Full-page portrait of Sir John Mandeville. Created 1459.

"Jehan de Mandeville", translated as "Sir John Mandeville", is the name claimed by the compiler of a singular book of supposed travels, written in Anglo-Norman French, and published between 1357 and 1371. Download high resolution version (515x760, 568 KB) Source http://digitalgallery. ... Download high resolution version (515x760, 568 KB) Source http://digitalgallery. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... // May 28 - Peter I becomes King of Portugal after the death of his father, Alfonso IV. July 9 - Charles Bridge in Prague is founded King David II of Scotland is released by the English in return for a ransom. ... Events End of the reign of Emperor Go-Kogon of Japan, fourth of the Northern Ashikaga Pretenders Start of the reign of Emperor Go-Enyu of Japan, fifth and last of the Northern Ashikaga Pretenders Charterhouse Carthusian Monastery founded in Aldersgate, London. ...

By aid of translations into many other languages it acquired extraordinary popularity. Despite the extremely unreliable and often fantastical nature of the travels it describes, it was used as a work of reference — Christopher Columbus, for example, was heavily influenced by both this work and Marco Polo's earlier Il Milione (Adams 53). Christopher Columbus (1451 – May 20, 1506) was a navigator and maritime explorer credited as the discoverer of the Americas. ... A page of The Travels of Marco Polo The Travels of Marco Polo is the usual English title of Marco Polos travel book, Il Millione (The Million). ...

A few interpolated words in a particular edition of an English version gained for Mandeville in modern times the spurious credit of being "the father of English prose".^{[citation needed]}

Identity

In his preface the compiler calls himself a knight, and states that he was born and bred in England, of the town of St Albans. , St Albans is the main urban area of the City and District of St Albans in southern Hertfordshire, England, around 22 miles (35. ...

Travel

The emperor of Constatinople holding the Holy Lance, from a British Library manuscript.

He crossed the sea on Michaelmas Day 1322; had travelled by way of Turkey (Asia Minor), Armenia the little (Cilicia) and the great, Tartary, Persia, Syria, Arabia, Egypt upper and lower, Libya, great part of Ethiopia, Chaldea, Amazonia, India the less, the greater and the middle, and many countries about India; had often been to Jerusalem, and had written in Romance as more generally understood than Latin. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... According to legend, the Holy Lance (also known as the Spear of Destiny, Holy Spear, Lance of Longinus, Spear of Longinus or Spear of Christ) is the lance that pierced Jesus while he was on the cross. ... Michaelmas (pronounced ), or the Feast of Ss. ... Anatolia and Europe Anatolia (Turkish: from Greek: Ανατολία - Anatolia) is a peninsula of Western Asia which forms the greater part of the Asian portion of Turkey, as opposed to the European portion (Thrace, or traditionally Rumelia). ... Cilicia as Roman province, 120 AD In Antiquity, Cilicia (Κιλικία) was the name of a region, now known as Çukurova, and often a political unit, on the southeastern coast of Asia Minor (modern Turkey), north of Cyprus. ... Tatary or Great Tatary (Latin: Tataria or Tataria Magna) was a name used by Europeans from the Middle Ages until the twentieth century to designate a great tract of northern and central Asia stretching from the Caspian Sea and the Ural Mountains to the Pacific Ocean inhabited by Turkic and... The Persian Empire was a series of historical empires that ruled over the Iranian plateau, the old Persian homeland, and beyond in Western Asia, Central Asia and the Caucasus. ... The Arabian Peninsula Emirets towers in United Arab Emirates; the eastern part of Arabian Penisula The Arabian Peninsula (in Arabic: شبه الجزيرة العربية, or جزيرة العرب) is a peninsula in Southwest Asia at the junction of Africa and Asia consisting mainly of desert. ... For other uses, see Chaldean. ... The Amazons (in Greek, ) were a mythical ancient nation of all-female warriors. ... Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in Latium, the region immediately surrounding Rome. ...

In the body of the work, we hear that he had been at Paris and Constantinople; had served the sultan of Egypt a long time in his wars against the Bedouin, had been vainly offered by him a princely marriage and a great estate on condition of renouncing Christianity, and had left Egypt under sultan Melech Madabron (al-Muzaffar Sayf-ad-Din Hajji I who reigned in 1346-1347); had been at Mount Sinai, and had visited the Holy Land with letters under the great seal of the sultan, which gave him extraordinary facilities; had been in Russia, Livonia, Kraków, Lithuania, "en roialme daresten" (? de Daresten or Silistra), and many other parts near Tartary, but not in Tartary itself; had drunk of the well of youth at Polombe (Quilon on the Malabar coast), and still seemed to feel the better; had taken astronomical observations on the way to Lamory (Sumatra), as well as in Brabant, Germany, Bohemia and still farther north; had been at an isle called Pathen in the Indian Ocean; had been at Cansay (Hangchow-fu) in China, and had served the emperor of China fifteen months against the king of Mann; had been among rocks of adamant in the Indian Ocean; had been through a haunted valley, which he places near "Milstorak" (i.e. Malasgird in Armenia); had been driven home against his will in 1357 by arthritic gout; and had written his book as a consolation for his "wretched rest". The paragraph which states that he had had his book confirmed at Rome by the pope is an interpolation of the English version. This article is about the capital of France. ... Map of Constantinople. ... A Bedouin man on a hillside at Mount Sinai yalla yalla cabibihadad - this is the bedouins language this - meaning the land of the wonders. ... Christianity percentage by country, purple is highest, orange is lowest Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Wycliffe Tyndale · Luther · Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Pope · Archbishop of Canterbury Patriarch... View from the summit of Mount Sinai Sinai Peninsula, showing location of Jabal Musa Mount Sinai (Arabic: طور سيناء), also known as Mount Horeb, Mount Musa, Gebel Musa or Jabal Musa (Moses Mountain) by the Bedouins, is the name of a mountain in the Sinai Peninsula. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Holy Land (Biblical). ... Baltic Tribes, ca 1200 CE This article is about the region in Europe. ... Motto: Ex navicula navis (From a boat, a ship) Coordinates: , Country Poland Voivodeship Lesser Poland Powiat city county Gmina Kraków City Rights June 5th, 1257 Government  - Mayor Jacek Majchrowski Area  - City 326. ... Silistra (Bulgarian: , historically Bulgarian Дръстър (Drastar, ) and Romanian Dârstor) is a port city of northeastern Bulgaria, lying on the southern side of the lower Danube at the countrys border with Romania. ... , For the district with the same name, see Kollam District. ... Malabar Coast, Kerala Bekal Fort Beach, Kerala The Malabar Coast also known as the Malabarian Coast, is a long and narrow south-western shore line of the mainland Indian subcontinent. ... Sumatra (also spelled Sumatera) is the sixth largest island in the world (approximately 470,000 km²) and is the largest island entirely in Indonesia (two larger islands, Borneo and New Guinea, are partially in Indonesia). ...   (Chinese: ; Pinyin: ; Postal map spelling: Hangchow) is a sub-provincial city located in the Yangtze River Delta in the Peoples Republic of China, and the capital of Zhejiang province. ... Look up Mann in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Look up Adamant in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Gout (also called metabolic arthritis) is a disease due to a congenital disorder of uric acid metabolism. ... Nickname: Motto: SPQR: Senatus Populusque Romanus Location of the city of Rome (yellow) within the Province of Rome (red) and region of Lazio (grey) Coordinates: Region Lazio Province Province of Rome Founded 21 April 753 BC Government  - Mayor Walter Veltroni Area  - City 1,285 km²  (580 sq mi)  - Urban 5...

Contemporary corroboration

Part at least of the personal history of Mandeville is mere invention. Nor is any contemporary corroboration of the existence of such a Jehan de Mandeville known. Some French manuscripts, not contemporary, give a Latin letter of presentation from him to Edward III, but so vague that it might have been penned by any writer on any subject. It is in fact beyond reasonable doubt that the travels were in large part compiled by a Liège physician, known as Johains a le Barbe or Jehan a la Barbe, otherwise Jehan de Bourgogne. This article is about the King of England. ... Geography Country Belgium Community French Community Region Walloon Region Province Liège Arrondissement Liège Coordinates , , Area 69. ...

The evidence of this is in a modernized extract quoted by the Liège herald, Louis Abry (1643-1720), from the lost fourth book of the Myreur des Hystors of Johans des Preis, styled d'Oultremouse. In this "Jean de Bourgogne, dit a la Barbe", is said to have revealed himself on his deathbed to d'Oultremouse, whom he made his executor, and to have described himself in his will as "messire Jean de Mandeville, chevalier, comte de Montfort en Angleterre et seigneur de l'isle de Campdi et du château Pérouse". It is added that, having had the misfortune to kill an unnamed count in his own country, he engaged himself to travel through the three parts of the world, arrived at Liège in 1343, was a great naturalist, profound philosopher and astrologer, and had a remarkable knowledge of physics. And the identification is confirmed by the fact that in the now destroyed church of the Guillemins was a tombstone of Mandeville, with a Latin inscription stating that he was otherwise named "ad Barbam", was a professor of medicine, and died at Liège on November 17, 1372: this inscription is quoted as far back as 1462. Jean dOutremeuse (1338?-1399?) was a Belgian writer and historian who authored two romanticised historical works. ... Montfort can refer to: A Catholic school in Singapore, founded in 1916. ... The philosopher Socrates about to take poison hemlock as ordered by the court. ... An astrologer practices one or more forms of astrology. ... Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in Latium, the region immediately surrounding Rome. ... 17 November is also the name of a Marxist group in Greece, coinciding with the anniversary of the Athens Polytechnic uprising. ... In this year, the city of Aachen, Germany begins adding a Roman numeral Anno Domini date to a few of its coins. ...

Even before his death the Liège physician seems to have confessed to a share in the composition of the work. In the common Latin abridged version of it, at the end of c. vii., the author says that when stopping in the sultan's court at Cairo he met a venerable and expert physician of "our" parts, that they rarely came into conversation because their duties were of a different kind, but that long afterwards at Liège he composed this treatise at the exhortation and with the help (Jiortatu et adiutorio) of the same venerable man, as he will narrate at the end of it. And in the last chapter he says that in 1355, in returning home, he came to Liège, and being laid up with old age and arthritic gout in the street called Bassesauenyr, i.e. Basse Savenir, consulted the physicians. That one came in who was more venerable than the others by reason of his age and white hairs, was evidently expert in his art, and was commonly called Magister Iohannes ad Barbam. That a chance remark of the latter caused the renewal of their old Cairo acquaintance, and that Ad Barbam, after showing his medical skill on Mandeville, urgently begged him to write his travels; "and so at length, by his advice and help, monitu et adiutorio, was composed this treatise, of which I had certainly proposed to write nothing until at least I had reached my own parts in England". He goes on to speak of himself as being now lodged in Liège, "which is only two days distant from the sea of England"; and it is stated in the colophon (and in the manuscripts) that the book was first published in French by Mandeville, its author, in 1355, at Liège, and soon after in the same city translated into "said" Latin form. Moreover, a manuscript of the French text extant at Liège about 1860 contained a similar statement, and added that the author lodged at a hostel called "al hoste Henkin Levo": this manuscript gave the physician's name as "Johains de Bourgogne dit ale barbe", which doubtless conveys its local form.

Contemporary mention

There is no contemporary English mention of any English knight named Jehan de Mandeville, nor are the arms said to have been on the Liège tomb like any known Mandeville arms. But Dr. George F. Warner has ingeniously suggested that de Bourgogne may be a certain Johan de Bourgoyne, who was pardoned by parliament on August 20, 1321 for having taken part in the attack on the Despensers (Hugh the younger and Hugh the elder), but whose pardon was revoked in May 1322, the year in which "Mandeville" professes to have left England. And it should now be added that among the persons similarly pardoned on the recommendation of the same nobleman was a Johan Mangevilayn, whose name appears closely related to that of "de Mandeville", which is merely a later form of "de Magneville". is the 232nd day of the year (233rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events Births September 29 - John of Artois, Count of Eu, French soldier (d. ... Hugh le Despenser (or Hugh Despenser) was the name of five English lords during the 13th and 14th centuries, in a direct line of descent. ... The execution of Hugh, the younger Despenser, from a manuscript of Froissart. ... Hugh (1262-1326), son of Hugh le Despenser II, sometimes referred to as the elder Despenser, was for a time the chief adviser to King Edward II of England. ...

The name Mangevilain occurs in Yorkshire as early as 16 Hen. I. (Pipe Roll Society, xv. 40), but is very rare, and (failing evidence of any place named Mangeville) seems to be merely a variant spelling of Magnevillain. The meaning may be simply "of Magneville", de Magneville; but the family of a 14th century bishop of Nevers were called both "Mandevilain" and "de Mandevilain", where Mandevilain seems a derivative place-name, meaning the Magneville or Mandeville district. In any case it is clear that the name "de Mandeville "might be suggested to de Bourgogne by that of his fellow-culprit Mangevilayn, and it is even possible that the two fled to England together, were in Egypt together, met again at Liège, and shared in the compilation of the Travels. The Pipe Rolls are a series of financial records from England, beginning in 1130 and lasting, mostly complete, until 1833. ... This 14th-century statue from south India depicts the gods Shiva (on the left) and Uma (on the right). ...

Whether after the appearance of the Travels either de Bourgogne or "Mangevilayn" visited England is very doubtful. St Albans Abbey had a sapphire ring, and Canterbury a crystal orb, said to have been given by Mandeville; but these might have been sent from Liège, and it will appear later that the Liège physician possessed and wrote about precious stones. St Albans also had a legend, recorded in John Norden's Speculum Britanniae (1596) that a ruined marble tomb of Mandeville (represented cross-legged and in armour, with sword and shield) once stood in the abbey; this may be true of "Mangevilayn" or it may be a mere myth. There is also an inscription near the entrance of St Albans Abbey, which reads as follows: St Albans Cathedral from the west. ... Canterbury is a cathedral city in east Kent in South East England and is the seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Primate of All England, head of the Church of England and of the worldwide Anglican Communion. ... John Nordens map of London in 1593. ...

"Siste gradum properans, requiescit Mandevil urna, Hic humili; norunt et monumental mori." "Lo, in this Inn of travellers doth lie, One rich in nothing but in memory; His name was Sir John Mandeville; content, Having seen much, with a small continent, Toward which he travelled ever since his birth, And at last pawned his body for ye earth Which by a statute must in mortgage be, Till a Redeemer come to set it free."

However, it can be argued that this inscription was set up long after the fourteenth century and assumed the reality of Sir John Mandeville; it certainly does not of itself prove it. (13th century - 14th century - 15th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 14th century was that century which lasted from 1301 to 1400. ...

It is a little curious that the name preceding Mangevilayn in the list of persons pardoned is "Johan le Barber". Did this suggest to de Bourgogne the alias "a le Barbe", or was that only a Liège nickname? Note also that the arms on Mandeville's tomb were borne by the Tyrrells of Hertfordshire (the county in which St Albans lies); for of course the crescent on the lion's breast is only the "difference" indicating a second son. Tyrrell was an auto racing team and Formula One constructor founded by Ken Tyrrell. ... For the similarly named county in the West Midlands region, see Herefordshire. ...

Dissecting the work

Cotton plant as imagined and drawn by John Mandeville; "There grew there [India] a wonderful tree which bore tiny lambs on the endes of its branches. These branches were so pliable that they bent down to allow the lambs to feed when they are hungrie.".

Illustration of a defloration rite (1484 edition).

Leaving this question, there remains the equally complex one whether the book contains any facts and knowledge acquired by actual travels and residence in the East. Possibly it may, but only as a small portion of the section which treats of the Holy Land and the ways of getting thither, of Egypt, and in general of the Levant. The prologue, indeed, points almost exclusively to the Holy Land as the subject of the work. The mention of more distant regions comes in only towards the end of this prologue, and (in a manner) as an afterthought. Picture of cotton plant as imagined and drawn by John Mandeville in the 14th century File links The following pages link to this file: John Mandeville Categories: Public domain images ... Picture of cotton plant as imagined and drawn by John Mandeville in the 14th century File links The following pages link to this file: John Mandeville Categories: Public domain images ... Cotton ready for harvest. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 714 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (998 × 838 pixel, file size: 26 KB, MIME type: image/png) File historyClick on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 714 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (998 × 838 pixel, file size: 26 KB, MIME type: image/png) File historyClick on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. ... Look up defloration in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Odoric of Pordenone

By far the greater part of these more distant travels, extending in fact from Trebizond to Hormuz, India, the Malay Archipelago, and China, and back again to western Asia; has been appropriated from the narrative of Friar Odoric (1330). These passages, as served up by Mandeville, are almost always, indeed, swollen with interpolated particulars, usually of an extravagant kind, whilst in no few cases the writer has failed to understand those passages which he adopts from Odoric and professes to give as his own experiences. Thus, where Odoric has given a most curious and veracious account of the Chinese custom of employing tame cormorants to catch fish, the cormorants are converted by Mandeville into "little beasts called loyres (layre, B), which are taught to go into the water" (the word loyre being apparently used here for "otter", lutra, for which the Provençal is luria or loiria). Odoric of Pordenone (c. ... Trabzon, formerly known as Trebizond (Greek: ), is a city on the Black Sea coast of north-eastern Turkey and the capital of Trabzon Province. ... The speedy deletion of this page is contested. ... World map depicting Malay Archipelago The Malay Archipelago is a vast archipelago located between mainland Southeastern Asia (Indochina) and Australia. ... Odoric of Pordenone (c. ... For other uses, see Cormorant (disambiguation). ... Genera Nannopterum Phalacrocorax Leucocarbo The Phalacrocoracidae family of birds is represented by about thirty species of cormorants and shags. ... This article is about the carnivorous mammal. ... Provençal (Provençau) is one of several dialects of Occitan spoken by a minority of people in southern France and other areas of France and Italy. ...

At a very early date the coincidence of Mandeville's stories with those of Odoric was recognized, insomuch that a manuscript of Odoric which is or was in the chapter library at Mainz begins with the words: Incipit Itinerarius fidelis fratris Odorici socii Militis Mendavil per Indian; licet hic ille prius et alter posterius peregrinationem suam descripsit. At a later day Sir Thomas Herbert calls Odoric "travelling companion of our Sir John"; and Samuel Purchas, most unfairly, whilst calling Mandeville, next to Polo, "if next ... the greatest Asian traveller that ever the world had", insinuates that Odoric's story was stolen from Mandeville's. Mandeville himself is crafty enough, at least in one passage, to anticipate criticism by suggesting the probability of his having travelled with Odoric. Mainz is a city in Germany and the capital of the German federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate. ... For other persons named Thomas Herbert, see Thomas Herbert (disambiguation). ... Samuel Purchas (1575?-1626), was an English travel writer, a near-contemporary of Richard Hakluyt. ...

Hetoum & Marco Polo

Much, again, of Mandeville's matter, particularly in Asiatic geography and history, is taken bodily from the Historiae Orientis of Hetoum, an Armenian of princely family, who became a monk of the Praemonstrant order, and in 1307 dictated this work on the East, in the French tongue at Poitiers, out of his own extraordinary acquaintance with Asia and its history in his own time. Marco Polo (September 15, 1254 – January 8, 1324) was a Venetian trader and explorer who gained fame for his worldwide travels, recorded in the book Il Milione (The Million or The Travels of Marco Polo). ... Location within France Poitiers (population 85,000) is a small city located in west central France. ...

It is curious that no passage in Mandeville can be plausibly traced to Marco Polo, with one exception. This is where he states that at Hormuz the people during the great heat lie in water – a circumstance mentioned by Polo, though not by Odoric. We should suppose it most likely that this fact had been interpolated in the copy of Odoric used by Mandeville, for if he had borrowed it direct from Polo he would have borrowed more. Marco Polo (September 15, 1254 – January 8, 1324) was a Venetian trader and explorer who gained fame for his worldwide travels, recorded in the book Il Milione (The Million or The Travels of Marco Polo). ...

Giovanni da Pian del Carpine & Vincent de Beauvais

A good deal about the manners and customs of the Tatars is demonstrably derived from the famous work of the Franciscan Giovanni da Pian del Carpine, who went as the pope's ambassador to the Tatars in 1245-1247; but Dr. Warner considers that the immediate source for Mandeville was the Speculum historiale of Vincent de Beauvais. Though the passages in question are all to be found in Carpine more or less exactly, the expression is condensed and the order changed. For examples compare Mandeville, p.250, on the tasks done by Tatar women, with Carpine, p.643; Mandeville. p.250, on Tatar habits of eating, with Carpine, pp.639-640; Mandeville, p.231, on the titles borne on the seals of the Great Khan, with Carpine , p.715, etc. John of Plano Carpinis famous journey—his route is shown in Dark blue (railroad track style). ... The Dominican friar Vincent of Beauvais (ca 1190 - 1264?) wrote the main encyclopedia that was used in the middle ages. ... Tatars (Tatar: Tatarlar/Татарлар), sometimes spelled Tartar (more about the name), is a collective name applied to the Turkic speaking people of Eastern Europe and Central Asia. ... John of Plano Carpinis famous journey—his route is shown in Dark blue (railroad track style). ... The Dominican friar Vincent of Beauvais (ca 1190 - 1264?) wrote the main encyclopedia that was used in the middle ages. ... Khagan or Great Khan (Old Turkic , alternatively spelled Chagan, Khaghan, Kagan, Qagan, Qaghan), is a title of imperial rank in the Mongolian and Turkic languages equal to the status of emperor and someone who rules a Khaganate (empire, greater than an ordinary Khan, but often referred to as such in...

The account of Prester John is taken from the famous Epistle of that imaginary potentate, which was so widely diffused in the 13th century, and created that renown which made it incumbent on every traveller in Asia to find some new tale to tell of him. Many fabulous stories, again, of monsters, such as cyclopes, sciapodes, hippopodes, monoscelides, anthropophagi, and men whose heads did grow beneath their shoulders, of the phoenix and the weeping crocodile, such as Pliny has collected, are introduced here and there, derived no doubt from him, Solinus, the bestiaries, or the Speculum naturale of Vincent de Beauvais. And interspersed, especially in the chapters about the Levant, are the stories and legends that were retailed to every pilgrim, such as the legend of Seth and the grains of paradise from which grew the wood of the cross, that of the shooting of old Cain by Lamech, that of the castle of the sparrow-hawk (which appears in the tale of Melusine), those of the origin of the balsam plants at Masariya, of the dragon of Cos, of the river Sambation, etc. Preste enthroned on a map of East Africa in an atlas prepared for Queen Mary, 1558. ... (12th century - 13th century - 14th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 13th century was that century which lasted from 1201 to 1300. ... Polyphemus the Cyclops. ... A monopod. ... The anthropophagi (cannibals) are creatures from English folklore with no heads and a mouth in their chests. ... The phoenix from the Aberdeen Bestiary. ... Crocodile tears is the false or insincere weeping, a hypocritical display of emotions. ... Pliny the Elder: an imaginative 19th Century portrait. ... Gaius Julius Solinus, Latin grammarian and compiler, probably flourished during the first half of the 3rd century. ... The Levant The Levant (IPA: /ləvænt/) is an imprecise geographical term historically referring to a large area in the Middle East south of the Taurus Mountains, bounded by the Mediterranean Sea on the west, and by the northern Arabian Desert and Upper Mesopotamia to the east. ... Seth (Hebrew: שֵׁת, Standard Šet, Tiberian ; Arabic: شيث Shith or Shiyth; Placed; appointed), in the Book of Genesis of the Hebrew Bible, is the third listed son of Adam and Eve and brother of Cain and Abel and is the only other son mentioned by name. ... The Passion is the theological term used for the suffering, both physical and mental, of Jesus in the hours prior to and including his trial and execution by crucifixion. ... According to the Holy Bible and the Quran, Cain and Abel were the first and second sons of Adam and Eve, born after the Fall of Man (the only other child of Adam and Eve to be named in the Bible was Seth). ... Lamech (in Hebrew לֶמֶך Lemmech) is the name of two men appearing in the genealogies of Adam in the book of Genesis. ... Melusines secret discovered, from One of sixteen paintings by Guillebert de Mets circa 1410. ... This article needs to be wikified. ...

But all these passages have also been verified as substantially occurring in Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Barrois (Barrois collection) manuscript Nouv. Acq. Franc. 1515 in the Bibliothèque nationale de France, mentioned below (from 1371), and in that numbered xxxix. of the Grenville collection (British Museum), which dates probably from the early part of the 15th century. The new buildings of the library. ... The British Museum in London, England is one of the worlds greatest museums of human history and culture. ... (14th century - 15th century - 16th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 15th century was that century which lasted from 1401 to 1500. ...

Representation of some genuine experience

Even in that part of the book which might be supposed to represent some genuine experience there are the plainest traces that another work has been made use of, more or less - we might almost say as a framework to fill up. This is the itinerary of the German knight Wilhelm von Boldensele, written in 1336 at the desire of Cardinal Hélie de Talleyrand-Périgord. A cursory comparison of this with Mandeville leaves no doubt that the latter has followed its thread, though digressing on every side, and too often eliminating the singular good sense of the German traveller. We may indicate as examples Boidensele's account of Cyprus, of Tyre and the coast of Palestine, of the journey from Gaza to Egypt, passages about Babylon of Egypt, about Mecca, the general account of Egypt, the pyramids, some of the wonders of Cairo, such as the slave-market, the chicken-hatching stoves, and the apples of paradise, i.e. plantains, the Red Sea, the convent on Sinai, the account of the church of the Holy Sepulchre, etc. Wilhelm von Boldensele (c. ... Events End of the Kemmu restoration and beginning of the Muromachi period in Japan. ... Hélie de Talleyrand-Périgord[1] (1301-1364) was a French Cardinal[2], from an aristocratic family in Périgord, south-west France. ... Tyre (Arabic , Phoenician , Hebrew Tzor, Tiberian Hebrew , Akkadian , Greek Týros) is a city in the South Governorate of Lebanon. ... The Holy Land or Palestine Showing not only the Old Kingdoms of Judea and Israel but also the 12 Tribes Distinctly, and Confirming Even the Diversity of the Locations of their Ancient Positions and Doing So as the Holy Scriptures Indicate, a geographic map from the studio of Tobiae Conradi... Not to be confused with the Spanish name Garza or the Egyptian town of Giza. ... Babylon Fortress .Babylon (Greek: , Strabo xvii. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... 19th-century tourists in front of the Sphinx - view from South-East, Great Pyramid in background Giza pyramids, view from south in late 19th century. ... Nickname: Egypt: Site of Cairo (top center) Coordinates: , Government  - Governor Dr. Abdul Azim Wazir Area  - City 214 km²  (82. ... Species Musa × paradisiaca A big load of plantains in Masaya, Nicaragua Cooking plantains (pronounced plan-TENZ or plan-TAINZ) are a kind of plantains that are generally used for cooking, as contrasted with the soft, sweet banana varieties (which are sometimes called dessert bananas). ... Location of the Red Sea The Red Sea is an inlet of the Indian Ocean between Africa and Asia. ... Sinai Peninsula, Gulf of Suez (west), Gulf of Aqaba (east) from Space Shuttle STS-40 For other uses of the word Sinai, please see: Sinai (disambiguation). ... The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, called the Church of the Resurrection (Greek: Ναός της Αναστάσεως, Naos tis Anastaseos; Georgian: აგდგომის ტადზარი Agdgomis Tadzari; Armenian: Surp Harutyun) by Eastern Christians, is a Christian church within the walled Old City of Jerusalem. ...

There is, indeed, only a small residuum of the book to which genuine character, as containing the experiences of the author, can possibly be attributed. Yet, as has been intimated, the borrowed stories are frequently claimed as such experiences. In addition to those already mentioned, he alleges that he had witnessed the curious exhibition of the garden of transmigrated souls (described by Odoric) at Cansay, i.e. Hangchow. He and his fellows with their valets had remained fifteen months in service with the emperor of Cathay in his wars against the king of Manzi - Manzi, or Southern China, having ceased to be a separate kingdom some seventy years before the time referred to. But the most notable of these false statements occurs in his adoption from Odoric of the story of the Valley Perilous. This is, in its original form, apparently founded on real experiences of Odoric viewed through a haze of excitement and superstition. Mandeville, whilst swelling the wonders of the tale with a variety of extravagant touches, appears to safeguard himself from the reader's possible discovery that it was stolen by the interpolation: "And some of our fellows accorded to enter, and some not. So there were with us two worthy men, Friars Minor, that were of Lombardy, who said that if any man would enter they would go in with us. And when they had said so, upon the gracious trust of God and of them, we caused mass to be sung, and made every man to be shriven and houselled; and then we entered fourteen persons; but at our going out we were but nine", etc. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...   (Chinese: ; Pinyin: ; Postal map spelling: Hangchow) is a sub-provincial city located in the Yangtze River Delta in the Peoples Republic of China, and the capital of Zhejiang province. ... Cathay is the Anglicized version of Catai, the name that was given to northern China by Marco Polo (he referred to southern China as Manji). ... The different usages and names of China in world languages are generally consistent with how knowledge of Chinas existence first reached each culture. ... For the village of the same name in Ontario, Canada, see Lombardy, Ontario. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ...

In referring to this passage it is only fair to recognize that the description (though the suggestion of the greatest part exists in Odoric) displays a good deal of imaginative power; and there is much in the account of Christian's passage through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, in John Bunyan's famous allegory, which indicates a possibility that Bunyan may have read and remembered this episode either in Mandeville or in Hakluyt's Odoric. The theme of this psalm casts God in the role of protector and provider, and is routinely read and recited by Jews and Christians alike. ... John Bunyan. ... Richard Hakluyt (~1552 - November 23, 1616) was an English writer, famous for his Voyages which provided William Shakespeare and others with material. ...

Nor does it follow that the whole work is borrowed or fictitious. Even the great Moorish traveller Ibn Battuta, accurate and veracious in the main, seems - in one part at least of his narrative - to invent experiences; and in such works as those of Jan van Hees and Arnold von Harif we have examples of pilgrims to the Holy Land whose narratives begin apparently in sober truth, and gradually pass into flourishes of fiction and extravagance. So in Mandeville also we find particulars not yet traced to other writers, and which may therefore be provisionally assigned either to the writer's own experience or to knowledge acquired by colloquial intercourse in the East. The Moors are the Muslim African and Arab inhabitants of the western Mediterranean and western Sahara, including the Maghreb (the coastal and mountain lands of present day Morocco and Algeria, and Tunisia although Tunisia often is separately called Ifriqiya after the former Roman province of Africa); al-Andalus (the former... It has been suggested that Travelling route of Ibn Batuta be merged into this article or section. ...

On Egypt

It is difficult to decide on the character of his statements as to recent Egyptian history. In his account of that country though the series of the Comanian (of the Bahri dynasty) sultans is borrowed from Hetoum down to the accession of Mel echnasser (Al-Nasir Muhammad), who came first to the throne in 1293, Mandeville appears to speak from his own knowledge when he adds that this "Melechnasser reigned long and governed wisely". In fact, though twice displaced in the early part of his life, Al-Nasir Muhammad reigned till 1341, a duration unparalleled in Muslim Egypt, whilst we are told that during the last thirty years of his reign, Egypt rose to a high pitch of wealth and prosperity. Hathor The history of Egypt is the longest continuous history, as a unified state, of any country in the world. ... Cuman, also called Polovtsy, Polovtsian, or the Anglicized Polovzian (Russian: , Ukrainian: , Bulgarian: , Romanian: , Hungarian: ), is a Western European exonym for the western Kipchaks. ... The Bahri dynasty or Bahriyya Sultanate المماليك البحرية was a Mamluk dynasty of Kipchak Turk origin that ruled Egypt from 1250 to 1382 when they were succeeded by the Burji dynasty, another group of Mamluks. ... The Mamluk al-Nasir Muhammad (الناصر محمد) (Muhammad, the Victorious, born 1285, died 1341) was sultan of Egypt from December 1293, with two interruptions to his death in 1341. ... Events May 20 - King Sancho IV of Castile creates the Study of General Schools of Alcala The Minoresses (Franciscan nuns) are first introduced into England Births Deaths Categories: 1293 ... Events The Queens College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford, is founded. ... During the initial Islamic invasion in 639 AD, Egypt was ruled at first by governors acting in the name of the Ummayad Caliphs in Damascus but, in 747, the Ummayads were overthrown and the power of the Arabs slowly began to weaken. ...

Mandeville, however, then goes on to say that his eldest son, Melechemader, was chosen to succeed; but this prince was caused privily to be slain by his brother, who took the kingdom under the name of Meleclimadabron. "And he was Soldan when I departed from those countries". Now Al-Nasir Muhammad was followed in succession by no less than eight of his sons in thirteen years, the first three of whom reigned in aggregate only a few months. The names mentioned by Mandeville appear to represent those of the fourth and sixth of the eight, viz. al-Salih Ismail, and al-Muzzafar Hajji); and these the statements of Mandeville do not fit.

Words

On several occasions Arabic words are given, but are not always recognizable, owing perhaps to the carelessness of copyists in such matters. Thus, we find the names (not satisfactorily identified) of the wood, fruit and sap of the Himalayan Balsam; of bitumen, "alkatran" (al-Katran); of the three different kinds of pepper (long pepper, black pepper and white pepper) as sorbotin, fulful and bano or bauo (fulful is the common Arabic word for pepper; the others have not been satisfactorily explained). But these, and the particulars of his narrative for which no literary sources have yet been found, are too few to constitute a proof of personal experience. Arabic ( or just ) is the largest living member of the Semitic language family in terms of speakers. ... Binomial name Impatiens glandulifera Royle Himalayan Balsam (Impatiens glandulifera) is a large annual plant, native to the Himalaya. ... Binomial name Piper longum L. Long pepper (Piper longum) is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit, which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. ... Binomial name Piper nigrum L. Black pepper (Piper nigrum) is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit, which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

Geographic

Mandeville, again, in some passages shows a correct idea of the form of the earth, and of position in latitude ascertained by observation of the pole star; he knows that there are antipodes, and that if ships were sent on voyages of discovery they might sail round the world. And he tells a curious story, which he had heard in his youth, how a worthy man did travel ever eastward until he came to his own country again. But he repeatedly asserts the old belief that Jerusalem was in the centre of the world, and maintains in proof of this that at the equinox a spear planted erect in Jerusalem casts no shadow at noon, which, if true, would equally consist with the sphericity of the earth, provided that the city were on the equator. The celestial spheres relate to Johannes Keplers work Harmonia Mundi in which he drew together theories from the world of music, architecture, planetary motion and astronomy and linked them together to form an idea of a harmony and cohesion underlying all world phenomena and ruled by a divine force. ... This map shows the antipodes of each point on the Earths surface – the points where the blue and pink overlap are land antipodes. ... To circumnavigate a place, such as an island, a continent, or the Earth, is to travel all the way around it by boat or ship. ... For other uses, see Jerusalem (disambiguation). ... Illumination of the Earth by the Sun on the day of equinox, (ignoring twilight). ...

Manuscripts

The sources of the book, which include various authors besides those whom we have specified, have been laboriously investigated by Dr. Albert Bovenschen and Dr. George F. Warner, and to them the reader must be referred for more detailed information on the subject.

The oldest known manuscript of the original - once Barrois's, afterwards Bertram Ashburnham, 4th Earl of Ashburnham's, now Nouv. Acq. Franc. 1515 in the Bibliothèque nationale de France - is dated 1371, but is nevertheless very inaccurate in proper names. An early printed Latin translation made from the French has been already quoted, but four others, unprinted, have been discovered by Dr. Johann Vogels. They exist in eight manuscripts, of which seven are in Great Britain, while the eighth was copied by a monk of Abingdon; probably, therefore, all these unprinted translations were executed in Great Britain. From one of them, according to Dr. Vogels, an English version was made which has never been printed and is now extant only in free abbreviations, contained in two 15th century manuscripts in the Bodleian Library - manuscript e Museo 116, and manuscript Rawlinson D.99 : the former, which is the better, is in East Midlands English, and may possibly have belonged to the Augustinian priory of St Osyth in Essex, while the latter is in Southern dialect. The new buildings of the library. ... Events End of the reign of Emperor Go-Kogon of Japan, fourth of the Northern Ashikaga Pretenders Start of the reign of Emperor Go-Enyu of Japan, fifth and last of the Northern Ashikaga Pretenders Charterhouse Carthusian Monastery founded in Aldersgate, London. ... , Abingdon (traditionally known as Abingdon-on-Thames) is a market town in Oxfordshire in Southern England. ... (14th century - 15th century - 16th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 15th century was that century which lasted from 1401 to 1500. ... Entrance to the Library, with the coats-of-arms of several Oxford colleges The Bodleian Library, the main research library of the University of Oxford, is one of the oldest libraries in Europe, and in England is second in size only to the British Library. ... Richard Rawlinson (February 3, 1690 - April 6, 1755) was an English clergyman and antiquary. ... Traditionally, East Midlands English was spoken in those parts of Mercia lying East of Watling Street (the A5 London - Shrewsbury Road). ... St Osyth is a village in North East Essex in the south east of the United Kingdom. ... Essex is a county in the East of England. ...

The first English translation direct from the French was made (at least as early as the beginning of the 15th century) from a manuscript of which many pages were lost. Writing of the name Califfes Dr. Vogels controverts these positions, arguing that the first English version from the French was the complete Cotton text, and that the defective English copies were made from a defective English manuscript. His supposed evidences of the priority of the Cotton text equally consist with its being a later revision, and for Roys Its (Khalif), the author says (Roxburghe Club ed., p. 18) that it is taut a dire come rol (s). II y soleit auoir V. soudans "as much as to say king. There used to be 5 sultans". In the defective French manuscript a page ended with fly so; then came a gap, and the next page went on with part of the description of Mount Sinai, Et est celle vallee mult froide (ibid. p. 32'). Consequently the corresponding English version has "That ys to say amonge hem Roys Its and this vale ys ful colde"! All English printed texts before 1725, and Ashton's 1887 edition, follow these defective copies, and in only two known manuscripts has the lacuna been detected and filled up. The Roxburghe Club was formed in 1812 by leading bibliophiles when the library of the Duke of Roxburghe was auctioned. ... View from the summit of Mount Sinai Sinai Peninsula, showing location of Jabal Musa Mount Sinai (Arabic: طور سيناء), also known as Mount Horeb, Mount Musa, Gebel Musa or Jabal Musa (Moses Mountain) by the Bedouins, is the name of a mountain in the Sinai Peninsula. ...

One of them is the British Museum manuscript Egerton 1982 (Northern dialect, about 1410-1420 ?), in which, according to Dr. Vogels, the corresponding portion has been borrowed from that English version which had already been made from the Latin. The other is in the, British Museum manuscript Cotton Titus C. xvi. (Midland dialect, about 1410-1420?), representing a text completed, and revised throughout, from the French, though not by a competent hand. The Egerton text, edited by Dr. George Warner, has been printed by the Roxburghe Club, while the Cotton text, first printed in 1725 and 1727, is in modern reprints the current English version. Northern English is a group of dialects of the English language. ... The British Museum in London, England is one of the worlds greatest museums of human history and culture. ... Events February 8 - Catherine I became empress of Russia February 20 - The first reported case of white men scalping Native Americans takes place in New Hampshire colony. ... Events 1727 to 1800 - Lt. ...

That none of the forms of the English version can be from the same hand which wrote the original is made patent by their glaring errors of translation, but the Cotton text asserts in the preface that it was made by Mandeville himself, and this assertion was till lately taken on trust by almost all modern historians of English literature. The words of the original "je eusse cest livret mis en Latin ... mais je lay mis,en römant" were mistranslated as if "je eusse" meant "I had" instead of "I should have", and then (whether of fraudulent intent or by the error of a copyist thinking to supply an accidental omission) the words were added "and translated it a3en out of Frensche into Englyssche". Mätzner (Altenglische Sprachproben, I., ii., 154-155) seems to have been the first to show that the current English text cannot possibly have been made by Mandeville himself. Of the original French there is no satisfactory edition, but Dr. Vogels has undertaken a critical text, and Dr. Warner has added to his Egerton English text the French of a British Museum manuscript with variants from three others.

Further information

It remains to mention certain other works bearing the name of Mandeville or de Bourgogne.

To Mandeville (by whom de Bourgogne is clearly meant) Jean d'Outremeuse ascribes a Latin "lappidaire salon l'opinion des Indois", from which he quotes twelve passages, stating that the author (whom he calls knight, lord of Montfort, of Castelperouse, and of the isle of Campdi) had been "baillez en Alexandrie" seven years, and had been presented by a Saracen friend with some fine jewels which had passed into d'Outremeuse's own possession: of this Lapidaire, a French version, which seems to have been completed after 1479, has been several times printed. A manuscript of Mandeville's travels offered for sale in 1862 is said to have been divided into five books: Jean dOutremeuse (1338?-1399?) was a Belgian writer and historian who authored two romanticised historical works. ... In older Western historical literature, the Saracens were the people of the Saracen Empire, another name for the Arab Caliphate under the rule of the Umayyad and Abbasid dynasties. ... Events January 20 - Ferdinand II ascends the throne of Aragon and rules together with his wife Isabella, queen of Castile over most of the Iberian peninsula. ... 1862 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ...

1. the travels
2. de là forme de la terre et comment et par queue manière elle fut faite
3. de la forme del ciel
4. des herbes selon les yndois et les phulosophes par de là
5. ly lapidaire--while the cataloguer supposed Mandeville to have been the author of a concluding piece entitled La Venianche de nostre Signeur Jhesu-Crist fayle par Vespasian fit del empereur de Romme et commeet lozeph daramathye fu deliures de la prizon. From the treatise on herbs a passage is quoted asserting it to have been composed in 1357 in honour of the author's natural lord, Edward III, king of England. This date is corroborated by the title of king of Scotland given to Edward, who had received from Baliol the surrender of the crown and kingly dignity on January 20, 1356, but on October 3, 1357 released King David and made peace with Scotland: unfortunately we are not told whether the treatise contains the author's name, and, if so, what name. Tanner (Bibliotheca) alleges that Mandeville wrote several books on medicine, and among the Ashmolean manuscripts in the Bodleian Library are a medical receipt by John de Magna Villa (No. 2479), an aichemical receipt by him (No. 1407), and another alchemical receipt by johannes de Villa Magna (No. 1441).

Finally, de Bourgogne wrote under his own name a treatise on the plague, extant in Latin, French and English texts, and in Latin and English abridgments. Herein he describes himself as Johannes de Burgundia, otherwise called cum Barba, citizen of Liège and professor of the art of medicine; says that he had practised forty years and had been in Liège in the plague of 1365; and adds that he had previously written a treatise on the cause of the plague, according to the indications of astrology (beginning Deus deorum), and another on distinguishing pestilential diseases (beginning Cum nimium propter instans tempus epidimiate). "Burgundia" is sometimes corrupted into "Burdegalia", and in English translations of the abridgment almost always appears as "Burdews" (Bordeaux, France) or the like manuscript Rawlinson D. 251 (15th century) in the Bodleian Library also contains a large number of English medical receipts, headed "Practica phisicalia Magistri Johannis de Burgundia". Imperator Caesar Vespasianus Augustus (born November 17, 9, died June 23, 79), known originally as Titus Flavius Vespasianus and usually referred to in English as Vespasian, was emperor of Rome from 69 to 79. ... This article is about the King of England. ... Baliol is the name of a family which played an important part in the history of Scotland. ... January 20 is the 20th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events January 20 - Edward Balliol surrenders title as King of Scotland to Edward III of England April 16 — the King of the Serbian Kingdom of RaÅ¡ka Stefan DuÅ¡an is proclaimed Tsar (Emperor) of all Serbs, Arbanasses and Greeks in Skopje by the Serbian Orthodox Christian Patriarch of a... is the 276th day of the year (277th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... // May 28 - Peter I becomes King of Portugal after the death of his father, Alfonso IV. July 9 - Charles Bridge in Prague is founded King David II of Scotland is released by the English in return for a ransom. ... David II (March 5, 1324 – February 22, 1371) king of Scotland, son of King Robert the Bruce by his second wife, Elizabeth de Burgh (d. ... Entrance to the Library, with the coats-of-arms of several Oxford colleges The Bodleian Library, the main research library of the University of Oxford, is one of the oldest libraries in Europe, and in England is second in size only to the British Library. ... The bubonic plague or bubonic fever is the best-known variant of the deadly infectious disease caused by the enterobacteria Yersinia pestis. ... Liege or Liège has several meanings: A liege is the person or entity to which one has pledged allegiance. ... Events Foundation of the University of Vienna Births John de Ros, 6th Baron de Ros (died 1394) Thomas de Mowbray, 1st Duke of Norfolk (died 1399) Deaths May 17 - Louis VI the Roman, elector of Brandenburg (born 1328) July 27 - Duke Rudolf IV of Austria (born 1339) Categories: 1365 ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... (14th century - 15th century - 16th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 15th century was that century which lasted from 1401 to 1500. ...

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen

Mandeville's travels constituted a wide variety of venues, and it was therefore inevitable that his book would become one of the myriad sources used in Alan Moore's two graphic novels The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. The venues are mostly visited in the early twentieth century by Mina Murray and Allan Quatermain prior to the latter's death. Alan Moore (born November 18, 1953, in Northampton) is an English writer most famous for his influential work in comics, including the acclaimed graphic novels Watchmen, V for Vendetta and From Hell. ... The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is a comic book limited series written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Kevin ONeill, published under the Americas Best Comics imprint of DC Comics. ... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s The 20th century lasted from 1901 to 2000 in the Gregorian calendar (often from (1900 to 1999 in common usage). ... Wilhelmina Mina Harker is a fictional character of Bram Stokers seminal horror novel Dracula. ... Allan Quatermain is a fictional character, the protagonist of H. Rider Haggards King Solomons Mines and its various sequels and prequels. ...

Online text

• The Travels of Sir John Mandeville
• Works by John Mandeville at Project Gutenberg

Project Gutenberg, abbreviated as PG, is a volunteer effort to digitize, archive, and distribute cultural works. ...

Bibliography

• Dr GF Warner's article in the Dictionary of National Biography for a comprehensive account, and for bibliographical references;
• Ulysse Chevalier's Repertoire des sources historiques du moyen âge for references generally; and the
• Zeitschr. f. celt. Philologie II., i. 126, for an edition and translation, by Dr Whitley Stokes, of Fingin O'Mahony's Irish version of the Travels.
• The Travels of Sir John Mandeville, a 2006 transcription of the original by E C Coleman published by Nonsuch Publishing.
• Adams, Percy G. Travel Literature Through the Ages. New York: Garland, 1988.

The Dictionary of National Biography (or DNB) is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history. ... Ulysse Chevalier (February 24, 1841 - October 27, 1923) was a French bibliographer and historian. ... Whitley Stokes (February 28, 1830 - April 13, 1909) was a British lawyer and Celtic scholar. ...

Further reading

• Giles Milton - The Riddle and the Knight: In Search of Sir John Mandeville (2001) ISBN 0-340-81945-6

This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain. Giles Milton is a British writer and journalist. ... Encyclopædia Britannica, the eleventh edition The Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition (1910–1911) is perhaps the most famous edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica. ... The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ...