Digitized from The Broadway Travellers series, edited by Sir E. Denison Ross and Eileen Power, Pero Tafur: Travels and Adventures (1435-1439), translated and edited with an introduction by Malcolm Letts (New York, London: Harper & brothers 1926)
CHAPTER I: Departure from San Lucar.-The Count of Niebla.-The attack on Gibraltar.-Gibraltar.-Return to San Lucar.-Cadiz.-The Barbary Coast.-Ceuta. Malaga.-Cartagena.-The Balearic Isles.-Gulf of Lyons.-_A great storm.-The Riviera.-Genoa.
CHAPTER II: Genoa.-Litigation with certain merchants.-San Lorenzo.- Genoese possessions abroad.-The inhabitants-.A rising.-Sestri Levante. -Portavenere.-Spezia.-Lerici.-Pietrasanta.-Leghorn.-The vessel taken by the Count of Modica.-Niccolo Piccinino.-Pisa. Florence.-Pistoia. Bologna.-Pope Eugenius.-Ferrara.-Bills of Exchange.-Venice.
CHAPTER III: Rome.-Pope Gregory and the Faithful.-The walls.-The Tiber.-Castle of St. Angela.-The Vatican.-Old St. Peter's.-St. John Lateran.-Right of Sanctuary.-Sancta Sanctorum.-Statue of Marcus Aurelius.-The Colosseum.-Imperial buildings on the Palatine.-S. Maria Nuova.-S.Croce in Geruralemme.-S. Silvestro in Capite.-S. Maria Rotonda.-Trajan's column.-Triumphal arches.-S. Maria in Ara Coeli.-S. Maria Maggiore.-S. Prassede.-S. Pietro in Vincoli.-S..Anastasio alle Tre Fontane.-The miserable condition of the city.-The inhabitants.-Wild beasts within the walls.
CHAPTER IV: Rome to Viterbo.-Perugia.-~Assisi.-Gubbio.-Meeting with Count of Urbino.-Rimini.-Ravenna.-Venice.-Arrangementa far the voyage.
CHAPTER V: Departure from Vevice.-Parenzo.-Zara.-Ragusa.-Corfu.-Gulf of Patras. Isthmus of Corinth.-A monastery of Greek monks.-Modone.-Island of Cythera.-Crete.-Rhodes.-The Knights Hospitaller,-Arrival at Jaffa.
CHAPTER VI: The landing at Jaffa.- Jerusalem.-The Holy Sepulchre.--The holy places. -Bethlehem. - Return to Jerusalem. - Jericho. - The Jordan.-The pilgrims bathe and one is drowned.-Visit to Dead Sea.-Mount Quarantana.-A French squire falls off the mountain. -Trouble with an official.-Judgment and execution. Bethany.- Mount Tabor.-Tafur penetrates into the Mosque of Omar.-Second visit to the Holy Sepulchre.-Three pilgrims dubbed knights.
CHAPTER VII: Departure for Cyprus.-Rama.-Jaffa.-Beyrout.-Colchis.-Cyprus. -Nicosia.-Mosen Suarez and the late King's captivity.-Tafur is appointed ambassador to the Sultan of Egypt.
CHAPTER VIII: Departure from Cyprus.-Damietta.-Weasels and carrier pigeons.- A narrow escape.-The Nile.-Crocodiles.-Hippopotami.- Journey up the Nile to Babylonia (Cairo).-The Mamelukes.- Reception by the Sultan of Egypt.-La Matarea.-The Pyramids.- Elephants.-A Girafe.-A game of Polo
CHAPTER IX: The journey to Mount Sinai.-Trade in mummy.-The Monastery.- Tafur proposes to visit India.-Arrival of a caravan.-Nicolo de' Conti.-He relates the story of his life.-The Red Sea.
CHAPTER X: The return journey from Mount Sinai.- Nicolo de' Conti continues his relation- Prester John.
CHAPTER XI: Arrival in Cairo.-The gory of Pedro de la Randa.-.Administration of Justice.-Life in the streets of Cairo.
CHAPTER XII: Departure from Cairo.-Alexandria.-The voyage to Cyprus.-Nicosia. -.A Rising.-The King's person. Departure for Rhodes.-,A narrow escape from the Turks.-A great storm.-Arrival at Rhodes.-Death of the Grand Master.-Election of his successor.
CHAPTER XIII: Voyage to Constantinople.-Shipwreck.-Tafur is almost drowned.- A fight between Catalans and Genoese.-Two embassies arrive for the Emperor of the East.-Chios.-Troy.-The Dardanelles.- Pera.
CHAPTER XIV: Constantinople.-The EmperorJohn Palaeologus.-Tafur's family tree.-The story of the Fourth Crusade.-Tafur's reception at Court.-Departure of the Emperor for Europe.
CHAPTER XV: Adrianople.-Description of the Grand Turk.-The Black Sea.- Arrival at Trebizond.
CHAPTER XVI: Trebizond. – The Usurper. – Kaffa. – The slave-market. – Tafur purchases three slaves.-The Don.-The trade in caviare.-The Grand Khan.-The Tartars.
CHAPTER XVII: Return to Constantinople.-St. Sophia.-The Relics.-Statue of Constantine (Justinian).-.A Holy Picture.----The Hippodrome.-The Serpent Column.- A statue called The Just..-The Palace.-The Library: -The miserable condition of the city.-Summary Justice.-A feint by the Turks.-They are bought off.
CHAPTER XVIII: Brusa.-Pera.-Departure from Constantinople.-Tafur rescues some Christian slaves and is wounded.- Mytilene.-Salonica.-A great storm.-Ragusa.-Ancona.-Spalato-A sea monster.
CHAPTER XIX: Parenzo.-Return to Venice,-The fresh pilgrims.-Tafur's goods are seized and released by order of the Doge.-The ceremony of the Marriage of the Sea.-St. Mark's. treasure.-The Emperor Bar barossa and the Pope.
CHAPTER XX: Description of Venice.-The Gondolas.-St. Mark's.-The Campanile.-The government.-Provisions and trade.-Wealth of the common people. - Sanitary arrangements.- Rigorous administration of justice.-The Asenal.- A hospital for foundlings.-Scrupulous regard for money matters.-The possessions abroad.
CHAPTER XXI: Departure from Venice.-An engagement between the Venetians and the Milanese.-Ferrara.-Pope Eugenius and the Emperor of the East.-A meeting of the Council.-The Marquis Niccolo.-Parma.-Piacenza.-Milan.-Duke Filippo Maria Visconti.-The government.
CHAPTER XXII: The route for Germany.-Crossing the Alps.-The St. Gothard Pass.-Basle.-The Baths.-Schaffhausen.-Washing for gold.-Strassburg.-Precautions against fire.-Mainz.-The Rhine.- Coblenz. -Arrival at Cologne.
CHAPTER XXIII: Cologne.-The Inns.-Archbishop Dietrich von Murs.-The Cathedral.-A miracle in the Chapel of the Three Kings.-The Fair.-Journey down the Rhine.-The Duke of Cleves. -Nymegen.-Bois-le-duc.- Lila.-Malines.- Brussels.-Duke Philip the Good. -A hospitable Abbess.
CHAPTER XXIV: Bruges.-Arras.-Ghent.- Antwerp.
CHAPTER XXV: Louvain. -Bois-le-duc.-Nymegen.-Frankfurt.-Cologne.-Mainz.-The travellers are kidnapped and released.-Tafur loses his sword.-Basle.-A tourney at Schaffhausen.- Constance.-Ulm.-Nordlingen. - Kastpar Schlick. -Nuremberg. -Prague. -The Margrave.- Meissen.
CHAPTER XXVI: Breslau.-The Emperor Albert ll.-Life at court.- The King of Poland. -Breslau in winter.
CHAPTER XXVII: Departure from Breslau.-,Journey to Vienna.-Tafur is attacked by the way.-Yienna.-The Empress Elizabeth..-Buda.-Neuladt. -Duke Frederick of Austria.-The Carnic Alps.-Friuli, Treviso.-Padua.
CHAPTER XXVIII: Ferrara.-The Pope leaves for Florence.-Venice.-A great engineering feat. Vicenza.- Verona.-Florence.-The Pope and the Emperor. -Pisa.-Bologna.-Venice.
CHAPTER XXIX: The homeward journey.-Ravenna.-Brindisi.-The Straits of Messina. -The Sirens. Lipari Inlands.-Palermo.-Syracuse.-Moune Etna.-Tunis.-Sardinia.
TAFUR's travels were first printed in Madrid in 1874, and were edited by D. Marcos Jimenez de la Espada. The full title is: Andancas é Viajes de Pero Tafur por diversas partes del mundo avidos (1435-1439), and the work appeared as vol. 8 of the Coleccion de Libros Españoles raros ó curiosos. The editor used the only known manuscript from the library of the Colegio mayor de S. Bartolomé de Cuenca in Salamanca, now in the Biblioteca Patrimonial (sala 2a. J. pl. 4). This appears to be an early 18th century copy of an earlier manuscript. It is written on 911/2 folios, and preserves the spelling, the irregular punctuation, as well as the turns of speech current in the middle of the 15th century. It also shows the condition of the earlier manuscript, indicating by dots the blanks due to omissions of words or lines, or to damage due to careless handling or age. It may be inferred that this earlier manuscript was written in two columns, that about a third of a page was missing at the top of p. 1, which contained on one side the title of the book and half the prologue, and on the other the rest of the prologue, that a few lines of the text at the beginning were illegible and that the last page of the manuscript was missing, since the narrative breaks off abruptly. Calculating the missing portion by the space given in Clavijo's Embassy to the Court of Timour, 1403-1406, to the return journey from Sicily to Spain, Tafur's account of his voyage from Sardinia to the coast of Spain would not fill more than a page. No further manuscript has since been discovered, but much interesting information concerning Tafur himself has come to light since the original introduction was written. In an article published in 1902 in the Boletin de la Real academia de la Historia (vol, xli, pt. iv) D. Rafael Ramirez de Arellano has collected facts and documents which clear up a number of obscurities. He shows that Tafur was born in Cordova, not in Seville as he told the Sultan's chief interpreter at Cairo (see p. 72), and that he was the son of Juan Diaz Tafur, a native of Cordova. He seems to have been born about1410, so that he would be 25 years old, more or less, when he set out on his travels. Returning to Spain in 1439, Tafur settled down, and some time before 1452 he married Doña Juana de Horozco, but the exact date of the marriage is not known. There was issue of the marriage, a son, who appears to have predeceased his father, and three daughters. Doña Juana's will, executed in 1490, is printed in the article above referred to, and from that document it seems clear that Tafur died about 1484. He must have spent some time revising his narrative, and there are several indications in the document itself that he was busy with it between 1453 and 1457, but he also took a prominent part in local affairs and in the political disturbances of the period. He and his son both held office as aldermen in 1479. The earlier registers of the corporation of Cordova are not in existence, but Tafur's name appears regularly in the records for that year. He seems to have taken his duties very seriously and did not miss a single session. His name does not appear after 1479, but the registers are very incomplete. His signature from a document in the city archives is reproduced at the end of the article already mentioned, a fine specimen of character and flourish.
So much for the traveller. Before dealing with his experiences in Europe and the Near East, and tracing his itinerary, it may be well to note the period in which he was travelling, for he belongs for all practical purposes to the Middle Ages. When he was abroad the art of printing was still unknown. The New World was undiscovered, and scarcely a hint of the new learning was to be observed even in Italy. It was an age of disorder and darkness, of warfare and private feuds, of poverty of mind and expression which it is not now easy to realize. It is doubtful if any thought of change was in men's minds, although the world was changing steadily before their eyes. The Eastern Empire was rocking to its fall. Tafur had barely reached Constantinople when the Emperor and the Patriarch set sail upon their last desperate effort to reconcile the Churches, and obtain men and assistance in the struggle against the Turk. The history of their undertaking can be read in Gibbon, their portraits are preserved in Benozzo Gozzoli's frescoes in the Riccardi Palace, and some account of their life and state in Ferrara can be read in Tafur's later pages; but the Patriarch found a grave in Europe, and the Emperor returned to his decaying empire with empty hands to meet the angry denunciations of his people. In Europe the Church, which was just recovering from the Great Schism, was torn in sunder by the dissensions of the Council at Basle. The Pope was an exile. Italy was harassed and at cross-purposes, a prey to petty jealousies and selfish scheming. As for the Empire, it was in the greatest fate of confusion. The Emperor Sigismund had died without heirs before Tafur returned to Europe, and Albert of Hapsburg, his son-in-law, had succeeded to his dominions. Albert was a man of ability and character, and he made a great impression on Tafur, who was his guest at Breslau, but a year later he, too, was dead, and everything was once more in disorder. Tafur was prevented, by the plague which was raging, from visiting France; had he done so he would have found the country in a state of demoralization, and sadly devastated- by the wars of the fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries. Joan of Arc had been dead seven years; the English, having been deprived of the Burgundian alliance, had lost Paris and were shortly to be driven out of Rouen. In Tafur's own country affairs were such that they might well have kept him at home fighting with the King, his master. The prosperity and magnificence of the Court of Burgundy must have stood out in striking contrast to the misery and unrest elsewhere. Philip the Good was rising to the apex of his power, and had already laid the foundations of what was later to become the mightiest and wealthiest monarchy known to the West in the fifteenth century. Of the splendour of Philip's Court, and of the wealth and prosperity of Bruges, Antwerp and Ghent, there is ample evidence in Tafur's pages. Here, indeed, was a land of promise, but elsewhere the impression left on the reader is one of disorder, violence, suffering and unrest.
Tafur left Spain in the latter part of 1435 with at least two squires. His first undertaking was to join his kinsman, Don Enrique de Guzman, Count of Niebla, in an attack on the Moorish stronghold of Gibraltar. The attempt, which was unsuccessful, cost Don Enrique his life, and the traveller was obliged to return with the discomfited troops to San Lucar. Tafur then embarked in a ship-one of a convoy of three-which was bound for Genoa, and after visiting Ceuta he sailed for Malaga which was then in the hands of the Moors. In the Gulf of Lyons a violent storm arose which carried two of the ships far out to sea, but Tafur's vessel managed to keep to its course, and on Christmas Day 1435 he reached Nice. When the traveller arrived at Genoa he was thoroughly worn out. He seems to have had some kind of mystical experience during the storm, or it may have been the result of sheer terror, but he certainly reached land in a very devout and chastened frame of mind. He became involved almost at once in litigation with certain merchants who refused to honour his bills of exchange, but he had powerful friends, and the defaulters were brought to book. Tafur describes Genoa in considerable detail with not a few historical touches. He was there during the rising against the Duke of Milan which took place at the end of December 1435, but he was able to pass out in safety. The condottiere Niccolo Piccinino sent him into Portovenere where he took ship for Leghorn, passing on by way of Pisa to Florence and Bologna. Here he found the exiled Pope Eugenius IV, who blessed him and gave him leave to proceed to the Holy Land. We next find our traveller at Venice, but as no pilgrim ships were available until Ascension, Tafur filled up the interval of waiting by visiting other parts of Italy.
During Lent he was in Rome, an experience which must have been something of a penance in itself, for Rome in 1436 cannot have been a very pleasant place. The buildings and houses had fallen into decay: the streets, reduced in some cases to marshes or filled with rubbish, were hardly passable. A show of greatness was attempted by means of empty ceremonies and celebrations, but some idea of the actual condition of the city may be gathered from the fact that when Tafur was there wild beasts were breeding in the caves and waste spaces. The traveller picked his way through the narrow streets and busied himself with the churches and relics; he has left us, within limits, an interesting description of Old St. Peter's, but as for the antiquities, irreparable damage had been done, he tells us, by foreign kings who had sacked the city, and by Pope Gregory the Great who, seeing that the pilgrims coming to Rome for the good of their souls had their pious thoughts disturbed by the sight of so much magnificence, took upon himself to throw down what time and the hand of man had spared-a story which impressed Tafur to such an extent that he repeats it three times. Tafur now passed on to Viterbo, Perugia and Assisi. At Gubbio he resorted to an extraordinary subterfuge (the need for which I am at a loss to understand) in order to obtain an audience with Count Guid' Antonio da Montefeltro, a pious man, who treated him with great kindness, and on Ascension Day 14.36 he sailed for the East.
Life at Jerusalem at this time must have been an extremely profitable business for the infidel, as most Christians found to their cost. Like other pilgrims, Tafur paid the fees due from one of his rank, and gazed with the eye of faith upon the innumerable holy places, the Sepulchre itself, the spot called Compas, which Our Lord signified as the centre of the earth, the houses of the Virgin Mary, of Pilate and Caiaphas, the palace of David, the place where the Apostles composed the Creed, and Christ the Lord's Prayer, the tree on which Judas hanged himself, and the place of Peter's denial.: (the very stone on which the cock stood to crow was shown, although Tafur does not mention it). He visited Bethlehem, and inspected the well into which the star of the Magi fell; from Jericho he reached the Jordan, where he bathed, and where a German gentleman of the party unfortunately got.drowned, and on the shores of the Dead Sea he sampled the pleasant-looking but bitter Dead Sea fruit. When the travellers were ascending the mountain Quarantana, where Our Lord was tempted of the devil, a second mishap befell them, for a squire of France, going to the assistance of a lady, lost his foothold and, falling from a great height, was dashed in pieces on the rock below. Further trouble awaited them at the church on the site where Lazarus was raised from the dead, for here a quarrel arose with the officer in charge, who demanded tribute. This was refused, whereupon the officer and his men attacked the party and wounded some of them. The pilgrims and their guard retaliated and, capturing their assailants, carried them to a place not far off, where they found the Governor of Jerusalem, who chopped off the upstart officer's head without more ado. These events cannot be said to have damped the ardour of the pilgrims, or even to have affected their spirits. A dead squire, a decapitated soldier, or a drowned German gentleman were matters for comment possibly, but not for concern. Tafur relates the circumstances with complete detachment, and then placidly resumes his sightseeing. Job's dunghill, a considerable attraction in earlier days, seems by this time to have disappeared, for the pilgrims did not continue their journey to the Land of Uz, but returned at once to Jerusalem.
Not content with his previous adventures, Tafur now disguised himself as a Moor and penetrated into the Mosque of Omar, an extremely foolish proceeding which might well have cost him his life, for any Jew or Gentile found therein would certainly have been killed at sight. He was also anxious to visit the monastery of St. Catherine on Mount Sinai, a very perilous undertaking, but a caravan had just departed and he was advised to return to Cyprus and obtain a safe-conduct to Cairo, from which place he could make the journey. Cyprus at this time was almost at the end of its greatness. Famagusta was in the possession of Genoa, and the island was under the rule of the weak and vicious Janus III, whose father had been for fifteen months a prisoner in Egypt, and whose main business in life seemed to be the raising of the heavy tribute payable to the Sultan which was his inheritance. Any one travelling from Cyprus to Cairo might be pre- sumed to be carrying treasure for the Sultan, and was therefore not likely to be molested, and Tafur had no difficulty in obtaining a commission from the King, armed with which he set out for Cairo. At Damietta he found the place overrun with weasels, and preserving contact with the court at Cairo by means of carrier pigeons. Here he had an experience which nearly cost him his life, for certain Moors accused him of being a spy, and it was probably the recollection of this escape which made him anxious on one or two occasions afterwards to conceal his identity. He gives us a remarkably accurate description of the habits of the crocodile, which he calls cocatriz, and from hearsay a less satisfactory account of the hippopotamus.
At Cairo he made friends at once with the Sultan's chief interpreter, a renegade Jew of Seville, and it seems clear that in order to secure this highly-placed official's good-will, Tafur claimed to be his fellow citizen, although there is little doubt that he was born in Cordova. In any event, he obtained a very valuable friend who received him in his house and showered kindnesses upon him. Tafur had audience with the Sultan and carried through successfully the business with which he was entrusted. Then, after seeing the sights of Cairo and visiting the Pyramids, he set off for Mount Sinai. It was a terrible experience: the travellers were gievously afflicted by sand and heat, and the journey occupied fifteen days. While there Tafur conceived the idea of journeying on to India. He discussed the project with the Prior, who told him that a caravan from the East was due in a few days and advised him to await its arrival before making any plans. When it came it brought with it a very famous traveller, Nicolo de' Conti, whose fame in after years was second only to that of Marco Polo. Here again Tafur thought it necessary to descend to subterfuge, for when they met he told de' Conti that he was an Italian. De Conti quite obviously did not believe him, whereupon Tafur, perceiving him to be a grave and discreet person, allowed the truth to be known. De' Conti persuaded Tafur to desist from his proposal and entertained him with the story of his adventures. Not being on oath, as he was later when he was beguiling the Papal Secretary, Poggio, he added a number of highly coloured details which Tafur swallowed with the greatest relish. Tafur returned with the caravan to Cairo, the trials of the journey being entirely forgotten in the delight of listening to de' Conti's narrative, and from Cairo Tafur visited Alexandria. He then returned to Cyprus to give an account of his stewardship. He was extremely well received, and had the climate been better, it is probable that he would have taken service there, and we should have lost the rest of a very valuable narrative of travel. Tafur now sailed for Rhodes and very nearly lost his life. His ship was attacked by Moors, who sank the cargo boat which was following and drowned the crew. Tafur's vessel slipped away in the darkness, but it was a near thing. At Rhodes he found the Grand Master dying and was able to witness the election of his successor. The ceremony is described in detail and should be of great value to any future historian of the Order. Another adventure awaited the traveller in the island of Chios, for here he suffered shipwreck and was left for some time in the water, clinging to a piece of wreckage, and it was only with great difficulty that he could be rescued. He then visited the site of Troy, and finally reached Contantinople some time in November 1437. Tafur believed himself to have been descended from the Emperors of the East; and immediately on arrival he sought audience with the Emperor, John VIII Palaeologus, and endeavoured to unravel the mysteries of the family tree; but the Emperor, who was reigning in something like subjection to the Turks, had other things to think of. He was just setting out for Europe on an attempt to, unite the Churches and to obtain supplies, and he endeavoured to persuade Tafur to accompany him. But this was not at all what the traveller had in mind, and he set out at once for the Turkish headquarters, to see the Grand Turk, Amurath II, himself. He was well received, and took careful note of the Potentate's state and person. He describes him as serious in aspect, about forty-five years of age, of a goodly stature and handsome - a description which contrasts oddly with that of another traveller, who calls him a little, short, thick man, with the physiognomy of a Tartar! We next find the traveller at Trebizond as the guest of John IV Comnenus, who had only recently murdered his father and buried him with great pomp. He had further taken an infidel to wife, and was altogether not the kind of person to appeal to an orthodox Spaniard; so Tafur left him to his fate and sailed for Kaffa, the chief base of Genoese trade in the Black Sea, and the greatest Catholic colony in partibus infidelium. It was a busy, bustling place, larger than Seville, and full of strange sights. Here were merchants bartering with strangers from the Far East, for silks and spices, gold and jewels, furs, skins, and queer, unfamiliar beasts from the unknown; for Kaffa was on the great commercial route from the Bosphorus to the Don and the Volga, and was thus in direct communication with China and Central Asia. In the slave market Tafur purchased a man and two girls, whom he carried back with him to Spain. He visited the headquarters of the Grand Khan and seems to have entertained the idea of penetrating farther into Tartary; but wiser counsels prevailed, and he returned to Contantinople and civilization.
The picture of Contantinople preserved in Tafur's pages is a very sad one. The streets were dirty and neglected. The Imperial Palace was half ruined, and the people were vicious, badly clothed and poverty-stricken. Continuously threatened by the Turks, neglected by the West, its majesty decayed and its life eaten up with corruption, the city's greatness was nothing but a memory. Tafur visited and described the churches and holy places, but without much enthusiasm. Even the serpent column failed to move him. Possibly he did not know its history. Had he done so he might well have paused before a monument which, alone amidst disruption and decay, seemed still to hold some fading memories of the glory that was passed, and which was so soon to witness another as in the age-long struggle between East and West. Even while Tafur was there the Turks made a feint of attacking, and had to be bought off with presents, but the time for presents was almost over. Twenty years later this city of the Caesars and the Church, most gallantly but hopelessly defended, passed into the hands of the infidel. Tafur now sailed for Venice and turned his attention to Europe. During the voyage he persuaded the ship's captain to land a boat in the Dardanelles to rescue some Christian slaves, and in the fighting which ensued he was wounded. Nor was his wound healed until he reached Basle. Once more he was nearly wrecked, and there is a very human touch in his remark that had he reached the mainland instead of an island, nothing would have induced him to put to sea again. He landed safely in Venice on Ascension Day 1438, just two years after he had set out. Here he encountered other Spanish pilgrims who were sailing for the Holy Land, and after a dispute with the Customs authorities, who had confiscated his goods and slaves, he settled down to explore the city. Most of us would give a good deal to have seen Venice in the fifteenth century, and Tafur's enthusiasm is very catching. He witnessed the "Marriage of the Sea," informed himself on matters of government and history, and was delighted with the gondolas. The city, he tells us, was as clean and pleasant as a large room. It was well paved and bricked, so that in winter there was no mud, and in summer no dust. The sanitary arrangements were primitive in the extreme, but spices and sweet-smelling scents could be purchased everywhere, and the people carried them constantly in their hands to counteract the evil odours. Tafur visited the arsenal, and saw ten galleys completely fitted out while they were being towed past the windows of the storehouses. Every article was handed out of its special window and stowed away, and by the time the boats had reached the end of the dock they had on board their full complement of men and stores, and were equipped from end to end and ready for the sea. It is not claiming too much to say that Tafur's description of Venice is one of the most important that has come down to us. Tafur now left his goods at Venice and set off in earnest upon his European travels. At Ferrara he encountered the Pope and the Emperor of the East (the latter was suffering from a bad attack of gout). He attended a sitting of the Council, shaved off his beard, dined at the Emperor's table and relates in distressing detail the tragic domestic upheaval which deprived the reigning Marquis at once of his wife and heir. At Milan he contrived to have speech with Filippo Maria Visconti, who as a rule denied himself to every stranger. Then, crossing by the St. Gothard Pass, he reached Basle, where the remnant of the Council was still sitting. At the Baths he was healed of his wound and watched the ladies disporting themselves in the water, as Poggio had done before him. He then passed down the Rhine, which he describes as the most beautiful stretch of river in the world, to Cologne. Here he was received by the Archbishop, Dietrich von Mors, who showed him the sights, the castles, monasteries, and churches, and introduced him to the great people of the city. The cathedral, still unfinished, must have looked much as it does in Memlinc's shrine of St. Ursula, but every- one was talking of a wonderful miracle which had happened a few days previously in the chapel of the Three Kings. A large stone had fallen, whilst it was being lifted, directly over the spot where the bodies were lying, whereupon the whole chapel took one step to the right, and the stone fell upon the ground, leaving the sacred bodies uninjured. From Cologne the traveller passed on to the Low Countries, visiting Malines and Brussels, where he was most graciously received by Duke Philip the Good. The small boy running to and fro was Charles the Bold, whose ex- travagant schemes of conquest and whose tragic death were later to break up his dominions, and throw his people into the arms of Austria and Spain. Tafur gives an interesting picture of the magnificence of the Court of Burgundy. He was received by the Bastard of St. Pol, one of the foremost soldiers of his day, and such grandeur and pomp Tafur had never seen before. The town was filled with great folk. Every day there were pageants, tourneys and feats of skill. The Duchess was beautiful and gracious beyond compare, and as for the Duke, he was a most noble prince, of great virtue, very handsome of face and. figure, and, moreover, as gallant of manner as might be. Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp all greatly impressed the traveller. Indeed, his descriptions of Bruges, still almost at the height of its prosperity, and of its harbour at Sluys, are by far the most detailed and valuable which have so far been discovered.
A curious adventure now befell the traveller. He was journeying along the Rhine, in company with a number of prelates who were returning to the Council at Basle, when in the neighbourhood of Mainz they were seized by a nobleman, who had his own views of the proceedings of the Council, and all were carried off to an adjoining castle. Here they suffered the closest confinement for fourteen days, although the hospitality shown them was lavish. Indeed, we gather that Tafur had to sit up night after night, drinking and carousing with his captors, until his digestion was seriously impaired. At last the prisoners were set at liberty, but now came the crowning scandal. Tafur had been disarmed by a knight specially imported for the occasion, and the base fellow had mislaid his sword. The outraged nobleman blazed and thundered, invoked the heavens, and poured forth his wrath upon his captor and all his household. Finally, as he was shaking off the dust from his feet preparatory, it would seem, to returning to Spain to fetch an army and lay waste the lands of the miscreant Duke, a retainer rode up with the trusty sword, and all was well once more. Tafur now made his way in the direction of Prague to pay his respects to Albert II, the King of the Romans. He was not there, but was found eventually at Breslau, on the very outskirts of civilization, where the travellers arrived at Christmas, 1438. Tafur was received with great respect. Albert paid him every attention, finding partners for him at the Court ball and holding the candle to him on several occasions, and eventually investing him with the Order of the Dragon. It was not without difficulty that Tafur could obtain licence to depart; but at last he was suffered to do so, and, carrying with him a silver bowl as a present, he set out for Vienna in company with a party of knights. The journey was a very trying one, and the cold was so intense that Tafur's teeth almost fell out of his mouth. At a short distance from Vienna Tafur left the main party and proceeded alone with his servants. They were attacked almost at once by two noblemen, with intent to rob if not to murder, and it was only due to their excellent horses that the travellers contrived to escape. Later that day, while Tafur was supping at his inn, who should ride up but the selfsame marauding noble men. Tafur at once demanded an explanation, which was readily given. They were loth to have caused him any inconvenience, they said, but they were poor noble men, and how could they exit if not by violence and robbery ? Tafur pointed out that he, too, was a noble man and poor, and was, moreover, a stranger in the midst of them. The gentlemen of the road thereupon humbled themselves and craved pardon, suggesting, very naively, that they should depart and rob someone else in order to pay the expenses of Tafur's entertain- ment at the inn! It says much for our traveller's good nature, and his views of the sacred obligations of knight- hood, that attackers and attacked were soon seated at the same table eating their meal together at the charge of the latter. At Vienna Tafur paid his respects to Albert's con- sort, Elizabeth, the daughter of the Emperor Sigis- mund. She instructed certain of her gentlemen to entertain him, and once more invested him with the Order of the Dragon, stating that the Order was at her disposal alone, as the daughter of the Emperor, and that her husband had no authority to bestow it, a nice point of domestic precedence which was no doubt hotly debated between the spouses. A lady of Eliza- beth's force of character, who, a year later, widowed and desolate, could steal the sacred crown of Hungary and cause it to be set on the head of her newly born son, was not likely to give up readily any dignity which attached to her in right of her house. Travelling now by way of Buda and Neustadt, where he encountered the future Emperor and father of Maximilian, Frederick III, Tafur crossed the Carnic Alps and came once more to Ferrara. The Pope and the Emperor. of the East were just about to depart for Florence, and we have a striking description of the Papal progress, or rather flight, for Piccinino's troops were patrolling the roads. Tafur then travelled to Venice in time to witness one of the most marvellous engineering feats of any age, namely the transporting of 25 barks and 6 galleys across the Tyrolese Alps to the Lago di Garda. He paid a flying visit to Florence, and finally took ship for his own country, where he arrived in March or April 1439. What are the main features which stand out from this really extraordinary narrative? Chiefly, I think, the commercial instincts of the traveller, his businesslike methods, and his vivid and intimate descriptions of the great trading centres of Europe and the Near East. Tafur, for all his claims to Imperial descent and his views on the obligations of his rank, was more interested in trade than in anything else. As for the cities he visited, they were well walled and ditched, as large as Valladolid, or Seville, or Cordova. The comparisons hardly ever vary, but place him in a commercial centre such as Kaffa, Pera, Venice, Bruges, Ghent or Antwerp, and his interest is awakened at once. That he was well supplied with this world's goods is clear, but one suspects that his ancestors made their money by trading. At a time when many of the nobility could scarcely sign their names, Tafur had been trained to write with fluency and effect. He had correspondents all over the world upon whom he could draw bills at sight. He remarks again and again upon the benefits of the system, and applauds especially the honesty of the Venetians, who would pay a fellow-trader's debts rather than allow him to default. Prof. Pirenne in the index to his Histoire de Belgique by a strange slip refers to Tafur as a Spanish merchant. Possibly he was not so far from the truth. One feels that our hidalgo could have written an excellent treatise on bills of exchange.
Tafur was not lacking in personal courage. Much fighting had familiarized him with death. He risked his life in the Mosque of Omar; he effected a very gallant rescue of Christian slaves in the Dardanelles; he could speak his mind with almost foolhardy directness to the usurping Emperor of Trebizond, and he told the Sultan's chief interpreter at Cairo in no uncertain terms. what he thought of his master's ideas of justice. Added to this Tafur always makes light of his own misfortunes and never grumbles. His outlook is quite simple and human. There is something rather moving in his avowal, after the terrors of a storm at sea, that until then he had not known God. He saved the life of a boatswain who should have been hanged at the yard-arm, and his conduct at Sluys, where a poor woman offered him her two daughters for a little bread, stamps him as a very courteous and gallant gentleman. Like other travellers he tells us much that is valueless, and at times omits the very things we desire most to know, but his style, though stilted, has warmth and colour, and we could ill spare his pictures of life long since passed away.
Of the people he met he was undoubtedly most impressed by the Turks, the Venetians, and the Flemings. France he did not visit. England, except for two or three stray references, might never have existed.
HERE begins the prologue addressed to the most noble and virtuous Señor Don Fernando de Guzman, Chief Commander of the Order of Calatrava, composed by Pero Tafur upon the treatise which he wrote of his travels and voyages in different parts of the world.
The state of knighthood, O most virtuous Señor, had ever a beginning, but is, indeed, more lasting than any other virtuous office, for the exercise thereof is more appropriate to the noble, and virtue itself is the chief and surest foundation of nobility. A man may be called noble so long as he follows the customs of his predecessors, who not departing from deeds of virtue, gave promise of the continuance of prowess, thus deserving to become the leaders and rulers of men . . . . From the practice of travelling into foreign lands a man may reasonably hope to attain proficiency in that which prowess demands. Thus hidalgos may grow stout-hearted where, being unknown, they are beset by hardship and peril, striving to show themselves worthy of their ancestors, and by their own deeds to make their virtues known to strangers. Moreover, if by good fortune they escape the perils of the way and return to their native land once more, they may from their experience of different forms of government, and the contrasting qualities of various nations, acquire knowledge of what is most conducive to the public weal and the establishment thereof, which should be the chief endeavour of him who would avoid the name of enemy to what is noble. Therefore, for these and other reasons, and especially in view of the truce between our lord the King Don Juan and the Moors, our natural enemies, I having both time and opportunity to visit various parts of the world, set forth upon my journey for the attainment of these ends . . . .
I would fain refine that which is gross, and being of your house and lineage, and likewise knowing that such compendiums and writings are agreeable to you, and serve to refresh you after the troubles and anxieties inflicted on your gentle spirit by these restless times; therefore, my most noble Señor, be pleased to read my work and hear the hardships I have suffered in various parts of the world. Accept with love this humble present, in which, knowing, as I do, your true nobility; you will, I trust, find some diversion; the more so since he who sends it has sought and will ever seek with lasting devotion to do you pleasure.
[TAFUR'S SIGNATURE FROM A DOCUMENT PRESERVED IN THE ARCHIVES AT CORDOVA.]
CHAPTER I: Departure from San Lucar.-The Count of Niebla.-The attack on Gibraltar.-Gibraltar.-Return to San Lucar.-Cadiz.-The Barbary Coast.-Ceuta. Malaga.-Cartagena.-The Balearic Isles.-Gulf of Lyons.-_A great storm.-The Riviera.-Genoa.
WE set sail and left the harbour of San Lucar de Barrameda. I travelled in a ship of Galicia, as I had already made preparations for my departure and had no horses and other things necessary for a land journey. That day and the night following we sailed on, and doubling Cape Trafalgar we entered the Straits, and at daylight we reached the promontory of Carnero at the entrance to Gibraltar. We anchored close to the town and saw there a great number of ships and a galley of the King, all of which had come with the Count of Niebla. We found that the Count was encamped about half a league from Gibraltar with 1200 horsemen and 5000 foot soldiers, and his son was there with him. I disembarked and went to see the Count, and he was delighted to meet me, and marvelled how I had been able to come, in view of my recent illness. He took counsel with his knights and told them the reason for his being there, which before had been kept secret. The undertaking was to be as follows. He had been told that in Gibraltar there were not ten Moors who were fighting men, whereas to defend so great a fortress not even a thousand would be sufficient, and that it could be taken by assault. He proposed to muster his horsemen at the entrance which is on land, while he with his men-at-arms launched an attack close to the dockyard, on the side of the mountain where King Alfonso entered. His son Don Juan was to march against the tower of Tuerto, which is on the mountain. This was to be from the sea. Meanwhile the Biscayans with their ships and the galley were to attack the Casal de Ginoveses which is at the very summit of the mountain.
So he ordered everything, and the next day after Mass each one went to his station. We then set out and drew near to the town, and at low water we all disembarked and moved towards the wall, but that day we did not carry up our artillery, because this was only a test to see how many men were there to defend the place. Nevertheless, as soon as we came up to the wall, fifteen or twenty of our men were killed at once. And we were so occupied that we did not observe how the tide was rising, and we were soon up to our knees in water. As we could do nothing, not having brought our artillery, the Count gave orders to sound the retreat to the sea. The men retired to the boats, but the Count remained behind collecting the others. As he was making for the last boat, with ten or twelve knights who had remained on shore with him, it became clear to the enemy that only a small party was left, and that the others had withdrawn without any orders having been given to cover the retreat with cross-bows and artillery, and that all were taking to the water, and that the last boat was leaving. The Moors thereupon dashed out with horsemen to the number of twenty, with as many foot-soldiers, and as they came up at. a gallop, the boat, which was small and heavily laden, capsized, and the Count and all those with him were drowned. Meanwhile the other engagements were proceeding, and the rest of the men had as much work as they could do, except the horsemen on the shore who had no one to fight with. So very sadly, with the loss of so noble a leader both on sea and land, we returned to Castile to San Lucar from which place we had set out. Gibraltar is a very strong fortress and famous all the world over. It stands at the mouth of the Straits where the Atlantic Ocean joins the Mediterranean Sea, and it is a very fruitful place. The town commands the entrance to the mainland which is very narrow, and it is about a league from there to the top of the rock. It is very well walled, with orchards, vines and excellent water, and it lies very low on the edge of the sea. Behind it stands the rock which is so high that it seems to reach to the clouds. It rises straight up, and although it looks formidable from the west, it is seen to greater advantage from the east. The harbour, which is very secure, is made by an arm of the sea which runs inland as far as Algeciras, three leagues distant, and the whole way is good anchorage. Leaving there, we sailed through the Straits in view of Cape Tarifa and past Cadiz and other places on the coast, and entered the harbour of Barrameda at San Lucar, where they received us with less lightness of heart than at our departure. I then collected the things I had prepared and put myself aboard a carack owned by Geronimo de Voltajo, who had come from Genoa with two other ships belonging to Esteban Doria and Geronimo Doria, and they had troops to defend them for fear of the Catalans, and most of the Genoese who were in Seville sailed in them, for they carried great riches. We left the harbour of Cadiz and came to the coast of Barbary, to a town called Arzila, where we had to discharge and take fresh cargo. This town is close to the Cape of Espartel. It belongs to the King of Fez and had then as governor a Moorish knight, called Calabencala. It is a very fruitful place, but abounds more in animals and fowls than in anything else. We remained there three days. Then we set sail and entered the Straits of Gibraltar, and at the hour of Vespers we espied two large ships which we took to be the Catalans, and we turned back and anchored off Tangier, but they passed by on their way to Cadiz. The next day we departed and came to Ceuta, where we, learned from a Biscayan vessel that those two caracks belonged to the Genoese fleet, and that they came from Genoa to accompany the three of us. We anchored at Ceuta and disembarked, and hailed a sloop and sent letters to Cadiz saying that the caracks should await us there, or that at least they would find us at Malaga, where we had to discharge and take fresh cargoes. That day we remained at Ceuta, and I went about inspecting the city and its surroundings which appeared to me to be very excellent. It showed itself to have been a great place and, without doubt, if the King of Castile owned it and caused it to be embellished, it would, in view of its situation, be one of the most notable places in the world. The soil is generally fruitful, although it is rugged and the country mountainous, but there is a good harbour and much land, and fruit and water are abundant. What is left of the city is sufficiently strong. There is on one side on the mountain a rocky place surrounded by a wall, called El Alminan, which would be very remarkable if it were what it ought to be. In these mountains of Ceuta there are more lions than in any other part of the world, and porcupines, apes, panthers, bears and pigs without number. They say that it is doubtful if there is any place so high and mountainous on the African side. This is said to arise from its nearness to the Weft on the side of the Straits (sic).
We departed from Ceuta, and leaving Africa on the right hand, and having Europe on the left, we sailed through the Straits and entered the open sea, and continued along the coast until we anchored on the shore of Malaga, a city belonging to the King of Granada. There the merchants landed and discharged their cargoes and took others. We remained there nine days, and while we were there those caracks arrived which had passed us, and put their men on board our ships and took in merchandise, and returned to Cadiz for more to take to Flanders. During those nine days we had nothing to do but to admire the city of Malaga which impressed me favourably, both as regards its situation, though it has no port, and its soil, though there is a scarcity of bread; but what there is is good. And there is no shortage of orchards and fruit. The city is flat, for the most part walled, with a castle on either hand and a walled passage running from one to the other which they call Gibralfar. It is full of trade, and if it belonged to us it would be better. But all kinds of merchandise would have to go in from our country, which would never be suffered in any place held by the Moors. The sea flows up to the walls, in such wise that a fleet of galleys could throw out landing stages on to flat land. For the part towards the sea is very low-lying, although it is well defended on its landward side. There are many people there, but rather of the merchant class than skilled in war. After nine days at Malaga the Genoese collected their goods and armed the ships and set them in order or they had to coast from headland to headland along the country of the King of Aragon. Sailing onwards, we followed the coast of Granada, past Salobreña, Almuñecar, and Almeria, until we reached Cartagena which is in our country. We entered the harbour, and remained there one day, awaiting news of the Catalans. It is one of the finest harbours, in my judgment, in the world, and the town is excellent. We departed and sailed along the coast of Aragon, by Elche and Alicante, until we came near to Valencia, and there we had advices to leave the coast and take to the open sea. The next day, leaving the coast, we came close to the island of Iviça, belonging to the King of Aragon. So continuing our route, leaving Cataluña and Barcelona on the left hand, we passed the islands of Majorca and Minorca, which belong to the King of Aragon, and entered the Gulf of Lyons, which is so called as one goes out from it, but at the going in it is called the Gulf of Narbonne.
One day at Vespers such a violent storm arose that we ran before it all that night, and the next day we were far away. The two large caracks were driven under bare poles towards Sardinia, and it was two months before we had news of them, but our ship, which still had its main-sail, although but little of it remained, kept close to the island of Titan, as they call it, off the coast of Provence. This day and the following night we were in constant peril and had much labour, but we ran on and the next day we came to Nice. It was Christmas Eve, and we anchored there and repaired our sails. We then departed and came to Savona, a pleasant city, belonging to Genoa, and remained there for Christmas Day. The following day we set sail, and keeping close inland we passed along the sea-shore, forty miles from Genoa, which is the most beautiful sight in the world. To one who does not know it, the whole coast from Savona to Genoa looks like one continuous city, so well inhabited is it, and so thickly studded with houses.
CHAPTER II: Genoa.-Litigation with certain merchants.-San Lorenzo.- Genoese possessions abroad.-The inhabitants-.A rising.-Sestri Levante. -Portavenere.-Spezia.-Lerici.-Pietrasanta.-Leghorn.-The vessel taken by the Count of Modica.-Niccolo Piccinino.-Pisa. Florence.-Pistoia. Bologna.-Pope Eugenius.-Ferrara.-Bills of Exchange.-Venice.
WE entered the harbour of Genoa close by the Mole, and were very cheerfully received both by men and women, but they were very sad at the fate of the caracks, as no one knew what had become of them. We disembarked, but before entering the city we went half a league from there to the church of Nuestra Dona que Corona, according to the vow which we had made during the storm. I then took a lodging for the fifteen days that I had to remain in Genoa, and, indeed, I had need of repose, for I was overcome with fatigue, and unhappy, and sea-sick, and quite out of conceit with myself, and this was the first time that I began to know God. For some days I was engaged in litigation with certain merchants who would not honour some bills of exchange which I had. But the Doge and many of the lords of the place showed me much honour and favour, and made the merchants pay me what was mine, with double the costs which they had put me to. This city is very ancient. They say that it was founded by Janus Prince of Troy, after the destruction of that city, and, indeed, it seems to have been the work of a defeated man, for it is placed upon a very high mountain above the sea, and all the houses are like towers of four or five storeys or more, while the streets are very narrow and difficult of access. The soil is very unproductive, but the people are industrious , and they import provisions from all parts of the world, so that the city is as well supplied as if the land were fruitful. There is an excellent harbour, as well as a mole with a tower and lighthouse, which burns all night, and on the other side of the harbour there is another very high tower, also with a light, so that the entry to the harbour may be known to everyone. All this has been made at great cost. The monasteries are very notable, as are also the churches. The great church is called San Lorenzo, and it is very remarkable, particularly the porch. They keep in it the Holy Grai1, which is made of a single emerald and is indeed a marvellous relic. This city with all its patrimony is ruled by the people, and by their industry and wisdom they have acquired many cities and towns and castles on the mainland, and many islands in the sea. They own Chios and Mytilene, and in the island of Cyprus they own the city called Famagusta, which they took when they captured the King of Cyprus and carried him to Genoa, both him and his wife. The father of this present King was born there in the Pharos tower, and was called Janus, as he was born in Genoa. They also own Pera, a city which adjoins Constantinople, and a city called Kaffa at the end of the Black Sea, as large or greater than Seville, and in the Sea of Azov they have fortresses, and others in Turkey.
The nation is very powerful at sea, its caracks in particular are the best in the world, and had it not been for the great dissensions which the people have had amongst themselves, their dominion would have extended throughout the world. The inhabitants are very industrious and without vice, nor are they addicted to sensual pleasures, for which the nature of the country is unfavourable. They are very wealthy and orderly. In matters of dress they see to it that if anyone is more richly clad than is necessary, he or she is taxed. They are of a very beautiful complexion, but not handsome of face, although both men and women are well grown, and they value the women by size: the tallest has the smallest dowry. Widows do not take a second husband, and if they do they suffer in their reputation. In the troubles which the people have had, the Duke of Milan entered the city as ruler with one of the factions, and while I was there the people rose against the Duke and killed one of his captains who was stationed there, who was called Pacino de Alciato, and they destroyed his castle which was near the city. There they showed me the dreadful prison, in which were kept those knights who had been taken by the Kings of Aragon and Navarre. In the sea at Genoa there are few fish, and those very small. Without doubt, if the men of other nations were such travellers throughout the world as are the Genoese, and were so long separated from their homes, the chastity of their wives would be much endangered. But here they value their morals so highly that a woman is hardly ever taken in adultery. If such a thing occurs the penalty is always death.
I departed from Genoa and travelled along the coast, which is thickly inhabited, to Sestri Levante, and from there I came to Portovenere. On that day the people had risen against the Duke of Milan and the King of Aragon, the Duke having given the place to the King. It is an excellent port, with an island in front of it which affords it great protection. The town is very strongly fortified with two castles, the first at one end and the second at the other. From there we sailed to Spezia, a large town belonging to Genoa, and thence to Lerici, a great fortress of the King of Aragon. We next came to Pietrasanta, and at the hour of Vespers we arrived outside Leghorn, the port of Pisa. The Count of Modica had arrived there from Naples with fourteen galleys, and he took our ship and sent to the galleys all those Genoese who had come in it. To me, on the other hand, he showed much honour, and desired me to depart at once, but certain Catalan knights informed him that I should be in great peril from the armed men in those parts, who were in the pay of the Count Francesco, a man much in favour with the Genoese who was now captain of. the Florentines. The Count heard from me how that the town of Portovenere had risen against the King of Aragon, and that Nicolao Pichilino was there with his men, and I returned with him to Lerici. We found the castle in safe keeping, but the town was in revolt, and the rebels plundered it and attacked Spezia and Portovenere by land and sea, but they could not take them, although they laid waste the countryside. The Count of Modica and Nicolao Pichilino then sent me into Portovenere, and gave me four Genoese prisoners to ensure my good treatment. When I arrived at Portovenere, where I was known, I found a vessel and sailed in it for Leghorn, and entering the river of Pisa I arrived at the city. It is possible at high tide for galleys to reach the walls. Pisa was at one time very powerful and rich, and had many possessions, not only on the land, but among the islands, but now the Pisans are subjugated to the Florentines, whose masters they were. Leaving Pisa I came to Florence, ten leagues from that place, travelling through a very fruitful country and by large villages which had, however, been much depopulated in the Pisan wars. Florence is a city both great and rich, and exceedingly beautiful within and without. It is situated in a plain with extensive suburbs on either side. A river runs through the centre which reaches to Pisa. But I will not write much of this city, as I shall speak of it later.
From Florence I crossed the Alps to Pistoia, passing through many villages, and came to Bologna, where I found Pope Eugenius, and here I was received with great honour by the Castilians who were there, by the prelates as well as by the knights who bore me company when I craved licence from the Pope to go to Jerusalem. This he gave me readily with his blessing. He gave me also a Bull of plenary absolution at the hour of death. I remained there fifteen days, resting myself and watching the festivities with which both noblemen and citizens diverted themselves. It was the middle of winter, when the people are accustomed to amuse themselves and celebrate their weddings. The city accounts itself part of Lombardy. It is very large, well populated, and supplied with all the necessities of life, for which reason it is called Bologna the Fat. The houses and streets are most remarkable; the inns are excellent and the churches and monasteries very fine indeed. Among the latter is the monastery of St. Dominic the Preacher, where the body of the Saint is buried. This blessed one was a native of Castile of the lineage of Guzman on his father's side and of those of Ana on his mother's side, and the Master Don Luis de Guzman, being of the same lineage, sent to his majordomo, Pedro de Guzman, who was am bassador to the Pope and attached to the embassy of King Juan, desiring him to visit the place where St. Dominic was buried and to expend a certain sum of money there, which he gave him for the purpose, and he did so. I saw the chapel and grave, now very richly adorned, but formerly much neglected, and round about are sculptured and painted the arms of Guzman, which that good knight, Don Luis de Guzman, Master of Calatrava, had ordered to be set up. A small river runs through the city which improves it very much, and there are a hundred sluices with mills; some grind wheat, others spices, some scour arms, others make paper, saw wood, and spin silk, and in this manner they make use of the water. On one side of the city is a castle, the wall of which is made of sods of earth, which is very strong against shots from bombards. Here is also one of the most famous universities in the .world, where all sciences are studied, and students of all nationalities and great men are continually working there. The city belongs to the Church.
While at Bologna I sold my horses, and placed myself and my goods and people on board a boat, and travelled to Ferrara, all the way by that river of which I have spoken. It is very narrow so that only one boat can travel at a time, and if two boats meet one of them has to be hauled ashore. The river freezes each night, and the villagers have boats, the keels of which are shod with iron, and at night they go up and down the river, breaking the ice with poles which are pointed with iron, and thus they make a waterway for travellers. The children go about singing, "good sport," which is to say: " May there be a good frost" By this river we reached the Po, one of the greatest rivers in the world, and one of the four arms which descend from the German Alps, and travelling along the Po we came to the city of Ferrara. I there presented myself to the Marquis, lord of the city, and remained three days. I then left by the river and came to Francolino, and continuing still by the river, I arrived at the place where it enters the sea which is one day's journey.
I reached Venice at Vespers, leaving on the right hand and on the left many churches and monasteries and inns, all placed in the sea in the same way as Venice itself, and as soon as I had landed I went to see the church of St. Mark, which is on the water's edge, and worshipped there, after which we went to an inn called the Sturgeon, a very notable hostelry, where we lodged the day and night following. The next day, after Mass, I enquired for the exchange of Messer Sylvestro Morosini, on whom I held bills. I found him speedily, and he accepted the bills and paid me the money. This is a matter in which nothing on earth will make them delay, for though all merchants in every part of the world make use of bills of exchange they are more eager than any for fair dealing. I spent the day with him and with Carlo Morosini, a merchant who had been in Seville and had for a long time rented mines there. I had been great friends with him in the house of Master Don Luis, and therefore he received me very kindly and made me free of his house, where I resided all the time I was in Venice.
While there I enquired concerning my journey to Jerusalem, and learnt that it was not possible to set out for three months, as the pilgrim boats were not accustomed to leave until Ascension Day, which is in May. I desired to spend the intervening time in visiting the Christian world, including the courts of the Emperor and the King of France, but the merchants, my friends, with whom I took counsel, advised me to leave this until after my return from Jerusalem, and that in the meantime I should travel in Italy, which was well worth while, and as Lent was approaching I could spend it in Rome. I could then go on to Naples and see the King of Aragon, all which I could accomplish, and still have twenty days and more before my boat sailed. This seemed to me to be excellent counsel, and I followed it. I, therefore, set out to visit Italy, and saw many cities and towns, villages and fortresses until Lent, when I came to Rome. But Pope Eugenius was at Bologna, as I have said, having been driven out of Rome by a faction which had taken arms against him, intending to murder or capture him, and he escaped by boat by the Tiber and went to Pisa, and thence to Florence and Bologna.
CHAPTER III: Rome.-Pope Gregory and the Faithful.-The walls.-The Tiber.-Castle of St. Angela.-The Vatican.-Old St. Peter's.-St. John Lateran.-Right of Sanctuary.-Sancta Sanctorum.-Statue of Marcus Aurelius.-The Colosseum.-Imperial buildings on the Palatine.-S. Maria Nuova.-S.Croce in Geruralemme.-S. Silvestro in Capite.-S. Maria Rotonda.-Trajan's column.-Triumphal arches.-S. Maria in Ara Coeli.-S. Maria Maggiore.-S. Prassede.-S. Pietro in Vincoli.-S..Anastasio alle Tre Fontane.-The miserable condition of the city.-The inhabitants.-Wild beasts within the walls.
I STAYED at Rome during the whole of Lent, visiting the sanctuaries and ancient buildings, which appeared to me to be very wonderfully made, but not only am I unable to describe them, but I doubt whether I could appreciate them as they deserved. Therefore I may be pardoned, such is the grandeur and magnificence of Rome, if I fall short in my account, for I am not equal to so great an undertaking in view of the extent to which these ancient buildings have been destroyed and changed, and are decayed. Nevertheless, to all who behold them it is clear that they were once very magnificent, in spite of the tumults which they witnessed after the beginning of the downfall of Rome, in the discords between the princes who were her citizens, the destruction wrought by powerful kings who fought against her, and the hand of time which consumes everything. Moreover, Pope St. Gregory, seeing how the faithful flocked to Rome for the salvation of their souls, but that they were so astounded at the magnificence of the ancient buildings that they spent much time in admiring them, and neglected the sacred object of their visit, the Pope, I say, sent orders to destroy all or the majority of the antiquities which had survived from ancient times. The circuit of the city is very great, the walls being twenty-four miles round, that is eight of our leagues. They are so built, and of such height, that they appear to be fresh from the hand of the master-builder, and where they are broken down, there the tyrants entered the city from time to time, for the work is such that they defy wilful destruction. Small wonder, then, that they have survived, having been left as the ancients built them.
Through the middle of the city runs a river, which the Romans brought there with great labour and set in their midst, and this is the Tiber. They made a new bed for the river, so it is said, of lead, and channels at one and the other end of the city for its entrances and exits, both for watering horses and for other services convenient to the people, and anyone entering it at any other spot would be drowned. On either side of this river there are many mills which make the city all one [sic]. On one shore of the Tiber is a castle standing on a mound, which has been piled up so high that it has become a mountain, and it is fortified with a very high wall and many brave towers. It is called the Castle of St. Angelo. It stands above the bridge over the Tiber on the way to St. Peter's, where is the seat and place of the Apostles. They say that there was once a great plague m Rome which lasted for a long time, and it was revealed to Pope Gregory that he should go in procession to a church at one end of the city, called S. Agata in Suburra, where was an idol which was worshipped by the heathen, and even in secret by Christians, for some parts of the heathen rites had survived. As the Pope arrived in procession at the church and came to the idol, a noise like thunder burst from it and it fell in pieces. The Pope, beholding this marvel, made his procession, and as he was returning very devoutly to St. Peter's by the bridge below that castle, an angel appeared in the sight of all with a drawn sword in his hand, all bloody, which sword he cleansed on his mantle and placed in its sheath. This was held to be a sign that God was appeased, and did not desire that more should die. In this manner was idolatry put down, and the castle from that day onwards was named the Castle of St. Angelo. It is so called to this day, and the figure of an angel is set up on it. It was in view of this miracle, and of other mighty and wonderful things which took place in Rome, that Pope Gregory, as I have related, destroyed many of the ancient buildings because they drew the attention of the pilgrims from the holy places, but he did not destroy all, and those who go there to-day, if they desire to see beautiful things, still seek them out before anything else.
The Pope has his dwelling adjoining the church of St. Peter on the slopes of the Aventine Hill. This is the place where formerly they used to secure the liberty of Rome (and in like manner they have now to secure the Faith, of which the Pope is constituted defender, against any heretics who desire to overthrow it), and here the Emperors remain several days before they are crowned, as if encamped against the Church's enemies. Afterwards they receive the crown of gold, with many ceremonies of which I cannot give an account. The Pope's dwelling is a mediocre place and when I was there it was ill-kept.
The church of St. Peter is a notable church, the entrance is very magnificent, and one ascends to it by very high steps. The roof is richly worked in mosaic. Inside, the church is large, but very poor and in bad condition and dirty, and in many places in ruins. On the right hand is a pillar as high as a small tower, and in it is the holy Veronica. When it is to be exhibited an opening is made in the roof of the church and a wooden chest or cradle is let down, in which are two clerics, and when they have descended, the chest or cradle is drawn up, and they, with the greatest rever- ence, take out the Veronica and show it to the people, who make concourse there upon the appointed day. It happens often that the worshippers are in danger of their lives, so many are they and so great is the press.
A little further on there are two large columns encased in wood, where they put those who are pos- sessed by spirits, and from these pillars it was that Our Lord preached to the people in Jerusalem. In front of them is the rope with which Judas hanged himself, which is as thick as a man's arm or thicker.
In the high altar are the bodies of St. Peter and St. Paul, and there is here a very great indulgence on a certain day, plenary both for sin and punishment. Here is also the chair in which St. Peter sat, and the Pope seats himself in it when he is elected. It is well, indeed, that strangers look on it with devotion, for it is neither rich nor kept with reverence.
There are many other sanctuaries in this church. On the other side of it is a high tower made of one piece of stone, like a three-cornered diamond raised upon three brazen feet; and many, taking it for a holy thing, creep between the ground and the base of that tower. This was a work undertaken in honour of Julius Caesar and assigned for his burial, and on the top of it are three large gilt apples in which is the dust of the Emperor Julius Caesar, and certainly it is a noble edifice and marvellously ordered and very strange. It is called Caesar's needle, and in the middle and at the base, and even at the top, are a few ancient letters carved in the stone which now cannot well be read, but in fact they record that the body of Julius Caesar was buried there. And around this are many other edifices now much ruined.
The city of Rome is very sparsely populated considering its size. It is the opinion of many that now that it is thrown down and depopulated, there issues from the ruins of the great buildings, and from the cellars and cisterns and houses, and from the deep vaults, now uninhabited, such poisonous air that it affects human bodies, and therefore it is said that Rome is unhealthy. But when it was well populated it was the contrary. Even now it seems that in the places where it is most closely inhabited the people find better health, as in Campo dei Fiori, which is a large district, and Campidoglio, another large district, and in the Ghetto, which is like a great village. But all the rest of the city is but thinly-scattered houses.
The first church established among Latin peoples was the church of St. John Lateran, from which the Holy Fathers draw their title and of which they are bishops. Both in it and around it there are very singular things to be seen. This church, so it is said, was the house in which Rome kept her treasure, and there is the Tarpeian Gate, which Caesar opened when he took out the treasure, and which until that hour had always been closed. When the Emperor Constantine was converted to the Catholic Faith and gave the patrimony of the Empire to the Church, and endowed it, he begged Pope Sylvester to issue a Bull in respect of that gate for the souls of those who should pass it, in like manner as previously the gate had been a place of sanctuary for those who took shelter there. For if one came as a fugitive and reached the Tarpeian Gate, whatsoever crime he had committed, he could not be taken thence, and this out of reverence for the treasure which lay therein. The Pope at first ordained that all who entered should be absolved from sin and punishment, but because many boldly committed sin with intent to be absolved by passing through the gate, the Pope ordered it to be closed, and to be opened once only every hundred years. Later, the period was reduced to fifty years, and now it is as the Pope is pleased to ordain. In this church are the heads of St. Peter and St. Paul, a very great relic and a great indulgence for sin and punishment when they are exhibited, in the same manner as the Veronica in the church of St. Peter.
Beside this church is a chapel apart, which they call Sancta Sanctorum. In it is a picture of Our Lord, showing Him from the girdle upwards, painted on a stone. They say that Our Lady begged St. Luke, who was a famous painter, to paint this picture after the death of her Son, and he consented and painted it. It is, indeed, an object of the greatest devotion, and a very suitable remembrance of Him who had, and still has, power to do all things. It shows well the figure of Our Lord, His age and colour and all that He was, and there is a mole on the left cheek as an emblem of His humanity. It is the most revered object, and the greatest relic in Rome. Four men armed with iron maces guard it continually hour by hour, and on one day in the year, the feast of the Virgin, in the middle of August, they take out the relic, and protected by men-at-arms, and amidst much rejoicing, they carry it in procession and take it to the church of S. Maria Maggiore, where it rests that day and night, and the following day they return it to its place. There is plenary indulgence for all who are there at that time. No women are allowed to enter the chapel, for the reason, as they say, that a woman once uttered such things that she burst asunder. At the door of this chapel are two bells, said to be the first which were ever made in the world.
The election of the Pope takes place in the church of St. John Lateran, and here the various ceremonies are observed and he receives the triple crown. There are also many relics of St. Helena, mother of the Emperor Constantine, which were sent by him when he was in the Holy Land. The church is large, but not rich nor well built, nor clean, nor richly adorned. Outside in a large square are many buildings and ancient memorials. Here is the statue of that Mucius who caused the siege of Rome to be raised, and thinking to kill the king killed his favourite, for which he condemned himself, and suffered his right arm to be burnt. He is seated on a great horse of gilded brass, and both the figure and the horse are clearly the work of a master. Round about the square are many and diverse things, figures in stone, and marbles and stones with ancient inscriptions cut upon them.
Close by is the Colosseum which was, so they say, unmatched in the whole world for size and magnificence, and although most of it is in ruins the greatness and the marvel of its building may well be seen. It would take long to tell how the Romans kept this Colosseum, and with what reverence, and of the statue they had there, which was so great that its feet stood on the ground and its head reached to the highest point of the roof. The right arm was raised and held a large apple in the hand, which is now on the door of St. John Lateran. This, they say, was meant to signify that the whole world was in his hand, and from it is said to have been derived the custom of carrying an apple before the Emperors. They say, further, that this statue was once surrounded by figures of all the kings and princes in the world, each having a chain round the neck fastened to the feet of that great statue, and when it was known that any king or, prince was rising against Rome, they threw down his image and issued decrees commanding war to be made upon him. However this may be, the Colosseum shows that it was once a very magnificent and sumptuous building.
Near at hand are the palaces of Octavian Augustus, which, they say, he built and fortified because he was told by one of the Sibyls that when the Virgin should bring forth a child his statue would fall, and this was upon the advent and birth of Our Lord, and his palace fell, and it is said that even now every year, on the day of the birth of Our Lord, some portion falls. Here there is a large mound like a hill, and it well appears that this mound was made by the fall of some very large edifice, and one can see many marbles, large stones, and other things which show well what it must have been. There is also a notable monastrery of the Order of St. Bernard, which is called S. Maria Nuova. There is in Rome a church, which they call S. Croce in Gerusalemme, where is preserved the title which was set up above Our Lord's Cross, which reads IHS NAZARENUS. All this church, with the floor and the walls and everything else, was made from earth of Jerusalem brought as ballast in ships, when St. Helena sent the holy relics to Rome, and here there is plenary indulgence for sin and punishment. There is also another church called S. Maria Rotonda, which was formerly the place where the Roman people held their council. It is supported on great columns and is covered with lead, and one day in the year there is plenary indulgence. Another church belongs to certain nuns, where is the head of St. John the Baptist and there is also plenary indulgence on his feast-day. Close by is a great column made of a single stone, which was erected in memory of the Emperor Trajan, who came from Castile and was a native of Pedraza. He gave Rome its laws, which are used to this day by the Romans and by ourselves, as well in warfare as in the direction of public affairs. There are also three or four or more triumphal arches, which the Romans set up in honour of victorious men, among them one which was made for Julius Caesar, a very notable work.
Another church is called S. Maria in Ara Coeli, beneath which is a large vaulted chamber, in which, at times, the Romans held their council, and where Julius Caesar was murdered by the hands of Cassius and Brutus. Close by is the church of S. Maria Maggiore, where, on a certain day in the year, there is plenary indulgence, and at the door, in a great square, there is a column of porphyry, the worth of which cannot be estimated, and there are also many relics in this church. Adjoining is the church of S. Prassede, in which is the half of the column at which Christ was scourged, and there is also the body of the Blessed St. Jerome, on whose day there is plenary indulgence. The church where St. Peter was incarcerated is called S. Pietro in Vincoli, where is also plenary indulgence. Beyond the walls is the church where St. Peter and St. Paul were beheaded, in which are certain springs of very healing water, and here also there is plenary indulgence. Close by is the monastery of St. Paul, a very notable fraternity of the Order of Preachers; also with indulgence.
There are in this city many other things and sanctu aries, plenary indulgences, and wonderful buildings, which it would take long to describe. And since those who came with intent to visit the sacred places spent their time in admiring the ancient buildings and ruins, Pope Gregory ordered them, or the greater part of them, to be destroyed, so that the pilgrims should turn their minds from such matters to the holy places. He could not, however, completely destroy them, and it is apparent what these things, or some of them, must once have been. Here were the sepulchres of Romulus and Remus, the first builders of Rome, as well as many statues of men and women, placed there as a perpetual memorial of their deeds. Rome, which used to be the head of the world and is now the tail, has lost nothing in her ceremonies of what she was when she held the whole world in subjection, but such is now the miser- able condition of the city that it is a shame to utter it. They say that in order not to forfeit their place as head of the world, which once they held, the citizens on a certain day in the year make formal protest to the Pope, proclaiming that they are still ready to subdue the world as of old, that they have not lost their rights, but that the Pope has despoiled them of their own. This formal protest is made on Shrove Tuesday. Would to God that they were able to rule themselves, and were not, as the Italians say of them, a worthless people, given over to every vice and abused by all.
I found no one in Rome who could give me any account of those ancient things concerning which I enquired, but they could, without doubt, have informed me fully as to the taverns and places of ill-fame. It is said that the people never dine in their houses even by a miracle, and, indeed, their dress and bearing, both indoors and out, show clearly what they are. I say this of the majority, for doubtless in such a multitude there must be some who are virtuous. It is said, further, that Rome, though depopulated, has more inhabitants than any Christian city in the world, but there are parts within the walls which look like thick woods, and wild beasts, hares, foxes, wolves, deer and even, so it is said, porcupines breed in the caves.
There are two statues in Rome, and it is related of them that once there was a dispute between the plebeians and the nobles, the former demanding to know why, since they were all sons of one father, namely Adam, and consequently having Eve for mother, the nobles should take precedence of them. And the plebeians said in a sculptured inscription: Cum pater Adam nobis sit, mater Eva, cur igitur non sumus nobilitate pares? The nobles thereupon made answer: Degenerant omnes viciis, fiuntque minores, exaltat virtus, nobilitantque mores. Therefore, it is said, the nobles have greater jurisdiction, and, moreover, that this was the reason why the law was made that no plebeian nor woman could hold the office of consul, which law was broken later when Gaius Marius, according to Sallust was proposed in the Senate.
CHAPTER IV: Rome to Viterbo.-Perugia.-~Assisi.-Gubbio.-Meeting with Count of Urbino.-Rimini.-Ravenna.-Venice.-Arrangementa far the voyage.
I DEPARTED from Rome and came to Viterbo, a very pleasant city, where there are warm water baths, which are said to be sovereign against all infirmities, and they say that on the request of his private physician, the Pope sent orders to destroy them, and it is not known now what manner of diseases they cured, but it is believed that some little time since they were found to cure dropsy. The holy body of St. Rose is here. We left Viterbo and passed certain cities called Narni, Terni and Spoleto, and arrived finally at Perugia, a famous city, where was born Bracchio, that great captain, and Sforza, father of the present Duke of Milan. All this country is so thickly inhabited that cities, towns and castles seem all joined together. I left Perugia for Assisi, where St. Francis and St. Clare were born, and where their bodies now lie. It is a notable city. In it are eight or ten monasteries, both for men and women, of the Order of the blessed St. Francis, the principal monastery being in the chief square. I went to lodge in it, having found there a servant of our Cardinal of Castile who was a great friend of mine, and I remained three days resting myself. They say that the body of St. Francis is buried there in a place which they show, but the truth is that no one knows the exact spot, not even those in the monastery, except the Pope, one cardinal, and a brother of the monastery, to whom the Pope confides the secret. The monastery is very notable and very richly adorned Departing thence I set out for Gubbio which belongs to the Count of Urbino of the House of Malatesta, but by the way I came upon armed troops placed there by Count Francesco, who at that time was making war on the Pope and had occupied many places, and I was advised to send my horses from Assisi with a man well known there who was going to see the Count, and that I should be wise to go on foot, which I accordingly did, and after walking for two days and a half I reached Gubbio, a great city belonging to the Count. I found then that the Count was going forth on foot in pro- cession to greet the Cardinal of Colonna, his wife's brother, and nephew of Pope Martin, and I saw him coming, surrounded by clerics and singing with them, and thus they met the Cardinal and received him most honourably. I presented myself to the Count and made my reverence, and begged him, for the love of God, to assist me, as I was a poor man who had come from Rome and was going to Jerusalem; but my men remained behind, as I had told them not to come with me. The Count took me aside, but first he asked me whence I came. I said: "From Spain." He then enquired if I was of gentle birth, and I said, "Yes": whether I was a knight, and I said, "Yes." He then desired to be informed how I had come and of what I had need. I informed him of my coming, and that I had arrived on foot, further, that I had need of nothing as I had sufficient for my journey, but that I had come in this guise in order to see him and have speech with him Thereupon he embraced me closely and said: "Even against your will you shall be assisted here to the best of my ability," but I replied that I could under no circumstances accept anything so long as I had what was needful, for so I had resolved before departing from my country. He made me, however, remain there two days to rest and enjoy myself, after which he called a squire and ordered him to accompany me through his dominions as far as Rimini, which is a port and a possession of his, and that he was to bear all my expenses. Further, that at Rimini he was to provide me with a ship and with all necessaries for my journey to Venice. At parting the Count took me by the hand and led me to his room and told me to take whatever I had need of, and he gave me of his own shirts and woollen garments and towels, of each three pairs, and was much distressed because I did not want to accept anything else, and he said farewell to me very humanly as if we had been equals. He charged me much to remember him in my prayers and to come and visit him on my return. But this good Count is now dead, and they say that he died very piously and has been canonized as a saint. In Gubbio there are many relics, among them the finger of the right hand of John the Baptist, with which he pointed when he said: ecce agnus Dei. I departed with that squire and came to Urbino, which belongs to the Count, and remained there a day, after which, in two days, we arrived at Rimini, a great city, also the Count's, and I stayed there two days. The squire prepared a boat for me and victualled it, and paid all charges as far as Venice, and as I parted from him he said: "Sir knight, the Count, my Master, ordered me to give you a hundred ducats: see, here they are." I bade him thank the Count greatly for his kindness and liberality, but said that I had sufficient for my needs, and that on my homeward journey, if I was in difficulties, I should certainly crave assistance from him, and that I should shortly return. I begged him, further, to kiss the Count's hands for me, and thus we parted.
I now embarked on board my ship, and we set sail and arrived the following day at Ravenna, a very ancient place and large, although not well populated. There we found a good wind, and at Vespers we reached Venice, where I was well received by my friends the merchants, and found the money I had left there at my departure in good hands. I took up my quarters in the house of my friend Carlo Morosini, and spent thirty days or more there until Ascension Day, which falls in May, the month when the ships, especially the pilgrims' galleys, have leave to depart. During the intervening time I made my customs with the galley-master, as the custom is, for my passage and provisions, with a supply of preserves for morning, afternoon and evening, the cost for the outward and return journey being thirty-five ducats for each person. But since I proposed to stay at Jerusalem, I paid for myself and my two squires the sum of sixty ducats, that is twenty ducats for each of us. I passed my time at Venice very pleasantly and restfully, at small expense, and each day I went about seeing many remarkable and delightful things. Every hour there came news from all countries of the world, for the sea-borne traffic is very great, and ships are continually arriving from all parts, and if one desires to have news of any place it is only necessary to enquire of the ships.
CHAPTER V: Departure from Vevice.-Parenzo.-Zara.-Ragusa.-Corfu.-Gulf of Patras. Isthmus of Corinth.-A monastery of Greek monks.-Modone.-Island of Cythera.-Crete.-Rhodes.-The Knights Hospitaller,-Arrival at Jaffa.
ON Ascension Day, after receiving the blessing, we departed and set sail at noon, and took the left side of the gulf towards Esclavonia [Dalmatia], the greater part of which is Venetian, and all along the coast there are many safe harbours and islands and ports for taking in provisions. The next day we came to a town called Parenzo, and from there we sailed for Zara, a town of the Venetians. Thence we reached Ragusa which is under the dominion of the Emperor. All this time we kept passing islands belonging to Esclavonia, some populated and some uninhabited. The country is very mountainous and bare; and the inhabitants are the tallest I have ever seen, but what a barbarous people they are! In these parts are bred the best falcons in the world, except the Norwegian, and it is said that silver is to be found in many places.
We continued our voyage along the Gulf, passing Valona, a large city, which had recently fallen into the hands of the Turks, and then, leaving Esclavonia, we sailed by Albania, which is part of the same coast, and left Italy and the Cape of Spartivento on the right hand. The Gulf of Venice runs for 800 miles between Italy and Esclavonia, and at the end of it is the island of Corfu, which the Venetians call their door, although Venice is in fact 800 miles away. On the right hand is that part of Italy called Apulia and the Tierra di Lavoro, and, on the left, Esclavonia, formerly called Dalmatia, and a great part of Albania. The island of Corfu is inhabited by Greeks. Not long ago King Ladislaus of Naples took it and held it with the intention of capturing Jerusalem, of which he called himself king, and it is said that in his necessity he sold the island to the Venetians who now possess it. We remained there two days, waiting for a favourable wind, and on the third day we departed, sailing for Modone, which is in Greece. This day we passed the Gulf of Patras on the left hand, and much enjoyed the sight of it. Here the city of Corinth is situated, a very ancient place with magnificent buildings, now much depopulated. This gulf strikes inland, and with the other gulf which enters from the other side it forms the peninsula of Morea, which in ancient times was called Achaia. It is governed by the Emperor of Constantinople, and is the patrimony of the eldest son whom they call Despot of Morea. These two gulfs eat so far into the land that they say there is not a space of two miles between them. An Emperor of Contantinople once wished to make the peninsula into an island, but he changed his mind on the advice of his counsellors. Nevertheless, he enclosed it with a very strong wall which can be seen to this day.
On the fourth day we came in sight of the city of Modone. Six miles before we reached it we passed a small island, on which is a notable monastery of Greek brothers of St. Basil, whom the Latins call monks, and since the wind had dropped, and I desired to see the monastery, I asked the master to put me ashore, and I carried some fish with me, since by their rules the monks are never allowed to eat meat. They received us very joyfully and showed us their house, and soon afterwards we departed. The inhabitants of the island told us that the monks live a very holy life there. The monastery is called Stanphane. That day we arrived at Madone, which lies between that island and the island of Sapienza, and there we cast anchor and landed in order to provision the ship, and to enable the master and the passengers to transact certain business there, for they were Venetians and the place belongs to Venice. There are 2000 inhabi- tants, and the sea encloses it on both sides. It is well walled and sufficiently strong, but flat. I saw there numerous gardens supplied with all kinds of fruit, and the soil is very productive, like that of Andalucia. Lodging is good, the language is Greek, but the place is governed from Venice. Six miles away is Corone, which lies in the other gulf of which I spoke. It is a large town and a powerful fortress. Here also Greek is spoken, and it is likewise under the seigniory of Venice. The Venetians have these possessions in Morea because they are vital for their trade. The people are very wealthy, for these places are the ports of discharge for Greece and the Black Sea for all classes of merchandise. We remained there six days. Then we sailed towards Candia, which was anciently called Creta, where once King Agamemnon reigned, who led the Greeks against the Trojans. We left the Archipelago on the left, which is full of islands both populated and uninhabited, and among them I saw the island of Cythera, which the Greeks call Cetril. Here it was that Paris seized Helen and carried her off to Troy. I saw also a mighty rock which is very smooth, but which rises to a great height. In the midst of it is a cave, two hundred fathoms high and more than that in depth.
From Modone to the island of Crete the distance is 350 miles, which we compassed in two days and, two nights, after which we arrived at the harbour of Candia, and because the Latins of Crete know only the city of Candia they call the whole kingdom by that name. The islands is very fertile and well supplied with excellent towns and fortresses. The language is Greek, and the government is from Venice. Each year a Duke is sent as governor, and since, not long ago, the islanders rose against the Venetians, who had to send and recapture the place, an ordinance was issued that in a certain part of the island nothing should be sown, nor should the cattle be allowed to multiply. This was done to decrease the prosperity of the people, since everything is so abundant there. The city of Candia is very large, with many great buildings. They say that three miles away is that Labyrinth, made by Daedalus, with many other antiquities. The city is well built, with beautiful gardens and much water. The harbour is remarkable, with an excellent mole made artificially. There are also many wind-mills. At a certain period of the year such multitudes of falcons pass over the island that they can hardly find anyone to buy them. We remained there three days, and then sailed for Rhodes, leaving the Archipelago and numerous islands on the left hand. The distance from Candia to Rhodes is 300 miles. On the third day we reached the island, and found there certain galleys and ships belonging to the King of Aragon, but we armed ourselves and displayed our pennons for Jerusalem, and when they saw these they left us at once and sailed away.
The city of Rhodes is flat, but fortified with a moat and wall, and on one side is a place apart where the Knights Hospitallers of Jerusalem have their residence, which is called the Collachium, and in it is the Hospital from which they take their name. It is one of the most magnificent houses of piety which I have ever seen, and, indeed, in the matter of building and embellishments and supplies it could not be improved. The Knights receive anyone who is sick, and a patient dying there is absolved from sin and punishment, and even for those who visit the Hospital there are certain indul- gences. This Hospital is situated just as one enters the Collachium on the left hand, and it was built by Don Anton de Fluvian, Grand Master of the Knights, who was a Catalan by birth. From there we went to see the city, passing many streets and houses of the Knights, among them certain hostels where foreigners eat and have their places of meeting, each nation apart from the others, and a Knight has charge of each one of these hostels, and provides for the necessities of the inmates according to their religion. At the end of the Knights' quarter, on the left hand, is the church of St. John, to which they constantly resort to say their office, and where they hold their council. In this church there are many relics, including, so they say, the basin in which Our Lord washed His hands, and a large share of the money for which He was sold, some of the thorns, a nail of the Cross, and many others, and when they elect the Grand Master, the Knights swear on these relics that, truly and without favour, they will elect the one most worthy to hold that office. In front of this church is the house of the Grand Master, an ordinary dwelling and not rich. There the Master is attended by twelve Knights, called companions, who take counsel with him and eat always at his board.
Every day throughout the year the Knights have to give food to twelve poor people and serve them with their own hands, except when they are occupied with the sick or are absent. There is another hostel which is for the reception of pilgrims for Jerusalem, and here they lodge every one according to his station, and everything is provided except food. There is also a church where certain chaplains are charged with the duty of saying Mass for the pilgrims, and all this is done to keep them from the common inns. The Knights visit them there, and anyone who desires to take a guest with him may do so with leave of the Marshal. The island of Rhodes is reasonably well supplied with bread and wine, and with gardens.
Most of the gardens are for the service of the Master's table, and he portions them out among the twelve companions who are with him. There is also a fortress in the island called Judigo. Much might be related of this noble company of Knights, but I leave them now to speak of other things.
We departed from Rhodes and sailed past Castelrosso, an island off the coast of Armenia, a very strong fortress belonging to the Knights, and taking the route to Cyprus, we coasted by Turkey where the great Turkish lords have their habitations, the Caraman, the lord of Candelor, the lord of Satalia, and other powerful rulers. There they showed us a city which is said to have been destroyed for the crime of sodomy. We sailed then for three days along the Gulf of Satalia and reached the island of Cyprus, passing over against a city called Paphos, now uninhabited by reason of bad air and water, and since it is not the custom for the pilgrims for Jerusalem to disembark in the island on the outward journey, I am unable in this place to relate more concerning it, but later I will speak of it. So continuing our voyage to Jaffa, which is the port of Jerusalem, from point to point a distance of 350 miles, we sailed for three days and nights, and on the fourth day we came to the coast of the Holy Land, but since the whole of that country is very flat the entrance to Jaffa cannot be seen.
CHAPTER VI: The landing at Jaffa.- Jerusalem.-The Holy Sepulchre.--The holy places. -Bethlehem. - Return to Jerusalem. - Jericho. - The Jordan.-The pilgrims bathe and one is drowned.-Visit to Dead Sea.-Mount Quarantana.-A French squire falls off the mountain. -Trouble with an official.-Judgment and execution. Bethany.- Mount Tabor.-Tafur penetrates into the Mosque of Omar.-Second visit to the Holy Sepulchre.-Three pilgrims dubbed knights.
WHEN the pilgrim ship arrives at Jaffa the fact is known almost at once to the Prior of Mount Sion, who sends two or three friars to the Governor of Jerusalem who return with the Sultan's safe-conduct. They take the pilgrims ashore and deliver their names in writing to the Governor, and they themselves retain another list, and in this manner all fear of imposture is avoided. As one disembarks, there are Moors ready with asses which the pilgrims ride all the time that they are in the Holy Land. Two ducats is the price fixed for the hire, and this cannot be increased or diminished. The Governor and the friars travel with the pilgrims to Rama, a great place, five leagues from Jaffa, where there is a hotel founded for pilgrims by Duke Godfrey of Bouillon when he took the Holy Sepulchre. It is well provided with many apartments, some for men and some for women, and we remained there one day. The next morning we travelled two miles to the monastery of St. George, where his body is said to lie, and where he is believed to have slain the dragon, but others say that he slew it at Beyrout which is the port of Damascus. That day we slept at a place five leagues from there, close to a castle called Emmaus, and the following day we left early and travelled another five leagues to the city of Jerusalem, of which we obtained a good prospect some four leagues off. We could see a number of buildings, as well as Mount Sion, and the castles of King David, and the Holy Sepulchre which is a very lofty church.
As we entered Jerusalem the Christians, both Greeks and other nations, came out to receive us and carried us to a great square in front of the Holy Sepulchre where we prayed, but they did not let us go in. They then took us to a hostel, likewise founded by Duke Godfrey of Bouillon, where we found an abundance of food cooked in various ways, which the Greeks make ready and sell to the Christians. Not long after, the Prior of Mount Sion came with his friars, bringing with them ten or twelve knights who are accustomed to live in the monastery, and we were very comfortably lodged. The Prior left two friars who were to accompany us from that day onwards and show us the sights in Jerusalem and the vicinity. This monastery of Mount Sion is situated on one side of the city on the highest point, and in it are many places where Our Lord worked great miracles. There is also a lofty tower in the vault of which, when the disciples were gathered together, Our Lord appeared to them in tongues of fire--this was the Feast of Pentecost. From here one can see the sea of Sodom and Gomorrah, which they call the Dead Sea, where once were five cities. Beneath this tower is also a chapel where Our Lord appeared to St. Thomas the Apostle and told him to put his hand into His side, and many other things also happened in this place. At the entrance, in the centre of a Street, is the house of the Virgin Mary, and close to it, behind the monastery, is the place where Our Lord partook of the Last Supper with His disciples. This day we rested there, and the next day we heard Mass in the Holy Sepulchre, which is only open once a year, and there they took count of us according to the list which they made at Jaffa.
Each pilgrim paid seven ducats and a half, and with the two paid for the beasts, and certain payments made in small coin in the holy places-eleven of these coins being worth a ducat-each pilgrim paid twelve and a half ducats as tolls.
As we were preparing to enter the Holy Sepulchre, there came out to meet us in procession all those Christians who had been locked up there since the year before, that is to say the Catholics (three Franciscan friars), the Greeks, the Jacobite Christians, the Armenians, those of Cinturia, India and the Copts, in all seven different kinds of Christians, and we joined the procession and went into the Holy Sepulchre. This is a great church, exceeding lofty, with an immense opening through which the light enters. Within is another smaller chapel, in which is the Holy Sepulchre itself, and this is so small that there is no room in it, except for the priest who says Mass and the server. After worshipping there we went with the procession to Mount Calvary, where Our Lord was crucified, which is twelve or fifteen paces from that place. This is a great rock upon which stands a chapel, most richly ornamented with mosaic work. The hole in which the Cross was placed is still to be seen, as well as the holes where the crosses of the two thieves stood. After praying there, we descended to the place where Christ was anointed, and thence to the room where He was detained before the crucifixion. Afterwards we saw the place where St. Helena found the Cross, as well as the spot which Our Lord indicated as the centre of the world. Adjoining is the dwelling of the friars, where the relics are kept, and where Our Lord appeared to St. Mary Magdalene as a gardener. At the entrance is a great hall hung with pennons and flags of many kings and Christian princes, and here the knights set up their arms. All these things and many more are to be seen on the way in from this cemetery, and all the holy relics are there, and each one of the aforesaid Christians has a separate chapel. We left the procession and heard Mass, and then had dinner, which the Greeks had prepared for us very well for our money. That day the Moors and Christians had licence to display goods for us to buy, and we rested a day and night, hearing divine offices, each one in the manner of his country. Here is the tomb of Godfrey de Bouillon, with an inscription engraved on stone as follows. [It is missing.] Close to this is the tomb of Baldwin, his brother, made in the same manner, with this inscription. [It is missing.] The following day, when we had heard Mass, they opened the doors and let us out after counting us, and sent us to our hotel. That day we saw the Campo Santo and the Valley of Jehoshaphat, where is the sepulchre of the Virgin Mary, which is an underground vault reached by fifteen or twenty steps. The Franciscans are the guardians. Here we paid certain moneys. From there we went to the place where Our Lord was taken in the garden, and afterwards to the Mount of Olives, where Christ ascended to Heaven. There is a notable church here, with a stone with the imprint of His foot upon it. We saw also the place where the disciples, being gathered together, composed the Creed, and from there we continued to the spot where Christ uttered the Pater Noster. Close by is the elder-tree where Judas hanged himself. Then, as we returned to Jerusalem, we passed the place where the wood of the Cross was kept for a long time, and not far off is the site of the stoning of St. Stephen. We entered the city close by the Golden Gate, which adjoins the Temple of Solomon, and passed the pool where the Angel troubled the waters, and the sick were healed. Then we saw the Houses of Pilate and Caiaphas where Christ was judged. Here they still sentence people to death. We saw also the street called Amargura, where Our Lord carried the Cross on His shoulders, which is a covered way. Here the rain water is collected and pored in cisterns from which the people drink, for the city is badly supplied with water. This day we slept at our hotel. The next day we departed early from Jerusalem with the Governor and the friars, and set out for Bethlehem, five leagues from there, where on the way they showed us a chapel which marks the spot where the Star appeared to the Three Kings, and a league further on we came to the house of the prophet Elijah. At noon we arrived at Bethlehem, a small town with some fifty inhabitants. There the Moors vied with us in showing reverence, and we entered the monastery which is very notable and wealthy, with fine buildings. Six friars live here continually, and they came out in procession to receive us, and took us at once to a chapel under ground where Our Lord was born, and close to it is the crib, and at the going out is the place where Christ was circumcised. Then we saw the vaults where the Innocents are buried, and in these vaults is the place where St. Jerome translated the Bible, and here we rested that day and paid fees. The following day, after Mass, we departed for the place where St. John the Baptist was born, a distance of five leagues. Here lived St. Zachariah, and here he wrote the psalm Benedictus Dominus Deus Israel. In this place there are many holy things. We remained at Bethlehem all that day, and the next day we returned to Jerusalem, which is three leagues distant, where we arrived very early. We spent the day visiting certain sanctuaries in Jerusalem: the house of St. Anna, the house where St. Peter denied Our Lord (here is also the stone with which the sepulchre was closed); the houses of St. James, the Greater and, the Less, and the grave of Absalom which is situated outside the city. It is related that within the last few days, as some Moors were seeking treasure there, a cry was heard and they were brought out dead. We saw also a fountain which they say Our Lady, the Virgin, caused to spring forth, as well as the place where Our Lord fell when carrying the Cross, the castles of King David, the place where Christ washed the disciples feet, and many other holy places.
We rested for a day, and then set forth early from Jerusalem with the Governor and the friars, and dined two leagues from there at the castle and place called Madalon, which was the inheritance of Mary Mag- dalene. There is a notable church here, as well as the place where Our Lord raised Lazarus from the dead, and other holy sites. Here we paid fees. In the evening we departed and came to a place which belonged to Martha, the sister of Mary Magdalene, and slept that night at a house in a mountain where Our Lord healed the sick which were brought to Him. The next morning we came to Jericho, which is fifteen leagues from Jerusalem. There is here a great valley, and a vast plain through which the river Jordan flows to the place where Our Lord baptized St. John the Baptist, and was baptized of him. A stone cross in the water marks the spot. Here we all bathed, and a German gentleman belonging to our party perished by drowning. This is a place of the greatest sanity.
The pilgrims had to return that night to sleep at Jericho and to go the next day to Quarantana, where Our Lord fasted. But I arranged with a Moor to take me to the desert of Arabia, three leagues farther on, where St. John preached, and where the first hermit, St. Anthony, as well as other Holy Fathers, retired to live, and from there I returned by the Dead Sea, where were Sodom and Gomorrah and three other cities, five cities in all, which were overthrown for the sin of sodomy. The water is so foul that it cannot be de scribed, and they say that no fish can breed there and that no birds frequent the place. The Moor who travelled with me told me a great marvel: that the river Jordan enters the lake and emerges at the other side without mixing with the fetid waters, and that in the midst of the lake one can drink of the sweet water of the river. All about this valley there are certain tall and very straight trees, much burdened with a fruit like citrons, and if one touches them with the fingers, however lightly, they break and a smoke comes out, and the evil smell remains on the hand all that day.
The following day I returned and dined at Jericho, which is a village with about a hundred inhabitants, and there I gathered some of those roses which are beneficial to women in labour, and saw many holy places associated with Our Lord. At the head of that river is the province called Bethany-trans-Jordan. That night I slept at the mountain where Our Lord fasted where I again joined the pilgrims. This is a very high mountain range in the centre o£ which are some small chapels, and there is a road for the ascent, made by St. Helena to do honour to the place. But as we were ascending, a squire of France, going to the assistance of a lady, fell headlong from the mountain and was dashed in pieces on the rocks below, for the place is very perilous to climb. We then descended, and by another and easier route we reached the very summit where Our Lord was tempted of the devil. We then returned and came to a fountain where the people from Jericho had brought food to sell to us. We remained there that night, and the next morning we took up the corpse of that squire and carried it to the before-mentioned house on the mountain, and there we buried it, after which we remained there that day.
The next morning we returned to the castIe of Madalon, but the Governor remained behind as he was going hunting. He commended us, however, to one of his knights, who accompanied us to the church where Lazarus was raised from the dead. The officer there demanded tribute, but the Moor who was with us refused to pay, saying that it was not customary, and the quarrel grew so heated that the officer and his men took up arms against the knight who had charge of us and wounded him. But we went to his assistance and attacked and wounded many of the Moors, and finally we captured the officer and his fellows and carried them before the Governor, who meanwhile had drawn near. The Governor at once held his enquiry and pronounced sentence of death on the officer, whose head was cut off without more ado, while the other prisoners were ordered to be flogged. We remained there until evening, and then returned to sleep at Jerusalem. The next day we departed with the same knight and came to Bethany, where they showed us many holy places, including Mount Tabor, where Our Lord was transfigured, and it is said that here also is the Vale of Hebron, where are the graves of Adam and Eve. We returned that night to Jerusalem, passing several holy places, among them the garden where Our Lord prayed and was taken, and we reached the city early.
That night I bargained with a renegade, a native of Portugal, and offered him two ducats if he would get me into the Temple of Solomon, and he consented. At one o'clock in the night I entered, dressed in his clothes, and saw the Temple which is a single nave, the whole ornamented with gold mosaic work. The floor and walls are of the most beautiful white cones, and the place is hung with so many lamps that they all seemed to be joined together. The roof above is quite flat and is covered with lead. They say, in truth, that when Solomon built it, it was the most magnificent building in the whole world. Afterwards it was destroyed and rebuilt, but to-day, without doubt, it is still unmatched. If I had been recognized there as a Christian I should have been killed immediately. Not long ago this Temple was a consecrated church, but a favourite of the Sultan prevailed on him to take it and turn it into a mosque. The renegade who had escorted me now returned with me to Mount Sion where the friars mourned for me as one already dead, since I had not come at the appointed time, and they rejoiced greatly to see me again, as did also the gentlemen of my company.
We had ordained to go the next day to hear Mass and to remain a day and night in the Holy Sepulchre. Accordingly, we arrived at daybreak, and they opened the doors with the same ceremonies as before. That day we confessed and received the Sacrament, and I dubbed three gentlemen Knights of the Holy Sepulchre, two Germans and a Frenchman, and we placed our arms in the accustomed place and took some of the relics which the guardian gave us, and the next day at dawn we heard Mass and departed. We spent the whole of this day and the next in visiting holy places and in preparation for our departure. I had been enquiring as to the possibility of visiting St. Catherine's monastery on Mount Sinai, which is close to the Red Sea, but learnt that the escort with the camels had already departed with an ambassador from Turkey to the Sultan at Babylonia, so that my journey could not be undertaken. I was willing to remain there until next year, if needs be, but the guardian advised me to go to Cyprus to see the Cardinal, brother of the old King, stating that he would give me a safe-conduct for Babylonia and that I could reach Mount Sinai from there, and I decided to do this.
CHAPTER VII: Departure for Cyprus.-Rama.-Jaffa.-Beyrout.-Colchis.-Cyprus. -Nicosia.-Mosen Suarez and the late King's captivity.-Tafur is appointed ambassador to the Sultan of Egypt.
THE next day we departed with the Governor and the friars and slept at Rama. The following day we reached the port of Jaffa, where we found the galleys awaiting us, and we went on board, and the Moors and friars returned to Jerusalem while we set sail for Beyrout. This day the Governor Nagardin came to me and related what befell the King of Denmark, and so we arrived at the port of Damascus. We passed along the coat by Tyre, Ascalon and Acre, where is a castle to which the Knights of St. John withdrew when they lost Jerusalem. Close by is Nazareth, where Our Lady was saluted, which is in Galilee, and so we arrived at Beyrout. Here the patrons of the galleys took in merchandise, and I desired to see Damascus, but they could not stay for me. From here I saw Mount Lebanon, where all the trees are cedars, but they looked like laurels. Here, in Beyrout, they say that St. George slew the dragon, and now they find these creatures in the fields under the stones, like scorpions, and they grow no larger and have no poison. This, they say, is due to the prayers of the blessed St. George. I gathered much information concerning Damascus, but since I did not see the place I pass it over and leave it to those that have been there. We departed from Beyrout by the coast of Syria as far as Armenia, where of old Antioch is said to have stood, and they showed it to us. Then, proceeding along the coast, we saw the castle of Colchis where Medea lived, and the island of the Golden Fleece. This castle belongs to the Kings of Cyprus, wherefore they call themselves Kings of Armenia. In this part of Armenia there is a high mountain range called the Black Mountain, and here, they say, Noah's ark rested after the Flood.
Over against this castle is the island of Cyprus, and in that part which faces Armenia is the ancient city of Famagusta, which the Genoese captured when they took the King of Cyprus and carried him to Genoa with his wife, and there the Queen gave birth to a son whom they called Janus, who was the father of the present king. The place is depopulated on account of bad air and water. They say that there is a lake here called Gostanca which is the cause of the ill-health. Nevertheless, the Kingdom of Cyprus is for the most part unhealthy. We arrived at daybreak and anchored to take in cargo, and I bade farewell to the ship's master and to my friends, and had my goods put on shore. I caused enquiries to be made for beasts for me and my people and goods, and I departed forthwith and took the road for Nicosia, which is ten leagues away. This is the chief city of the Kingdom and the most healthy, and here the Kings are accustomed to hold their court, and the lords of the Kingdom have their dwellings there. Since it was already late I had to stay at an inn, two leagues from the city. As I was going along I was seized with such terrible pains in my head that I thought I was about to die. The pain descended to my legs and attacked the stomach, the belly, hips, thighs and the knees down to the feet, and it lasted all that night and the following day until Vespers. I could not but think that if each separate pain was to endure for three hours I should certainly die. That night I departed and came to the city of Nicosia where the King then was, and I lodged at an inn. The next morning, as I was hearing Mass in the church of St. George, a squire approached me from the Lady Ines, sister of the late King Janus, she having sent him to summon me to her presence. And after Mass I went with the squire to the palace of that lady and made my reverence, and she received me very graciously, desiring to know who I was and whence I came and whither I was going. After much speech with me she gave directions that I should take up my lodging in her house, and ordered all things necessary to be prepared for me and mine. This lady was very noble, but unmarried, having in youth resolved to remain a virgin, and she was continually in the King's council, and by her influence controlled most of the affairs in the Kingdom, and she was about fifty years of age. After I had rested she conduced me the next day to the King, her nephew, and to the Cardinal, her brother. I then made my reverence to both, and they received me very graciously, and I related to them the reason for my journey, stating that in the first place I had come there to visit the King and his court, and secondly to obtain a safe-conduct for my journey to Babylonia and Mount Sinai. I showed them my letters from King Juan, recommending me to the Cardinal of Cyprus who at that time was in Italy, but now I found him here, and he promised to help me in what ways he could. There was present at this interview Mosen Suarez, admiral of Cyprus, and he approached me with great friendliness, saying that he was a Castilian, as I was, and he craved leave of the King and the Cardinal and the Lady Ines to take me as his guest, and the Lady Ines made objection, but finally she consented, and I went with him to. his house. This knight was born in Segovia, of the family of Cernadilla, and being young and on his travels, he came to Cyprus on the very day on which the late King was fighting with the Sultan's forces, and he carried himself so valiantly in battle that he saved the King's life, but he was taken prisoner with him and carried to Babylonia. There is a custom among the Moors that none may ride on horseback who is not a renegade Christian, and that day, as they entered Babylonia, the King being a captive, they brought two horses, one for the King and one for Mosen Suarez, and when they were come into the presence of the Sultan he gave orders, having heard the truth of the affair, that Mosen Suarez should be honoured equally with the King. After some days, when they were speaking of the King's ransom, the Sultan told Mosen Suarez that if he wished to further the release of the King, he would set him free on his word that he would go and return with the ransom, or at least come back himself. Mosen Suarez promised accordingly, and the Sultan ordered that everything should be prepared for him, and when asked in what guise he would go, he replied that he would travel as a Syrian. Thereupon the Sultan fitted him out and gave him licence, and he departed and came to Cyprus, and after taking counsel with the Cardinal and the Lady Ines, and their advisers, it was ordained to send certain knights to the kings and princes of Christendom to seek their aid in ransoming the King (I saw there the knight who was sent to Castile, who was called Jacobo Guiri), and the lot fell upon this same Mosen Suarez to go to Rome to the Pope. In due time each returned from his mission, bringing back what he could, and the necessary guarantees having been obtained, Mosen Suarez, with the others of the Council, took a sum of gold, which was 300,000 ducats, and set out with it to the King.
As soon as they were come to Babylonia the Sultan heard of it, and sent orders to go out and receive them, and he showed Mosen Suarez as much honour as if he had been his own son. The release of the King was secured in this wise: the Sultan took the gold, and in addition the King of Cyprus obliged himself to send each year 8000 ducats, and so the matter was concluded. The Sultan gave orders to prepare the necessary things and the ships to carry the King to his country.
Moreover, the King showed much favour to Mosen Suarez and also to the Sultan's chief interpreter, a native of Castile who was a Jew of Seville and a renegade, for services rendered to him in his prison, and each year the present King sends him 200 ducats. When the King returned to his Kingdom and conferred with his lords, he took Mosen Suarez by the hand and made him sit down at his side, and said that if he had no legitimate son he would bequeath the Kingdom to him. The King also sent for one of his bastard daughters who was there, and married Mosen Suarez to her, and made him his admiral and his heir.
After I had passed four or five days in the house of the admiral Mosen Suarez, the Cardinal sent for me and told me that I was to go to hear Mass with the King, and that he would give me occasion for my journey to Babylonia, and that I was to dine with him. After Mass the King went apart to a corner of the church with the Cardinal and his aunt and with his councillors, and presently the Cardinal came and told me from the King that he knew of my desire to go to Babylonia and Mount Sinai, and that as the King had to send an ambassador to the Sultan about his affairs he had asked me to accept the office, and that by doing this I should be serving the King well. I knew that the Cardinal placed the affair in that light in order to honour me, and I replied that I was content to serve the King in this manner, since I knew him to be a Christian, and of the nation of France. Thereupon, the King sent for me to dine with him and the Cardinal, and he gave me directions for my journey.
CHAPTER VIII: Departure from Cyprus.-Damietta.-Weasels and carrier pigeons.- A narrow escape.-The Nile.-Crocodiles.-Hippopotami.- Journey up the Nile to Babylonia (Cairo).-The Mamelukes.- Reception by the Sultan of Egypt.-La Matarea.-The Pyramids.- Elephants.-A Girafe.-A game of Polo
I DEPARTED for Paphos, where the King has ordered me to be received in a village on a mountain, for the plague was in Paphos, and this village had escaped, and I lodged in the house of Diego Thenorio, a Castilian squire, with whom I had much pleasure. At the end of three days a ship with eighteen rowers arrived at Paphos, which was to carry me and the King's interpreter who was with me, the ship being as well victualed as if for the King's household, and with it came the particulars of the business I had to transact with the Sultan. The second day we set sail, and after being eleven days at sea, with favourable winds, we arrived at last at the port of Damietta, where the river Nile, which comes down from the terrestrial paradise, flows into the Mediterranean Sea, and there we entered the river and reached Damietta, a league and a half from the sea. It is as big as Salamanca and is abundantly supplied with bread and grapes, and all manner of fruits and sugar. The city is very flat and unwalled and without a castle. It is excessively hot, but the dwellings are very cool. There are so many weasels, both in the streets and houses, that they are more numerous than are mice with us, even in places where they abound. I saw there for the first time carrier pigeons' which take letters in their tail-feathers. They carry them from the place where they are bred to other places, and when the letters are detached they are set free and return to their homes. By this means the inhabitants have speedy news of all who come and go by sea or land, and thus escape surprise, since they live without defences, and have neither walls nor fortresses.
As soon as I arrived I was taken to the Governor, and I told him that I had come to the Sultan and asked him for