and his residence was in it; and because it was not right that he should keep the kingdom, as he was not noble and would be a bad vassal. Joseph sent back word that there must be a ruler in the kingdom, and that he should confirm it to him, and sent to say that he would mint in his name, and observe all that was due to him. The king would not do so, because he had a son to whom he wished to give the kingdom; and he attacked Joseph with fifty thousand men. Joseph went to meet him with sixty thousand men, and they fought with each other at a plain called Achtum.1(1) The king fled to a city near the plain. Joseph followed, and took the king and beheaded him, and occupied the kingdom as before.

33

And after that Miraschach, Tämerlin’s son, was taken in battle and beheaded, I came to his son Aububachir, with whom I remained four years. And after the king of Babiloni was also killed by Joseph, as is already written, Abubachir took a country called Kray; it belonged to the kingdom of Babiloni. Aububachir had also a brother called Mansur,(1) who had a country called Erban. He sent [word] that he should come to him. This, Mansur would not do; so he went and took him, put him into prison and strangled him, and took his country. It is also to be noted, that Abubachir was so strong, that he shot through a ploughshare with an Infidel bow; the iron went through, and the shaft remained in the ploughshare. This ploughshare was sent as a marvel to Tämerlin’s capital, called Samerchant, and fixed to the gate. When the king-sultan heard of his strength, he sent to him a sword that weighed twelve pounds. It was worth one thousand guldens. And when the sword was brought to him, he ordered that an ox, three years old, should be brought to him, as he wished to try the sword. When the ox came, he cut it into two parts at one blow. This happened during Tämerlin’s lifetime.

With Abubachar, was the son of a king of Great Tartary. To him came messengers, wanting him to go home, that he might be responsible for the kingdom. He asked Abubachir to allow him to go; this he did, and so he went home with six hundred horsemen; I was one of five [Christians?] who went with him into Great Tartary. You must notice through which countries he passed. First, through the country34 called Strana, where silk grows; then through a country called Gursey, where there are Christians, and they believe in the Christian faith, and Saint Jörig is patron there. After that, he passed through a country called Lochinschan; there, also, silk grows; then through another called Schurban, where silk grows of which the good stuffs are made at Tamasch and at Kaffer, and also at Wursa, the capital of the Infidels, situated in Turkey; this silk is also taken to Venice and to Lickcha, where good velvet is worked; but it is an unhealthy country. Afterwards he passed through a country called Samabram;(1) then through one called in the Tartar tongue, Temurtapit,1(2) which is as much as to say, the Iron Gate. This divides Persia and Tartary. Then he passed through a city called Origens; it is powerful, and lies in the middle of a river called Edil.(3.) Then he travelled through a mountainous country called Setzulet, where there are many Christians who have a bishop there; their priests belong to the Order of the Shoeless, who do not know Latin, and they sing and read their prayers in the Tartar tongue. It is found that thus the laity become stronger in the faith, and also many Infidels are confirmed in the Christian faith, because they understand the words that the priests sing and read. After that, he went into Great Tartaria, and came to the lord named Edigi, who had written and sent messengers to him, as he wanted him to come and rule the kingdom. And when he arrived, Edigi was waiting, having prepared to go into a country called Ibissibur.2 It is to be noted, that it is the 35custom for the king, in Great Tartary, to have a Chief to rule over him, who can elect or depose a king, and has also power over vassals. Now at that time Edigi was the Chief. The vassals in Tartary wander about in winter and summer, with their wives and children, and their cattle, and when the king encamps, there must be erected one hundred thousand huts. Now when the son of the above-named king of Tartary, and who was named Zegre,(4.) had come to Edigi, he went with him into the above-named country, Ibissibur, and they travelled two months before they arrived there. There is a mountain in that country, which is thirty-two days’ journey in extent. The people there, themselves say, that at the extremity of the mountain is a desert, and that the said desert is the end of the earth; and in this same desert nobody can have an habitation, because of snakes and wild beasts. On the same mountain there are savages, who are not like other people, and they live there. They are covered all over the body with hair, except the hands and face, and run about like other wild beasts in the mountain, and also eat leaves and grass, and any thing they can find. The lord of the country sent to Edigi, a man and a woman from among these savages, that had been taken in the mountain.(5) The horses are of the same size as donkeys, and there are many wild beasts that are not in Germany, and of which I do not know the names. There are also in the above-named country, dogs, that go in carts and in sledges; they are also made to carry luggage, and are as large as donkeys. Dogs are eaten in this country. It is also to be noted, that the people in this country believe in Jesus Christ like the III kings who came and brought offerings to Christ at Bethlaem, and saw him lying in the manger; and they have a picture, which is a representation of our Lord in a manger, as the three holy kings saw him, when they brought offerings to him. They have this also in their temples, and say their prayers before36 it; and the people who are of this faith are called Ugine.(6) In Tartaria there are many people of this religion. It is also the custom in the country, that when a young man, who has not had a wife, dies, he is dressed in his best clothes, and players carry him, and he is laid on a bier, and a canopy is placed over him. And all the young people, also dressed in their best clothes, go before, and the players with them. The father and mother, and friends, also follow the bier, and it is taken to the grave by the young people and by the players, with singing and much merry-making. But the father and mother and friends, go near the bier and weep; and when they have buried him, they bring their food and drink, and the young people and the players sit down, and eat and drink by the grave with much rejoicing. The father and mother and friends, sit on one side, and lament, and when they have done, they take the father and mother to the place where they live, and there they lament; and so they end the ceremony which was as if they had had a wedding, because he had no wife. In this country they have nothing but millet, and they do not eat bread. All this I have seen, and was there with the above-named king’s son, Zeggra.

And after that Edigi and Zeggra had subdued the country Ibissibur, they went into the country Walher, and conquered it also, and afterwards they went back to their country. At that time, there was a king in Great Tartaria who was called Sedichbechan, and kan is as much as to say a king, in the Tartar tongue. When he heard that Edigi had come into his country, he took to flight. Edigi sent after him, that he should be brought as a prisoner, but he was killed in a battle.(1) Then Edigi elected a king named37 Polet, who reigned one year and a half.(2) Then there was one named Segelalladin, who expelled Polet; and after this, Polet’s brother was king, and he reigned fourteen months. Then came his brother, named Thebachk, who fought with him for the kingdom, and killed him,(3) and then there was no king. But he had a brother called Kerumberdin, who became king, and reigned five months. Then came his brother Theback, and he expelled Kerimberdin and became king. Then came Edigi and my lord Zeggra, and they drove away the king, and Edigi made my lord the king as he had promised. He was king for nine months. Then came one named Machmet, and he fought with Zeggra and with Edigi. Zeggra fled to a country called Distihipschach, and Machmet became king. Then came one named Waroch; he expelled Machmet and became king. After that, Machmet recovered, and he drove away Waroch and was again king. Then came one named Doblabardi, who drove away Machmet and became king, and was king for three days only. Then came the same Warach, who expelled Doblabardi, and again became king. Then came my lord Machmet, and he overcame Waroch and again became king. After that, came my lord Zeggra, and he fought with Machmet and was killed.(4)

During the time that I was with Zeggra, there came to Edigi, and also to Zeggra, a Tartar woman named Sadurmelickh,(1) with four thousand maidens and women. She was powerful, and her husband had been killed by a Tartar king. She wanted to be revenged, and therefore came to Edigi, so that he should assist her to expel the king. And you must also know, that she and her women rode to battle38 and fought with the bow, as well as men; and when the women rode to battle, they had on one side a sword, and on the other a bow. In a battle she had with a king, there was the king’s cousin who had killed the husband of this woman, and he was made a prisoner. He was brought before the woman; she ordered him to kneel, and drew her sword, and cut off his head at one blow, and said: “Now am I revenged.” I was present there, and I also saw this.

Now I have described the battles and the fights which took place, during the time that I was with the Infidels. Now I will also write and name the countries that I have been in, since I left Bavaria. At first I went into Ungeren, before the great expedition against the Infidels. There I remained ten months, and after that we went amongst the Infidels as is described. I have also been in Wallachy and in its two chief cities; one is called Agrich,1 the other Türckisch; also in a city called Übereil, situated on the Tunow. There were the kocken(1) and the galleys, in which merchants bring their goods from the land of the Infidels. It is also to be noted, that the people in Little and in Great Walachy hold to the Christian faith, and they also speak a particular language; they also allow their hair and beard to grow, and never cut it. I have also been in Little Walachy, and in Sybenbürgen which is a German country; the capital of this country is called Hermenstat. Also in Zwürtzenland; the capital is called Bassaw.2(2) These 39are the countries on this side of the Tonow, in which I have been.

Now will be noted the countries that are between the Tunow and the sea, in which I have been. First, I have been in three countries, which three countries are all called Pulgrey. The first Pulgrey is where people cross from Hungern to the Iron Gate; the capital is called Pudem. The other Pulgrey above lies opposite to Walachy; the capital is called Ternau. The third Pulgery lies where the Tunow flows into the sea; the capital is called Kallacercka.1(1) I have also been in Greece; the capital is Adranapoli, which city has fifty thousand houses. There is also a large city by the White Sea in Greece, and it is called Salonikch;(2) and in this city lies Saint Sanctiniter, from whose grave oil flows.2(3) In the middle of the church there is a well, and on his day the well is full of water, but it is dry on every other day in the year. I have been in this city. There is also a mighty city in Greece, called Seres; and all the territory that lies between the Tünow and the sea, belongs to the Turkish3 king. There is a city and a fortress called Chalipoli; there the high sea is crossed. I myself crossed there, over to Turkey. This same sea is crossed to go to Constantinoppel. I was three months in the said city where 40people go over into Great Turkey. The capital of Turkey is called Wursa. The city contains two hundred thousand houses, and eight hospitals where poor people are received, whether they be Christians, Infidels, or Jews. Three hundred castles are dependant on this city, without excepting the chief towns which are hereafter described. The first is called Asia,4(4) in which is the grave of St. John the Evangelist; it is in a fertile country called Edein in the Infidel tongue; but the natives call it Hohes. The other city and country that belongs to it, is called Ismira, and Saint Nicholas was bishop there.(5) There is also a city and a country called Maganasa,(6) which is a fertile country. There is also a city called Donguslu;(7) the country that belongs to it is called Serochon, and there the trees bear fruit twice yearly. There is a city called Kachey, situated high up a mountain, and has a fertile country called Kennan. There is also a city called Anguri; it has a fertile country also called Siguri.5 In this city are many Christians who hold to the Ermenian faith; and they have a cross in their church that shines day and night; even Infidels go to the church, and they call the cross the bright stone. The Infidels also wanted to carry it off and put it in their temple, but whoever touches it, his hands become distorted. There is also a city called Wegureisari,(8) and the country is called by the same name. There is also a country called Karaman, the chief city being called Laranda. There is also in this country a city called Könia, in which lies the saint, Schenisis, who was first an Infidel priest, and was secretly baptised; and when his end approached, received from an Armenian 41priest, the body of God in an apple. He has worked great miracles. There is also a city called Gassaria, and the country is of the same name. In this country Saint Basil was bishop.(9) I have also been in Sebast, which was once a kingdom. There is a city on the Black Sea called Samson; it is in a fertile country called Zegnikch. The above-named countries and cities all belong to Turkey, and I have been in them all. Item, there is a country called Zepun; it is on the Black Sea. In this country they sow millet only, and they make their bread of this millet. There is the kingdom of Tarbesanda; it is a small and well protected country, and fruitful in vineyards, and is on the Black Sea, not far from a city called Kureson(10) in the Greek tongue.

There is on a mountain a castle, called that of the sparrow-hawk. Within, is a beautiful virgin, and a sparrow-hawk on a perch. Whoever goes there and does not sleep but watches for three days and three nights, whatever he asks of the virgin, that is chaste, that she will grant to him. And when he finishes the watch, he goes into the castle and comes to a fine palace, where he sees a sparrow-hawk standing on a perch; and when the sparrow-hawk sees the man, he screams, and the virgin comes out of her chamber, welcomes him and says: “Thou hast served me and watched for three days and three nights, and whatever thou now askest of me that is pure, that will I grant unto thee.” And she does so. But if anybody asks for something that exhibits pride, impudence, or avarice, she curses him and his offspring, so that he can no longer attain an honourable position.

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There was also once a good poor fellow, who watched for three days and three nights before the castle; and when he had watched, he went into the palace, and when the sparrow-hawk saw him, he screamed. The virgin came out of her room and welcomed him, and said: “What dost thou require of me. Whatever is of this world and that is honourable, I will grant unto thee.” He asked her for nothing more than that he and his family might live with honour; this was granted. There also came the son of a king of Armenia, who also watched for three days and three nights. After that, he went into the palace where stood the sparrow-hawk. The sparrow-hawk screamed, the virgin came out, welcomed him and asked: “What dost thou want that is of this world and that is honourable.” He asked for nothing, and said he was the son of a mighty king of Armenia, and had silver and gold enough, and also precious stones, but he had no wife, and he asked her to be his wife. She answered him and said: “Thy proud spirit that thou hast, must be broken in thee and in all thy power”; and she cursed him and all his kindred. There also went a lord of the Order of St. John, who also watched and went into the palace. The virgin came out, and asked him also what he desired. He asked her for a purse that would never be empty, which was granted. But after this, she cursed him and said: “The avarice thou hast shewn, brings great evil to thee. Therefore I curse thee, so that thy order may diminish and not increase.” Then he left her.(1)

During the time that I and my companions were there, we asked a man to take us to the castle, and gave him43 money; and when we got to the place, one of my companions wanted to remain and keep watch. He who brought us advised him against it, and said that if he did not carry out the watch, he would be lost, and nobody would know where he went; the castle is also hidden by trees, so that nobody knows the way to it. It is also forbidden by the Greek priests, and they say that the devil has to do with it, and not God. So we went on to a city called Kereson. There is also a country that belongs to the above-named kingdom, called Lasia,(1) and it is fertile in vineyards. Greeks are in that country. I have also been in Lesser Armenia; the capital is Ersinggan. There is also a city called Kayburt,1(2) and it has a fertile country. Also a city called Kamach,(3) situated on a high mountain, and below the mountain flows a river called the Eufrates; it is one of the rivers that flows out of Paradise. This river also flows through Lesser Armenia, and then courses through a desert ten days’ journey across; then it is lost in a marsh, so that nobody knows where it goes.(4) It courses also through Persia. There is also a country called Karasser; it is fertile in vineyards.(5) There is also a country called Black Turkey; the capital is called Hamunt, and the people are warlike.(6) There is also a country called Churt, the capital of which is Bestan.(7) Item, a kingdom called Kursi, where the people hold to the Christian faith, have a distinct language and are a warlike people. There is a country called Abkas, its capital Zuchtun;(8) it is an unhealthy country, and men and women wear flat caps on their heads, which they do because the place is unhealthy. There is also a small country called Megral, the capital is Kathon,2(9) and in which country they hold to the Greek faith. Also a country called Merdin;(10) this is a kingdom where there are Infidels. I have been in all the above-named countries, and have learnt their peculiarities.

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The chief city of all the kingdoms of Persia is called Thaures.(1) The king of Persia has a larger revenue from the city of Thaures, than has the most powerful king in Christendom, because a great many merchants come to it. There is also a kingdom in Persia, the capital of which is called Soltania. There is also a city called Rei,(2) in a large country where they do not believe in Machmet as do other Infidels. They believe in a certain Aly who is a great persecutor of the Christian faith; and those of this doctrine are called Raphak.1(3) There is also a city called Nachson;(4) it lays near the mountain where the ark stood in which was Noah, and the country is fertile. In it are also three cities, one called Maragara,(5) the other Gelat,(6) and the third Kirna.(7) All three are in a fertile country. There is also, on a mountain, a city called Meya; it is a bishop’s see where they hold to the Roman religion; the priests are of the Order of Preachers, and sing in the Armenian tongue.(8) There is a rich country called Gilan, where rice and cotton only is grown, and the people wear knitted shoes. There is a large city called Ress,(9) in a good country where good silk kerchiefs are made. Also a city called Strawba,(10) in a good country. Another called Antioch;(11) the city wall is stained with the blood of Christians, so that it is red. And a city called Aluitze.2(12) Tämerlin besieged it for sixteen years before he took it. There is also a country called Massandaran, which is so wooded, that nobody can go into it. There is a city called Scheckhy; it is in a fertile country45 near the White Sea.3(13) In this country also is silk grown. Item, a country called Schuruan, and the capital is called Schomachy; it is a hot and unhealthy country, but the best silk is grown there. There is also a city called Hispahan, which is in a good country. There is also in Persia the kingdom Horoson,4 and its capital is called Hore,5(14) which has three hundred thousand houses. In this same country and kingdom, during the time that I was amongst the Infidels, there was a man three hundred and fifty years old. So the Infidels said. The nails on his hands were one inch in length, his eyebrows hung down from his eyes over his cheeks. He was without teeth, which had fallen out twice, and for the third time two grew, but they were weak and not as strong as they should be, and he could not masticate nor eat with them; they had to feed him. The hair in his ears went down to his jaw; the beard reached to his knees. He had no hair on his head, and could not speak, but he made himself understood with signs. They were obliged to carry him as he could not walk. This man was held to be a saint by the Infidels, and they went to him on a pilgrimage as people do to a saint, and said that Almighty God had chosen him, because for a thousand years no man had lived so long as this man; and who honours him, honours Almighty God, who had wrought such miracles and signs in him. This man was called Phiradamschyech.(15) There is a city called Schiras; it is large and in a good country, where no Christian is allowed to trade, especially in the city. A city called Kerman(16) in a good country, and a city called Keschon which lies near the sea; there pearls grow, and it is a good country. Item, a city called Hognus; it is large and lies near the sea where one goes to Great India, and great merchandise comes there from India. It 46is a good country, wherein are found many precious stones which are peculiar to it. There, also, is the city called Kaff,(17) also a good country, where all kinds of spices are found, and whence also one goes to Great India. There is a country called Walaschoen; it has a high mountain where many precious stones are found; but nobody can take them because of the serpents and wild beasts. When it rains, it is the torrent that brings them down, then come the experts who know them, and pick them out of the mud. There are also unicorns in those mountains.(18)

I have also been in the kingdom of Babilonien. Babilonien is called Waydat in the Infidel tongue. The great Babilonie was surrounded by a wall, twenty-five leagues broad, and one league is three Italian miles; the wall was two hundred cubits high and fifty cubits thick, and the river Euffrates courses through the middle of the city; but it is now all in ruins, and there is no longer any habitation in it. The tower of Babilonien is distant fifty four stadia, and four stadia is an Italian mile, and in several places it is X leagues in length and in breadth. The tower is in the desert of Arabia, on the road when one goes into the kingdom of Kalda; but none can get there because of the dragons and serpents, and other hurtful reptiles, of which there are many in the said desert. The tower was built by a king who is called in the Infidel tongue, Marburtirudt.(1) It is also to be noted, that a league is three Lombard miles, and four stadia is one Italian mile. One Italian mile should have one thousand full paces, and one pace should have V feet,1 and 47one foot should have nine inches, and one inch is the first member of the thumb.(2) Now I will also take note of New Babilonien. New Babilonien is separated from Great Babilony by a river called Schatt;(3) it is a large river, and in it are many sea monsters that come from the Indian sea. Near the river grows a fruit tree called the date, but the Infidels call it kinna,(4) and nobody can pick the fruit until the storks come and drive away the serpents, which live under the tree and on it; for this reason nobody can get the fruit which grows twice during the year. It is also to be noted, that in the city of Babilony two languages are spoken, the Arabic and Persian. There is also a garden in Babilony, in which are all kinds of beasts; this garden is ten miles long and enclosed by a wall, so that none can get out. In this garden, the lions have a place to themselves in which they can move about. I have also seen the garden. In this kingdom the people are not warlike.(5) Item, I have also been in Lesser India, which is a fine kingdom. The capital is called Dily. In this country are many elephants, and animals called surnasa, which is like a stag, but it is a tall animal, and has a long neck four fathoms in length or longer. It has long fore legs, and the hinder are short.(6) There are many animals in Lesser India. There are also many parrots, ostriches, and lions. There are also many other animals and birds, of which I cannot give the names. There is also a country called Zekatay;(7) the capital is called Samerchant, and it is a large and mighty city. In this country the language is distinct; it is half Turkish and half Persian, and the people are warlike. In this country they do not eat bread. It is also to be noted, that an Infidel lord named Tämerlin had conquered all the country during the time that I was with him. I have been in all those countries; but he conquered many other countries in which I have not been.

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I have also been in Great Tartaria, and of the custom of the country it is to be noted, first, that nothing besides millet is sown. They do not eat bread, and they do not drink wine, but they drink the milk of mares and of camels, and they also eat camel and horse flesh. It is also to be noted, that the king of these countries and his vassals pass winter and summer in the fields, with their wives and children, with cattle and all that belongs to them; and they go from one pasturage to the other, because it is a flat country. It is also to be noted, that when they choose a king, they take him and seat him on white felt, and raise him in it three times.(2) Then they lift him up and carry him round the tent, and seat him on a throne, and put a golden sword in his hand. Then he must be sworn as is the custom. It is also to be noted, that when they eat or drink, they sit on the ground, as all Infidels do. There is not a more warlike people among the Infidels than the Great1 Tartars, who can fight and perform journeys as they do. I myself have seen them bleed [their horses] and drink the blood after they have cooked it. This they do when they are in want of food. I have also seen when they are long on a journey, that they take a piece of flesh, cut it into slices, place it under the saddle, and ride on it, and eat it when they were hungry; but they salt it first and think that it will not spoil, because it becomes dry from the warmth of the horse, and becomes tender under the saddle from riding, after the juice has gone out of it. This they do when they have no time to prepare their food. It is also the custom, that when the king rises in the morning, they bring to him some mare’s milk in a golden goblet, which he drinks fasting.

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Here is to be noted in which countries I have been, that belong to Great Tartary. A country called Horosaman;1 the name of the capital is Orden, and it lies in a river called Edil, which is a great river.(1) There is also a country called Bestan; its capital is Zulat, and it is a mountainous country. Item, a city called Haitzicherchen, which is a large city,(2) and in a good country. Another city called Sarei; there, is the residence of the kings of the Tartars. There is also a city called Bolar, in which are different kinds of beasts.(3) Also a city called Ibissibur,(4) and a city Asach, which the Christians call Alathena.(5) It has a river, called Tena, and much cattle. They send large kocken and galleys full of fish from this country, and they go to Venice, Genoa, and the islands that are in the sea. Item, there is a country called Ephepstzach; its capital is Vulchat.2(6) In this country every kind of corn is cultivated. A city called Kaffa, which lies by the Black Sea, and is surrounded by two walls. Within one wall are six thousand houses, in which are Italians, Greeks, and Armenians; it is a chief city on the Black Sea, and has within the outer walls, XI thousand houses, in which are many Christians; Romans, Greeks, Armenians, and Syrians. There are also three bishops; a Roman, a Greek, and an Armenian. There are also many Infidels who have their particular temple. The city has four towns subject to it; they are by the sea. There are also two kinds of Jews in the city, and they have two synagogues, and four thousand houses are in the suburbs.(7) Item, a city called Karckeri,(8) 50in a good country called Sudi; but the Infidels call it That;(9) there are Christians of the Greek faith in it, and there are good vineyards. It lies near the Black Sea, and in this country Saint Clement was thrown into the sea. Close by, is a city, called in the Infidel tongue, Serucherman.(10) Item, a country called Starchas, which also lies by the Black Sea, where the people are of the Greek faith; but they are a wicked people, because they sell their own children to the Infidels, and steal the children of other people and sell them; they are also highway robbers, and have a peculiar language. It is also their custom, that when one is killed by lightning, they lay him in a box and put it on a high tree. Then all the people in the neighbourhood come, and bring their food and drink under the tree; they dance and enjoy themselves under it; they kill oxen and lambs, and give them away for the sake of God. This they do for three successive days, and at the end of a year they come to where the dead man lies, near the tree, and again do what they did before, until the body putrefies. This they do, because they suppose that a man struck by lightning is a saint.(11) Item, the kingdom of Rewschen, which is tributary to the Tartar king. It is to be noted, that there are three tribes amongst the Great3 Tartars. One is called Kayat,4 the other Inbu,5 the third Mugal.(12) It is also to be noted, that Tartary is a three months journey in extent, in which no wood or stones are to be found, only grass and shrubs. The countries described all belong to Great Tartary, in all of which I have been. I have also been in Arabia; there the capital is called in the Infidel tongue, Missir.6 The city in this kingdom has twelve thousand streets, and each street has twelve thousand houses. In the city, is the residence of the king51 sultan, who is king over all Infidel kings, and lord of all Infidels. He is a mighty lord in silver and gold, and in precious stones, and has daily twenty thousand men at his court.(13) It is also to be noted, that no person can be made king-sultan unless he has been sold.(14)

You should know, and take note, how many kings-sultan there were during the time that I was there. The first king-sultan was named Marochloch; then there was one named Mathas, king; he was made a prisoner, and placed between two planks and sawn in two parts, lengthways. After him, was a king named Jusuphda, with whom I was for eight months; he was made a prisoner and beheaded. After him was one named Zechem; then one called Schyachin, who was fixed on an iron spike; for it is the custom in this kingdom, that when two fight for that kingdom, whichever overcomes the other and brings him to prison, takes him when convenient and dresses him like a king, and leads him to a house made for the purpose, in which there are iron spikes, and he is put on one of those spikes, so that it comes through at the neck, and on the spike he must rot.(1) There was a certain king named Malleckchafcharff; this king invited to a marriage, [those] in Rom, in all Christendom, and also in all lands. Now you must note what is his title and superscription.(2) We, Balmander,1 the all-powerful of Carthago,(3) Sultan of the noble Saracens, Lord of Zuspillen, Lord of the highest God2 in Jherusalem,(4) in Capadocie,(5) the Lord of Jordan, the Lord of the East whence flows the boiling sea; the Lord of Bethlahen where your 52Lady our niece was born, and her son our nephew3 of Nazareth.(6) The Lord of Synay, of Talapharum, and of the valley of Josaphat. The Lord of Germoni, around which mountain are seventy-two towers all embellished with marble.(7) The Lord of the great forest, four hundred miles in length, and inhabited by seventy-two languages.(8) The Lord of Paradise and of the rivers that flow from there, situated in our country of Capadocie; the guardian of the caves,(9) the mighty emperor of Constantinoppel, Amorach of Kaylamer, the mighty emperor of Galgarien, the Lord of the withered tree, the Lord where the sun and the moon rise and set, from first to last; the lord [of the places] where Enoch and Helyas are buried. Item, the protector of the first Prester John, in enclosed Rumany, and guardian of Wadach. Guardian of Alexander, Founder of the fortified city of Babilonie, where the seventy-two languages were invented. Emperor king of all kings. The Lord of Christians, Jews, and Infidels. Destructor of the Gods.(10) Thus did he write to Rom when he wanted to have his daughter’s marriage, at which marriage I also was present. It is also to be noted, that it is the custom in the country of the king-sultan, that during the week of their feast, married women are at liberty to be wanton with men if it be their desire, without their husbands or anybody else having anything to say, because it is the custom. It is also the custom for the king-sultan, when he rides into a city, or when people from strange countries come to him, to cover his face that none may see it; and if it be a great guest, he must first kneel three times4 and kiss the ground, then stand up and go near him. If he is an Infidel, he kisses his bare hand, but if he is a Christian, he draws his hand into his sleeve, and puts out the sleeve which he must kiss. When the king-sultan sends a messenger, he has at the several stations on the road, horses ready with all that is needed. 53His messenger, whom he sends, has a bell at his girdle; he covers it with a cloth until he gets near a station, then he removes it and lets it ring. When it is heard at the station, a horse is prepared for him, and he finds it ready. He rides to another station, and there he again finds one ready. This he goes on doing, until he gets to the place to which he was sent. This is done on all the roads of the king-sultan.(11) It is also to be noted, that the king-sultan also sends letters by pigeons, because he has many enemies, and is afraid that they might stop his messengers. They are sent mostly from Archey to Tamasgen, between which places is a great desert. It is also to be noted, how the pigeons are sent to any city to which the king-sultan wishes to have them sent. Two pigeons must be put together, and sugar must be put into their food, and they are not allowed to fly; and when they know each other well, the hen-pigeon is taken to the king, and he keeps it, and marks the cock-pigeon that it may be known from which city it is; it is then put into a separate place that is prepared, and the hen-pigeon is no longer allowed inside. They no longer give him so much to eat, and no more sugar as he used to have; this is done that he may wish to return as soon as possible to the place where he was before, and where he was trained. When they wish to despatch him, the letter is tied under a wing, and he flies away straight for the house where he was trained. There he is caught and the letter taken from him, and they send it to whomsoever it belongs.(12) When a guest comes to the king-sultan, whether he be a lord or a merchant, they give him a pass; and when the letter is shewn in his country, they kneel when it is read, and they kiss it, and shew the guest great honour and attention, and they take him over the country from one place to the other. It is also to be noted, that when the ambassador of a king, or of some other lord of a foreign country, comes, it is the custom among the Infidels to attach to him a chief with three or four hundred, or with54 six hundred horsemen; and when the king-sultan becomes aware of him, he is seated on his throne in attire ornamented with precious stones, and having seven curtains before him. And when the lord who is sent on the embassage wants to enter, one curtain is withdrawn after the other, and each time he must bow and kiss the ground. When the last is withdrawn, he kneels before the king, who holds out to him his hand; he kisses it and then delivers his message. There is a bird in Arabia called sacka,(13) which is larger than a crane, and has a long neck, and a broad and long beak. It is black and has large feet, which are much like the feet of a goose in the lower parts; its feet are also very black; its colour is the same as that of a crane; it has a large crop in front of its neck, in which it has quite a quart of water. It is the habit of this bird, to fly to a river and fill its crop with water; then it flies away to the desert where there is no water, and pours it out of its crop into a hole in the rock. Then come the little birds of the desert to drink, when he attacks those birds for his food. This is the same desert that people cross, who go to the tomb of Machmet where he is buried.

The Red Sea is two hundred and forty Italian miles broad; it is called the Red Sea, but it is not red, but the land around is in some parts red. It is the same as other seas, and is near Arabia, and is crossed to go to Saint Catherine, and by whoever wishes [to go] to Mount Sinay, where I have not been; but I have heard about it from Christians and Infidels, because Infidels also go there. The Infidels call the mountain Muntagi,1(1) which is the same as calling it the mountain of the apparition, because God appeared before Moysi on this mountain, in a flame of fire, when he spoke to 55him. On the mountain there is a monastery, in which are Greeks who form a large brotherhood; they do not drink wine, and live like recluses; they do not eat meat, and are a religious people, and fast always. Within, are many burning lamps, and of the oil for burning and eating, they have enough sent to them by a miracle from God, which happens in this way. When the olives are ripe, all the birds that are in the country come together, and each bird brings a branch in its beak to the mount of Saint Catherine, and they bring so many, that they have enough for the lamps and for food. In the church, behind the altar, is the place where God appeared to Moysi in the burning bush; when the monks go near it they are bare-footed, because it is a holy place; because our Lord commanded Moysi to take off his shoes because the place is holy, and the place is called the place of God. Three steps higher up, is the high altar where lay the bones of Saint Catherine; the abbot shews this sanctuary to pilgrims, and he has a silver thing with which he touches the sanctuary and the bones. In this way he obtains an exudation of oil, which is neither like oil nor balsam; this he gives to the pilgrims, and shews there the head of Saint Catherine and many other sacred things. A great miracle takes place in this monastery, where there are as many lamps that are always burning, as there are monks. When a monk is about to die, his lamp becomes dim, and when it goes out, he dies. When the abbot dies, he who sings the mass finds on the altar a letter, in which is written the name of the man who is to be the abbot, and his lamp re-lights itself. In the same abbey is the spring where Moysi caused the water to flow, when he struck the rock with his staff. Not far from the said abbey, is the church built in honour of our Lady, where she appeared to the monks; higher up, is the chapel of Moysi, to which he fled when he saw our Lord face to face. There is also on the mount, the chapel of the prophet Helyas; the mount is called Oreb; close to the chapel of Moysi is56 the site where our Lord delivered to him the tables with the ten commandments, and on this same mountain is the cave in which Moysi remained, when he fasted forty days. From this valley one gets to a larger valley, and gets to the mountain to which Saint Catherine was carried by angels. In the same valley is a church, built in honour of the forty martyrs, in which the monks often sing the mass. The valley is cold, and the place on Saint Catherine’s mount where she was carried by the angels, is nothing but a heap of stones; but there has been a chapel which is destroyed. There are also two mounts called Sinay, which are near each other, except for the valley which is between them.

Not far from Ebron is the village of Mambertal,(1) where is the withered tree which the Infidels call kurruthereck; it is also called carpe,1 and has been since the time of Abraham, and was always green until our Lord died on the cross; since His death it has withered. It is found in prophecy, that a prince will come from the Occident towards the sun, and will with the Christians take possession of the holy sepulchre, and will cause the celebration of the mass under the withered tree; then will the tree become green and bear fruit. The Infidels hold it in great honour, and take good care of it. It has also the virtue, that when anybody suffers from epilepsy, and he passes by it, he falls no more; and it possesses many other virtues, so that it is well taken care of.(2) Item, it is two full days journey from Jherusalem to Nazereth where our Lord was brought up, which was formerly a considerable city; but now it is a small village, the houses are far from each other, and mountains are 57around it. There was a church where our Lady received the salutation of the archangel Gabryel, but now there is only a pillar.(3) The Infidels guard it well, because of the offerings which the Christians bring there; these they take away because they are enemies, but they dare not do anything to them, because it is forbidden by the sultan.

When I was at Jherusalem, I was there during a great war, and our thirty thousand [men] were encamped near the Jordan on a beautiful meadow; this is the reason why I could not see all the holy places well; but I will relate some things. I went twice to Jherusalem with a koldigen(1) named Joseph. Jherusalem lies between two mounts, and there is great want of water. The Infidels call Jherusalem, Kurtzitalil.(2) The church in which is the holy sepulchre is a fine church, high and circular; it is covered all over with lead, and is outside the city. In the middle of the church, in the chapel on the right hand, is the holy sepulchre, wherein nobody can enter, unless he is a great lord; but a stone of the holy sepulchre is let into the wall of the tabernacle, and the pilgrims can kiss and touch it.(3) There is a lamp that burns all the year until Good Friday, then it goes out, and re-lights itself on Easter day. There is also on Easter eve a brightness above the holy sepulchre, that is like fire;(4) many people come there from Ermenia, from Siria, and from the country of Prester John, to see this brightness in the church; On the right hand is Mount Calvarie where is an altar (?);1 there, is the pillar to which our Lord was bound whilst he was scourged. Near the said 58altar, are forty-two steps under ground; there, were found the holy cross and those of the two thieves. In front of the gate of the church, are eighteen steps; there, our Lord on the cross said to his mother: “Woman, behold, that is thy child”; and he said to Saint Johannsen: “Behold, that is thy mother.” He went up those very steps when he carried the cross; and on the same side, but a little higher, is the chapel in which are the priests from the country of Prester John.(5) In front of the city is the church of Saint Steffan, where he was stoned;(6) and against the valley of Josophat, is the golden gate before the church where is the holy sepulchre. Not far from there is the great hospital of Saint Johanns, in which they receive sick people. The hospital has one hundred and thirty-four columns; there is another hospital that rests on fifty-four marble columns.(7) Below the hospital is a fine church, called that of our great Lady, and between them is another church called that of our Lady, where Mary Magdalen and Mary Cleophas tore out their hair when they saw God on the cross. In front of the church where is the holy sepulchre, is the temple of our Lord; it is very fine, high, and circular; it is also wide and covered with tin; there is also a fine open space with houses around, and it is paved with white marble; the Infidels do not allow either Christians or Jews to enter it.(8) Near to the great temple is a church covered with lead, and called the throne of Salomon;(9) and on the left hand is a palace, called the temple of Salomon. A church there, is in honour of Saint Annen, in which is a well; whoever bathes in it is healed, whatever be his disease. It was there our Lord healed the bed-ridden man.(10) Not far from this is the house of Pilate, and close by, is the house of Herod(11) who ordered the children to be killed. A little further, there is a church called that of Saint Annen, in which is an arm of Saint Johannes Crisostimus, and the greater portion of the head of Saint Stephen.(12) There is a street which leads to59 Mount Syon, where is the church of Saint James. Not far from the mount, is the church of our Lady, where she lived and also where she died. When one is on Mount Syon, there is a chapel in which is the stone that was over the holy sepulchre; there is also a pillar to which our Lord was bound, when the Jews scourged him. In the same place was the house of Annas, who was the Jewish bishop. At the top of thirty-two steps, is the place where our Lord washed the feet of his disciples; near the same place, Saint Stephen was buried. This is also the place where our Lady heard the angels sing the mass; in the same chapel, near the high altar sat the twelve holy apostles on the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Ghost came upon them. At this same place, our Lord celebrated the Passover with his disciples. Mount Syon is in the city of Jherusalem, and stands higher than the city.(13) Below the mount is a beautiful castle which was built by the king-sultan.(14) On the mount are buried King Soldan(15) and King David, and many other kings. Between Mount Syon and Salomon’s temple, is the house where our Lord raised the maiden from death; it is also the place where Isayas the prophet was buried. In front of the city of Jherusalem, lies buried the prophet Dayel. Between the mount of Oliueli and Jherusalem, is the valley of Josophat which reaches to the city. There is a brook in the valley of Josophat where is the sepulchre of our Lady, XL steps below ground.(16) Not far off is a church where Jacob and Zacharias the prophets are buried.2 Above the valley is the mount of Olives, and close to the mount, is the mount of Galilee.(17) From Jherusalem two hundred stadia are counted to the Dead Sea, which is one hundred and fifty stadia wide,(18) and into which flows the river Jordan, at the source of which,3 and at no distance, is the church of Saint Johannes; 60and a little higher up, Christians usually bathe in the Jordan,(19) which is neither broad nor deep, but there are good fish in it; its source is from two springs on the same mountain, one spring is called the Jor, the other, Don, and from these it has its name;(20) it flows through a lake, then under a mountain, and comes up on a beautiful plain, where the Infidels often have a fair during the year.(21) In this same plain is the grave of Saint James, and on this same plain we encamped with our young king, with thirty thousand men sent to him by the Turkish king. There are many Christians on the Jordan, and they have many churches there. It is to be noted, that the Infidels took possession of the holy sepulchre, twelve hundred and eighty years from Christ.(22) Ebron lies seven leagues from Jherusalem, and is the chief city of the Philistines; on Ebron are the graves of the patriarchs, Adam, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and of their wives Eva, Sara, Rebecca, and Lia. There is a fine church which the Infidels take great care of, and hold in great honour, because the holy fathers lie there; they do not allow either Christians or Jews to enter, unless they have the permission of the king-sultan, and they say, we are not worthy to enter so holy a place. In front of the city of Miser, which the Christians call Cair, there is a garden where balsam grows; it grows there only, and in India. The king-sultan enjoys a large income from this balsam. The Infidels often adulterate it, and merchants and druggists also mix it, and this they do that they may make more profit.(23) Genuine balsam is pure and clear, and has a pleasant taste, and is yellow; but when it is thick and red, it is not genuine. Take a drop of balsam in the hand, and expose it to the sun; if it is good, you cannot keep it long in the sun, because you feel the great heat. Take a drop of balsam on a knife, and put it near a glowing fire; if the balsam burns, it is genuine. Take a silver cup or goblet full of goat’s milk, stir it quickly and put a drop of balsam into61 it; if it is good, the milk will immediately curdle, and so the balsam is proved.

In the middle of Paradise there is a spring, from which flow four rivers that course through different countries. The first is called Rison and flows through India; in this river are found many precious stones and gold. The other is called Nilus: it flows through the country of the Moors and through Egypt. The third is called Tigris, and flows through Asia and Great Armenia. The fourth is called the Eufrates, which flows through Persia and Lesser Armenia. Of these four rivers I have seen three.(1) One is called Nilus, the other Tigris, the third, Eufrates. I have been many years in the countries through which these rivers flow, and have there experienced many things that are good and bad, of which a great deal more might be said.

I have not been in Great India where the pepper grows, but I have heard in the Infidel country from those who have seen it, where and how it grows. In the first place, I have understood and heard, that it grows near the city of Lambe, in a forest called Lambor;(1) this forest is quite XIIII days journey in length. In this forest are II cities and many villages in which are Christians; it is very hot where the pepper grows. The pepper grows on trees which are like the wild vine, and is something like the sloe when it is green; and they bind them to poles as they do the vine, and the trees bear a great deal. When it is green it is ripe, then they cut it as they do grapes, and expose it to the sun until it is dry. Three kinds of pepper grow; the long and62 black grows with the leaves. There is the white, which is the best, and they keep it in the country; but not so much of this grows as of the other. There are also many serpents there, produced by the heat. Some people say, that when the pepper is to be gathered, fires are made in the forest to drive away the serpents, therefore the pepper becomes black; but this is not the case, because if they made a fire, the trees would wither and bear no more fruit; but the truth is, that they wash their hands with the juice of an apple which they call liuon,(2) or of some other plant; the serpents escape from the smell, and then they gather the pepper without trouble. In the same country they also grow good ginger, and many spices and aromatics.

Alexandria is quite seven Italian miles long, and three broad, and is a fine and pretty city, and the river Nilus flows past the city into the sea; and the city has no other drinking water, and it is conducted into the city by means of cisterns. Many merchants come there from over the sea, from Italian countries, from Venice and from Genoa. Those from Genoa have their own counting-houses at Alexandria, and those from Venice likewise.(1) It is the custom at Alexandria, that at the hour of vespers, all the Italians must be in their counting-houses, and no longer without, about the city, which is strictly forbidden. Then an Infidel comes and locks up the counting-house, and takes away the key until the morning, when he comes and opens it again. Thus they take care that the Italians shall not take their city, because they were once conquered by the king of Zipern.(2) Near the port of Alexandria there is a fine high tower, on which there was not long ago a mirror, in which one could see from Alexandria toward Cipern those who63 were on the sea; and whatever they were doing, all could be seen in this mirror at Allexandria, so that at the time that the king of Zipern went to war with Allexandria, he could do them no harm. Then came a priest to the king of Ziperen, and asked what he would give him if he broke the mirror. The king replied, that if he would break the mirror, he would give him whichever bishopric he might choose to have in his country. The priest then went to Rome to the Pope, and said: That he would break the mirror at Allexandria, if he would allow him to abjure the Christian faith. He gave him permission that he might do so in words, and not in deeds nor with the heart. Now he did this for the sake of the Christian faith, because the Christians at sea suffered many injuries from the Infidels, through this mirror. The priest returned from Rome to Alexandria, and was converted to the faith of the Infidels, and learnt their writing, and became an Infidel priest and their preacher, and taught them the Infidel faith against the Christian faith, and they held him in great honour, and wondered, because he had been a Christian priest, and they trusted in him very much. They asked him which temple in the city he wished for, as they would give it to him for his life time. There was also a temple in the middle of the tower where the mirror was; this temple he asked for, for his life time; they gave it to him together with the keys of the mirror. There he remained nine years, and then one day he sent to the king of Zypperen that he should come with his galleys, and he would break the mirror which was in his power, and he thought, that, after breaking the mirror, if the galleys were there, he would go on board. One morning many galleys came, he struck the mirror three blows with a hammer before it broke, and from the noise all the people in the city were frightened, and ran to the tower and fell on him, so that he could not get away; then he jumped out of a window of the tower, into the sea, and was killed. Soon afterwards,64 the king of Zyperen came with a large force, and took Allexandria, and remained in it three days.(3) Then came the king-sultan, and he marched upon him so that he could not remain; and he burnt the city, and took away with him many people with their wives and children, and much booty.

It is to be noted, that in Egypt there was a giant, who was called in the Infidel tongue, Allenklaisser. In this country is the city called Missir, but the Christians call it Kayr, and it is the capital of the king-sultan. In this same city are twelve thousand baking ovens. Now the said giant was so strong, that one day he brought into the city a bundle of wood to heat all the ovens, and one bundle was enough; each baker gave him a loaf, which makes twelve thousand loaves. All these he ate in one day. The shin-bone of this giant is in Arabia, in a valley between two mountains. There is a deep valley between the rocks, where flows a river at such a depth that no person can see it, one only hears its rush. It is in this same valley that the shin-bone of the giant serves as a bridge; and whoever comes there, whether they are riding or on foot, must pass over this shin-bone. It is also on a road where traders pass, coming and going, because the defile is so narrow, that people cannot pass by any other way; and the Infidels say that this bone is one frysen1 in length, which is equal to an arrow’s flight, or more. There, a toll is taken from traders; with the same, they buy oil to anoint the bone that it may not rot. It is not a long time since a king-sultan had a bridge built near the bone; it is about two hundred years [ago], according to an inscription on the bridge. When a lord comes there with many people, he passes over the bridge, and does not pass 65over the bone; but whoever wishes to pass over this wonder, may do so, that he may say of it that in this country there is an incredible thing, and which is nevertheless surely true. And if it were not true, or had I not seen it, I would not have spoken or written about it.(1)

It is to be noted, that the Infidels have five religions. First, some believe in a giant called Aly, who was a great persecutor of Christians. Others believe in one who was called Molwa,(1) who was an Infidel priest. The third believe, as the three kings believed, before they were baptised. The fourth believe in fire, because they say that Abel, the son of Adam, brought his offering to Almighty God, and the flames of the fire were the offering; therefore they believe in this offering. Among the fifth, some believe, and the largest number among the Infidels believe, in one who is called Machmet.

It is here to be noted of Machmet, how he came and how he brought his religion. Item, his father and mother were poor people, and he is a native of Arabia. When he was thirteen years old he went away from home, went to [some] merchants who wanted to go to Egypt, and asked them to take him with them. They took him, agreeing that he must look after the camels and horses, and wherever Machmet went, or stood, there stood always a cloud over him, which was black; and when they came to Egypt, they encamped near a village. Now at that time there were Christians in Egypt; the pastor of the village came to the mer66chants, and invited them to dine with him. They did so, and told Machmet that he must look after the horses and camels. This he did. And now when they came into the pastor’s house, the pastor asked them if they were all there? The merchants said: “We are all here, except a boy who is guarding our camels and horses.” Now this priest had read in a prophecy, how one, born of two persons, would spread a doctrine against that of Christianity, and that as a sign who the man was to be, a black cloud would stand over him. The pastor went out, and saw a black cloud over the little boy, who was Machmet. When he had now seen him, he asked the merchants that they should bring the boy; they brought him. The pastor asked him his name. He said, “Machmet”. This, the priest also found in prophecy, and more [than this], that he would be a mighty lord and man, and that he would greatly trouble Christianity; but that his doctrine would not last one thousand years, and then it would decrease. When the pastor knew that he was named Machmet, and saw the black cloud stand over him, he understood that he was the man who would introduce this doctrine, and he placed him at his table above the merchants, and showed him great honour. After the meal, the pastor asked the merchants if they knew the boy. They said; “No, but he came to us, and asked us to take him with us into Egypt.” Then the pastor told them how he had read in a prophecy, how this boy would introduce a doctrine against Christians, through which they would suffer much, and for a sign [of this], a black cloud would be always over him; and showed them the cloud and said, that when he was in the galley, the cloud was there also. He said to the boy: “Thou shalt be a great teacher, and shalt introduce a particular doctrine amongst the Infidels, and thou shalt overpower the Christians by thy might, and thy descendants will also acquire great power.(1) Now I pray thee that thou wilt leave my race, the Armeny, in peace.” This he promised67 him, and then went with the merchants to Babiloni, and became a great scholar in Infidel writings, and preached to the Infidels that they should believe in God who had created heaven and earth, and not in the idols that were the creatures of men; they have ears and hear not; they have eyes and see not; they have a mouth and speak not; they have feet and walk not; nor can they save either the body or soul; and he converted the king of Babilony and many people with him. Then the king took him, and gave him power over the land; this he exercised; and when the king died, he took the king’s wife, and became a mighty Calpha, which is as much as to say, a Pope. He had four men with him who were well learned in Infidel writings, and to each he gave an office. To the first, he gave charge of ecclesiastical jurisdiction; to the other, lay jurisdiction; the first, was named Omar, the other, Otman; the third was named Abubach, to whom he gave charge of weights and manufactures, so that he was over them, and each one should be faithful in his work. The fourth was named Aly; he made him chief over all his people, and sent him into Arabia that he should convert Christians, because Christians were there at the time; but if any would not be converted, then he should compel them by the sword. We read in the Infidel book, Alkoray, that in one day ninety thousand men were killed for [the sake of] Machmet’s doctrine, and the whole of Arabia was converted. Machmet gave them a law, how they were to conduct themselves before God, who had created heaven and earth. And the law of the Infidels begins in this way. First, when a boy was born, when he comes to be thirteen years old, he must be circumcised, and he has instituted five daily prayers, which must be daily repeated. The first prayer is when the day breaks; another, in the middle of the day; the third, at the time of vespers; the fourth, before the sun goes down; the fifth, when day and night part. With the first four, they praise God, who has68 made heaven and earth; with the fifth, they pray to Machmet, that he will intercede for them with God. And they must go into the temple at certain times of the day; and when they want to go into the temple, they must wash the mouth, then the hands, feet, ears, and eyes. And when any one has sinned with his wife, he cannot go into the temple, until he has washed his whole body; this they do in the same belief as we Christians who confess; and the Infidels believe that, after they have washed, they are as pure as Christians, who, with full penitence, have confessed to the priest. And when they want to enter the temple, they take off their shoes and go in bare footed; they cannot take in any arms, or weapons that cut, and they do not allow any woman in the temple, so long as they are inside; and when they go into the temple, they stand near each other, with their hands close to each other; and they bend and kiss the ground, and their priest sits on a seat before them, and begins a prayer which they repeat after him. It is also to be noted, that in the temple no one speaks to another, nor looks at another, until the prayer is ended. In the temple they do not put one foot far from the other, but keep them close together; they do not go to and fro, nor look here and there, but they stand still in one place, and keep their hands together until they have quite finished their prayer; and when they have quite finished, they bow to each other, and only then go out of the temple. It is also to be noted, that no door of the temple is left open. They have no painting and no picture inside, only their writings, plants, roses, and flowers. They do not willingly allow Christians to enter, and more than this, it is to be noted, that Infidels must not spit, cough, or do anything of the sort in their temple; but if some one does so inside, he must go out and wash himself, and, added to this, must suffer much reproach from the Infidels; and when one coughs, sneezes, or ..., he must go out of the temple and69 wash himself after it. It is also to be noted, that they keep Friday as we keep Sunday, and whoever does not go to the temple on their holy-day, is taken and tied to a ladder, and carried about the town from one street to the other, and tied in front of the temple until their prayer is finished; and then they beat him twenty-five times with a rod on the naked body, whether he is rich or poor. Item, all the young dropped by their cattle on the Friday, are given to the hospital. Their priests also say, that when prayer is finished on a holy-day, people may work, because work is holy, and that man commits more sin by being idle than with work, and therefore they allow their people to work on holy days after they have finished their prayer. And when they finish their prayers on holy-days, they raise their hands towards God, and all pray with common voice for vengeance on Christendom, and say: “Almighty God, we pray thee not to suffer Christians to be united,” and say, that if Christians are united and have peace amongst themselves, they must succumb. It is also to be noted, that they have three kinds of temples; one, to which they all go, is Sam, a parish church; the other, into which priests go, is a monastery, and in which they also go through their probation; the third, is where their kings and mighty vassals have their burial, and in it poor people are received for the love of God, whether they be Christians, Infidels, or Jews, and the temple is like a hospital. The first temple is also called Mesgit, the other Medrassa, the third, Amarat.(2) It is also to be noted, that they do not bury their dead either in the temples, or around them; they bury in the fields and on the high roads; this they do that those who pass by, may pray to God for them. And when one is about to die, they stand around him, and tell him that he must think of God, and call to God to have mercy upon him; and when he dies, they wash him, and then their priests carry him, singing, to the grave, and bury him. It is also to be noted, that the Infidels fast one month70 in the year, and this fast changes every year to another month, and they fast one whole day without eating or drinking, until they see the stars in the sky. Then the priest goes up the tower, and calls the people to prayer, and they go into the temple and say their prayers, and only when they have finished their prayer, they go home and eat all night until the morning, meat, or whatever they may have. Also, they do not lay with their wives during their fast; and when a woman is pregnant or in child-bed, she may eat during the day, and the sick may do the same. They do not take payment during fast, either for houses or for any thing that pays interest.

It is also to be noted of the Infidels’ Easter day, that, after they have fasted four weeks, they have Easter for three days following, and on the morning of Easter day they go to the temple, and finish their prayer as is their custom; and when they have done, the common people put on their arms, and then come to the high priest’s house, with the chiefs of the town and the soldiers, and then take out of the priest’s house, the tabernacle, and ornament it with cloth of gold and velvet, and the chiefs and the principal [people] carry it in front of their temple, and in front of the tabernacle they carry their banners, and all the musicians they can find also go before it; and when they bring it to the temple, they put it down, and the chief priest goes into the tabernacle and preaches inside it. When he has preached, they put a sword in his hand; he draws it and speaks to the people, and calls upon God that he should give us might and strength against all the enemies of Machmet’s faith, so that we may overcome them with the sword. Then they all put out their hands, and pray to our Lord that it may so happen, and after this, the71 mighty lords go into the temple and pray, and during that time, the people must guard the tabernacle and the lords. When their prayer is finished, they take the tabernacle with the priest inside, and carry him back to his house, with the musicians and banners. Afterwards, they go to their houses and have great rejoicings for three days.

And then, after a month, they have another Easter day in honour of Abraham. On this [day] they kill lambs and oxen, and give to the poor, by the will of God, [and] to the honour of Abraham, because he was obedient, and wanted to sacrifice his son to God. At this time, the Infidels go to the grave of Machmet, and to the temple which Abraham built and which lies in front of the city, and Machmet has his grave in it, and it is called Madina. On Easter day the king-sultan covers the temple of Abraham with velvet, which is black, and then their priest cuts off a small piece for each Infidel pilgrim that comes, that he may take it away as a sign that he has been there.

It is also here to be noted, what Machmet has forbidden in the laws he has given to the Infidels. First, he has forbidden the Infidels that they should dare to cut the beard, because it would be against the will of God when he created Adam, the first man, in his Divine image; and the Infidels also say, that he who would have a face different to that he received from God, does it against God’s command, whether he be young or old. They also say that whoever cuts his beard, he does it from vanity and pride, and to please the72 world, and scorns the creation of God; it is particularly the Christians who do this to please their women, and this is a great misfortune for them, because, for the sake of vanity, they disfigure the image in which God created them. Then Machmet forbade that any one should lift his hat or uncover his head to another, whether he be king, emperor, noble or plebeian, which they also observe; but when they go before a mighty man, they bow and kneel before him. They say, when one’s father, and mother, or another friend dies, they should uncover the head before him. This they also do. When they lament for one, they take off their hat, and lift it high and throw it on the ground, and then they lament. This also has Machmet allowed, that a man may take as many wives as he can support. It is also their law, that when a woman is pregnant, they do not go near her until the child is born, nor for fourteen days after; but they may have a concubine. The Infidels also say that after the last day they will have wives, with whom they will lie; but they will always remain virgins. They also say that God has established marriage only for those who die in the faith of Machmet. He has also ordered that they must not eat any animal, or bird, unless they cut its throat and let the blood flow, which they observe. They do not eat pig’s flesh, because Machmet has also forbidden it.

It is also to be noted, that Machmet has forbidden wine to Infidels, because as the Infidels say: One day he was passing, with his servants, a public-house, in which were many people making merry. He asked why those people were so merry; one of his servants told him it was caused by wine. Machmet said: “Is it such a drink that people become so merry from it!” Now in the evening Machmet went out again,73 and there was a great noise because a man and his wife were fighting, and two persons were killed. He spoke and asked what was the matter? One of his servants said that the people who were merry have now lost their senses, because they have taken too much wine, and they knew not what they did. Then Machmet forbade wine to all, under a heavy penalty, whether ecclesiastic or lay, emperor, king, dukes, barons, counts, knight and varlet, servants, and all those who were of his faith, and that they should no longer drink wine, whether they be well or ill, and this is why he has forbidden wine to them, as the Infidels have told me. He has also ordered that the Christians and all those who are against his faith, should be persecuted day and night, except the Armeny who are to be free amongst them; and where there are Armeny amongst them, then they should not take from them a monthly tax greater than two pfennings, because Machmet had promised the Armenian priest, as has been stated. He has also ordered, that when they overcome Christians, they should not kill them; but they should pervert them, and should thus spread and strengthen their own faith.

It is also to be noted, that during the time he was on earth, Machmet had forty disciples. They have a special fellowship and have made an alliance against Christendom, and this is their law. Whoever wants to be of their fellowship, must swear that if he meets a Christian, he will not let him live nor take him a prisoner, whether from favour or for the sake of profit; and if it should happen that in a battle which Infidels [might] have with Christians, he cannot succeed to take one, he must buy a Christian and kill him. Those who are in this fellowship are called74 They;1(1) there are many of them in Turkey, and they always go against the Christians because it is their law.

It is also to be noted how a Christian, from the beginning, becomes an Infidel. When a Christian wants to become an Infidel, he must before all men raise a finger, and say the words: “La il lach illallach;” Machmet is his true messenger.(1) And when he says this, they take him to the high priest; then he must repeat the above written words before the priest, and must deny the Christian faith, and when he has done that, they put on him a new dress, and the priest binds a new kerchief on his head; and this they do that it may be seen he is an Infidel, because Christians wear blue kerchiefs, and the Jews, yellow kerchiefs, on the head. Then the priest asks all the people to put on their armour, and who has to ride, rides; also all the priests who are in the neighbourhood. And when the people come, they put him on a horse, and then the common people must ride before him, and the priests go behind him, with trumpets, cymbals and fifes, and two priests ride near him; and so they lead him about in the town; and the Infidels cry with a loud voice and praise Machmet, and the two priests say to him these words: “Thary wirdur, Messe chulidur, Maria cara baschidur, Machmet kassuldur”: which is as much as to say; There is one God, and the Messiah his servant, Mary his maid, and Machmet his chief messenger.(2) After they have led him everywhere in the city, from one street to another, then they lead him into the temple and circumcise him. If he is poor, they make a large collection and give it to him, and the great lords shew particular honour to him, and make 75him rich; this they do, that Christians may be more willing to be converted to their faith. If it is a woman who wants to change her religion,1 she is also taken to the high priest, and must say the above words. The priest then takes the woman’s girdle, cuts it in two, and makes of it a cross; on this, the woman must stamp three times,2 deny the Christian faith, and must say the other words above written. The Infidels have a good custom among their merchants, when one wants to buy from another, whatever be the merchandise. The buyer says to the seller, that he should make a just profit on what he buys, so that he also might live; so that he takes no more profit than one pfenning in forty pfennings, which is equal to one gulden in forty guldens, and no more; this they call a right purchase and profit, and this Machmet has also commanded them, so that the poor, like the rich, might live. The priests also always say in their sermons, that they should help each other and be subject to their superiors, and the rich are to be humble before the poor, and when they do this, God Almighty gives them strength and might against their enemies; and whatever their priest says to them about spiritual things, they are obedient and submissive to it. This is the faith of Machmet which he has given to the Infidels as his law, such as it is, as I then heard it from them.

It is also to be noted, that the Infidels believe that Jesus was born of a virgin, and that after the birth, she remained a virgin. They also believe that when Jesus was born, he spoke to his mother and comforted her, and they believe that 76Jesus is the highest prophet of God amongst all prophets, and that he has never committed sin; and they do not believe that Jesus was crucified, but that it was another who was like him; therefore Christians have a wicked faith, because they say that Jesus was crucified, who was the highest friend of God, and has never committed any sin, therefore God would not have been a just judge if Jesus was crucified and innocent. And when one converses with them of the Father, and Son, and Holy Ghost, they say that they are three persons, and not one God, because their book Alkaron says nothing of the Trinity. When anybody says that Jesus is the word of God, they say, this we do know, that the word of God has spoken, otherwise he would not be God; and when one says that wisdom is the Son of God who was born of the Virgin Mary, from a word which the angels announced to her, and on account of which word we must all rise and come to judgment; they say it is true that no one can go against the word of God. They also say that the strength of the word of God cannot be conceived by any one, and therefore their book Alkoran says, and gives them a sign, by the word which the angel spoke to Mary, that Jesus was born of the word of God. They say that Abraham was the friend of God, Moyses the prophet of God, Jesus the word of God, so was Machmet the true messenger of God. They also say, that Jesus, of the four, was the most worthy, and was the highest with God, and it will be he also who will judge the last judgment of God over all men.

The Infidels also say that whatever territory they possess of the Christians, they do not owe it to their power, nor to their wisdom, nor to their holiness, but they have it because of the injustice, perversity, and arrogance which Christians77 have against them; therefore Almighty God has decreed, that they should take the land from Christians, because they do not conduct their affairs, whether spiritual or temporal, with justice, because they look to wealth and favour, and the rich treat the poor with haughtiness, and do not help them either with gifts or with justice, and do not hold to the doctrine which the Messiah has given them. They also say, that they find it and read it in their prophecies, that the Christians will yet expel them out of the country, and will again possess the country; but so long as Christians are such, and are perverse, and their spiritual and temporal lords live such a disordered life, we are not afraid that they will expel us out of our country; because we fear God, and do always what is right and just, and worthy, according to our faith, for the love of God and in honour of our prophet Machmet, who is the highest messenger of God, who has given us the right doctrine by his teaching; to him we are obedient, and always willingly follow his commandments which are in the book called the Alkoran, which has been touched upon often before.

The Infidels also say that Christians do not hold to the commandment, nor to the doctrine of the Messiah, which the Messiah has commanded them, and they also do not observe the law of the book Inzil, which is called Ewangely, nor the rules which stand in that book. They hold to particular laws, spiritual and temporal, which are against the laws of the book Inzil, and the commandments and laws contained therein are all holy and just; but the law and belief which they have set up and invented, are all false and unjust, because the laws which they have made are for pro78fit and favour, which is all against God and his dear prophets; and whatever misfortunes and troubles they have, are all decreed to them by God for their unrighteousness.

Item, it is to be noted, that the time Machmet was born counts from Christ’s birth, six hundred and nine years, and the Infidels say, that on the day he was born, one thousand and one churches fell of themselves, and that happened as a sign of the injury he would do to Christianity in his time. It is also here to be noted, how many tongues there are in the Greek faith. The first is the Greek tongue, in which their books are written; the Turks call them Vrrum. The other is the Rivssen tongue, which the Infidels call Orrust. The third, Pulgery, which the Infidels call Wulgar. The fourth, the Winden tongue, which they call Arnaw.(1) The fifth, the Walachy tongue, which the Infidels call Vfflach. The sixth, the Yassen tongue, which the Infidels call Afs.(2) The seventh, the Kuthia tongue, which the Infidels call Thatt.1 The eighth, the Sygun, which the Infidels call Ischerkas. The ninth, Abukasen, and the Infidels call them Appkas. The tenth tongue, Gorchillas, and the Infidels call them Kurtzi. The eleventh, the Megrellen tongue, also so called by the Infidels. Item, between the Zurian and Greek faith, there is but one difference, therefore they say the Schurian tongue is also of their faith; but the Schurians are of Jacob, and have the faith of Saint Jacob, and have it that each must make the wafer with his own hands, into which God’s body will be changed. And when he has made the paste, he takes a hair from his beard and puts it in the wafer, and changes it into God’s body. And there is a great difference between what the Greek and 79what the Schurian priest reads, or sings, in the church, because it is the Schurian and not the Greek tongue.(3)

Constantinoppel is a fine large city and well built, and is quite ten Italian miles in extent at its walls, about which it has fifteen hundred towers. The city is triangular, having the sea on two sides. The Greeks call Constantinoppel, Istimboli, but the Turks call it Stampol; and opposite to the city, is a city called Pera, which the Greeks call Kalathan, and the Infidels call it the same.(1) Between the two cities is an arm of the sea, quite three Italian miles in length, and half or more in breadth; and the arm is crossed from each side, because the distance by land is far. The said city belongs to Genaw. The great Alexander cut through high rocks and mountains fifteen Italian miles in length, and caused two seas to flow into each other;(2) and that which flows is called and is the Great Sea, and it is also called the Black Sea, and the Tunow and many other great rivers flow into it. In the said sea one goes to Caffa, to Alathena, to Trabessanda, and to Samson, and to many other cities and countries that lay around. The arm of the sea [at] Constantinoppel is called Hellespant by the Greeks, and the Infidels call it Poges. The Turks also have a shore across the sea, opposite to Constantinople, which they call Skuter; there, the Turks cross the sea. Also not far from Constantinoppel by the sea, was Troya, on a fine plain, and one can still see where the city stood.(3) The emperor of Constantinoppel has two palaces in the city; one is very beautiful, and is much decorated inside with gold, lapis-lazuli, and marbles. In front of the palace is a fine square for tilting, and for all [kinds of] pastime that might be desired in front of the palace.(4) In front of the palace is80 the statue of the emperor Justian on a horse; it is placed upon a high piece of marble, which is a pillar. I asked a burgher of the city of what this statue was made; he told me it was of bronze, and that both the horse and the man was entirely of one casting. Some people of the country say that it is of leather, and yet it must have stood there quite a thousand years; had it been leather, it would not have stood so long, it would have rotted. At one time the statue had a golden apple in the hand, and that meant that he had been a mighty emperor over Christians and Infidels; but now he has no longer that power, so the apple has disappeared.(5)

Not far from Constantinoppel there is an island called Lemprie; in it is a mountain that is so high, it reaches to the clouds.(1) At Constantinoppel is the most beautiful church, so that nothing like it can be found in India; it is called Sancta Sophya, and is covered all over with lead, and one can see one’s self on the walls inside the church as if in a mirror, because the marble and lapis-lazuli on the wall is clear and clean. In this same church is their patriarch with his priests, and the Greeks and all those who are under the patriarch go in pilgrimage, as we, for our sins, go to Rome. When Constantine had finished the churches, he placed as an improvement in the church, high up in the middle of the dome, five golden discs, and each disc is as wide, large, and thick as a mill-stone;(2) but the emperor took down two during the great war which the Turkish king Wyasit had with him, when he besieged Constantinoppel for seven years. I myself was at that same time with the king in Turkey,(3) and I have also seen the three discs [left] in the church. The church of Sancta Sophia has three hundred gates, which are all of81 brass. I was III months at Constantinoppel in the house of the patriarch, but I and my comrades were not allowed to walk about the city, because they were afraid that the Infidels would recognise us, and would take us before the emperor. I would gladly have seen it (the city), but it could not be, because the emperor had forbidden it, but even then we sometimes went out with the patriarch’s servants.

It is to be noted, that the Greeks do not believe in the Holy Trinity; they do not believe in the Chair at Rome, nor in the Pope. They say that their patriarchs have as much power as the Pope at Rome. The sacrament they make of leavened bread, and take it with wine and warm water; and when the priest changes the body of God, they all fall down on their faces and say: “No man is worthy to look at God.” And when the priest has finished the Mass, he takes the bread that remains, of which he had prepared the sacrament, and cuts it into small pieces on a dish, and then men and women sit down. Then the priest or his assistant takes the bread round, and so every one takes a piece and eats it, and this bread they call prossura. This bread is not baked by any man or woman, only by a virgin or a nun. They also give the sacrament to young children, but they do not give the sacred oil to any body; and they also say that nobody is wise, and that no one goes into heaven or hell before the day of judgment; then each man will go into heaven or into hell as he has deserved. They have no Mass, unless it is asked for. They say that only one Mass is to be celebrated at the same altar in the day, and they do not let Mass be said at their altars in Latin, and Mass must not be said in any language but in the Greek language, because the Greek language is of their faith. They say also that their faith is82 the true Christian faith, and the others are not true. They also have the Mass on feast days only, and not on week days, because all their priests are craftsmen and must work, and all have wives and children, and their priests take one wife only; and when she dies he cannot take any more, either in marriage or otherwise. If he has anything to do with a woman, and the bishop becomes aware of it, he takes away from him his priestly charge, so that he cannot say the Mass any more. And when a bishop consecrates a priest, he girds him with a girdle, and when the priest does anything against his priestly order, the bishop takes away the girdle, so that he cannot say Mass any more, and is fallen from his office. The best and the richest marry the priests, and when they are in a house, the priests’ wives sit at the upper [end] of the table, and when women walk together, the priests’ wives go first. Their churches are not independent. When a man builds a church and dies, his heirs inherit the church like other property, and sell it as any other house. They say, it is not a sin to have to do with unmarried women, because it is not a deadly sin, as it is natural. They also say, that when one takes a monthly profit of two pfennings for one hundred pfennings, it is goodly gain, and not usury. On Wednesdays, they do not eat meat; and so, on Friday, they eat fish and oil only, and say that Saturday is not a fast-day, and one may well eat meat on that day. In the churches, the women stand separately, and neither men nor women dare to go near the altar. And when they make [the sign of] a cross, they do it with the left hand. And when one is about to die, they baptise him again, and there are many who are baptised every year. They have no font in their churches; and when their bishop stands in the choir, he stands in the middle of the church and in the choir, and the priests stand around him. Their bishop eats no meat throughout the year, and during the fasts he eats no fish nor anything that has blood, and all their clergy do83 the same. When they baptise a child, they have X or more godfathers; men and women bring to the child a christening shirt or a candle. They also say, that our priests sin if they have a Mass every day, because they cannot always be worthy. They also say, that our priests commit mortal sin when they shave their beard, because it is not godly, because it happens from unchastity, and to please the women. And when one dies, and prayers for the dead are sung for him, boiled wheat to eat is given to the priests and to the people, after an old usage, and this same wheat they call coleba. They wash their dead before they bury them. Their priests sell and buy like other merchants. They fast during Lent for fifty days; and the priests and the laity also fast forty days in Advent, and for the twelve holy apostles they fast thirty days; they also fast fifteen days for our Lady’s Assumption; they have only three days in the year for our Lady, because they do not keep Candlemas. Item, the Greeks do not keep the resurrection of Jhesus xpi at the same time with us; they keep it on the next Friday after Easter. Then they sing Xristos anesti, which is as much as to say, Xristus is risen.(1)

It is also to be noted, that the emperor of Constantinoppel himself creates the patriarchs, and also gives all God’s gifts to the church, and is lord of spiritual and temporal matters as far as his territory reaches. I have heard much and often from their learned men, that Saint Constantine came from Rome with many kocken and galleys to Greece, to the place where Constantinoppel lies, and then there appeared to him an angel from God, who said to him: “Here must thy dwelling be; now sit on the horse, and do not look back, and ride to the place from which thou hast begun to84 ride.” He mounted, and rode quite half a day; and when at night he arrived at the same place where he had mounted, he looked back, and saw a wall of the height of a man spring up from the ground; and from the place where he had looked back, to the place from which he had begun to ride, which is quite twenty paces or more, there was no wall; it has been much tried to build a wall, but it will not stand; but it goes towards the sea, so that they can defend themselves better than if it had been towards the land. I have seen it, because in the same place there is a breakwater,1(1) therefore the Greeks say that the said wall was built by angels; and that the crown with which their emperor is crowned, and which was brought to Saint Constantine by an angel from heaven, is a heavenly crown; and therefore there is no worthier nor more highly born emperor than the emperor of Constantinoppel. And when a priest dies, they put on him everything that belongs to a priest at the altar, and they put him on a seat in the grave, and cover him with earth. The chant, Ayos otheos, which they sing once a year only, they sing upon all other holy occasions; and during Lent they sing the Alleluia every day, when they are in church. They sing Kirieleyson only, in their Mass, and not Xreleyson. They say, there is but one Godhead and no difference, that it is God the Father and God the Son, and therefore it would not be right to sing Christ. They also bow very humbly before their priests. When a layman meets a priest, he takes off his hat, and bows humbly, and says: “Esloy mena tespotha”; which is as much as to say: Bless me, Lord. Then the priest lays his hand on the layman’s head and says: “Otheos efflon essenam”; and that means, God bless thee; and this they do always, men and women, when they meet a priest. When a priest takes a wife, he takes her before he becomes a priest; the reason is, because if he does not beget a child, 85he cannot be a priest, but so soon as he has got a child, he is consecrated to be a priest. Laymen pray only with the Pater Noster, and do not know the Belief nor the Ave Maria. Many priests wear white garments at Mass.(2)

Inter illas gentes, Gargetter et Jassen, nuptiæ explentur hac conditione, videlicet mater puellam suam intactam esse asserit, sed ni reapse sit virgo, conjugium non conficitur. Quando igitur de nuptiis agitur, cantibus comitantur puellam ante thalamum, et ibi se ponere jubent; succedit inde sponsus cum adolescentulis, et gladio stricto percutit thalamum, et prope illum se se ponit una cum adolescentulis, et comedunt et bibunt, et se oblectant inter choreas et cantus. Et quum ita solatia cesserint, sponsum denudant usque ad subuculam suam, et egredientes relinquunt cum sponsa. Postea venit sponsi frater, et nonnullus ex amicis intimis, et ante ostium excubat stricto ense; et quum sponsus sponsam virginem non invenit, hoc matri ejus palam facit. Deinde mater sponsi cum amicis suis ante thalamum adstat, observant panniculos, et si nullum virginitatis signum inveniunt, omnes incipiunt se contristare; quum vero pater et mater sponsi cum amicis suis mane adveniunt, ut festa conjugalia concelebrent, mater sponsi manu regit poculum in una parte perforatum, et implet vino claudens foramen digito, et inde matrem sponsæ invitat ut libat amovens digitum e foramine, et sic vinum extra fluit; tum mater sponsi dicit matri sponsæ: Ita evenit de filia tua. Hoc summo dedecori est parentibus sponsæ, quam tradunt eis ut secum ducant, dicentes, se velle nubere filis intactam puellam, sed non ita evenisse de eorum filia. Then come their priests and the chief [persons] that are there, and invite the bridegroom’s father and mother, and then they go86 to their son the bridegroom, and ask him whether or no he will have her? If he says, “Yes”, she is given to him by the priests, and the other persons who have interceded for her. But if he says, “No”, then they are in all things separated; and whatever he has brought to her, she gives the whole back to him; and whatever clothes he has given her, she must give back to him; after which, he can take another wife, and she another husband.(1) There are many people in Ermenia, who have this custom. The Infidels call the Gorgiten, Kurtzi; and the Jassen they call Affs.

I have also been a great deal in Armenia. After Tämerlin died, I came to his son, who has two kingdoms in Armenia. He was named Scharoch; he liked to be in Armenia, because there is a very beautiful plain. He remained there in the winter with his people, because there was good pasturage. A great river runs through the plain; it is called the Chur, and it is also called the Tygris; and near this river, in this same country, is the best silk. The Infidels call the plain, in the Infidel tongue, Karawag.(1) The Infidels possess it all, and yet it stands in Ermenia. There are also Armenians in the villages, but they must pay tribute to the Infidels. I always lived with the Armenians, because they are very friendly to the Germans, and because I was a German they treated me very kindly; and they also taught me their Pater Noster and their language, and they call the Germans, Nymitsch.(2) In Armenia are three kingdoms; one is called Tiffliss, the other is called Syos, the third is called Ersingen; the Armenians call it Isingkan, and that is Lesser Armenia. They also possessed Babylon for a long time; but they now have it no longer. The son of Tämerlin had Tyfflis and Ersing at the time that I87 was there. Sifs belonged to the king-sultan, and was won, counting from Christ’s birth, twelve hundred and seventy-seven years; then did the sultan of Alkenier conquer it.(3)

The Armenians believe in the Holy Trinity. I have also often heard their priests preach in their churches, when I had gone to Mass, and been in their churches, that Saint Bartlome and Saint Thaten of the twelve holy apostles, converted them to the Christian faith, but that they have often been perverted again. There was a holy man named Gregory, and the king of Armenia was his cousin, and he lived in the time when Saint Silvester was Pope at Rome.(1) The king of Armenia died, and he was a good Christian, and his son was king, and he was named Derthatt; he was very strong, because he had the strength of forty oxen; what they could drag and lift, that he could lift alone. It was this same king who built the large church at Bethleen, as has been already stated.1 (2) And when he became king after his father, he turned Infidel, and persecuted the Christians, and took hold of his cousin Gregory, and told him he must worship his idol. This the blessed man would not do, so he put him into a pit where there were adders and serpents and many other hurtful reptiles, that they might eat him. But they did nothing to him. He lay there twelve years. About the same time, several saintly maidens came to Ermenia from Italy, and preached the Christian religion instead of the Ermenen religion. The king heard this, and ordered that they should be brought to him. There was one amongst them who was named Susanna, who was very beautiful; she was taken to his room, when he wished to urge her to 88unchastity, but strong as he was, he could do nothing with the young woman, nor win her with all his power, for God was with her. This was told to him in the prison, and he said: “Oh, the wicked pig!” At the same time, the king fell from his throne, became a pig, and ran away to the woods. Then there was great disorder in the land, but the vassals of the country consulted, and took Gregory out of the pit, and asked him if he could help the king. He answered them and said, that he would not help him, unless they and he became Christians. The vassals promised him this, also for the king. Then said Gregory: “Ride into the wood, look for him, and bring him.” They rode into the wood, and brought him to Gregory; and as soon as he saw Gregory, he ran to him, and kissed his feet. Gregory knelt on his knees, and prayed to Almighty God that he would have mercy on the man, and make him whole. The king again became a man, and was, with all his people, again a Christian,(3) and went against Babiloni and the Infidels, and conquered Babilonia and the whole country, three kingdoms, and converted them to Christianity, and appointed Gregory over the clergy and all ecclesiastical orders. In this way, their religion was established by the King Derthat and the man Gregory.(4) They also took much territory that belonged to the Infidels, and forced them to Christianity by means of the sword; but now they have lost all their kingdoms, although they are a fighting people. It is not long since they lost a kingdom, and a good capital called Siss; it was taken by the king-sultan. It is also their patriarch’s seat, but he must pay great tribute to the sultan. The king of Zypern has many nobles of Armenia at his court, because it is near. Then was Gregory told of the great miracle which Pope Silvester had performed on Constantine, during the time that he was emperor at Rome, because he had made him clean of an eruption, and that he had saved from death the children that had been brought89 together to be killed, because the doctors informed the emperor that he should wash in the blood of children, so that he might get well of his eruptions.

Gregory thought over it, and said to the king: “The power that thou has conferred upon me, has no influence, unless I have it from the holy father Silvester”; and he told the king of the great miracle performed by the holy father on the emperor Constantine. The king said that he would willingly see him, and would go with him, and prepared and made arrangements for [the government of] his kingdom. He took with him forty thousand men, good horsemen and foot-soldiers; he also took with him many valuables and many precious stones, with which to do honour to the holy father, Saint Silvester.(1) Gregory took with him the most learned men that he had under him, and went from Babiloni through Persia, through Greater Armenia, and through many other countries, and went through the Iron Gates which lie between two seas, and reach into Great Tartary towards Ruwschea; through Walchi, Pulgeri, through Ungeren, Frigaul, through Lamparten, through Duschkan, and so they came dry-footed to Rome, as they had not passed over the sea. And when they were near Rome, Silvester sent to them all the blind, lame, and sick, that Gregory might heal them, as he wished to test his sanctity. When the king, Derthat, saw the people, he was angry, and thought the Pope was making fun of him. Gregory, without being angry, said: “I know well what he means”; and ordered that water should be brought to him; and he knelt on his knees, and prayed to Almighty God that those who will be sprinkled with the water, will become sound. He then took a sponge on a stick, and sprinkled the people with it;90 and he who was touched by it, was healed. The blind received sight. The Pope, Silvester, heard of this, and went with all his clergy, and with the whole city of Rome, to meet him, and shewed him deference and honour. They were a whole year going by land, from Babilony to Rome. Gregory asked the Pope Silvester to give him power to free his clergy and his people from the jurisdiction of Rome, because he was so far that he could not always go to the Chair; then he gave him the power of a patriarch, and whoever wished to have this power, could not obtain it elsewhere than at Rome, and would have to send an embassy to Rome every three years. This he vowed to him, and arranged that all those who were of his faith, ecclesiastical or lay, should be subject to the Chair at Rome, and whoever would not be so, should be under the ban of the Pope, be he bishop, lord, or menial, rich or poor, in his land, and this oath the king and all his knights also took. This lasted three hundred years after the time of Gregory, that they were subject to the Chair, after which they no longer went to the Chair, and themselves chose a patriarch. Their patriarch they call Kathagnes, and a king they call Takchauer.(2)

There was also at that same time on a mountain near Rome, a dragon and a unicorn, that did much harm to the people in the streets, so that none could pass. Then the holy father, Saint Silvester, asked the king of Armenia, as he was a powerful man, whether he would not try, with God’s will, to kill the dragon and also the unicorn; the king went alone, and saw where they were, and when he got there, he saw them biting each other, and he looked at them until the dragon escaped, and the unicorn chased him91 to a hole in the rock; the dragon turned himself in the hole, and defended himself against the unicorn. The unicorn struck at the dragon with his tongue, and tried to draw him outside. The dragon seized the unicorn, and they struggled together, until the unicorn pulled the dragon out as far as his neck, and the one would not let the other go. At that moment, the king ran up and cut the dragon’s neck, and with the tugging that the unicorn gave it, the head rolled down the rock; the king then sprang up and killed the unicorn also. He then returned to Rome, and ordered that the heads should be brought; now the waggon had enough to do to carry the head of the dragon; and so the King Derthat delivered the Romans of the reptiles, for which the city, and especially the holy father, shewed him great honour. Then Gregory went to the Pope, and asked him for the articles which belonged to the faith, which he gave him, and then they returned to their own country, and Gregory taught the Christian faith as he received it from the Pope, which they do not hold any more, as is above stated.(1) Now, they themselves elect their patriarch, and when they wish to make one, twelve bishops and four archbishops must be present, and he is elected. Many of the articles that Gregory brought from Rome, have been changed, and they are now separated from the church of Rome. Their priests make the sacrament with unleavened bread, and nobody else prepares the bread, but the priest who is to celebrate the Mass, and he prepares one only. Whilst he is making it, other priests must read the psalter right through, and if there are no priests, then he must say it himself, right through.(2) They say that it is a great sin that a man or woman should make the bread for the Holy Sacrament; they also say that it is not right to sell this bread like other bread. They communicate the Holy Sacrament with wine, and not with water. When they want to have the Mass, they all stand together, and none92 communicate until he who is at the high altar has communicated, so that they all communicate together. They also read the gospel [looking] towards the rising of the sun, and whichever priest celebrates the Mass, does not dare to sleep that day after midnight; and for three nights previously, and one night after, he must separate himself from his wife. They do not allow any deacon or any of a lower grade to be at the altar, only the priest; and no man or woman can attend the Mass unless they have confessed; and no woman can go into the church whilst she is unwell. Whoever has hatred or enmity towards another, must stand before the church, and is not allowed to go in until he has become reconciled. Woman and man sing the Pater Noster and the Belief, with the priest, when he celebrates the Mass. They give the Sacrament also to young children. The priests do not shave their hair nor their beard. Instead of consecrated oil, they have balm, and the patriarch gives the sultan a large price for the balm, which he sends to his bishopric. When one wants to be a priest, he must be forty days and nights in the church; and when the XL days are passed, he sings his first Mass, and he is led out with singing, dressed for the Mass. Then come his wife and child, and they kneel before him, and he gives them his blessing; then come the priest’s friends and those of his wife, and they bring their offerings; also those who are invited; and there is great rejoicing in his honour, more even than when he was married, but he cannot be with his wife until he has said the Mass for forty days in succession. When they baptise a child, a man receives it, not a woman, because they say that our Lord had only a man to baptise him, and not a woman. It is also a great sin to take a woman to a baptism. They hold baptism in great honour, and whoever comes into the presence of his godfather, must kneel on the ground before him. They hold, that in sponsorship, marriage is forbidden to the93 fourth generation. They place much confidence in our religion;(3) they also willingly go to Mass in our churches, which the Greeks do not. They say, that between their religion and ours, there is only a hair’s breadth, but that there is a great division between the Greek and their religion. During the week, they fast on Wednesday and on Friday. They do not fast in Advent, and may eat oil, but on those days they eat as often as they like after mid-day. They fast one week for Saint Gregory. They have a saint named Aurencius,(4) who was a doctor, for whom they also fast one week. They fast also on the day of the Holy Cross, which is in September; they fast also one week for Saint James the Great;(5) and they fast XV days in August, for our dear Lady. They fast one week for the three holy kings. They have a saint who was a knight; his name is Zerlichis;(6) they call upon him loudly when they are at war or in other necessity; they fast one week for him. There are many knights and nobles who fast for him for three days in January, so that they do not eat or drink, because he is a great helper in need. Their saints’ days they keep on Saturday. On Easter eve, they celebrate the Mass after vespers, because that is about the time when the light shines on the holy sepulchre at Jherusalem. They also celebrate Easter, Trinity, and Ascension day with us; the other holy days they keep separately. Christmas and the Epiphany they keep at one and the same time, and on that evening, after vespers, they have the Mass. They say, that God was born on that day, and was baptised thirty years after, on that same day, and therefore they keep Christ’s birth and his baptism on the same day, and that is the sixth of January. They fast one week for the twelve holy apostles, and keep their feast-day one day only, and that is Saturday. They pray with the Ave Maria once a year only, and this they do upon our Lady’s day in Lent, which they do not hold as we do.(7) When two married persons quarrel with each94 other, and the one will not have the other, they are separated at bed and board; but, if neither wishes to have the other, they are separated so that each can take another spouse. If they have any children, they are given to the father. Their churches are all free, as no one can inherit or sell them. When a priest wants to build a church with his own money, he must give it to the parish, so that after his death no one may dispose of it, or he is not allowed to build it; and the same if a lord or layman builds one, so that nobody shall interfere, because it has been the custom amongst them. When a priest or layman founded a church, his heirs inherited it as they did his other property, and let it out on usury, or sold it like other property. This they have changed, and will not allow it any more, and say that every house of God should be free. Their priests go to matins every night,1 which the Greek priests do not. They allow the prayers for the dead to be said for their rich people during their lifetime, and say that it is better to light a candle with one’s own hand, than to let another person light it, by which they mean that he who does not care for his soul in his lifetime, will scarcely be cared for by his friends afterwards, because the friends get the money and do not care for the soul. They say, that when a man himself does good to his own soul, it is agreeable to God. When a poor man dies without confessing or without [having received] the body of God, a place in the churchyard is obtained for him by his advocate, and they lay him in the churchyard, and place a large stone on the grave, and write on it the name of God and the name of the dead man who lies there, and this they do for a sign that he is dead. And when a bishop or priest dies, they dress him as he stands before the altar, and the priests make his grave, then carry him out of the church, and put him on a seat in the grave. The first day they bury him up to his girdle, and go every day to the grave, and sing and read the psalter over him, and each 95priest throws a spadeful of earth over him, and this they do every day until the eighth day, and then they bury him altogether.(8) When a young man or a virgin dies, [they put on] silk and velvet clothes, and gold rings on the ears and fingers, and so they bury young people who have not been married. And when one marries a young woman who should be a virgin, and [he] finds that she is not a virgin, he sends her back to her father, and will not take her unless more fortune is given to her, than was arranged at the contract. They have only one cross in their churches, and not more, and say, it is a sin to crucify our Lord more than once in a church. They have no paintings on their altars, and their patriarchs and bishops grant no indulgence in their churches, and say, that pardon and remission belong to the living God, and if a man goes into the church with repentance and devotion, God, in his compassion, will grant him pardon and remission of his sins. When the priest finishes the Mass, he does not give the blessing; he descends from the altar, and men and women go up to him, and he touches one after the other on the head, and says: “Asswatz thogu thu miechk”; which means: God forgive thee thy sins.(9) They read low Mass aloud, that everybody may hear, and they pray for those who are entrusted to them, and for everything for which they ought to pray; for the ecclesiastical and lay authorities over all Christendom, and they pray for the Roman emperor, and all kings, dukes, barons, counts, and knights, who are subject to him;(10) and while he thus prays, all the people kneel, and raise their hands to God, and say: “Ogornicka”; which means: Lord have mercy upon us. And whilst the priest prays, these words are continually repeated by the women and men. They behave with much devotion in their churches; they do not look here and there, and do not speak, especially while they are at Mass. They decorate their churches beautifully, and have fine vestments of velvet and of silk of all sorts of96 colours. None of their laity dare to read the gospel as our own learned laity do, who, when they come across a book, read what they find in it; no one dares to do so, for, should he read the gospel, he would be under the ban of the patriarch, because they say that no one is to read the gospel but a priest. They incense their houses every Saturday, and on the eve of every feast-day, and no one has any other incense than the white incense which grows in Arabia and in India. Priests and laymen eat like the Infidels, sitting on the ground. They have not many preachers amongst their priests, because everyone is not allowed to preach. Their preacher must be well read in the Holy Scriptures, and must have power from the patriarch to preach, and when he has the power, he may punish a bishop. Such a preacher they call Varthabiet, which is the same as being a legate; and there are more than one, and they move from one city to the other and preach. When a priest or bishop does wrong, they punish him for it, and say, that if a priest teaches the Word of God, but does not understand and attend to it, he commits a sin.(11)

The Greeks and Armeni are always enemies, and I will tell you why it is so, because I have heard it from the Armenians. The Tartars came into Greece with forty thousand men, and did much harm to the country, and then lay siege to Constantinoppel. Then the emperor of Constantinoppel sent to the king of Armenia for forty knights, the best he had in the land, and asked him to help him. The king asked how many there were [of the enemy]; the ambassador replied to him, that there were forty thousand. Then the king of Armenia selected forty knights, the best he had in his land: “I will send forty knights to the emperor, who will, with97 God’s help, exterminate the Infidels, and drive them by force out of the country.” When the knights came near Constantinoppel to the emperor, then the ambassador told him what he was ordered to say. The emperor thought that the king of Armenia wanted to make fun of him; and on the third day, the knights went before the emperor, and asked to be allowed to go at the enemy. The emperor asked them if they meant to overcome forty thousand men? They asked to be allowed to go out, and that the gate should be shut after them, for they should have Almighty God on their side, and would fight with Him for the Christian faith, to do which they had come, or else they would die. He gave them leave, and they went out amongst the enemy, and killed eleven hundred of them, besides the prisoners they brought to the gate; but the emperor would not let them come in, unless they also killed the prisoners, so they killed them all in front of the gate. The emperor was frightened at this, and took great care of them, and treated them very well, and they fought with the enemy every day, and every day did them much harm in the fight, and in a short time expelled the enemy from the city, and drove them out of the country. And when the devoted knights had driven away the Tartars, they went to the emperor, and wanted leave to return to their king; but the emperor took council how he was to put them to death, and invited them to stay with him three days longer; he would shew them great honour and consideration, and called out aloud: “Whoever wishes to eat and drink and live well at the emperor’s court for three days, let him come.” He sent a pure virgin to each knight at his separate lodging, and this he did that the virgins might be got with child by the knights, and that they should leave their seed there; because the emperor told his lords that he wanted to take the fruit from the trees and fell the trees, thinking, that after he had killed the knights, the king of 98Ermenia would become subject to him. On the third night, he ordered that all the knights should be killed in their lodgings, which was done, with the exception of one who had been warned by the young woman he had with him. He returned and complained to the king that all his companions had been killed by [order of] the emperor. The king was terrified, and grieved much for his devoted knights, and wrote to the emperor that he had sent to him forty men who were worth forty thousand; and he must know that I will come to him, and for each of my forty knights will kill forty thousand men. Then the king of Ermenia sent to the Kaliphat of Babilony to ask his aid to march against the Greek emperor. The Kalipha himself came to help him with a great many people, and then they advanced together against the emperor with four hundred thousand men. This the emperor of Constantinoppel heard of, and went out to meet them with a great many people, and fought with them, but it was not long before he fled into the city of Constantinoppel. They followed him as far as the sea opposite to Constantinopoli, and encamped there. Then the king asked the Calypha to give him all the men he had made prisoners, and he would give him all the booty he had taken from the Greek. This was done. The king took the prisoners opposite to the city, and killed forty-times forty thousand men; and he made the arm of the sea red with blood, because he had sworn that he would give to the sea the colour of blood; and after all this was done, he still had so many prisoners, that thirty Greeks were given for an onion; this was done to insult the emperor, that it might be said that thirty Greeks were given for an onion.(1) The Armenians are a brave people, those that live amongst the Christians, [as well as] those that live amongst the Infidels. They are also clever at work, because all the clever work the Infidels can do, in gold, purple, silver, and velvet, the Armenians can also do, and they also make good scarlet.99 I have described and named the countries, cities, and religions, that I have been in amongst the Infidels. I have also written about the fights in which I have been, and of the religion of the Infidels of which I have experience, and with many other marvels which are already touched upon. Now you will hear and understand how and through which countries I have come away.

When Zegra was defeated, as is already related, I came over to a lord named Manstzusch; he had been a councillor of Zegra. He was obliged to fly, and he went to a city called Kaffa, where there are Christians; it is a strong city in which there are [people of] six kinds of religion. There he remained five months, and then crossed an arm of the Black Sea, and came to a country called Zerckchas; there he remained half a year. When the Tartar king became aware of this, he sent to the lord of the country, and asked that he should not allow the lord Mantzuch to remain in his territory, and he would do him a great favour. Mantzuch went into another country called Magrill; and, as we now came into the country of Magrill, we, five Christians, agreed, that we should go to our native country from the land of the Infidels, as we were not more than three days’ journey from the Black Sea; and when it appeared to us opportune and right to get away, all five of us escaped from the said lord, and came to the chief town of the country, which was called Bothan, on the Black Sea shore, and begged that we should be taken across [the sea], but it was not granted to us. Then we left the city, and rode along the sea-shore, and got to a100 mountainous country. There we rode until the fourth day, and came to a mountain from which we saw a kocken on the sea, at about eight Italian miles from the coast. We remained on the mountain until night, and made a fire, and when the captain saw the fire, he sent some men in a skiff that they might see who we were near the fire on the mountain, and when they came towards us, we made ourselves known. They asked what sort of people we were? We said we were Christians, and were made prisoners when the king of Ungern was defeated at Nicopolis, and had come so far with the help of God; therefore, might we not go over the sea, as we had dependance and hope in God, that we should yet return to our homes and to Christianity. They would not believe us, and asked if we could repeat the Pater Noster, the Ave Maria, and the Belief? We said, “Yes”, and repeated them. They then asked how many of us there were? We said, “Five”. They told us to wait on the mountain, and went to their master and told him how we had spoken to them. He ordered that we should be brought, and they came with the skiff, and took us to the kocken. On the third day that we were on board the kocken, pirates came in three galleys, and would gladly have done us harm, because they were Turks. They chased us three days and two nights, but could do us no harm. We got to the city of Sant Masicia;(1) there we remained until the fourth day, then the Turks went their own way. After that, we went to sea. We wanted to go to Constantinoppoli; but when we got out to sea, so that we could see nothing but sky and water, there came a wind which threw back the kocken about eight hundred Italian miles, to a city called Synopp. There we remained eight days, and after that we went further, and were one month and a half on the sea without being able to get to the land; and we ran short of food, and we had no more to eat and drink, until we got to a rock in the sea, where we found snails and crabs, which we picked off, and upon 101which we lived for four days, and were one month on the sea before we got to Constantinoppoli. And when we got there, I and my companions remained, and the kock passed through the strait for Italy. And as we were passing through the gate into Constantinopel, they asked us where we came from? We replied, that we had been prisoners amongst the Infidels, and that we had escaped, and wanted to return to Christianity. Then they took us before the Greek emperor, who asked us how we had escaped from the Infidels? We related to him from the beginning to the end, and when he heard it all, he told us not to be anxious; he would take care to send us home; and he sent us to the patriarch, who also lives in the city, and ordered us to wait until he sent a galley for his brother, who was with the queen of Unger, when he would help us into Walachy. Thus we were three months at Constantinoppel, which is surrounded by a wall eighteen Italian miles [in extent], and the wall has fifteen hundred towers. There are one thousand and one churches in the city, and the principal church is called Sant Sophia, which is built, and is also paved, with polished marble, so that when one who has not been before, goes into the temple, he imagines that the church is full of water, the marble shines so. It has a large dome covered with lead. It has three hundred and sixty gates, of which one hundred are quite of brass.(2) After three months, the Greek emperor sent us in a galley to a fortress called Gily, where the Tunow flows into the Black Sea. At this fortress I separated from my companions and joined some merchants, and went with them to a city called in German the White City, situated in Walachy. Then I came to a city called Asparseri;(3) then to a city called Sedschoff, the capital of Little Walachy; then to a place called in German, Limburgch, the chief city in White Reissen the Lesser.(4) There I lay ill for three months. After that, I came to Krackow, the capital of 102Polan. After that, to Neichsen in Saxony, and to the city of Bressla, which capital is in Slesy. I then came to a city called Eger; from Eger to Regenspurg; from Regenspurg to Lantzhut; from Lantzhut to Frisingen, near which place I was born; and, with God’s help, I returned to my home and to Christianity. Almighty God be thanked, and all those who have helped me. And when I had almost despaired of coming [away] from the Infidel people and their wicked religion, amongst whom I was obliged to be for XXXII years, and of any longer having fellowship with holy Christianity, God Almighty saw my great longing and anxiety after the Christian faith and its heavenly joys, and graciously preserved me from the risk of perdition of body and soul; therefore, I ask all who have read or have heard this book read, that they should think kindly of me before God, so that they should be eternally freed, there and here, from such heavy and unchristian captivity. Amen.

This is the Armenian Pater Noster.

Har myer ut Gegnikes surpeitza annum chika archawtnichw iogacy kam thw hy ergnick yep ecgary hatz meyr anhabas tur mies eis or yep thawg meis perdanatz hentz minck therog nuch meinrock per danabas yep mythawg myes ypbwertzuchm heba prigo es mies ytzscheren. Amen.

This is the Tartar Pater Noster.

Atha wysum chy chockta sen algusch ludur senung adung kel suū senung hauluchūg belsun senung arcchung aley gier da vk achta wer wisum gundaluch otrnak chumusen 103wougū kay wisum iasochni alei wis dacha kayelle nin wisū iasoch lamasin dacha koina wisni sunanmcha ilia garta wisni gemandan.1(5)

The end of Schiltberger.

104-106

NOTES
TO
THE TRAVELS
OF
JOHANN SCHILTBERGER.

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