********
Those in India:
Except that they are very pale in colour, the people there are very handsome. The men have thin beards with few hairs in them- hardly will fifty hairs be found on one beard. The hairs are few, scattered here and there like the beard of a leopard or a cat and very long. In that land there are the loveliest women of any land beyond the seas; some call that land Albany because the women are so white.
That is from the Chronicle of Sir John Mandeville written in the 14th century. He has made a mistake...this isn't India his is describing... it is??? And he is very right! True today as it was 700 years ago. Ok, I'll give a hint.. the cities he mentions are:
Latoryn and Cassay Of course the medieval names.
The chronicle itself is pretty interesting. It claims to be something of a travelogue of an English knight's trip first to the Holy Land and then to the court of the Great Khan..by way of the Indian Ocean. It is a pretty accurate example off the Western medieval view of the world. It is very inaccurate by modern standards of anthropology, history, and geography. Mandeville continues the historical tradition of Herodotus... mentioning the famous ants in India that mine gold and kill anyone who tries to take.. and the dog-headed men, and men with one giant foot, and men with their heads in their chest. (Some of these he gives real names like the Sumatrans!)
Some of it is very accurate though. The situation as he describes it in Constantinople (where he accurately relates Greek religious practice), the Holy Land, and the court of the Sultan of Egypt are all well researched and realistic.
It is speculated that he never left Europe and just amalgamated older European legends. This book is key to understanding Umberto Eco's novel "Baudelino"...
It was far and away the most influential "geography" in medieval Europe. It was the only geography in Leonard's library!
And it certainly makes for good storytelling... And brings with it a little longing that the world still contained that much mystery waiting to be discovered.
??.??.? An Amanda?? si. 0rz
Those in India:
Except that they are very pale in colour, the people there are very handsome. The men have thin beards with few hairs in them- hardly will fifty hairs be found on one beard. The hairs are few, scattered here and there like the beard of a leopard or a cat and very long. In that land there are the loveliest women of any land beyond the seas; some call that land Albany because the women are so white.
That is from the Chronicle of Sir John Mandeville written in the 14th century. He has made a mistake...this isn't India his is describing... it is??? And he is very right! True today as it was 700 years ago. Ok, I'll give a hint.. the cities he mentions are:
Latoryn and Cassay Of course the medieval names.
The chronicle itself is pretty interesting. It claims to be something of a travelogue of an English knight's trip first to the Holy Land and then to the court of the Great Khan..by way of the Indian Ocean. It is a pretty accurate example off the Western medieval view of the world. It is very inaccurate by modern standards of anthropology, history, and geography. Mandeville continues the historical tradition of Herodotus... mentioning the famous ants in India that mine gold and kill anyone who tries to take.. and the dog-headed men, and men with one giant foot, and men with their heads in their chest. (Some of these he gives real names like the Sumatrans!)
Some of it is very accurate though. The situation as he describes it in Constantinople (where he accurately relates Greek religious practice), the Holy Land, and the court of the Sultan of Egypt are all well researched and realistic.
It is speculated that he never left Europe and just amalgamated older European legends. This book is key to understanding Umberto Eco's novel "Baudelino"...
It was far and away the most influential "geography" in medieval Europe. It was the only geography in Leonard's library!
And it certainly makes for good storytelling... And brings with it a little longing that the world still contained that much mystery waiting to be discovered.
??.??.? An Amanda?? si. 0rz
posted by akrites @ 8:01 AM
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