THE LIBRARY

OF THE Palestine Pilgrims’ Text Society

VOL. X.

THE WANDERINGS OF FELIX FABRI. VOL. ll.          (PART ll.)

PUBLISHED BY THE

COMMITTEE OF THE PALESTINE EXPLORATION FUND, 24, HANOVER SQUARE, LONDON, W. 1897.

Palestine Pilgrims’ Text Society

FELIX FABRI

(CIRCA 1480-1453 A.D.)

VOL. II. (PART II.)

Translated  by

AUBREY STEWART, M.A.

LONDON: 24, HANOVER SQUARE, W. 1893.

BROTHER FELIX FABRI

they would more easily be able to get possession of Egypt and the Holy Land. But a great plague fell upon the.  Christian army, and in it King Louis's two sons died, as did also the general in command of the army. While the plague still raged among them they were joined by Charles, King Louis's brother, with a great fleet, and he laid siege to Tunis, but the plague-stricken army made peace with the King of Tunis and went home.

After the death of St. Louis almost all shepherds of flocks were deceived by false writings, and gathered together from both France and Germany under the title of one whom they called their master. They said that it had been revealed to them by an angel that God was not willing to effect the deliverance of the Holy Land by means of kings and princes, of rich and noble men, nor yet by means of armed men, but by humble despised shepherds, who were to recover the Holy Land with their staves, and to revenge therewith the insults and death of the King, St. Louis.

The ringleader of this riot was one Friar James, an apostate monk of the Cistercian order, who pretended that a star had come down from heaven and had said to him that in this way the Holy Land must be set free. So many of them gathered together, that there were more than twenty thousand simple men, and they would not suffer anyone in holy orders, any clergyman, priest, or man of learning, among them; and they became so presumptuous that their masters acted as bishops, blessed , holy water, joined couples together in marriage, and preached to them. But when they were come to the sea­ports, their venture was brought to nought, and they returned home empty. Many of them who before had been simple shepherds became robbers, thieves, and foot-pads, and many of them were put to death in divers places for the robberies which they had done, and so this sect came to an end.

THE QUARRELS OF CHRISTIAN PRINCES ABOUT THE TITLE OF KING OF JERUSALEM.

From henceforth there were no voyages made over sea, forasmuch as the people of the West could no more be gathered together against the Easterns so universally as before, nevertheless, there remained a quarrel among the princes about the title of King of Jerusalem, so that at this day the title is borne by several kings, for instance, by the King of England, as aforesaid; and the Kings of France sometimes boast themselves to be Kings of Jerusalem. So also doth the King of Cyprus, and the King of Sicily; likewise the Kings of Spain; moreover, the Dukes of Suabia, until they died out, used most justly to claim this title for themselves; for, as hath been set forth, Frederick, the second emperor of that name, and Duke of Suabia, married Yolande, the daughter of John, King of Jerusalem, and with her he crossed the sea, and in Jerusalem was proclaimed and crowned King of Jerusalem. For this cause his son, Manfred, who succeeded him in the kingdom of Sicily, styled himself King of Sicily and of Jerusalem, and after him other Dukes of Suabia of that family did likewise.

In the year of our Lord 1264, when the aforesaid Manfred and Conradin, being Suabians, were vexing the states of the Church, Pope Clement IV. called in Charles, the brother of St. Louis, to help him against Manfred, Conradin, and the Ghibellines. After Charles had conquered them both and slain them in certain battles, he entered Rome in triumph, and was declared King of Sicily and Jerusalem by Pope Clement in the church of St. John Lateran, and to this day the Kings of Sicily retain the title of the kingdom of Jerusalem.

In A.D. 1273 Gregory X.[1] held a council at Lyons, at which the Fathers of the Church held a long debate about the recovery of the Holy Land, and urged the Emperor Rudolf and Philip, King of France, to take arms against the Moors for the recovery of Jerusalem. To meet the expenses of this expedition he imposed a tithe upon all Christendom for six years, ordered a crusade to be preached, granted large indulgences to those who assumed the cross and went beyond seas to the war, or to those who one or  more men-at-arms for the war.

In this council, also, the Pope blamed and forbade all mendicant Orders, save only the Dominican and Franciscan (Minorite) Orders, as being the last instituted in the Church and the only ones which would endure. As for the hermit brethren of the Holy Land[2] and the Carmelites, he suspended them until some new decision should be made about them. This he did to the end that the number of begging friars might not interfere with the collection of the money for those who were going to fight beyond the sea. But whether any expedition was made to the Holy Land, or how the expedition failed, I cannot find out. This much, however, I know, that all Italy was in a state of disturbance because of the Guelfs and Ghibellines, and Germany, France, and England were troubled by internal wars, and, therefore, were not disposed to succour the Holy

[1.] Gregory X. reigned 1263-1264, according to Sir Harris Nicolas's Chronology of History' (London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longman, 2nd edit.); but 'The Student's Ecclesiastical History,' part ii., p. 434, speaks of this second council of Lyons as having been held by Gregory X. in 1274.

[2.] The brotherhood of Augustinian Eremites, or Austin Friars, was formed in 1256. The Carmelites were transplanted from Palestine to Europe in 1238.

Land. So Charles, King of Sicily and Jerusalem, the brother of the King of France, had a threefold right to be called King of Jerusalem: first, because the Pope had crowned him; secondly, because he was master of Sicily, which had belonged to the former King of Jerusalem; thirdly, because it had been bestowed upon him by Mary, the daughter of the Prince of Antioch, the lawful heiress of the kingdom of Jerusalem, which had been usurped by her nephew Hugh.

This Charles magnanimously disdained to be styled King of Jerusalem without possessing the kingdom thereof, being loath to be a king in word and not in deed; wherefore he cast about to see how and by what means he might win the kingdom of Jerusalem. He had a son-in-law, Baldwin, who in A.D. 1240 had been made Emperor of Constantinople; but the Greeks, ever hostile to the Latins, had driven him out with disgrace, and had set up Michael Palaeologus, a Greek, in his place. This Baldwin now advised Charles, King of Jerusalem, to attack the empire of Constantinople, because if he were to win that he could easily make himself master of Jerusalem. Charles was a puissant monarch, and it did not seem to him a great thing to attack Constantinople; so he fitted out many ships of war and a great fleet, and with the help of the Church, the King of France, and the Venetians, made ready to set out to drive Palaeologus from Constantinople.  But he was strangely hindered in his enterprise by the hatred of certain Latins who disliked him, and so he neither won the kingdom of Constantinople nor that of Jerusalem.

After this, in the year of our Lord 1282, the King of the Armenians, who are Christians, made a league with the King of the Tartars against the Soldan. They invaded Syria, and took away many provinces from the Soldan of Egypt, among which Jerusalem was taken, and for a second time given over to Eastern Christians, but by treachery it was straightway won back by the Saracens.[1]

[This King of the Tartars had a brother named Tangagar who was a Christian, and a baptized son named Argon; but Todagar (sic) renounced the Christian faith, became a Saracen, and most fiercely persecuted the Christians. But Argon, his brother's son, slew him, greatly furthered the Christian religion, everywhere attacked the Saracens, and strove to set free Jerusalem.

A.D. 1288, one named Casanus was made Emperor of the Tartars. He was little in body, but great in soul, of a mean countenance, but an admirable mind; for he was adorned with virtues, wise and prudent in war, exceeding friendly towards the Christians, and full of devotion to the Holy City and the Lord's sepulcher, as events proved. This man, when first he was made Emperor, was a pagan, but was made a Christian in a pleasant fashion; for when he became Emperor, he, like another Ahasuerus, caused search to be made throughout all the countries of the East for the most beautiful girl that could be found, without paying any regard to nobility of birth or riches, but to beauty alone, in order that, if he approved of her he might make her his wife. He found the daughter of the King of Armenia, and when he asked for her in marriage, the girl and her father consented on condition that she should be allowed to serve her God, the Lord Jesus Christ, and should not be forced to embrace the Tartar religion. This condition was agreed to, and when she was brought to the Emperor, she pleased him exceedingly. He straightway married her; she conceived, and bore a son, but one who was so misshapen that he looked hardly human. Casanus was greatly troubled, and took counsel with his

[1.] A note of the author's, tells us that all that follows, down to p. 377, is an insertion.

magnates as to what he should do with this most loathsome child. They answered that this child could not have been conceived of man, wherefore both the mother and the child ought to be burned. When the funeral pile had been made ready for this purpose, and the sentence of death had been told the young woman, she demanded them to grant her the favour of permitting her to receive the Sacrament after the Christian fashion, and of having her son baptized. When this had been done and her son baptized, as he was taken out of the water, of a sudden the child became changed, and appeared as beauteous and noble a child as could be found in all the world. Casanus, exceedingly delighted at this manifest miracle, not only saved his wife and her child from death, but decreed that she should be his empress, and himself with his people was solemnly baptized. When he had been taught the faith, and learned that the infidel Saracens possessed the places wherein our redemption was wrought, he judged it to be a heinous sacrilege, wondered much at the Christians for enduring it, and straightway declared war against the Soldan of Egypt, and made ready to conquer the Holy Land and Jerusalem.  He came into Syria to attack the Soldan of Egypt, bringing with him two hundred thousand Tartars, and together with them the armies of the Kings of Armenia and Georgia, who also were enemies of the Soldan. The Soldan met him with a great host, and a terrible battle was fought. The victory fell to Casanus; the Soldan was put to flight, abandoned Syria, and went down into Egypt. Casanus now took the cities of Syria, among which the holy city of Jerusalem was taken by the Christians in the year of our Lord 1299, eight years after the Latins had been driven out of the city of Acre. Casanus, on entering the Holy City, most devoutly visited the Holy City, and sojourned there for some time. But when he heard that disorders had been stirred up in his kingdom, he sent ambassadors to the west of Europe to Pope Boniface VIII., to Rodolph, King of the Romans, and to other kings of the West, praying them to send Christian forces into Syria to recover and retain the countries from which they had a short time before been driven out, and to take possession of the holy city of Jerusalem. When the aforesaid ambassadors had delivered their message, and had won the approval of all men, they were sent back again on the understanding that the Western princes would straightway follow them with great forces; but nothing was ordered to be done, because the internal wars among the Western princes and their own interests lay nearer to their hearts than the Lord's war, as will be set forth in Part II., page 347 b. So when, with a moderate expense and a small force, Syria and Jerusalem, which had already been taken by Casanus, might have been preserved to Christendom, no attempt was made; and to the shame of the believers, and by their most criminal carelessness and neglect, it was afterwards lost and never regained, neither is there now any means of getting it back.

When Casanus retired from Syria with his forces, the Saracens easily recovered Syria, for no one withstood them, and they slew and drove out the Eastern Christians whom Casanus had established in these cities, even as they had done before to the Latin Christians of the West. Wherefore, in the year of our Lord 1291, when the Soldan had already taken Antioch, Tyre, Tripoli, and others of the cities of the Latin Christians, he turned his mind to the utter casting out of the Christians from the Holy Land. In all Syria the Latin Christians held only one city, Ptolemais, otherwise called Acon or Acre. This city was exceeding wealthy and populous, for therein dwelt the King of Jerusalem with his court, the Master of the Temple, the Prior of the Hospital, and the Lord Patriarch with his clergy; and all those who had escaped from the cities which had been taken by the Soldan fled thither with all their property; moreover, there were men-at-arms in the pay of the King of England, the King of France, and of other kings and princes, and about eighteen thousand pilgrims bearing the sign of the cross, of divers nations and countries. For this cause there were therein seventeen separate jurisdictions for crimes of blood shedding, and oftentimes confusion arose as to the sentencing of evil­doers. There the Dominicans and Minorites had goodly convents both for friars and nuns, and when the venerable Master Jordanus, the successor to St. Dominic, set out by sea to visit the convent at Acre, he was shipwrecked, and died the death of the blessed, lighted by a miraculous cross. This city stands fronting our sea, in the midst of the coast of Syria; it is not more than forty Italian miles distant from Jerusalem, and is built in an excellent and exceeding convenient position; wherefore it was full of merchants both from the East and the West, because it was, as it were, a fountain of all sea-borne merchandise, and it became so splendid a city that there was none in the whole world that was reported to be richer.

Neither had it any equal in wickedness and vice. Now, when it was at the height of its prosperity, it chanced that some of our men-at-arms took certain Saracen merchant’s prisoners in time of truce. When the Soldan heard this, he gathered together a mighty force and besieged the city. Now, a certain Saracen drew a bow at a venture and slew the general of the city by whose command all things therein were done. When he fell there was no longer any order, and the people began to flee away in ships over the sea. The Saracens, having now no one to oppose them, entered the city, butchered all the Christians, and plundered all the property therein. At this sack sixty thousand Christians are said to have been put to the sword by the Saracens, A.D. 1291. Thus the whole of the Latin people perished out of the Holy Land, all save those who became subject to the Saracens, who were excommunicated by the Church.

When the news of this came to the West there was much grief in the Court of Rome, and the Pope, Nicholas IV., offered large indulgences to any that would assume the cross, or would send others to help the Holy Land. He besought kings and princes to stretch forth helping hands, he made solemn processions, and launched excommunications against all Christian merchants or others who brought to Alexandria and other countries subject to the Soldan not only arms and timber, which had long before been forbidden, but any merchandise whatsoever. Moreover, after this an interdict was laid upon the holy places themselves, and it was forbidden, on pain of excommunication, that anyone even out of devotion should cross the sea to visit the holy places without having received leave from the Pope. This I have found written in a certain pilgrim's book.]

Eight years after this exodus of the Christians from the Holy Land, the aforesaid good Christian Emperor of the Tartars came and took the holy city of Jerusalem, which he offered to our prelates and princes; but there was not one of them who would lift up his hand to pass over thither, as I have said. So, through this ingratitude, the Holy Land has been so utterly lost to us that now no one so much as thinks about recovering it; and there is no longer any way to recover it, unless it should please God to work some miracle to that end. In this last emigration of the Christians from the Holy Land no Latins remained behind in Syria save only the Dominican Friars; moreover, the Minorites and Carmelites received certain places in Syria, wherein, by the command of the Pope, they remained until they were overthrown, slain, and exterminated by the Saracens.  

HOW THE HOLY CITY FARED AFTER THE DRIVING OUT OF THE LATIN CHRISTIANS, AND HOW THE MINORITE FRIARS BECAME SETTLED THEREIN; ALSO WHAT SUMS THE CHRISTIANS CONTRIBUTED FOR THE RECOVERY OF THE HOLY LAND.

      After the driving out of the Latins the holy city of Jerusalem remained for many years without any Latin or Roman Christians, for, as aforesaid, when the Latins left Jerusalem, the Eastern Christians, who are monstrous heretics and schismatics, entered therein in the place of the Latins, and became possessed of the churches which the Latins had built. The Latins were not suffered to own any place within the Holy City, nor were they even suffered to enter the Holy Land and the city of Jerusalem without being guarded by Saracens with great precautions, with a safe-conduct, and the payment of an exceeding heavy toll; and when they came to Jerusalem, they found no divine service, save that of schismatics and heretics, or any comfort whatever. Now, this was not to be endured by the Latin Church and the people of the West, who feel a most burning zeal for the holy places. When the Christians had been driven out of the Holy Land, this matter came to the ears of Pope Nicholas IV., who belonged to the Minorite (Franciscan) Order, and was chosen Pope in the year of our Lord 1287, before the loss of Acre. After Acre was lost and the Christians were driven out, he sent ambassadors to the Soldan with presents, begging him that he would suffer some Latin clergy to dwell in Jerusalem for the protection of Christ's sepulcher, and telling him that although he might not care to grant this for the love of Christ, or because of the earnestness of the Pope's prayers, yet that he ought so to do for the spreading abroad of the glory of his own name, seeing that by letting some Latins into the city his grandeur would become known throughout the West as well as the East. The Soldan granted this request of the Pope, and bade him send some clergy, monks, and men of peace to Jerusalem; moreover, he appointed a daily alms to be bestowed upon the Christian hospital at Jerusalem. So the Pope chose some discreet, learned, and faithful friars from his own Order, the Minorites (Franciscans), and sent them to Jerusalem, that they might celebrate Divine service in the Church of the Lord's. Resurrection on behalf of all members of the Church of Rome, lest that most holy church should be altogether deserted by the Latins, When the aforesaid fathers came to Jerusalem, as they had not as yet any house therein, they went into the common, hospital of the pilgrims and lodged therein, in great want and misery, for some years, with no house of their own, supported only by the scanty alms of the pilgrims.

In A.D. 1300 St. Louis of the Minorite Order was made Bishop of Toulouse by Boniface VIII. This St. Louis was the nephew of St. Louis, King of France, and was the son of Charles, and brother of Rupert, King of Apulia, Calabria, Sicily, and Jerusalem. When this holy prelate heard of the misfortunes of the Minorite brethren, and the miseries which they were enduring in Jerusalem, he went to Sicily to his brother Rupert, King of Jerusalem, to help his brethren, and turned the King's heart to love for the Order by telling him how they were living in want, in his city of Jerusalem, Where they stood for the whole Latin Church, and had not so much as a house there, but dwelt in the hospital. When the King heard this, he settled the affairs of his kingdom, and then, taking several Minorite brethren with him, set sail for Syria that he might visit the holy places as a simple pilgrim. He went up to Jerusalem under the Soldan's safe conduct, saw and kissed the holy places, and then went down into Egypt to the Soldan, and begged him that he would give him the church of Mount Sion, with the adjoining buildings, the blessed Virgin Mary's chapel in the Church of the Lord's Sepulcher, with the adjoining chambers, the chamber of the Lord's sepulcher, the church of the blessed Virgin Mary in the Valley of Jehoshaphat, and the cave of the Lord's Nativity in the church of the blessed Virgin Mary at Bethlehem, with the buildings adjoining that church, for the Minorite brethren, whom he had already consented should be lodged elsewhere in Jerusalem, to dwell in.  King Rupert made a solemn agreement with the Soldan about these places, received them from him, and paid the Soldan for them thirty-two thousand ducats of ready money. After he had paid this price, the King went up to Jerusalem and bestowed the aforesaid places upon the Minorite brethren, to be held by them and their successors forever in his stead. When the Minorite brethren had received these places they built thereon three convents, the first on Mount Sion, where before them there had been a convent of Canons Regular; the second in the church of the Lord's Resurrection, by the side of the blessed Virgin's chapel, for the use of the guardians of the holy sepulcher; and the third at Bethlehem. All these three convents, however, are as one.

When the Dominican brethren saw that the Soldan took money and sold holy places, they collected no small sum in alms, and bought the field of Aceldama, which over­hangs the Valley of Sion on the side of Mount Gihon; and also the cave of St. James at the foot of the Mount of Olives, above the brook Cedron in the Valley of Jehoshaphat. For awhile brethren dwelt there, but since these places were quite open and were not enclosed by any wall, they continually endured the insults of the Saracens and Arabs, so that it was not possible for them to remain there; wherefore the Dominicans abandoned those places and journeyed back to Christendom. The Minorite friars themselves, albeit they have convents protected by strong walls, which the Soldan gave up to them for himself and his successors in consideration of the aforesaid money, yet even they have suffered much hurt, and have often been grievously disturbed by the Saracens, and are, as one may say, vexed every day. In the year 1368 the Saracens came into the convent of Sion and slew twelve of the brethren; after this they entered a second time, cast down the vaulted building of the dormitory, and destroyed the monks' cells. At another later time, by the practices of the Jews, the Soldan took away from them the place of the sepulcher of David and of the other Kings of Judah, and destroyed the Coenaculum at the place where the Holy Spirit was sent down upon the Apostles on the day of Pentecost, which had been built at a great cost by the King of France with the Soldan's consent; nor will they suffer it to be rebuilt. They have also destroyed other places round about their church, notwithstanding those places having been bought for them. Moreover, many of them have been slain there by the pagans, and at this day they are beaten and tormented, and never feel safe either about the holy places, which they hold, or about their own lives.

In the year of  Lord 1300, before they were reformed, these brethren grew so overbearing that they offended pagans and Christians alike. But the Order came to the aid of this convent, put discreet and wise men therein, and therefore to this day they keep up a hearty performance of Divine service, and faithfully serve pilgrims who come thither, supplying them with all that they need--taking the sick out of the hospital into their own infirmary, and tending them with the utmost charity, whereof I myself have had experience while I dwelt among them. For this reason they have won for themselves the love of all Christian princes, barons, and nobles, so that they support these brethren with lavish alms. All kings send their alms to them year by year--some five hundred, some four hundred ducats, some more, some less, according to their custom, or according to the sincerity and depth of their affection for the Holy Land. Many alms likewise are bestowed upon them daily by pilgrims, and by those who receive the ensigns of knighthood in the Lord's sepulcher; and all of these they need, for they gather in no alms from the Easterns, neither from the infidels, nor from the Christians, but get all the means of living from the Westerns. Men ought, therefore, to look carefully to it that these brethren may not fall into cruel want, that the fabric of such churches as remain may be kept in repair by the alms of the faithful, that the hospital for strangers and pilgrims may be restored, and that leave to visit the holy places may be bought from the infidels by payments by the Church. Indeed, from the very outset of the faith and in the Old Testament Gentile kings and princes have sent money and gifts to Jerusalem for the use of those who conducted divine service therein, as is clearly shown in Esdras i. I, 6, 7; Nehem. ii. and iii.; Esdras iv.; and Maccab. ii. 3. In the New Testament also the blessed Apostles took especial care to collect alms among other nations for the use of those who were in Jerusalem. We read that SS. Paul and Barnabas were especially busy about this work in Cor. i.16, where see the commentaries of St. Thomas Aquinas, Peter of Tharentasia, and Nicholas de Lyra; also Gal. vi.; Cor. ii. 8; and Rom. xv.  "Now,' saith the Apostle,  ‘I go unto Jerusalem to minister unto the saints; for it hath pleased them of Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor saints which are at Jerusalem.'  For at all times there have been men and women living at Jerusalem in evangelic poverty, and for them the Apostles themselves solicited alms. So when those first pillars of the church, Peter, James and John, had given the right hands of fellowship unto Paul and Barnabas, and ordained them Apostles to the Gentiles, they sent them forth to preach upon the condition that they should remember the poor that were in Jerusalem, collect money for them, and send it to them, as we read in Gal. ii. Wherefore, in almost all his epistles, Paul advises collections to be made on the Sabbaths for all who were in Jerusalem, and. makes diligent provision for the money being sent thither in safety; so that sometimes even he himself went up to Jerusalem to give them the money which he had collected, as we see in Rom. xv. and Acts xxiv., where he makes mention of this to the Governor Felix. This custom of collecting money and sending it to Jerusalem remained for a long time in the Church. Once there arose a certain heretic named Vigilantius, who, among his other errors, had that of declaring this collecting of money and sending it to Jerusalem to be vain and useless; but that champion of the Church, Jerome, withstood him, and utterly overcame and crushed him in the matter of this error, as may be read in the epistle against Vigilantius. He likewise greatly commends one Licinius, a very rich Roman, who had sent many alms to Jerusalem, and had given him so much gold that he was able to minister to the needs of many people, as may be read in the epistle to the widow Theodora.   Moreover, we read that St. Gregory had an especial care for the clergy at Jerusalem, for whom he built a monastery and sent them money. Furthermore, it was for this end that the three Orders, to wit, the Templars, the Hospitallers, and the Teutonic Knights of St. Mary, were instituted, and were enjoined to build houses in all parts, and to heap up property and other riches, that they might send them to Jerusalem. Wherefore the first-named so greatly prospered in things temporal that the Western Church could not stomach them, and they were done away--yea, part of their possessions was also given to the Hospitallers, who are now called the Knights of St. John, all of whose property belongs to Jerusalem. But when the reason for sending money thither is at an end, the possession and collection of riches for that end ought to come to an end likewise; howbeit, few reflect upon this, and therefore is the Church burthened with useless Orders, while no man takes any care to send alms to the guardians of the holy sepulchre at Jerusalem, to the end that they may have enough to pay for their support, and that the holy places and churches of Christ may be kept in order, a matter about which the faithful ought to take especial pains, seeing that it was there that our faith had its origin, and all its sacraments were there consummated.

THE FOLLOWING NATIONS DWELL AT JERUSALEM AT THIS DAY.

The holy city of Jerusalem is at this day the dwelling­place of divers nations of the world, and is, as it were, a collection of all manner of abominations.

I. Saracens.

The first and chief inhabitants thereof are the Saracens, who are Mahometans, befouled with the dregs of all heresies, worse than idolaters, more loathsome than Jews.

They deny the Trinity, and hold the infamous theological doctrine of double natures, but they recognise the nature of the Divine essence, and declare that God cannot have a son since He has no wife; moreover, they say that God has no substance, because He has no accidents, and that He does not live, because He does not eat. They say that God and His angels pray for Mahomet, and for the other Saracens. They deny the incarnation of the word, and declare that Christ is not God, neither is He of the same substance with the Father; but they say that He was merely the breath of God. They declare Him to have been an exceeding holy and virtuous man, beyond all other men, born from a virgin without any father, and say that He never suffered or was crucified or died, but that He was translated by God, and that at the end of the world He shall die, after having first slain Anti-Christ. They declare that there are no sacraments; and no wonder, seeing that they deny the cross itself. They say that Christ shall judge the world, but together with God and Mahomet. As for what is written concerning Him, they admit almost all that glorifies and magnifies Him, but not what sets forth His humility and shame. As for the Virgin Mary, they erroneously believe her to have been Aaron's sister. They say that angels have bodies, and that from these angels were made those demons who refused to worship Adam. They say that the holy patriarchs and prophets were Saracens, and that men perished in the flood because they would not become Saracens; also, that the Apostles professed and called themselves Saracens. They blame Christians for having bishops and priests, and making gods of them; moreover, they laugh us to scorn for making the Virgin Mary all but God, saying that Christ apologizes in the presence of God for all but making a goddess of His mother. As touching their own Alcoran, they say that neither man nor devil could have composed so elegant, sweet, and admirable a work. They say that the highest bliss consists in bodily pleasures, drunkenness and the like, dress, etc. The heavens they declare to be made of vapour, which vapour is called an exhalation from the sea. They call the sea Mote Capff, which surrounds the world and upholds the heavens. They say that in the beginning the sun and moon were equally bright, and that there was then no distinction between day and night, but that the angel Gabriel, when flying across the sky, struck the orb of the moon with his wing and thus darkened it. As touching death, they say that there is an angel whose name is Adriel, who at the end will slay all creatures, even the angels, and last of all will slay himself also. When this has been done, God will raise up again all creatures save only Death; moreover, they say something about the virtues of the soul and the end of all things. They enjoin a plurality of wives, and do not scruple to recognise sodomy. They err beyond measure in many respects, concerning which much has been written in the `Fortress of Faith,' and in the  ‘Translation of the Alcoran.'

II. The Greeks.

There are many Greeks dwelling in Jerusalem. The Greek Church in olden days contained men of exceeding great learning, but now it is darkened by numberless errors, more especially in four principal points. (1) They do not believe that the Holy Spirit proceeded from the Son, or that it has any existence. (2) They declare that the souls of the departed are neither in heaven nor hell before sentence is passed upon them in the day of judgment, whereby they deny the doctrine of purgatory. (3) They say that Christ's body could not be destroyed or hurt. (4) They deny the Church of Rome to be the head of all the churches--nay, they say that it need not be obeyed. They annul marriages on the most trivial grounds, and disregard simony. They keep the body of Christ made on Maundy Thursday throughout the year, and esteem it to be of greater efficacy. They frequently excommunicate the Pope, our prelates, and all the Roman clergy. They rebaptize those who have been baptized by us. They say that simple fornication is no sin. They care little for the sacrament of extreme unction. They say that it is a sin to shave the beard. They place their bishops above temporal lords. They have an exceeding fiery hatred for the Church of Rome; wherefore they have surrendered almost the whole of Greece to the Turks, thus casting away both themselves and their country out of hatred to the Latin Church.

III. The Syrians.

There are in Jerusalem Syrians, who in truth are not Christians, but children of the devil, being liars, not worthy to be trusted, thinking nothing of theft, treacherous toward Latins, even as are the Greeks, whose teaching they follow, and by all of whose errors they are infected. Moreover, as touching the Sabbath (Saturday), they follow the Jews in making it a feast. In their common talk they use the Saracen tongue, but in divine service the Syriac. In their customs they are like the Saracens. They wear long beards, and despise those who are not bearded; they are womanish, and altogether useless for war.

IV. The Jacobites.

There are in Jerusalem Christians called Jacobites, who were long ago cast out of the Greek Church by Dioscuros, the Patriarch of Constantinople. These people circumcise their children after the fashion of the Saracens, conceal their personality in confession, and recognise only one nature in Christ.[1] In their services they use the Syrian language.

V. The Abyssinians.

There are in the Holy City Abyssinians or Indians, who have a Christian king, whom even the Saracens fear so greatly that he who has his passport may travel throughout the East without hindrance. These people likewise circumcise their children, burn them on their faces with a hot iron, and baptize them in the name of Christ. They consecrate the host with leavened bread, and administer the sacrament in both kinds to their children. They waste their bodies by excessive fasting to such an extent that they frequently perish of hunger.

VI. The Nestorians.

There are in Jerusalem Christians called Nestorians, who are led astray by errors of the worst kind, and hold many wrong opinions touching the mother of God and her Son. They believe that there were in Christ two natures and two persons, and they say that the blessed Virgin Mary was the mother of Christ the man, but not of the Son of God. They use the Chaldaean tongue in their services, and use leavened bread in the consecration of the elements.

VII. The Armenians.

There are in Jerusalem Christians called Armenians, who are sunk in divers errors. Between these people and the Greeks there is always the greatest discord, because of their religious differences. They have a language and an alphabet of their own. They keep Christmas Day as a fast, and do not celebrate Mass thereon; but they pay

[1.]  The Monophysite heresy.  

great honour to the Epiphany, because of Christ's baptism. They observe Lent with exceeding great rigour, so much so that they abstain from fish, oil, and wine; nevertheless, they eat vegetables and fruit as often as they please, because they do not consider that these things break their fast. They do not mix water with the sacramental wine. They eat meat on Fridays. They administer the sacrament to infants. They keep no vigil as a fast, neither in Ember days, nor during Lent, at which time they fast exceeding rigorously even on the Lord's day. They do not hold the doctrine of purgatory, and share the errors of the Jacobites concerning Christ.

VIII. Gregorians (Georgians).

There are in Jerusalem Gregorians, who are called Christians. These are men of war from their birth, so much so that they are feared throughout all the East, and pass whithersoever they will unhindered, without paying any tolls. Their women use arms as well as the men. Between them and the Armenians there is war to the knife. They are tainted by almost all the errors the Greeks. They wear long beards, like the other Easterns.

IX. The Maronites.

There dwell in Jerusalem Christians called Maronites, who are heretics, and believe that Christ had only one will and one energy. They ring bells as we do, whereas all other Eastern Christians call people to church by beating on a board.[1] In their common talk they use the Saracen tongue, but in their services the Chaldaean.  Once they came back to the one Church, but have long ago fallen away therefrom.

1 See ante, pp. 67 a,119 a.

  X. The Turcomans.

There are in the Holy City men who are called Turcomans, wandering savages, who have conquered the whole of Lesser, and a great part of Greater, Asia, and are Turks.

XI. Bedouins.

There are there Bedouins, of the Arabian nation, from whom came forth that child of perdition Mahomet. These people hold that every man's day of death, and the kind of death that he shall die, are ordained by God, and cannot be either anticipated or avoided; wherefore they plunge into the greatest perils without fear, and go to the wars unprotected by armour. They are hateful alike to Saracens and Christians. Some of them worship the sun.

XII. Assassins.  

There are there Assassins, who are Mahometans, and are exceeding obedient to their own captain, for they believe that it is by obedience alone that they can win happiness hereafter. Their captain causes their young men to be taught divers languages, and sends them out into other kingdoms to serve the kings thereof, to the end that, when the time requires it, each king's servant may kill him by poison or otherwise. If after slaying a king the servant makes good his escape to his own land, he is rewarded with honours, riches, and dignities; if he be taken and put to death, he is worshipped in his own country as a martyr.

XIII. Mahometans.

In Jerusalem there are certain Mahometans who care little for the laws of the Saracens, and who say that they have a secret law of their own, which no one reveals, save only the father on his deathbed to the son; if the son reveals it to his mother, and is proved to have done so, the woman is straightway put to death.

XIV. Mamelukes.

There are in Jerusalem Mamelukes, renegade Christians, whereof there are great numbers. They are hateful alike to Saracens and Christians, and they hold all the East by the power of their arms. The King of Egypt, the Soldan, is of their number, and so are all his courtiers. These men neither regard the law of Mahomet nor the Gospel of Christ, but give themselves up to pleasure alone.

XV. Jews.

Among all these the Jews are held to be accursed, insomuch that the misery and contempt which they undergo greatly dulls their understanding; for everywhere throughout the whole world they are despised and set at naught. They have various sects among themselves, such as those of the Samaritans and Essenes, and there continually arise among them new heresies, whereof I could say much.

XVI. Latin Christians.

There are dwelling in Jerusalem Latin Christians, Minorite friars, in the church and monastery of Mount Sion, living a Gospel life under a strict rule. Of these men I have already spoken at length. These alone long with all their hearts for Christian princes to come and subject all the country to the authority of the Church of Rome, which may He grant who reigneth forever and ever!

Touching the aforesaid sects and nations, see page 133b, Burcard at the end of his 'Description of the Holy Land,’ the `Pilgrimage' of his lordship the Dean of Mainz, the Speculum Historiale, and the Chronicle of Antoninus. Many who write concerning these Eastern Christians say that they are free from heresies, and praise their simplicity of life. This was indeed true in old times  two hundred years ago--but since then all of them, save only the Latins, have become tainted with the worst of errors, and become daily more so; for they have no doctors or preachers of the Catholic faith, nor are they willing to receive such, but are content to die in their errors.

THE SECOND PART OF THE BOOK OF THE WANDERINGS OF FELIX FABRI OF ULM, OF THE ORDER OF PREACHING FRIARS.

  THE PILGRIMAGE FROM THE HOLY CITY JERUSALEM TO HOREB, THE MOUNT OF GOD, AND TO MOUNT SINAI TO THE ANGELIC SEPULCHRE OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN CATHARINE.

ONCE more I will begin to wander after the footsteps of Moses's flocks into the innermost part of the wilderness, towards Horeb, the Mount of God (Exod. iii.1). For now that I have finished and brought to an end the description of my wanderings in, my pilgrimage to Jerusalem, there remain to be described my wanderings on my pilgrimage to Sinai, upon which I shall dwell in what follows.

This second part of my Book of Wanderings contains my pilgrimage to the great desert of Arabia, Midian, and Mount Sinai, the top whereof was the furthest point made for in my whole pilgrimage.

Next, it contains my pilgrimage through the land of Egypt, my voyage down the Nile, with the description thereof, and the return of the pilgrims by sea and by land as far as Ulm, which city is the starting-point, and shall be described last of all.

This part contains six chapters, even as the first part does.

The first chapter, which is the seventh in order of the chapters of the whole Book of Wanderings, begins here, and contains the pilgrimage through the wilderness, and the description of Mounts Horeb and Sinai.

The second chapter, which is the eighth, contains the pilgrimage through Egypt in the month of October.

The third, which is the ninth, contains the pilgrimage over the sea, and a description of the islands thereof in the month of November.

The fourth, which is the tenth, contains the sea voyage in the month of December.

The fifth, which is the eleventh, contains the pilgrimage into Venice, a description of Venice, and the return of the pilgrims to their homes in the month of January.

The sixth, which is the twelfth, contains a most ample description of Germany, and of the city of Ulm. But forasmuch as this chapter is a long one, and fills up a book of its own, I have not joined it to the Book of my Wanderings, but have made a separate volume of it.

HERE BEGINNETH THE SEVENTH CHAPTER OF THE BOOK OF WANDERINGS. THUS DID WE BEGIN OUR SECOND WANDERING, FROM JERUSALEM TO MOUNT SINAI.

THREE things must be done before setting out on the pilgrimage to Mount Sinai. First, the pilgrims must arrange with the Saracen lords of Jerusalem to draw up a covenant with the dragoman, whereby he shall be bound to afford us escort and safe-conduct through the wilderness as far as Egypt. This covenant we had already made (see Part I., page 218 a, b). Secondly, it is needful that the pilgrims should make provision for themselves, and buy necessary food to keep them alive during their journey across the wilderness (see Part I., page 247 a, b). Thirdly, that the chief dragoman should, according to the terms of the covenant, supply camels and camel-drivers, asses and drivers, and fix a certain day and hour for the departure of the pilgrims. All these things were done, and he appointed the twenty-fourth of August, being the Feast of St. Bartholomew the Apostle, for our departure from Jerusalem, at the hour of vespers. So we came out of the Church of the Lord's Sepulchre early on the morning of that same day, and, after breakfasting, we all went up to Mount Sion, where we found both the Calini waiting for us, with camels and camel-drivers, and asses and ass-drivers. We now made haste, brought out all our baggage from the monastery of the brethren, and, at the bidding of the camel-drivers, piled it all in one place, that they might see the extent of it, and distribute it evenly among all the camels alike; for camels must have their loads carefully and nicely balanced, so that they may be of equal weight. Now, when we had carried everything into one heap, they made a great and heavy pile, for there were many sacks of biscuits, and many jars full of wine, which were put into sacks made of hair, that the Saracens might not see them uncovered, and plague us about them, and many skins full of water, baskets full of eggs, coops with live cocks and hens, our bedding and clothes, our scrips and trunks, and the baskets, which held our saucepans, kettles, plates, and dishes. These and many other things of the like sort made a huge heap, so that our drivers were astounded at it; for one could hardly believe that twenty men would need such a mass of baggage in crossing the desert. One must, however, make ample provision, so as not to suffer want during sixty-two days, and to be able to give bread and biscuit, smoked meat, and cheese, to the Arabs and Midianites whom one meets, for this soothes their rage, and thus one can buy peace of them. So when all our things had been brought out, the camel-drivers led their camels up to the heap, made them kneel down one after another, and loaded them. While this was being done, we stood beside them, and carefully watched their hands, lest they should steal anything from us, and also that we might learn how to load camels, and how to manage them. When twenty-two camels had been loaded with much labour and many quarrels, we were called away by the ass-drivers to the herd of asses, that each man might choose for himself an ass, whereon he was to ride through the whole of the desert even to Egypt. Now, the drivers had agreed among themselves, with a view to keeping the peace, that no one should advise any  pilgrim to take this or that ass, or say anything about the beast's good or bad qualities, but leave us free, so that whosoever made a bad choice would have no grounds for quarrelling or blaming anybody, nor could he have any reason for paying less than he who was provided with a good beast; and when we had done, he who had chosen the best beast was to pay the fees and drink money for all his comrades. The ass-drivers themselves knew which beast was good and which was bad, but they were all saddled alike. So the knights my masters ran hither and thither among the asses, and tried one after another, and sometimes two or even three pilgrims would be after one ass. When I saw this, not wishing to offend anyone by making my choice, I left the herd, climbed up the stone steps to the door of the Church of Sion, sat down upon the threshold, and looked down upon the herd of asses, where I watched the others choosing their beasts, and I myself considered within myself which beast I should choose. Now, I saw among the asses one big white one, whose ears hung down, and which seemed to have a heavy head, and the look of a dull beast, and no one of the pilgrims would touch him. I fixed upon that beast, not because I saw any good in him, but merely in order that I might make some sport for my lords by choosing a beast which was looked down upon by all. So when the nobles had all with much care and thought chosen beasts for themselves, and the noise had ceased, I went down, and, without any examination; chose the despised ass, led him to a place apart, and made ready to mount him. But the ass-drivers ran up to me, laughing and shouting, and asked me to give them money. At first I did not understand what they were saying to me, but was ill­pleased at being asked for money, for they had not begged a copper from anyone else; but the interpreter told me that I had chosen the best ass of all, and therefore they were asking for their fees. When I heard this, I brought out four madini,[1] and gave them to them. Thus I was provided throughout the whole journey with the safest beast of all, which also knew no fatigue, and had no vice; it never fell with me, never lagged behind, never was frightened, or kicked or bit me, but without any beating it would go on before all the others. When I asked the driver for what sum he would sell it, he answered that he would not take less than ten ducats for that beast. I always had good luck in both my pilgrimages in choosing beasts, as may be seen in Part L, page 80. One can hardly write down the many labours, fatigues, and dangers incurred by those pilgrims who choose unsafe, slow, and bad beasts. When the camels were loaded, and the asses chosen and saddled, we went over to the Church of Sion, and received the pilgrim's blessing from the venerable Father Guardian of Mount Sion, who embraced each one of us, blessed him, and dismissed him with a kiss. But on my departure I had much more to thank the good father and all the convent for than anyone else, seeing that I had received much greater kindnesses from them, and they had been exceeding good to me, as may be seen in Part L, page 93 a, and page 221 a.

We now came out of the Church of Sion, and went down to where our asses were. When we had mounted them, the camels led the way, and we followed them out of the city. Not without sadness of heart, nor without tears, did we depart from' the desirable city of Jerusalem,

[1.] Fabri tells us elsewhere that twenty-five of these madini go to one ducat.

but with sobbing and weeping. For my own part, I never have been happier in any place in the world than in Jerusalem, and I have spent exceeding pleasant hours and days there. Now as we were going down the Mount Sion some young Saracens, boys and children, met us, and plagued us, trying to pull off the loads from the camels, and steal them, that our guides could scarcely drive them away from us. During this time, before we had quite reached the bottom of the hill of Sion, one of the jars broke, and the wine ran out through the hair sack in which it was wrapped on to the ground. We were not a little put out at this, for it was very good wine, bought at a great price, and most carefully hidden away because of the Saracens. Yet it was not the loss of the wine which disturbed us so much as the fury of the Saracens, for we feared that when the Saracens smelt the scent of the wine they would rush upon us, and break the other jars also; and if we had been deprived of our wine, we should not have attempted the pilgrimage to Mount Sinai, nor could we have lived in the desert with no wine to drink. So we let the wine run down on the ground, because there was no other vessel at hand; but we took especial care that our camel-drivers and ass-drivers should not come to the place, and drink the wine as it ran out, because, if they had tasted it, they would straightway have become drunk, and given us and themselves much trouble, and neglected our baggage. I gave my ass to one of the knights, and ran by the side of the camel where the wine was running down. I did not let any Saracen come near, but I filled my own two-quart[1] bottle

[1.]Duarum mensurarum. Later, he says that this bottle held ‘two pots Ulm measure.' In `The Country of the Vosges' (Longmans, 1891), Mr. H. W. Wolff describes how one of the bishops of Strasburg founded a confrairie, of which the Abbe Grandidier writes, the qualification for membership whereof was the emptying of a huge drinking-horn, holding two pots of wine; at a draught.

with the dripping, and so we went slowly on our way. But I could hardly write down all the trouble that we had in going that little way, because of the attacks of the infidels, and our own labour. We were so greatly hindered and harassed on our journey that we took nearly seven hours to pass over the road, which we could have done in four, so that it was dark night when we reached Bethlehem. With great labour we unloaded our camels and asses in the porch of the church at Bethlehem, dragged all our things into a chamber adjoining the church, and set a guard over the chamber. We now entered the church, bearing lights, and went down to the place of our Lord's most sweet nativity. While we were praying there, the Father Guardian with his brethren came and received us charitably, and brought us into the place where we were to eat and sleep; for they knew of our coming, and therefore had made everything, both our suppers and our beds, ready for us. So we joyously ate a goodly supper, prepared at our own expense, and after it laid ourselves down to rest. Glory be to God in the highest!

On the twenty-fifth of August, after midnight--that is to say, before daylight--we arose, went into the cave of the Lord's nativity, and read our service there, both the canonical hours and masses. When the sun rose, we went down into the valley of the shepherds to Gloria in excelsis, and there, together with the angels, we sang that heavenly hymn, and curiously inspected the place. For an account of this valley, see Part L, page 174 a, b. When we had finished our service of praise in the valley, we went up into Bethlehem for our breakfast. After we had eaten it, we rambled all over St. Jerome's monastery, and admired its ruins; we also walked about the town of  Bethlehem, and went to David's cistern, and while doing so we made a collection of all the passages of Scripture wherein these places are mentioned. Thus we joyfully passed this day in that joyous and most holy place. It is exceeding pleasant to sojourn near the Lord's manger, both because of the holiness of the place and the indulgences, and also because of the beauty of the church, and the huge ruins of the most splendid monastery, which was not a convent of monks, but a palace and fortress of the Emperors, and simple folk believe it to have been St. Jerome's monastery; but this is not so, for St. Jerome dwelt there in a hut, in a poor convent which was founded in his time. Thus, he says, in his Epistle to Fabiola, 'I am a lover of the inn of Bethlehem; and of the Lord's manger, in which the Virgin mother laid her Babe.' Also in his ‘Canonical Rule,' ch. xxxvi., he says: 'No sublimity can be more sublime than this Bethlehem; it was in this crevice that the builder of the heavens was born.'  For before the time of St. Jerome the place of Christ's nativity was a bare cave, and there was no monastery there. Wherefore he says, as we read in his 'Canonical Rule,' ch. xx., 'We have been careful to build a monastery and an inn by its side, lest at any time Mary and Joseph should come to Bethlehem and find no room in the inn.' In the 'Legend of St. Jerome' we are told that Cyril, the Archbishop of Jerusalem, gave him the parish of Bethlehem, in which, with the help of his neighbours, he built a monastery; but as money failed him, he sent his brother Paulinianus to his own country, to sell his little property there, meaning to spend the purchase-money in building the monastery at Bethlehem, as we read in his 'Canonical Rule,' ch. xx. As far as I can conjecture, I do not see how the fair church which stands there at this day could have been built in St. Jerome's time. Ignorant men talk about its having been built by St. Helena, and once I believed this; but the arrangement of the modern buildings renders this impossible, because we are told that St. Jerome hewed a sepulchre for himself at the mouth of the cave of the nativity, and that the mouth of the cave was narrow. But at this day St. Jerome's sepulchre is without the church--the entrance to the cave is not in the church itself--and the cave is exceeding splendid, and has two wide openings by which it is entered. I believe that this church was built in the days of the last of the Latin Kings of Jerusalem, and likewise this great monastery; that Jerome's little but was then taken away, and the place arranged anew. This is shown to be true by the inscriptions, paintings, and sculptures at the place.

THE MOUNT OF RAMA, AND ITS EXCEEDING STRONG TOWN.

On the twenty-sixth day, after service at the Lord's manger, the knights asked the chief Calinus to lead them to Solomon's Pools, his orchards and gardens, and St. George's Church. So they mounted their asses, and were guided thither. But since I had already been at those places, as is told on page 249 a, I made another pilgrimage on that day. Five of us, being four Minorite brethren who had come out of Jerusalem with us, and myself, went out of Bethlehem, and went down to the southward to the foot of a lofty mountain, which there rises out of the plain in a round shape, and lifts its head high in, the air, with a fairly wide flat surface thereon, from whence one has a view far and wide over the Holy Land. We climbed this mountain with toil and perspiring to its very top, where we viewed the country round about, and gazed hither and thither across the Holy Land. On this mount there once stood a strong castle, full of people, which was called Rama, to which St Jerome seems to allude in his book 'On the Distances of Places.' In general; all villages which stood on high hills were called Rama, as is told in Part I., page 87 b. So lofty is this mountain that from it one has a view of the Dead Sea, the mountains of Arabia, and Mounts Seir and Gilead. One also sees the mountains of Engaddi, the places where David hid himself, the wilderness of Tekoa, Shiloh, the Mount of Olives, with a part of the Mount Sion beyond it, and so on as far as the Mediterranean Sea. This is what one sees from the bare mountain-top; but in former times, when there was a lofty building erected thereon, one had a much wider view--as far as Galilee, Palestine, and the borders of Egypt. There was here a great castle, with lofty towers, called Rama. It is about this place that the passage in Jer., ch. xxxi., and in Matt., ch. ii., 'In Rama was a voice heard, weeping and wailing,' is believed to have been written. For when Herod slew the children in Bethlehem and the country round about, the cries of the children and the wails of their mothers might be heard in this Rama. Wherefore, in his 'Distances of Places,' Jerome says, 'Rama is a place near Bethlehem, whereof it is written, "In Rama was a voice heard."’

There was enough space within the circuit of its walls to grow sufficient corn to give the people of the castle bread throughout the year. This castle was built by one of the Latin Kings of Jerusalem., When Saladin, King of Egypt, took Jerusalem and the Holy Land by force of arms, and drove out all the Latin Christians from thence, he took all the other castles, towns, and. villages, but could not by any means win this Castle of Rama, which was manfully defended by the Christians. He therefore raised the siege, and the Latin Christians continued to dwell in the castle for thirty years after the taking of Jerusalem and Bethlehem, neither could the Saracens drive them out. They would be there at this day had not God fought against them; for at the end of thirty years God sent a pestilence into the castle, and in a short time all the women died, from the little girl even to the old woman, and the greater part of the men. The remnant, beholding this, deserted the castle, and fled. When the Saracens found out this, they climbed up the mountain, and pulled down the castle, razing it to the very ground, so that at this day scarce any traces of the walls can be made out. Because of its impregnability, the Christians named this castle Bethulia, after Bethulia, Judith's Castle, which is in Galilee.

Looking from this mount to another mount over against it, we saw thereon an ancient building, beside which is the sepulchre of the twelve minor prophets.

At the foot of that mountain once stood the monastey of St. Agathon the abbot, who was a man of much authority, and the father of many monks. Because of his love of silence he carried a stone in his mouth for three years, as we are told in the ' Lives of the Fathers.’

Moreover, in this country was the monastery of St Karioth[1] the abbot, the father of many monks. When he departed this life all his monks departed with him, and are all buried in one tomb, which is shown there even to this day.

Not far from this place we saw the upper part of the building of the monastery of St. Saba the abbot, whereof I have given a long account above, in Part I., page 234 a.

When we had seen these things, we went down the mountain, and came into Bethlehem to vespers. Here we found the Lord Vaccardinus, a powerful Saracen

[1.] Khariton.

from Jerusalem, with his attendants, who sent for our dragoman, harshly reprimanded him for having allowed us to spend that day there, and ordered him to lead us forth on our way very early on the morrow.

DEPARTURE FROM BETHLEHEM.

  On the twenty-seventh, immediately after midnight, the chief Calinus came to the pilgrims' lodging, and roused us for our journey. So we rose hurriedly, and went into the cave of the Lord's nativity, where we read the service and masses in that exceeding holy place, from which we were loth to depart; but while we were still engaged in the celebration of Mass, the Saracen Calinus came down to us, and urged us with loud shouts to come away. We therefore hurried over our service, and came out. We now brought out all our baggage, which was to be carried by the camels, and began to load them. We had hitherto had no practice in the manner of doing this, neither did we understand the habits, signs, and words of the camel­ drivers, nor did they understand ours; wherefore for some days we loaded our beasts with many quarrels and much trouble. Difficulties arose from the camel-drivers taking first one thing and then another from the heap, in order that they might make the loads of the camels equal, which was inconvenient to us, because we were divided into three companies, and had each our own separate things­--not one common stock, though the camels were common to all of us--and this the Saracens did not understand, but thought that all things were common, and made up their loads without caring to whom the things belonged, so that sometimes one camel would carry things belonging to all three companies, and to six or eight pilgrims. Hence, when the camels were unloaded, there arose confusion and trouble and running to and fro, since each man had to collect his baggage from three or four places. We should, therefore, have been very glad to have had some of the camels appointed to carry the baggage of the first company, some that of the second, and some that of the third. But this the camel-drivers would not understand, neither would they do so, and hence, as I have said, many quarrels arose about the loading of the camels, especially at the outset.

After we had loaded our camels and saddled our asses, we mounted them, and went forth from the monastery in the name of the Lord. We passed through the midst of the town, and went down the slope on its further side, to the southward, to the side of the Mount Bethulia, or Rama, which we left on our left hands. As we journeyed, we came to the top of the Valley of Rephaim, and passed along the border thereof for about an hour. This valley would be fertile were there any to till it, and would be full of corn (Is. xvii. 5), `And it shall be, as when the harvestman gathereth the corn, and reapeth the ears with his arm; and it shall be as he that gathereth ears in the Valley of Rephaim.' In this valley David overthrew the Philistines, who had spread themselves therein like locusts, as we read in a Sam. v.  This valley divides the hill-country of Judaea from the plain of the Palestines or Philistines up to the top thereof, and so they were able to go up through it into the land of Judaea. As we went on, we left Bethlehem a long way behind, but still we could see it far behind us until noon; but about noon we came into a fertile country, where there were fields full of fruit-trees, and many olives and figs. Here we drew aside out of the road into a thick wood of olive-trees, where we sat down in the shade, and ate what we had brought from Bethlehem in our scrips; but we could get no drink because the camels which carried the water-skins had gone on before us. So after we had made a frugal meal, we again mounted our asses, and went on till we came to the parting of the ways, where one road goes down on the right hand across the plain into Palestine towards Gazara, leading through the town which is called Thyrin, and the castle which is called St. Samuel's.

Another way leads on the left hand into the hill-country towards Hebron. From Hebron it fetches a compass, and leads down into the plain country of Palestine to Gazara. The way to Gazara by this left-hand road is two German miles shorter than that by the right-hand road. So here the chief Calinus bade them lead the camels along the other, lower, shorter road, by which road we should not have come to Hebron but we, when we understood this, made a great outcry, and insisted on their leading the camels along the other road, which leads to Hebron. We had a violent quarrel about this matter with our guides, for they wanted to go by the shorter road, whereas we wanted to see the holy city of Hebron, the holy place where the patriarchs were buried, and the field from whose earth our first parent was made. Had it not been expressly set down in our covenant with them that they must guide us to Hebron (Part I., page 219, art. xii.), we should not have been able to fulfil our wish. The real truth is, that I alone was the cause of this article having been inserted in the covenant, because the venerable father Ludwig Fuchs, the prior of the convent at Ulm, begged me when I was going away not to leave the Holy Land without seeing the city of Hebron, towards which he feels an especial devotion. I myself also eagerly desired to see it, and combated all the many pretexts which were alleged in order to hinder our going thither; for the chief Calinus talked about many perils which we should incur, in addition to the lengthening of the way. Hebron is only six leagues distant from Bethlehem. So after a long debate we pilgrims got the better of our guides, and they brought back the camels to the upper road through the hill-country. As we went on, we saw what indeed was good land, but exceeding few tillers thereof, and scarce any villages. On the mountains and in the valleys we saw ancient dry-stone walls, wherewith the mountains were girded round about from their lower parts even to their tops. Within these dry-stone walls there once were gardens of vines, olives, oranges, pomegranates, and other good fruit-trees, in whose stead there now grow thorns, nettles, thistles, briars, brambles, and other useless self-­sown bushes.

THE ENTRY OF THE PILGRIMS INTO THE CITY OF HEBRON.

As we went on we came to an exceeding beautiful valley, which is called the Valley of Hebron. On both of its sides the slopes were covered with enclosures, made with dry-stone walls, for vineyards and gardens; but everything growing there was wild. Among them there stood many terebinth trees, abounding in terebinth oil, and if that valley had any people to cultivate it, it would be full of all manner of good things. Going onwards we came to a place full of olive-trees, so much so that it seemed quite a forest of them. In the thickest part of these trees Calinus our governor bade us dismount from our beasts and unload the camels, and we did so. The trees served us for tents and screens against the exceeding great heat of the sun, which seemed to me to be much hotter in that country than in Jerusalem. We sat down in the shade, and ate our biscuits without any refreshing drink, because both the wine in the jars, and the water in the water-skins, was quite warm, and useless for quenching thirst. We were not far from the holy city of Hebron, but could not see it, because there was a hill between us and the city, round about which he that would enter it must fetch a small compass. But that exceeding ancient city of Hebron, whereof the holy Scripture speaks, is said to have stood on the very spot where we were, one part of the city standing on the slope of the hill, and the other on the flat ground below, in the place where the olive trees now grow. Afterwards, on account of the double cave, the sepulchre of Abraham, which was on the other side of the hill, the city was removed to where the cave is, as I shall describe. While we were sitting here, Sabathytanco, the chief Calinus, mounted his horse, and rode with one attendant into the city of Hebron, to tell the Governor of the city and the citizens that Latin Christian pilgrims from the parts beyond sea had come, and wished, with their leave, to see the city and the place where the patriarchs were buried. When the Governor heard this, he severely blamed Calinus for having left us, during the heat of the sun, out in the open plain, where there is neither bread nor water to be had, and bade him return swiftly to us, and bring us with all our baggage into the public inn of the city. Our Calinus answered him that the camels had just been unloaded and turned out to graze, and could not be reloaded without a great deal of trouble. He therefore proposed to send his servants to the Saracens, and to bring in the pilgrims for their visit to the holy places; and after this had been done to take them back again to where their baggage lay, pass the night there, and set out on the morrow. When the Governor heard this, he flew into a passion with Calinus, and said that he was the betrayer of the pilgrims rather than their guide, because that country was full of Arab robbers. `The pilgrims,' said he, `cannot pass the night in the field save at the risk of being plundered, so bring them in hither, and if you will not bring them in I will.' So Calinus came back to us in a violent rage, and ordered the beasts to be reloaded. When this had been done, we mounted our asses, and, with all our troop, made the circuit round the hill, and came into Hebron down the slope on the other side of it. As we entered the city, there was a great rush of people to look at us, because there had been no Latin pilgrims there for many years, and it was like a prodigy to see Western Latin Christians there. They brought us into the public inn of the city with all our beasts, and we found ample stabling for our beasts, and cells for men, both above and below, and also a great courtyard, which was firmly closed by a gate. This building was great and wide, like a monastery. These Eastern inns have no one dwelling in them, but are only for the use of strangers. For an account of the arrangement of inn and hospitals in the East, see Part I., page 195 a.

When we were come into the inn, we unloaded our beasts, and put them in the lower range of building, while we chose rooms and cells for ourselves in the upper range. In these rooms we laid out our bedding, arranged, a place for cooking our meals, got firewood, and laid out all our things as though we were going to stay there for several days. While we were thus engaged, the chief Calinus came with some of the Saracens of the city, and said that, as there was still a good deal of daylight left, it would be well for us to visit the holy places that evening, so that on the morrow we might set out early in the morning; before the heat of the sun had become great. To this we agreed willingly, for we dreaded making a long stay in that place.  

THE FIELD OF WHICH ADAM WAS MADE, WHICH, IS CALLED THE FIELD OF DAMASCUS.

So we came forth from our inn, and passed through the long street of the city, in which work-people of divers crafts dwelt, but more particularly workers in glass; for at this place glass is made, not clear glass, but black, and of the colours between dark and light. We were followed by a great multitude of people, who ran after us, for it was a wondrous sight to see Westerns there. Thus we came to the city gate, through which we passed out, and, going along the highway; came to a field surrounded by a dry­stone wall. Here we halted, and stood looking through the wall into a field which is both beauteous and notable; for this was that which is called the Field of Damascus, wherein Adam, our first parent, was made. When, we heard that this was indeed that holy field, we climbed into it over the wall, that we might kiss the earth, say the proper prayers, and tell one another about the miracles which had been wrought therein. But behold, while we were jumping over the dry-stone wall into the field, a fierce Saracen met us, shouted loudly at us, picked up many stones, and flung them at us, and drove us forcibly out of the field, so that we could scarcely climb over the wall without being hurt!  At this Calinus and our guides, wishing to indulge their anger, began to return to the town; but we were in nowise willing to leave so notable a place so quickly, but wished to appease the man's wrath, that we might pass a short time in prayer at that place. So we called Calinus back, and told him to make an agreement with the man, and that we would pay him whatever was his rightful due for entrance into his field; for he was the landlord of the field. He was promised four madini, and when this promise was made the man became appeased, climbed up the wall, reached his hand down to the pilgrims who stood outside it, pulled up one after another, and suffered them to go into his field. He led us to the place from which it is believed that the clay was taken to make Adam according to the Catholic verity, and where man was first produced, neither do we pay any regard to the ravings of the Gentile poets, who sing that one Phoroneus was the first parent of all mortals, as Eusebius tells us, De Evangel. Praeparat., Book X. The Ethiopians also say that the first men grew in their country from the virtue of the soil; and the incredulous Egyptians have a tradition that the first men were created in their country, both because of the goodness of the soil, and because of the Nile, which engenders many creatures that are found nowhere else. But we, holding all this to be vain, and moved by the truest and firmest faith, cast ourselves on our faces on the earth in this holy place with great devotion and tears, kissed the earth, said the customary prayers appointed in the processional of the Holy Land, received indulgences, and afterwards betook ourselves to meditation upon the place.  

(A dissertation upon Adam in a state of innocence is here omitted.)

When we had finished our meditation, we minutely inspected the place and the earth. The upper crust of earth is coarse and brown, but when you dig it shows red, clayey, and tough, so that pottery might excellently well be made of it. We took some clay and some pebbles from this earth for relics. It is said that whosoever has any of this earth about him will never tire in walking on his way, or, if he is mounted upon a beast, it will neither stumble nor fall; if, however, either man or beast should fall, they will not be hurt thereby, but will get up unharmed. Whether this be true anyone can prove who pleases; I took no pains to notice, but I suffered neither from fatigue nor falls.

THE PLACE OF THE THORNS OR THICK BUSHES, WHERE

ABEL WAS KILLED BY HIS BROTHER CAIN.

  From thence we went further on in the same field beyond the ploughed land, and came into thick bushes and thorny shrubbery, among which is shown the place where Cain rose up against his brother Abel and slew him, as we read in Gen. iv. So here we bowed ourselves down, and kissed the earth which opened its mouth and received that holy blood from  the hands of the fratricide.

(A few lines, describing Adam and Eve's feelings, are omitted.)

THE CAVE IN WHICH ADAM AND EVE COHABITED FOR MANY YEARS,

 AND WHEREIN ADAM FIRST KNEW HIS WIFE.

Upon they southern part of this field there is a hill of no great height, on the top whereof at this day there stands a mosque, which is believed to stand in the place where Adam and Eve and their children offered sacrifices and prayers to God; for Adam taught his sons to make offerings to God, and to worship Him. It was in this same place that, when Cain and Abel were worshipping and offering together, fire came down from heaven and consumed Abel's sacrifice, but did not. touch Cain's sacrifice, because his gift was not acceptable to God like that of his brother; wherefore he became jealous of his brother, and afterwards slew him. In this place likewise the patriarch Abraham had his mausoleum (sic), and here he built the altar spoken of in Gen. xiii., at the end of the chapter.  

Here also he saw three and worshipped one,[1] as is told in Gen. xviii. In another part of the hill is the Valley of Mambre, which joins the Valley of Hebron. This joining takes place near the city of Hebron, and it was in this vale that he was dwelling when he beheld the three men at the door of his tent, and received the promises from God, which are spoken of in Gen. xv. and xvii. But when he would offer sacrifice he ascended the mount. Also the patriarchs Isaac and Jacob dwelt there. At length we came back from the place of Abel's death into the Field of Damascus, went out thereof on the western side over the dry-stone wall, and from thence came to another part of the Valley of Hebron, up the side of a mountain, whereon we found a small and dark cave. This cave we entered one after another, and viewed the place with joyful wonder. This was the cave wherein Adam knew Eve after they had been driven out of Paradise.[2]   

When we had seen the aforesaid cave, we came out from thence, and went on further along the side of the mountain, going upwards at the same time, and we came to another cave, not a small one, but a fairly large one. In this cave Adam and Eve mourned for a hundred years over their son Abel, who was killed by Cain, and at this day one can see the traces of where each of them sat. In this same cave there springs a fountain, from which they drank. This cave is therefore called the Cave of Weeping. When we had seen this cave, we came down the mountain into a narrow valley, which they call the Vale of Tears. They say that Adam and Eve dwelt together in this vale for nine hundred and. thirty years, and that each of them

[1.] Cf. Sir John Maundeville, ch. vi., p.161; in Bohn's series.

[2.] Some account of what I have here omitted may be found in Gibbon's `Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire,' ch. xv., note 91.  

every day, because of the disobedience laid to their charge, their having been driven out of paradise, their loss. of original purity, and the damnation of their posterity, performed exceeding hard penances, whereby they not only obtained God's mercy, but also were thought worthy to receive the gift of prophecy, so that they foretold much to their children touching the conjunction of Christ with His Church, the flood which was then to come, and the fires of the day of judgment. Here they died, and were borne to the double cave, as will be set forth.  In this vale stands the sepulchre of Lot, the brother of Abraham.

THE DOUBLE CAVE, WHICH ABRAHAM BOUGHT FOR A SEPULCHRE

 FOR HIMSELF AND HIS FAMILY.

From this Vale of Tears we came up again into the city of Hebron, and stood before the house of the Governor of the city, near which many aged Saracen counsellors were sitting. We wished to visit and behold that glorious double cave, wherein were buried Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, and Jacob and Leah, the four most holy patriarchs together, with their blessed wives, which cave Abraham bought from Ephron, for four hundred shekels of silver, as we read in Gen. xxiii.; but we knew well that we could not gain access to the holy cave unless the Saracen lords consented, and that they do not easily give their consent to this, unless, perchance, they be won over by entreaties or presents, forasmuch as this cave is within a mosque, into which they will not suffer us to enter. We sent our dragoman, the chief Calinus, with some of the pilgrim noblemen, to the Governor and the Saracen lords who were in his company, and asked them to suffer us to enter into the holy cave, declaring that in return we would obediently perform whatever they might please to bid us do. When our Calinus presented this petition, they asked him whether at Jerusalem we had been let into the Lord's temple, which they call Solomon's temple. When he answered `no,' they said: `Neither do we venture to let them into our temple, which is held by all Mahometans to be not of less, but of greater, sanctity than the temple at Jerusalem. Howbeit, if they wish to do honour to the patriarchs in the double cave, we permit them to go as far as, the steps of the mosque, and worship there, but they must on no account mount them.' So Calinus returned to us, brought us this negative answer, and led us to the steps of the mosque, within which is the double cave. We worshipped towards the cave, kissed the traces of the holy patriarchs, and received plenary indulgences. When we had done this, we betook ourselves to contemplating the place, wherein be it noted that in the days of Abraham the city of Hebron was not in this place, but near it, and this place was a garden, out of which jutted forth a red rock containing the double cave. Abraham bought this place, together with the rock, to be a sepulchre for himself and his children. Should you wish to know what is meant by a single, double, or triple cave, you may see this clearly set forth in Part I., page 125 b, in the account of the Lord's sepulchre in Jerusalem. Now, after the four patriarchs and their wives had been buried in this cave, people began to frequent the place, and to build themselves houses round about it, out of veneration for the place itself, and respect for the holy patriarchs, so that in process of time a city was formed there, and Old Hebron was deserted before the time of King David. King David reigned for seven years in modern Hebron. Moreover, the Jews built an oratory over the rock of the cave, and afterwards the Christians destroyed the oratory of the Jews, and built a great church above it, wherein they appointed a bishop and canons.  After the loss of the Holy Land, the Saracens made a mosque of the church, and have fenced it with lofty walls and towers, and at this day it stands in the midst of the city, like a strong castle; and, indeed, it does not look like a church, but like a castle or great palace. The Saracens told us that the mosque is full of lighted lamps, and that there are lamps in the double cave, which are slung in golden vessels, and which hang by silken cords, or fine silver chains. There are many priests in this mosque, both Soquis and Alhages, so that no hour passes either by day or by night without there being singing beside the double cave, for they relieve one another by turns. While we stood thus, on the steps of the mosque, many men, both young and old, gathered together to look at us.

THE HOSPITAL OF HEBRON, THE POOL OF HEBRON,

AND OTHER PLACES.

After we had viewed the mosque and the double cave, we went down a little way, and came to the door of the hospital for poor people, which is below the mosque. We were let in, and saw its fine offices, and in the kitchen and bakery great preparations being made for Saracen pilgrims, of whom a great number come every day to visit the double cave, the sepulchre of the patriarchs. This hospital has annual revenues amounting to more than twenty-four thousand ducats. Every day twelve hundred loaves of bread are baked in its ovens, and are given to those who ask for them; neither is charity refused to any pilgrim, of whatever nation, faith, or sect he may be. He who asks for food receives a loaf of bread, some oil, and some menestrum,[1] which we call pudding. The castle of St. Samuel alone pays two thousand ducats a year to this hospital, and rich Saracens and Turks daily send alms thither for the support of pilgrims, to show honour to the patriarchs; also rich people, when about to die, set up perpetual memorials of themselves at this place, and leave legacies to the hospital. At the hour when the dole is served out, they make a terrible noise with a drum, which we were alarmed at when we heard it, fearing that the noise meant something against ourselves. In the serving out of the loaves of bread, they sent a basketful to our inn for our use, albeit we had never asked them for anything.

When we had seen the hospital, we went down the long street to one of the city gates. Beneath this gate is the place where Joab, the leader of David's host, slew Abner, the leader of Saul's host, for which cause David laid a curse upon Joab (2 Sam. iii. 29). We went on beyond the gate, and came to a pool, which is surrounded by a fair wall and receives the Water that runs down the Vale of Mambre. We walked round this pool, and viewed it carefully, because it is mentioned in the canonical Scriptures (2 Sam. iv.12). When the two murderers, Baanah and Rechab, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, slew Ishbosheth, King of Israel, and brought his head to David at Hebron, thinking that they were bringing good tidings, David ordered them to be slain, and their hands and feet to be hung up over the pool that is in Hebron. Between the pool and the city wall is the sepulchre of Abner, whose funeral David solemnly celebrated, as we read in 2 Sam. iii. In this sepulchre also was buried the head of Ishbosheth, the son of Saul, King of Israel, as we are told in 2 Sam. iii.

[1.] Menestre. Terme inusite aujourd'hui, qui signifiait une sorte de potage italien.  Littre, `Dict. de la langue Francaise,' 1885.  

When we had seen these places, we re-entered the city, and went to our own inn. We bought some firewood, made a fire, cooked some cakes and eggs, and ate them. After supper the overseer of the inn came, put out our fire, and warned us by signs to be quiet and silent during the night, lest the Arab robbers should hear us, because the inn stands beside the city wall; and sometimes, when they know that there are guests therein, robbers climb over the wall to them, rob them, and sorely vex them. Moreover, he firmly closed the door of the inn, lighted a lamp which hung by it, and laid himself down to keep watch beside the door. With all this we were much pleased, and wondered at the kindness of the. infidels towards us; yet we feared that before we left the city they would charge us heavily for the kindness which they showed us. So, as it was already dark, we lay down to sleep, each in his own cell, like monks.

A DESCRIPTION OF THE CITY OF HEBRON, AND OF HOW  

 IT HAS BEEN INHABITED FROM THE MOST ANCIENT TIMES.

Hebron, or Ericus, an exceeding ancient city, was founded straightway after the Flood, seven years before the Egyptian city of Tanis (Zoan) (Num. xiii. 22). This city of Tanis was founded by the  Titans--giants--who went down from Hebron into Egypt, and were the sons of Titan. This Titan was the son of Coelum and Vesta, the brother of Saturn; his sons fought against Jupiter, and tried to drive the gods out of heaven, but were struck by thunderbolts, as we read in Genesis (?), and they disquieted almost all the world, as is told in the songs of the poets. Thus Tanis, an ancient city of giants in Egypt, was built by giants who came down from Hebron. Hebron has received four names. First of all, it was called Arba (Gen. xxiii.), after the name of Arba, its first founder. Secondly, it was called Kirjatharba (Josh. xiv. I5),which is the same thing as `the city of Arba,’ or `the city of four,' because Kirjath means 'city,' and Arba means `four.' The name whereby Hebron was known in ancient times by all men, whether infidels or believers, was Kirjatharba, meaning `the city of four,' but for different reasons; for the infidels called it so because of four giants who were buried there, whose names were Anak, Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai (Num. xiii.). But the believers call it so because of the four patriarchs--Adam, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob--who are buried there, with their four wives. Thirdly, it was called Hebron after a child of Caleb so named. Fourthly, it is called Abra at this day by the Saracens, because of Abraham, who is buried there. Also the author of the Speculum Historiale calls it Abrahammium, and likewise Sarra, and it is often called Ericus.

This city is mentioned by Jerome in his book De distantiis locorum, where he says that it once was the chief city of the Philistines, and a dwelling-place of giants and kings in the tribe of Judah, a city of priests, and a city of refuge. It is distant from Jerusalem about twenty-two miles in a southerly direction. Thus St. Jerome. This city--that is to say, the lower city--was taken by Joshua, who hanged its King Hoham (Josh. x.); but the stronger part, which was the upper city, was taken afterwards by Caleb, who slew the bravest of its giants, as we read in Josh. xii., and Judg. i.10. It was because Caleb stilled the murmuring of the people in the wilderness against the Lord, and because he followed the Lord, bearing testimony to the goodness of the Holy Land, whereof others gave an evil report, that the Lord promised to him the mount of Hebron as the chief lot in all the land (Num. xiii., xiv., and josh. xiv.). Moreover, Nicholas de Lyra says that when the spies sent by Moses came into the land, Caleb alone went up to Hebron, to the double cave, said a prayer before the holy patriarchs, and thus became worthy to be the owner of this holy place.

The site of this city lies partly on the slope of a hill and partly in a valley, and it is not very great, yet it is populous and strong, having been made into a city straightway after the Flood, though before the Flood there had been human dwellings there, yet without a city; however, the sons of Adam dwelt there, and from thence were scattered abroad throughout the world. Thus Cain, after he had slain his brother, journeyed into India with his wives and children, fleeing from the face of the Lord.

 Furthermore, be it noted, that this city is found spoken of by many other names besides those which have been mentioned. Sometimes it is called Arba­that is to say, 'four'-because of the (four) giants buried there, and it is corruptly spoken of as ‘Arbeth,' as says St. Jerome in his letter to Pammachus--`De Optimo genere interpretandi;' sometimes Cariatharbe--that is, `the city of four'--because of the four patriarchs buried there. Sometimes it is called Mambre, because of the Valley of Mambre, which joins the city, and because of Abraham's oaks in Mambre, which used to be shown even to the time of the blessed Jerome's childhood, as the same Jerome tells us in his book De distantiis locorum, and down to the time of the Emperor Constantine there was shown a terebinth-tree of exceeding great age, whose size proved its years, beneath which, Abraham dwelt, beneath which he hospitably entertained the angels, and whose monument may be seen at this day. `The place where this tree stood,' says St. Jerome, `is worshipped with wondrous superstition by all, the tribes round about, and is held to be, as it were, hallowed by a glorious name.'  Perchance this name of Mambre was the original name of the place, given it by Adam, because Mambre in Hebrew' means 'clearness.' Now, as hath already been told, it was in this place that Adam first received knowledge of all things, and saw all things clearly. Sometimes it is called Chebron, which is, being interpreted, 'passing away,' because from this place Adam passed away into Paradise. Sometimes it is called Ebron, which is, being interpreted, 'passage' or 'retreat,' because they retreated hither after the first sin. Sometimes it is called Hebron--that is, 'poor valley'--because of the miseries which Adam endured in this place, and his loss of this mortal life.

On the twenty-eighth day, which was the feast of our blessed Father Augustine, I rose after midnight, after my fashion, before the rest, to say my service. I went down to the gate to light my candle at the lamp which hung there, but the Saracen guard of the gate withstood me, and drove me away from the lamp with many loud shouts. For my part, I tried to get near the lamp and light my candle, but as often as I did so he blew it out. We both made so much noise that the dragoman awoke and came to us. He reprimanded me in Italian for not keeping quiet, and asked me what I wanted with a candle so early in the morning. I said to him: ‘I wish to praise God, and I mean to read his praises out of a book.’ When the Saracen heard this, he bade the watchman light my candle, and he did so; but I am sure that, if I had asked for a light for any other purpose whatsoever, I should on no account have been able to have it. So, having got my light, I went up to my own place, and read the service. I had scarcely finished matins before Calinus, the dragoman, came up and woke the other pilgrims, that they might make ready to depart. So we packed up, loaded our camels, saddled our asses, and went out of the city in the twilight, going down the Valley of Hebron towards the south, yet trending away a little towards the west. We came to a field, which was that wherein Isaac was walking deep in thought when Damascus, Abraham's servant, brought his young wife Rebecca to him (Gen. xxiv.).

As we went on, we came near Debir, the city of letters, which, however, we were not able to see, because there was a mountain between us and it. About this city see Josh. xv., and Judg. i.

It was called  ‘the city of letters,' because therein the letters of the Canaanites were first invented, or because the giants of old had some sort of school of letters there; or, as the writer of the Speculum Historiale says, because its citizens were scribes; or because, as the Hebrews say, Othniel, who took it, restored there, during the, time of the mourning for Moses, certain chapters of the Books of the Law, which had become ,faint and rubbed out. Of this city Jerome says, in his book De distantiis locorum, `Debir, in the tribe of Judah, which is called the city of letters, was taken by Othniel, Caleb's brother, who slew the giants that dwelt therein, and received Achsa, Caleb's daughter, to wife for his reward. There may still be seen the land of the upper springs and of the nether springs, which Caleb gave to his daughter Achsa  when she complained that he had given her a thirsty land, as we read in Judges i.'

As we went on, we passed Kirjath Sepher, or Debir, and went further on down the Valley of Hebron, which, without doubt, would be exceeding fertile if it were cultivated, and which on either side still retains the dry-stone walls of ancient gardens. Among the bushes we saw several eatable wild creatures, and partridges and pheasants in the trees. When we had gone down a pretty long way, we came to a place where another valley leads from the north to the west. This is the Valley of Neel Escol--that is to say, the valley of the bunch of grapes--an exceeding fertile valley, from which the spies sent out by Moses to search the land bore the great bunch of grapes, which two men bore upon a staff, and where they gathered pomegranates. and other fruits, and took them to the children of Israel in the wilderness beyond Jordan, as we read in Num. xiii. Leaving this valley, we continued on our way down the Valley of Hebron, by the road over which Joseph passed when he was sent by his father Jacob out of the Vale of Hebron to seek his brethren in Shechem (Gen. xxxvii.). By this same road Joseph's brethren went down into Egypt to buy corn (Gen. xiii.). It is supposed that Esau hunted in the woods of this valley, because they are full of wild beasts, when his father Isaac sent him forth that he might bring home some of his venison, and make savoury meat, and win his father's blessing (Gen. xxvii.). For many hours together we went down along the right­hand side of the valley, which was deep, narrow, and rough at the bottom, stony, and full of wild trees, and which, an unusual thing in that land, was moist with water.

About mid-day we came out of the hill-country into the plains. Here we straightway turned ourselves to the southward, at the foot of the hills, and came into exceeding fertile fields, which stood full of olives and fig-trees. We begged the dragoman to give us time to eat a meal under the shade of these trees, but he would not, saying that loaded camels ought not to be unloaded for such a purpose, that they could not stand still under their burthens, and that they could not go on without us. This was true; so we went on our way, and, as we sat on our asses, we ate and drank whatever we could lay our hands upon. All those who travel with loaded camels must do this, because the camels cannot stand still under their loads, as will be explained better in the account of our crossing the desert. About the time of vespers we gradually left the hill-country, and came into the exceeding wide plains of Palestine, into the country of the Philistines, over against Ashdod. These wide plains reach crossways from the hill-country to the Mediterranean Sea, a distance of three German miles, and lengthways from Joppa and Mount Ephraim down to the country of Gerar in Beersheba. In this plain there are many cities, but more especially five, which were the royal and principal cities of the Philistines or Palestines; their names are Gath, Ekron, Ashdod, Ascalon, and Gaza. In these five cities dwelt the five lords of the Philistines (1 Sam. vi. 18). All these cities stood upon the seashore, or not far from the sea.

Gath was of old a city of strong giants, which Joshua, that great man of war, could not take, as we see in Josh. xi. Goliath, whom David slew, was from Gath (i Sam. xvii.); and in 2 Sam. xxi. we are told of a man of Gath of great stature, who had twenty-four fingers and toes, and many other things are told us about Gath in Holy Scripture.

The legends say that St. Christopher, was from the city of Gath; and at this day men who are born there are said to be stronger and more warlike than other men. It was long ago destroyed, and remains as a small village, which at this day is called Giblim, and stands not far from Joppa, and from the road to that port. As one goes down along the coast of the Great Sea from Gath, for a distance of two German miles, one comes to another city of the Philistines, which once was great—Ekron--wherein was the great temple of Baal or Beelzebub, who was called the God of Ekron; wherefore Ahaziah, King of Israel, when he fell through the lattice of his upper chamber, sent to inquire of Beelzebub, the God of Ekron (2 Kings i.). Also the Jews reproached the Lord Jesus with having a compact with this same demon, saying, `He casteth out devils through Beelzebub, the chief of the devils' (Luke xi. 15). This city was given to the tribe of Judah, but never possessed by them, because they could not prevail against the giants who dwelt therein. Going further down the seashore, one comes to Ashdod, which is the third city of the Philistines, appointed by Joshua for the tribe of Judah, but never held by them, because they could not drive out its original inhabitants. In this city was the great temple of Dagon, into which the Philistines brought the ark of the God of Israel when they had taken it; and the idol Dagon fell down, and the people was stricken with a great plague (1 Sam