Early Travels in Palestine Part 15

For the Saracens counterfeit it to deceive the Christians, as I have seen many a time; and after them, the merchants and the apothecaries counterfeit it again, and then it is less worth, and a great deal worse.

But I will show how you may know and prove it, to the end that you shall not be deceived. First, you must know that the natural balm is very clear, of citron colour, and strong smell; and if it be thick, or red, or black, it is counterfeit. And if you will put a little balm in the palm of your hand towards the sun, if it be fine and good you will not be able to bear your hand in the sun's heat. Also, take a little balm with the point of a knife, and touch it to the fire, and if it burn it is a good sign. Take also a drop of balm, and put it into a dish, or in a cup, with milk of a goat, and, if it be natural balm, anon it will take and curdle the milk. Or put a drop of balm in clear water, in a cup of silver or in a clean basin, and stir it well with the clear water; and if the balm be fine and genuine the water will not be troubled; but if the balm be counterfeit the water will become troubled immediately.

Also, if the balm be fine, it will fall to the bottom of the vessel, as though it were quicksilver; for the fine balm is twice as heavy as the balm that is counterfeited.

Now I will speak of another thing that is beyond Babylon, above the Nile, towards the desert, between Africa and Egypt; that is, of the granaries of Joseph[318], that he caused to be made, to keep the grains against the dear years. They are made of stone, well made by masons'

craft; two of them are marvellously great and high, the others are not so great. And each granary has a gate to enter within, a little above the earth; for the land is wasted and fallen since the granaries were made. Within they are all full of serpents; and above the granaries without are many writings in divers languages. And some men say that they are sepulchres of great lords, that were formerly; but that is not true, for all the common rumour and speech of the people there, both far and near, is that they are the granaries of Joseph; and so find they in their writings and chronicles. On the other side, if they were sepulchres, they would not be empty within; for you may well know, that tombs and sepulchres are not made of such magnitude or elevation; wherefore it is not credible that they are tombs or sepulchres.

Now I will proceed to tell you the other ways that draw towards Babylon, where the sultan dwells, which is at the entry of Egypt; because many people go thither first, and after that to Mount Sinai, and then return to Jerusalem, as I have told you before. For they perform first the longer pilgrimage, and return by the nearest ways; because the nearer way is the more worthy, and that is Jerusalem; for no other pilgrimage is to be compared to it. But to accomplish their pilgrimages more easily and safely, men go first the longer way. But whoever will go to Babylon by another way, and shorter from the countries of the west, he may go by France, Burgundy, and Lombardy. It is not necessary to tell you the names of the cities and towns in that way, for the way is common, and known to every body. There are many ports where men take the sea; some embark at Genoa; some at Venice, and pa.s.s by the Adriatic Sea, which is called the Gulf of Venice, and divides Italy and Greece on that side; and some go to Naples; some to Rome, and from Rome to Brindes[319], and embark there, and in many other places. Some go by Tuscia, Campania, Calabria, by Apulia, and by the mountains of Italy Chorisque, by Sardinia, and by Sicily, which is a great and good isle. In that isle of Sicily is a kind of garden, in which are many different fruits; and the garden is green and flouris.h.i.+ng at all seasons of the year, as well in winter as in summer. That isle contains in compa.s.s about three hundred and fifty French miles. Between Sicily and Italy there is but a little arm of the sea, which men call the Faro of Messina; and Sicily is between the Adriatic Sea and the Sea of Lombardy. From Sicily to Calabria is but eight Lombard miles. In Sicily there is a kind of serpent by which men a.s.say and prove if their children be b.a.s.t.a.r.ds or not; for if they are born in lawful marriage, the serpents go about them, and do them no harm; but if they are illegitimate, the serpents bite them and kill them with their venom: and thus many wedded men ascertain if the children be their own. Also in that isle is Mount Etna, which men call Mount Gybell, and volcanoes, that are ever burning. And there are seven places which burn and cast out flames of divers colours; and by the changing of those flames, men of that country know when it will be dearth or good time, or cold or hot, or moist or dry, or in all other manners how the time will vary. From Italy to the volcanoes is but twenty-five miles; and they say that the volcanoes are ways to h.e.l.l[320].

Also, for those who go by Pisa, there is an arm of the sea, where men go to other havens in those parts, and then they pa.s.s by the isle of Greaf, that is at Genoa; and so they arrive in Greece at the port of the city of Myrok, or at the port of Valone, or at the city of Duras (where there is a duke), or at other ports in those parts; and so men go to Constantinople. And afterwards they go by water to the isle of Crete, and to the isle of Rhodes, and so to Cyprus, and so to Athens, and from thence to Constantinople.

To hold the more direct way by sea, it is full one thousand eight hundred and eighty Lombard miles. And after, from Cyprus they go by sea, and leave Jerusalem and that country on the left, and proceed to Egypt, and arrive at the city of Damiette, at the entrance of Egypt, whence they go to Alexandria, which is also upon the sea. In that city was St.

Catherine beheaded; and there St. Mark the Evangelist was martyred and buried; but the emperor Leo caused his bones to be carried to Venice.

There is still at Alexandria a fair church, all white, without pictures; and so are all the other churches which belonged to the Christians all white within, for the Pagans and the Saracens whitewashed them, to destroy the images of saints that were painted on the walls. The city of Alexandria is full thirty furlongs in length, but it is but ten broad; and it is a n.o.ble and fair city. Here the river Nile enters the sea; in which river are found many precious stones, and much also of lignum aloes, a kind of wood that comes out of terrestrial Paradise, and is good for many different medicines; and it is very precious. From Alexandria we go to Babylon, where the sultan dwells, which is situated also on the river Nile; and this is the shortest way to go direct to Babylon.

From Babylon to Mount Sinai, where St. Catherine lieth, you must pa.s.s by the desert of Arabia, by which Moses led the people of Israel; and then you pa.s.s the well which Moses made with his hand in the desert, when the people murmured because they found nothing to drink. And then you pa.s.s the well of Marah, of which the water was first bitter, but the children of Israel put therein a tree, and anon the water was sweet and good to drink. And then you go by the desert to the vale of Elim, in which vale are twelve wells; and there are seventy-two palm-trees that bear the dates which Moses found with the children of Israel. And from that valley is but a good day's journey to Mount Sinai.

And those who will go by another way from Babylon go by the Red Sea, which is an arm of the ocean. There Moses pa.s.sed with the children of Israel across the sea all dry, when Pharaoh, king of Egypt, pursued him.

That sea is about six miles broad. That sea is not redder than other seas; but in some places the gravel is red, and therefore they call it the Red Sea. That sea runs to the borders of Arabia and Palestine, its extent being more than four days. Then we go by desert to the vale of Elim, and thence to Mount Sinai. And you must know that by this desert no man may go on horseback, because there is neither meat for horses nor water to drink; wherefore they pa.s.s that desert with camels. For the camel finds always food in trees and on bushes, and he can abstain from drink two or three days, which no horse can do.

From Babylon to Mount Sinai is twelve good days' journey, and some make it more; and some haste them, and thus make it less. And men always find interpreters to go with them in the countries, and further beyond, until they know the language. Travellers must carry with them victuals and other necessaries sufficient to last through those deserts.

Mount Sinai is called the Desert of Sin, that is to say, the burning bush; because there Moses saw our Lord G.o.d many times in form of fire burning upon that hill, and also in a burning bush, and spake to him.

And that was at the foot of the hill. There is an abbey of monks, well built and well closed with gates of iron for fear of wild beasts. The monks are Arabians or Greeks; and there is a great convent, and they are all as hermits, and drink no wine except on princ.i.p.al feasts; they are very devout men, and live in poverty and simplicity on gourds and dates, and perform great abstinence and penance. Here is the church of St.

Catherine, in which are many lamps burning, for they have enough oil of olives both to burn in their lamps and to eat also, which plenty they have by G.o.d's miracle: for the ravens, crows, and choughs, and other fowls of that country, a.s.semble there once every year, and fly thither as in pilgrimage; and each brings a branch of bays or olive in its beak, instead of offering, and leaves it there; of which the monks make great plenty of oil; and this is a great marvel. And since fowls that have no natural knowledge or reason go thither to seek that glorious Virgin, well more ought men to seek her and wors.h.i.+p her. Behind the altar of that church is the place where Moses saw our Lord G.o.d in a burning bush.

When the monks enter that place they always put off both hose, and shoes or boots, because our Lord said to Moses, "Put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground."[321]

And the monks call that place Bezeleel, that is, the shadow of G.o.d.

Beside the high altar raised on three steps, is the chest of alabaster containing the bones of St. Catherine, and the prelate of the monks shows the relics to the pilgrims, and rubs the bones with an instrument of silver, whereupon there issues a little oil, as though it were a kind of sweating, which is neither like oil nor balm, but is very sweet of smell; and of that they give a little to the pilgrims, for there issues but a small quant.i.ty of the liquor. They next show the head of St.

Catherine, and the cloth that she was wrapped in, which is still all b.l.o.o.d.y. And in that same cloth, so wrapped, the angels bore her body to Mount Sinai, and there they buried her with it. They also show the bush which burnt and was not consumed, in which our Lord spake to Moses; and they have many other relics. When the prelate of the abbey is dead, I have been informed that his lamp becomes extinguished. And when they choose another prelate, if he be a good man and worthy to be prelate, his lamp will light by the grace of G.o.d, without being touched by any man. For every one of them has a lamp for himself, and by their lamps they know well when any of them shall die; for then the light begins to change and wax dim. And if he be chosen to be prelate, and is not worthy, his lamp immediately goes out. Other men have told me, that he that sings the ma.s.s for the prelate that is dead finds written upon the altar the name of him that shall be chosen prelate. One day I asked several of the monks how this befel. But they would not tell me, until I said that they ought not to hide the grace that G.o.d did them, but that they should publish it, to make the people have the more devotion, and that they sinned in hiding G.o.d's miracle, as appeared to me. And then they told me that it so happened often; but more I might not have of them. In that abbey no flies, toads, or lizards, or such foul venomous beasts, nor lice, nor fleas, ever enter, by the miracle of G.o.d and of our Lady; for there were wont to be so many such kind of pests, that the monks were resolved to leave the place, and were gone thence to the mountain above, to eschew that place. But our Lady came to them and bade them return; and since that time such vermin have never entered in and place amongst them, nor never shall enter hereafter. Before the gate is the well where Moses smote the stone from which the water came out abundantly.

From that abbey you go up the mountain of Moses by many steps; and there is, first, a church of our Lady, where she met the monks when they fled away from the vermin just mentioned; and higher up the mountain is the chapel of Elijah the prophet, which place they call h.o.r.eb, whereof holy writ speaks, "And he went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights, unto h.o.r.eb, the mount of G.o.d."[322] And close by is the vine that St. John the Evangelist planted; and a little above is the chapel of Moses, and the rock where Moses fled for dread when he saw our Lord face to face. And in that rock is imprinted the form of his body; for he threw himself so strongly and so hard on that rock that all his body was buried into it, through the miracle of G.o.d[323]. And near it is the place where our Lord gave to Moses the ten commandments of the law.

And under the rock is the cave where Moses dwelt when he fasted forty days and forty nights. And from that mountain you pa.s.s a great valley, to go to another mountain, where St. Catherine was buried by the angels of our Lord; in which valley is a church of forty martyrs, where the monks of the abbey often sing. That valley is very cold. Next you go up the mountain of St. Catherine, which is higher than the mount of Moses; and there, where St. Catherine was buried, is neither church nor chapel, nor other dwelling place; but there is a heap of stones about the place where her body was placed by the angels. There was formerly a chapel there, but it was cast down, and the stones lie still scattered about.

And although the collect of St. Catherine says that it is the place where our Lord gave the ten commandments to Moses, and where the blessed virgin St. Catherine was buried, we are to understand this as meaning that it is the same country, or in a place bearing the same name; for both hills are called the mount of Sinai; but it is a great way from one to the other, and a great deep valley lies between them.

CHAPTER VI.

OF THE DESERT BETWEEN THE CHURCH OF ST. CATHERINE AND JERUSALEM.-OF THE DRY TREE; AND HOW ROSES FIRST CAME INTO THE WORLD.

After people have visited these holy places, they proceed towards Jerusalem, having taken leave of the monks and recommended themselves to their prayers. And then the monks give the pilgrims victuals to pa.s.s the desert towards Syria, which desert extends full thirteen days' journey.

In that desert dwell many of the Arabians, who are called Bedouins and Ascopardes, who are people full of all evil conditions, having no houses, but tents, which they make of the skins of camels and other beasts that they eat; and under these they sleep and dwell, in places where they can find water, as on the Red Sea or elsewhere; for in that desert there is great want of water, and it often happens that where men find water at one time in a place, there is none at another time; and for that reason they make no habitations there. These people do not till the ground nor labour; for they eat no bread, except it be those who dwell near a good town, who go thither and eat bread sometimes. They roast their flesh and fish on the hot stones in the sun; and they are strong and warlike men, and there is so great a mult.i.tude of them that they are without number. Their only occupation is to hunt animals for their food. They care not for their lives, and therefore they fear not the sultan nor any other prince; but dare to war with all princes who do them any grievance; and they are often at war with the sultan, as they were at the time I was with him. They carry but one s.h.i.+eld and one spear, without other arms; they wrap their heads and necks with a great quant.i.ty of white linen cloth; and they are right felonious and foul, and of a cursed nature.

When you pa.s.s this desert, on the way to Jerusalem, you come to Beersheba, which was formerly a very fair and pleasant town of the Christians, some of whose churches still remain. In that town Abraham the Patriarch dwelt a long time. It was founded by Beersheba (Bathsheba), the wife of Sir Uriah, the knight, on whom king David begat Solomon the Wise, who was king, after David, over the twelve tribes of Jerusalem, and reigned forty years. From thence we go to the city of Hebron, a distance of two good miles; it was formerly called the Vale of Mamre, and sometimes the Vale of Tears, because Adam wept there a hundred years for the death of Abel, his son, whom Cain slew. Hebron was the princ.i.p.al city of the Philistines, and was inhabited some time by giants. And it was a sacerdotal city, that is, a sanctuary, of the tribe of Judah; and was so free, that all manner of fugitives from other places, for their evil deeds, were received there. In Hebron, Joshua, Calephe, and their company, came first to espy how they might win the Land of Promise. Here king David first reigned, seven years and a half; and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty-three years and a half. In Hebron are all the sepulchres of the patriarchs, Adam, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and their wives, Eve, Sarah, Rebecca, and Leah: which sepulchres the Saracens keep very carefully, for they hold the place in great reverence, on account of the holy fathers, the patriarchs, that lie there. And they suffer no Christian to enter that place, except by special grace of the sultan; for they hold Christians and Jews as dogs, and say that they should not enter into so holy a place. And they call that place where they lie Double Spelunk, or Double Cave, or Double Ditch, because the one lies above the other. And the Saracens call the place in their language Karicarba, that is, the Place of Patriarchs. The Jews call it Arbothe. And in that same place was Abraham's house, and there he sat and saw three persons, and wors.h.i.+pped but one: as Holy Writ saith, _He saw three, and wors.h.i.+pped one_: and at the same place Abraham received the angels into his house. Close by that place is a cave in the rock, where Adam and Eve dwelt when they were put out of Paradise, and there they begat their children. And in that same place was Adam formed and made, as some men say; for they used to call that place the Field of Damascus, because it was in the lords.h.i.+p of Damascus. And from thence he was translated into Paradise, as they say; and after he was driven out of Paradise he was left there. Here begins the Vale of Hebron, which extends nearly to Jerusalem. There the angel commanded Adam that he should dwell with his wife Eve, on whom he begat Seth, of which tribe Jesus Christ was born. In that valley is a field where men draw out of the earth a thing they call cambylle, which they eat instead of spice, and they carry it to sell. And men may not make the hole where it is taken out of the earth so deep or wide, but at the year's end it is full again up to the sides, through the grace of G.o.d.

Two miles from Hebron is the grave of Lot, Abraham's brother. And a little from Hebron is the mount of Mamre, from which the valley takes its name. And there is an oak tree which the Saracens call dirpe, which is of Abraham's time; and people call it the dry tree. They say that it has been there since the beginning of the world, and that it was once green and bore leaves, till the time that our Lord died on the cross, and then it dried; and so did all the trees that were then in the world.

And there is a prophecy, that a lord, a prince of the west side of the world, shall win the Land of Promise, that is, the Holy Land, with the help of the Christians; and he shall cause ma.s.s to be performed under that dry tree, and then the tree shall become green and bear both fruit and leaves. And through that miracle many Saracens and Jews shall be converted to the Christian faith. And, therefore, they do great wors.h.i.+p thereto, and guard it very sedulously. And although it be dry, still it has great virtue; for, certainly, he that hath a little thereof upon him, it heals him of the falling evil, and his horse shall not be afoundered; and many other virtues it hath, on account of which it is highly esteemed.

From Hebron we proceed to Bethlehem, in half a day, for it is but five miles; and it is a very fair way, by pleasant plains and woods.

Bethlehem is a little city, long and narrow, and well walled, and on each side inclosed with good ditches. It was formerly called Ephrata, as Holy Writ says, "Lo, we heard it at Ephrata."[324] And towards the east end of the city is a very fair and handsome church, with many towers, pinnacles, and corners strongly and curiously made; and within are forty-four great and fair pillars of marble. And between the city and the church is the Field _Floridus_, that is to say, the field flourished; for a fair maiden was blamed with wrong, and slandered, that she had committed fornication, for which cause she was condemned to be burnt in that place; and as the fire began to burn about her, she made her prayers to our Lord, that as truly as she was not guilty, he would by his merciful grace help her, and make it known to all men. And when she had thus said, she entered into the fire, and immediately the fire was extinguished, and the f.a.ggots that were burning became red rosebushes, and those that were not kindled became white rosebushes, full of roses. And these were the first rose-trees and roses, both white and red, that ever any man saw. And thus was this maiden saved by the grace of G.o.d. And therefore is that field called the field that G.o.d flourished, for it was full of roses. Also near the choir of the church, at the right side, as men go down sixteen steps, is the place where our Lord was born; which is full well made of marble, and full richly painted with gold, silver, azure, and other colours. And three paces from it is the crib of the ox and the a.s.s. And beside that is the place where the star fell, which led the three kings, Jaspar, Melchior, and Balthazar: but the Greeks call them Galgalathe, Malgalathe, and Saraphie: and the Jews call them in Hebrew Appelius, Amerrius, and Damasus. These three kings offered to our Lord gold, incense, and myrrh; and they met together by a miracle of G.o.d, for they met together in a city in India called Ca.s.sak, which is fifty-three days' from Bethlehem, and yet they arrived at Bethlehem on the thirteenth day, which was the fourth day after they had seen the star, when they met in that city; and thus they were nine days from that city to Bethlehem: and that was a great miracle[325]. Also, under the cloister of the church, by eighteen steps at the right side, is the charnel-house of the Innocents, where their bones lie. And before the place where our Lord was born is the tomb of St. Jerome, who was a priest and cardinal, and translated the Bible and Psalter from Hebrew into Latin; and without the church is the chair that he sat in when he translated it. And close by that church, at a distance of sixty fathoms, is a church of St. Nicholas, where our Lady rested after she was delivered of our Lord. And forasmuch as she had too much milk in her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, which grieved her, she milked them on the red stones of marble; so that the traces may yet be seen all white in the stones. And you must understand that all who dwell in Bethlehem are Christians. And there are fair vineyards about the city, and great plenty of wine, which the Christians make. But the Saracens neither cultivate vines nor drink wine; for their books of their law, that Mohammed gave them, which they call their Alkoran, (and some call it Mesaphe, and in another language it is called Harme,) forbids them to drink wine. For in that book Mohammed cursed all who drink wine, and all who sell it. For some men say that he slew once a hermit, whom he loved much, in his drunkenness; and therefore he cursed wine and them that drink it. And also, the Saracens breed no pigs and they eat no swine's flesh, for they say it is brother to man, and it was forbidden by the old law; and they hold all accursed who eat thereof. Also, in the land of Palestine and in the land of Egypt, they eat but little or no veal or beef, except when the animal is old, that he may work no more; for it is forbidden, because they have but few of them, and they keep them to plough their lands. In this city of Bethlehem was David the king born, and he had sixty wives; and the first wife was called Michal: and also he had three hundred concubines.

From Bethlehem to Jerusalem it is but two miles. And in the way to Jerusalem, half a mile from Bethlehem, is a church, where the angel announced to the shepherds the birth of Christ. And in that way is the tomb of Rachel, the mother of Joseph the patriarch, who died immediately after she was delivered of her son Benjamin; and there she was buried by Jacob, her husband, and he caused twelve great stones to be placed over her, in token that she had borne twelve[326] children. In the same way, half a mile from Jerusalem, the star appeared to the three kings. In that way also are many churches of Christians, by which men go towards the city of Jerusalem.

CHAPTER VII.

OF THE PILGRIMAGES IN JERUSALEM, AND OF THE HOLY PLACES THEREABOUT.

Jerusalem, the holy city, stands full fair between hills; and there are no rivers or wells, but water comes by conduit from Hebron. And you must know that Jerusalem of old, until the time of Melchisedek, was called Jebus; and afterwards it was called Salem, until the time of king David, who put these two names together, and called it Jebusalem; and after that king Solomon called it Jerosoluma; and after that it was called Jerusalem, and so it is called still. Around Jerusalem is the kingdom of Syria; and there beside is the land of Palestine; and beside it is Ascalon; and beside that is the land of Maritaine. But Jerusalem is in the land of Judea; and it is called Judea, because Judas Maccabeus was king of that country. And it borders eastward on the kingdom of Arabia; to the south, on the land of Egypt; to the west, on the great sea; and to the north, towards Syria, on the sea of Cyprus. In Jerusalem was formerly a patriarch, with archbishops and bishops about in the country.

Around Jerusalem are these cities: Hebron, seven miles; Jericho, six miles; Beersheba, eight miles; Ascalon, seventeen miles; Jaffa, sixteen miles; Ramatha, three miles; and Bethlehem, two miles. And two miles from Bethlehem, towards the south, is the church of St. Karitot, who was abbot there; for whom they made great lamentation among the monks when he died; and they continue still in mourning in the manner that they made their lamentation for him the first time; and it is very sad to behold.

This country and land of Jerusalem hath been in the hands of many different nations, and often, therefore, hath the country suffered much tribulation for the sin of the people that dwell there. For that country hath been in the hands of all nations; that is to say, of Jews, Canaanites, a.s.syrians, Persians, Medes, Macedonians, Greeks, Romans, Christians, Saracens, Barbarians, Turks, Tartars, and of many other different nations; for G.o.d will not let it remain long in the hands of traitors or of sinners, be they Christians or others. And now the heathens have held that land in their hands forty years and more[327]; but they shall not hold it long, if G.o.d will.

When men come to Jerusalem, their first pilgrimage is to the church of the holy sepulchre, where our Lord was buried, which is without the city on the north side; but it is now inclosed by the town wall. And there is a very fair church, round, and open above, and covered in its circuit with lead; and on the west side is a fair and high tower for bells, strongly made; and in the middle of the church is a tabernacle, as it were a little house, made with a little low door; and that tabernacle is made in manner of half a compa.s.s, right curiously and richly made of gold and azure and other rich colours. And in the right side of that tabernacle is the sepulchre of our Lord; and the tabernacle is eight feet long, and five wide, and eleven in height; and it is not long since the sepulchre was all open, that men might kiss it and touch it. But because pilgrims that came thither laboured to break the stone in pieces or in powder, therefore the sultan has caused a wall to be made round the sepulchre, that no man may touch it. In the left side of the wall of the tabernacle, about the height of a man, is a great stone, the magnitude of a man's head, that was of the holy sepulchre; and that stone the pilgrims that come thither kiss. In that tabernacle are no windows; but it is all made light with lamps which hang before the sepulchre. And there is one lamp which hangs before the sepulchre which burns bright; and on Good Friday it goes out of itself, and lights again by itself at the hour that our Lord rose from the dead. Also, within the church, at the right side, near the choir of the church, is Mount Calvary, where our Lord was placed on the cross. It is a rock of a white colour, a little mixed with red; and the cross was set in a mortise in the same rock; and on that rock dropped the blood from the wounds of our Lord when he was punished on the cross; and that is called Golgotha. And they go up to that Golgotha by steps; and in the place of that mortise Adam's head was found, after Noah's flood, in token that the sins of Adam should be redeemed in that same place. And upon that rock Abraham made sacrifice to our Lord. And there is an altar, before which lie G.o.dfrey de Boulogne and Baldwin, and other Christian kings of Jerusalem; and near where our Lord was crucified is this written in Greek: ? Te??

?as??e?? ??? p?? a????? e????sat? s?t???a? ?? ?s? t?? ????-that is to say, in Latin, "Deus Rex noster ante secula operatus est salutem in medio terrae;" in English, "G.o.d our king, before the worlds, hath wrought salvation in the midst of the earth." And also on the rock where the cross was set is written, within the rock, these words: ? e?de??, ?st?

?s?? t?? p?ste?? ???? t?? ??s?? t??t???-that is to say, in Latin, "Quod vides, est fundamentum totius fidei hujus mundi;" in English, "What thou seest, is the ground of all the faith of this world." And you shall understand that when our Lord was placed on the cross he was thirty-three years and three months old. Also, within Mount Calvary, on the right side, is an altar, where the pillar lieth to which our Lord Jesus was bound when he was scourged; and there, besides, are four pillars of stone that always drop water; and some men say that they weep for our Lord's death. Near that altar is a place under earth, forty-two steps in depth, where the holy cross was found by the wisdom of St.

Helena, under a rock, where the Jews had hid it. And thus was the true cross a.s.sayed; for they found three crosses, one of our Lord, and two of the two thieves; and St. Helena placed a dead body on them, which arose from death to life when it was laid on that on which our Lord died. And thereby, in the wall, is the place where the four nails of our Lord were hid; for he had two in his hands and two in his feet; and of one of these the emperor of Constantinople made a bridle to his horse, to carry him in battle; and through virtue thereof he overcame his enemies, and won all the land of Lesser Asia, that is to say, Turkey, Armenia the Less and the Greater, and from Syria to Jerusalem, from Arabia to Persia, from Mesopotamia to the kingdom of Aleppo, from Upper and Lower Egypt, and all the other kingdoms, unto the extremity of Ethiopia, and into India the Less, that was then Christian. And there were, in that time, many good holy men, and holy hermits, of whom the Book of Lives of Fathers[328] speaks; but they are now in the hands of Pagans and Saracens. But when G.o.d Almighty will, as the lands were lost through sin of the Christians, so shall they be won again by Christians through help of G.o.d. And in the midst of that church is a compa.s.s, in which Joseph of Arimathea laid the body of our Lord when he had taken him down from the cross; and there he washed the wounds of our Lord. And that compa.s.s, men say, is the middle of the world[329]. And in the church of the sepulchre, on the north side, is the place where our Lord was put in prison (for he was in prison in many places); and there is a part of the chain with which he was bound; and there he appeared first to Mary Magdalene when he was risen, and she thought that he had been a gardener. In the church of St. Sepulchre there were formerly canons of the order of St. Augustin, who had a prior, but the patriarch was their head. And outside the doors of the church, on the right side, as men go upward eighteen steps, is the spot where our Lord said to his mother, "Woman, behold thy son!" And after that, he said to John his disciple, "Behold thy mother!"[330] And these words he said on the cross. And on these steps went our Lord when he bare the cross on his shoulder. And under these steps is a chapel; and in that chapel sing priests of India, not after our law, but after theirs; and they always make their sacrament of the altar, saying _Pater noster_, and other prayers therewith, with which prayers they say the words that the sacrament is made of; for they know not the additions that many popes have made; but they sing with good devotion. And near there is the place where our Lord rested him when he was weary for bearing of the cross. Before the church of the sepulchre the city is weaker than in any other part, for the great plain that is between the church and the city. And towards the east side, without the walls of the city, is the vale of Jehoshaphat, which adjoins to the walls as though it were a large ditch. And over against that vale of Jehoshaphat, out of the city, is the church of St.

Stephen, where he was stoned to death. And there beside is the golden gate, which may not be opened, by which gate our Lord entered on Palm Sunday, upon an a.s.s; and the gate opened to him when he would go unto the temple; and the marks of the a.s.s's feet are still seen in three places on the steps, which are of very hard stone. Before the church of St. Sepulchre, two hundred paces to the south, is the great hospital of St. John, of which the Hospitallers had their foundation. And within the palace of the sick men of that hospital are one hundred and twenty-four pillars of stone; and in the walls of the house, besides the number aforesaid, there are fifty-four pillars that support the house. From that hospital, going towards the east, is a very fair church, which is called Our Lady the Great; and after it there is another church, very near, called Our Lady the Latin; and there stood Mary Cleophas and Mary Magdalene, and tore their hair, when our Lord was executed on the cross.

CHAPTER VIII.

OF THE TEMPLE OF OUR LORD; THE CRUELTY OF KING HEROD; MOUNT SION; OF PROBATICA PISCINA, AND NATATORIUM SILOae.

One hundred and sixty paces from the church of the Sepulchre, towards the east, is the temple of our Lord. It is a very fair house, circular and lofty, and covered with lead, and well paved with white marble; but the Saracens will not suffer any Christians or Jews to come therein, for they say that no such foul sinful men should come into so holy a place: but I went in there, and in other places where I would, because I had letters of the sultan, with his great seal, and other men have commonly but his signet. In these letters he commanded, of his special grace, to all his subjects, to let me see all the places, and to inform me fully of all the mysteries of every place, and to conduct me from city to city if necessary, and to receive me and my company courteously, and obey all my reasonable requests if they were not contrary to the royal power and dignity of the sultan or of his law. And to others, who have served him and ask him grace, he gives only his signet, which they cause to be borne before them, hanging on a spear, and the people of the country do great wors.h.i.+p and reverence to his signet or his seal, and kneel thereto as lowly as we do to the procession of the Host. But they show much greater reverence to his letters, for the admiral, and all other lords to whom they are shown, kneel down before they receive them, and then they take them, and put them on their heads, and after they kiss them, and then they read them, kneeling with great reverence; and then they offer themselves to do all the bearer asks. And in this temple of our Lord were formerly canons regular, who had an abbot to whom they were obedient. And in this temple was Charlemagne, when the angel brought him the prepuce of the circ.u.mcision of our Lord Jesus Christ, which king Charles caused to be brought to Paris, to his chapel; and after that he sent it to Poictiers, and after that to Chartres.

You must know that this is not the temple that Solomon made, which lasted only one thousand one hundred and two years. For t.i.tus, the son of Vespasian, emperor of Rome, had laid siege about Jerusalem to overcome the Jews, because they put our Lord to death without the emperor's leave. And when he had won the city, he burnt the temple and beat it down and all the city, and took the Jews, and put to death one million one hundred thousand of them; and the others he put in prison, and sold them to slavery thirty for a penny, because they said they bought Jesus for thirty pennies; and he sold them cheaper, giving thirty for one penny. After that, Julian the Apostate, when emperor, gave the Jews permission to make the temple of Jerusalem, for he hated the Christians although he had been christened; but he forsook his law, and became a renegade. And when the Jews had made the temple, an earthquake came and cast it down (as G.o.d would), and destroyed all that they had made. And after that, Hadrian, who was emperor of Rome, and of the lineage of Troy, rebuilt Jerusalem and the temple, in the same manner as Solomon made it. And he would not suffer Jews to dwell there, but only Christians. For although he was not christened, yet he loved Christians more than any other nation, except his own. This emperor caused the church of St. Sepulchre to be inclosed within the city walls; before, it was without the city. And he would have changed the name of Jerusalem, and called it aelia, but that name lasted not long. The Saracens continue to show much reverence to that temple, and say that the place is very holy. And when they go in they go barefooted, and kneel many times. And when my fellows and I saw that, when we came in we took off our shoes, and entered barefooted, and thought we would do as much wors.h.i.+p and reverence there as any of the misbelieving men, with as great compunction of heart. This temple is sixty-four cubits wide, and as many in length, and a hundred and twenty cubits high; and within it has pillars of marble all round; and in the middle of the temple are many high stages, fourteen steps high, with good pillars all about, and this place the Jews call the holy of holies. No man, except the prelate of the Saracens, who makes their sacrifice, is allowed to come in there.

And the people stand all about, in divers stages, according to their dignity or rank, so that they may all see the sacrifice. And in that temple are four entrances, with gates of cypress, well made and curiously wrought. Within the east gate is the place where our Lord said "Here is Jerusalem." And on the north side of the temple, within the gate, there is a well, but it does not run; of this Holy Writ speaks, and says, "I saw water come out of the temple." And on the other side of the temple there is a rock which men call Moriah, but after it was called Bethel, where the ark of G.o.d, with relics of Jews, was wont to be put. That ark or hutch, with the relics, t.i.tus carried with him to Rome, when he had overthrown the Jews; it contained the ten commandments, Aaron's rod, and that of Moses, with which he made the Red Sea divide as it had been a wall, on the right side and on the left, while the people of Israel pa.s.sed the sea dry-foot. And with that rod he smote the rock, and the water came out of it; and with that rod he did many other wonders. And therein was a vessel of gold, full of manna, and clothings, and ornaments, and the tabernacle of Aaron, and a square tabernacle of gold, with twelve precious stones, and a box of green jasper, with four figures, and eight names of our Lord, and seven candlesticks of gold, and twelve pots of gold, and four censers of gold, and an altar of gold, and four lions of gold, which bare cherubim of gold twelve spans long, and the circle of swans of heaven, with a tabernacle of gold, and a table of silver, and two trumpets of silver, and seven barley loaves, and all the other relics that were before the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. And Jacob was sleeping upon that rock when he saw the angels go up and down by a ladder, and he said, "Surely the Lord is in this place; and I knew it not."[331] And there an angel held Jacob still, and changed his name, and called him Israel. And in that same place David saw the angel that smote the people with a sword, and put it up b.l.o.o.d.y in the sheath. And St. Simeon was on that same rock when he received our Lord into the temple. And in this rock he placed himself when the Jews would have stoned him; and a star came down and gave him light. On that rock our Lord preached frequently to the people; and out of that same temple our Lord drove the buyers and sellers. Upon that rock also our Lord set him when the Jews would have stoned him; and the rock clave in two, and in that cleft was our Lord hid; and there came down a star and gave him light; and upon that rock our Lady sat and learned her Psalter; and there our Lord forgave the woman her sins that was found in adultery; and there our Lord was circ.u.mcised; and there the angel gave tidings to Zacharias of the birth of St. John the Baptist his son; and there first Melchisedek offered bread and wine to our Lord, in token of the sacrament that was to come; and there David fell down praying to our Lord, and to the angel that smote the people, that he would have mercy on him and on the people; and our Lord heard his prayer, and therefore would he make the temple in that place; but our Lord forbade him, by an angel, because he had done treason, when he caused Uriah, the worthy knight, to be slain, to have Bathsheba, his wife; and therefore all the materials he had collected for the building of the temple he gave to Solomon, his son, and he built it. Without the gate of that temple is an altar, where the Jews were wont to offer doves and turtles. And between the temple and that altar was Zacharias slain. Upon the pinnacle of that temple was our Lord brought to be tempted by the fiend. And on the top of that pinnacle the Jews placed St. James, who was first bishop of Jerusalem, and cast him down to the earth. At the entry of the temple, towards the west, is the gate that is called the Beautiful Gate[332].

And near the temple, on the right, is a church covered with lead, called Solomon's school. And near the temple, on the south, is the temple of Solomon, which is very fair and well polished. And in that temple dwelt the knights of the temple, that were called Templars; and that was the foundation of their order; so that knights dwelt there, and canons regular, in the temple of our Lord. One hundred and twenty paces from that temple to the east, in the corner of the city, is the bath of our Lord; and in that bath water was wont to come from Paradise, and still it droppeth. And there beside is our Lady's bed. And fast by is the temple of St. Simeon; and without the cloister of the temple, toward the north, is a very fair church of St. Anne, our Lady's mother; and there our Lady was conceived. And before that church is a great tree, which began to grow the same night. And under that church, in going down by twenty-two steps, lies Joachim, our Lady's father, in a fair tomb of stone; and there beside lay sometime St. Anne his wife; but St. Helena caused her to be translated to Constantinople. And in that church is a well, in manner of a cistern, which is called _Probatica Piscina_, which hath five entrances. Angels used to come from heaven into that well and bathe them in it, and the man who first bathed after the moving of the water was made whole of whatever sickness he had; and there our Lord healed a man of the palsy, with which he had lain thirty-eight years; and our Lord said to him, "Take up thy bed and go."[333] And near it was Pilate's house. And fast by is king Herod's house, who caused the Innocents to be slain. This Herod was excessively wicked and cruel; for first he caused his wife to be killed, whom he loved well; and for the great love he had to her, when he saw her dead, he fell in a rage, and was out of his mind a great while; and after he recovered, he caused his two sons, whom he had by that wife, to be slain; and after that he killed another of his wives, and a son that he had by her; and after that he put to death his own mother, and he would have slain his brother also, but he died suddenly. And after he fell into sickness, and when he felt that he should die, he sent for his sister, and for all the lords of his land, and sent them to prison; and then he said to his sister, he knew well that people would make no sorrow for his death, and therefore he made his sister swear, that she should cause all the heads of the lords to be struck off when he was dead, that all the land might make sorrow for his death. But his sister fulfilled not his will; for as soon as he was dead she delivered all the lords out of prison, and told them all the purpose of her brother's ordinance; and so this cursed king was never made sorrow for. And you must know that at that time there were three Herods, of great fame for their cruelty. This Herod of which I have spoken was Herod the Ascalonite; and he that caused St. John the Baptist to be beheaded was Herod Antipas; and he that caused St. James to be beheaded was Herod Agrippa; and he put St. Peter in prison.

Furthermore, in the city is the church of St. Saviour, where is preserved the left arm of John Chrysostom, and the greater part of the head of St. Stephen. On the other side of the street, to the south, as men go to Mount Sion, is a church of St. James, where he was beheaded.

And one hundred and twenty paces from that church is Mount Sion, where there is a fair church of our Lady, where she dwelt and died. And there was formerly an abbot of canons regular. From thence she was carried by the apostles to the valley of Jehoshaphat, and there is the stone which the angel brought to our Lady from Mount Sinai, which is of the same colour as the rock of St. Catherine. And near there is the gate through which our Lady pa.s.sed, when she was with child, on her way to Bethlehem. Also, at the entrance of Mount Sion is a chapel in which is the great stone with which the sepulchre was covered, when Joseph of Arimathea had put our Lord therein; which stone the three Marys saw turned upward when they came to his sepulchre the day of his resurrection; and there they found an angel, who told them of our Lord's resurrection from death to life. There also, in a wall beside the gate, is a stone of the pillar at which our Lord was scourged; and there was the house of Annas, who was bishop of the Jews at that time; and there our Lord was examined in the night, and scourged, and smitten, and violently treated. In that same place St. Peter forsook our Lord thrice before the c.o.c.k crew. There is a part of the table on which he made his Supper, when he made his Maundy with his disciples, and gave them his flesh and his blood, in form of bread and wine. And under that chapel, by a descent of thirty-two steps, is the place where our Lord washed his disciples' feet, and the vessel which contained the water is still preserved; and there, beside that same vessel, was St. Stephen buried.

And there is the altar where our Lord heard the angels sing ma.s.s. And there our Lord appeared first to his disciples after his resurrection, the doors being shut, and said to them, "Peace to you!" And on that mount Christ appeared to St. Thomas the Apostle, and bade him feel his wounds; and there he first believed, and said, "My Lord and my G.o.d." In the same church, beside the altar, were all the apostles on Whitsunday, when the Holy Ghost descended on them in likeness of fire.

Mount Sion is within the city, and is a little higher than the other side of the city; and the city is strongest on that side. For at the foot of Mount Sion is a fair and strong castle made by the sultan. In Mount Sion were buried king David and king Solomon, and many other Jewish kings of Jerusalem. And there is the place where the Jews would have cast up the body of our Lady, when the apostles carried the body to be buried in the valley of Jehoshaphat. And there is the place where St.

Peter wept bitterly after he had forsaken our Lord. And a stone's cast from that chapel is another chapel, where our Lord was judged; for at that time the house of Caiaphas stood there. One hundred and forty paces from that chapel, to the east, is a deep cave under the rock, which is called the Galilee of our Lord, where St. Peter hid himself when he had forsaken our Lord. Between Mount Sion and the Temple of Solomon is the place where our Lord raised the maiden in her father's house. Under Mount Sion, towards the valley of Jehoshaphat, is a well called Natatorium Siloae (the pool of Siloah), where our Lord was washed after his baptism; and there our Lord made the blind man to see. There was buried Isaiah the prophet. Also straight from Natatorium Siloae is an image of stone, and of ancient work, which Absalom caused to be made, on account of which they call it the hand of Absalom. And fast by is still the elder tree on which Judas hanged himself for despair, when he sold and betrayed our Lord. Near it was the synagogue, where the bishops of the Jews and the Pharisees came together and held their council, and where Judas cast the thirty pence before them, and said that he had sinned in betraying our Lord. And near it was the house of the apostles Philip and James the son of Alpheus. On the other side of Mount Sion, toward the south, a stone's cast beyond the vale, is Aceldama, that is, the field of blood, which was bought for the thirty pence for which our Lord was sold; in which field are many tombs of Christians; for there are many pilgrims' graves. And there are many oratories, chapels, and hermitages, where hermits used to dwell. A hundred paces toward the east is the charnel-house of the hospital of St. John, where they used to put the bones of dead men.

To the west of Jerusalem is a fair church, where the tree of the cross grew. And two miles from thence is a handsome church, where our Lady met with Elizabeth, when they were both with child; and St. John stirred in his mother's womb, and made reverence to his Creator, whom he saw not.

Under the altar of that church is the place where St. John was born. A mile from that church is the castle of Emmaus, where our Lord showed himself to two of his disciples after his resurrection. Also on the other side, two hundred paces from Jerusalem, is a church, where was formerly the cave of the lion; and under that church, at thirty steps deep, were interred twelve thousand martyrs, in the time of king Cosrhoes, that the lion met in a night, by the will of G.o.d. Two miles from Jerusalem is Mount Joy, a very fair and delicious place. There Samuel the prophet lies, in a fair tomb; and it is called Mount Joy, because it gives joy to pilgrims' hearts, for from that place men first see Jerusalem. Between Jerusalem and Mount Olivet is the valley of Jehoshaphat, under the walls of the city, as I have said before: and in the middle of the valley is a little river, which is called the brook Cedron; and across it lies a tree (of which the cross was made), on which men pa.s.sed over; and fast by it is a little pit in the earth, where the foot of the pillar still remains at which our Lord was first scourged; for he was scourged and shamefully treated in many places.

Also in the middle of the valley of Jehoshaphat is the church of our Lady, which is forty-three steps below the sepulchre of our Lady, who was seventy-two years of age when she died. Beside the sepulchre of our Lady is an altar, where our Lord forgave St. Peter all his sins. From thence, toward the west, under an altar, is a well which comes out of the river of Paradise. You must know that that church is very low in the earth, and a part is quite within the earth. But I imagine that it was not founded so; but since Jerusalem has often been destroyed, and the walls beaten down and tumbled into the valley, and that they have been so filled again, and the ground raised, for that reason the church is so low within the earth. Nevertheless, men say there commonly, that the earth hath so been cloven since the time that our Lady was buried there; and men also say there, that it grows and increases every day, without doubt. In that church were formerly black monks, who had their abbot.

Beside that church is a chapel, beside the rock called Gethsemane, where our Lord was kissed by Judas, and where he was taken by the Jews; and there our Lord left his disciples when he went to pray before his pa.s.sion, when he prayed and said, "O, my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pa.s.s from me."[334] And when he came again to his disciples, he found them sleeping. And in the rock within the chapel we still see the mark of the fingers of our Lord's hand, when he put them on the rock when the Jews would have taken him. And a stone's cast from thence, to the south, is another chapel, where our Lord sweat drops of blood. And close to it is the tomb of king Jehoshaphat, from whom the valley takes its name. This Jehoshaphat was king of that country, and was converted by a hermit, who was a worthy man, and did much good. A bow-shot from thence, to the south, is the church where St. James and Zachariah the prophet were buried. Above the vale is Mount Olivet, so called for the abundance of olives that grow there. That mount is higher than the city of Jerusalem; and therefore from that mount we may see many of the streets of the city. Between that mount and the city is only the valley of Jehoshaphat, which is not wide. From that mount our Lord Jesus Christ ascended to heaven on Ascension Day, and yet there appears the imprint of his left foot in the stone. And there is a church where was formerly an abbot and canons regular. About twenty-eight paces thence is a chapel, in which is the stone on the which our Lord sat when he preached the eight blessings. And there he taught his disciples the pater noster, and wrote with his finger on a stone. And near it is a church of St.

Mary, the Egyptian, where she lies in a tomb. Three bow-shots thence, to the east, is Bethphage, whither our Lord sent St. Peter and St. James on Palm Sunday to seek the a.s.s on which he rode into Jerusalem. In descending from Mount Olivet, to the east, is a castle called Bethany, where dwelt Simon the leper; and there he entertained our Lord; and afterwards he was baptized by the apostles, and was called Julian, and was made bishop; and this is the same Julian to whom men pray for good entertainment, because our Lord was entertained by him in his house. In that house our Lord forgave Mary Magdalene her sins, and there she washed his feet with her tears, and wiped them with her hair. And there St. Martha waited upon our Lord. There our Lord raised Lazarus, who was dead four days and stank. There also dwelt Mary Cleophas. That castle is a mile from Jerusalem. Also in coming down from Mount Olivet is the place where our Lord wept upon Jerusalem. And there beside is the place where our Lady appeared to St. Thomas the apostle after her a.s.sumption, and gave him her girdle. And very near it is the stone on which our Lord often sat when he preached; and upon that same shall he sit at the day of doom, right as he said himself.

After Mount Olivet is the Mount of Galilee, where the apostles a.s.sembled when Mary Magdalene came and told them of Christ's ascension. And there, between Mount Olivet and the Mount of Galilee, is a church, where the angel foretold our lady of her death. We next go from Bethany to Jericho, which was once a little city, but it is now destroyed, and is but a little village. Joshua took that city by miracle of G.o.d, and destroyed it and cursed it, and all them that should build it again. Of that city was Zaccheus, the dwarf, who climbed up into the sycamore tree to see our Lord, because he was so little he might not see him for the people. And of that city was Rahab, the harlot, who alone escaped with her kinspeople; and she often refreshed and fed the messengers of Israel, and kept them from many great perils of death; and therefore she had good reward; as holy writ saith, "He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet, shall receive a prophet's reward;"[335] and so had she; for she prophesied to the messengers, saying, "I know that the Lord hath given you the land;"[336] and so he did. From Bethany you go to the river Jordan, by a mountain, and through a desert; and it is nearly a day's journey from Bethany, toward the east, to a great hill, where our Lord fasted forty days. The devil carried our Lord upon that hill, and tempted him, and said, "Command that these stones be made bread."[337]

In that place, upon the hill, there was formerly a fair church, but it is entirely destroyed, so that there is now but a hermitage, occupied by a kind of Christians called Georgians, because St. George converted them[338]. Upon that hill dwelt Abraham a long while; and therefore they call it Abraham's garden. Between the hill and this garden runs a little brook of water, which was formerly bitter, but, when blessed by the prophet Elisha, it became sweet and good to drink. At the foot of this hill toward the plain is a great well, which flows into the river Jordan. From that hill to Jericho is but a mile, in going toward the river Jordan, which is two miles beyond it; and half a mile nearer is a fair church of St. John the Baptist, where he baptized our Lord; and there beside is the house of Jeremiah the prophet.

CHAPTER IX.

OF THE DEAD SEA, AND OF THE RIVER JORDAN.-OF THE HEAD OF ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST, AND OF THE USAGES OF THE SAMARITANS.