Unknown, Ways and Pilgrimages of the Holy Land B 1.1-1.3
https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/180
Context
Two versions of Ways and Pilgrimages of the Holy Land
(A and B) survive from the middle of the 13th century, both of which show a close
similarity in content to the Holy Pilgrimages. They both trace two circuits for
pilgrims, one from Acre across the Plain of Sharon and Ramla to Jerusalem and the other
back to Acco from Jerusalem by way of Samaria, but they vary in the density,
organization, and content of the geographical and biblical information. Version B, which
survives at Cambridge in a manuscript in Norman French copied in England during the 15th
century, provides copious detail concerning the sites between Acco and Ioppa. The
passage on Caesarea describes sites in the city’s hinterland as well as in its immediate
vicinity or interior.
Text
(1) Ki dritement
veut aler en Ierusalem, primérement deit aler de Acre à Caïphas, en quel chemin à mayn
senestre est la Montaigne de seynte Margarete de Carme, ki est à .iiij. liues de Acre.
En l’un chef de la montagne est Franche vile, où seynt Denys fu né, en une eglise
peitite, en une petite roche contre val. En celé roche apert le lui oum un bersel cave
en la roche, et par derére cele eglise à mayn destre est: la Fontaigne ke Denys trova e
fist de ces mayns. E sachéz ke ceo est un de plus seynz lius à cors de home de tote la
montaigne; e pus l’em vet à un caselet host près de là, à une petite descendue. (2) A
l’autre chef haut de cele montaigne est une abbaye de Grissons, moignes ners, où seynte
Margarete fist must de miracles, e sunt là de bons sentuaries. A la descendue de celé
abbaye contre val est une chapele en la roche de seynt Helyes le prophète, où il fist
must de miracles, e en la chapele est une bone fontaigne de ewe freide ke il trova e
fist. En contreval à mayn senestre est un casal k’est apelé Capharnaüm. A près un poi en
sus est Anne, un casal où furent forgez les clous dont Ihesu Crist fust clavéz en la
croiz, e apert uncore le lui. En aval ante sur la mer est Caïphas ke soleit iadis mut
valer avant ke la cité d’Acre fust fête, kar auncienement soleit aver ausi grant renom
cum Acre; kar iadis Acre soleit estre un casal e Caïphas fu la vile. E sachéz ke Acre
n’est pas de Terre de promission ausi cum est Caïphas, kar un flum devise la Terre Seynr
entre Acre e Caïphas, k’est apelé le Flum de Caïphas, ke ist de une fontaigne ke curt
par de suth le Carmont e vent par de suth la montaigne de Seynt Margarete, k’a nun la
Paumére e curt en la mer e part ensi la Terre de Promission, e ataunt i a d’Acre à
Caïphas com de Acre à la montaigne. En après l’em veit de Caïphas à Chastel Pelrin où il
i a .iij. liues, e est del Temple. En contre cel chastel est un seynt luy ke l’om apele
Seynt Iohan de Tyr, e si ad un abeye de moygnes gris, où il i a bons seintuaires, e
seynt Iohan Baptiste fist mut de miracles. En sus de cel liu haut sus la montaigne à
main senestre est un beau liu e seint, où i a en hermitage de hermites Latins, ki
s’apelent frères de Carme, e si a une eglise de Nostre Dame; e si a mut de bones
fontaignes curantes e mut de bones herbes flairans. Del Chastel Pelrin l’om vet à
Sesarie; la cité sis sur la mer, où l’om trove à main destre les salines de l’Hospital
de Seynt Iohan. E puis sur la mer trove l’om Pan perdu, une tur de Seynt Lazare. D’autre
part à mayne senestre dedeenz terre, est une eglise de Nostre Dame de Mareys, e iluec
venent mut de gens Sesarie del Chastel Pelrin e
del païs. En cel mareys sunt mux de caucatris, unes féres bestes, les queles i mist un
riche hom ky estoyt en Sesairie, e los fist norir, car il les
quida fere devorer suen frére, pur un conteste ke aveit esté entre eus, e pur ceo les
fist il les aporter de Egipte. E un iur amena on liu son frére pur baigner, pur
covertement ocire. E sun frére su plus sachaunt de lui: si le fist primes descendre, e
les bestes k’yl aveyt nori tantost le tirérent en parfund, si ke onkes puis ne fu
trovéz; e fu aperceü la traïson par ceo ke esteynt consentaunt, e ensi fu perdu ly
traïtres, e seon frére savé. De tel liu delés Sesarie, si à une
liue de hors les murs un petit, est la sepulture de seynt Cornel, ke seynt Pére baptiza,
cum il est escrit en fez des Apostles, e fu arcevekes de cel cité. Après un poi en avant
si est une péce de marbre de la colur de propre, ke l’om apele la Table Nostre Seignur,
la quele Sarasins trenchérent per mi. En coste cele table sunt deus autre grant péces de
marbre, grosses e tute rundes par de suth, e lunges e greles par de lus, e sunt apelés
les Chandelabres Nostre Seignur, e une fontaigne ke est murée tut entur, en ben haut.
D’autre part fors de la cité à main destre en sus un poi de la mer si est une Chapele de
Seynte Marie Magdalene, ky est seinte e vertuuse, e dyent ke là fist fa penaunce. (3) En
après de Sesaire l’om vet à Asur, un chastel le quel si est sur
un tertre de roche un poi en sus de la mer, sur le sablum à nef liues de Sesaire. En sus
ausi vers la montaigne est un liu mult perillus, ke l’om apele Roche talie, kar la
repeirent larrons e grant mal funt à pilrins e as autres.
1
en pelrinage de
Textual Note
Ed. Michelant and Raynaud 1882Discussion Note
Cambridge University Library, Gg VI, 28, folios 52a-57a (England, 15th century)Corrigenda Note
Minor corr. J. L. RifeTranslation
(1) Whoever wants
to go to Jerusalem properly must first go from Acre to Caïphas. On the road on the left
is the mountain of St. Margaret of Carmel, which is 4 leagues from Acre. On one summit
of the mountain is Freetown [Franche vile], where St. Denys was born
in a small church, in a small cave toward the bottom. In that cave the place is visible
as a crib cut in the rock, and behind that church, to the right, is the fountain that
Denys found and made with his own hands; and know that this is one of the healthiest
places for the human body in all the mountain. Then one goes to a little village there,
a little further down. (2) On the other high summit of that mountain is an abbey of the
Greeks, black monks, where St. Margaret performed many miracles and there are some good
sanctuaries there. On the way down from that abbey, towards the bottom, is a chapel in
the cave of St. Elias the Prophet, where her performed many miracles; and in the chapel
is a good spring of cold water, which he found and made. At the bottom to the left is a
village called Capharnaüm. Nearby and a little further up is Anne, a village where the
nails with which Jesus Christ was nailed to the Cross were forged; and the place may
still be seen. Further down on the sea is Caïphas, which formerly was very strong,
before the city of Acre was built; for in ancient times it used to have as much renown
as Acre; for formerly Acre was a village and Caïphas was the city. And know that Acre is
not in the Promised Land and Caïphas is, because a river defines the Holy Land between
Acre and Caïphas. It is called the Caïphas River, and it arises from a spring that flows
below the Carmont and comes beneath the mountain of St. Margaret, where it is named the
Palm Grove [la Paumére], and runs into the sea and thus divides the
Promised Land. And it is as far from Acre to Caïphas as from Acre to the mountain. And
afterwards one goes from Caïphas to Pilgrims’ Castle [Chastel Pelrin], which is 3
leagues away and belongs to the Temple. Facing the castle is a holy place that is called
St. John of Tira, and there is an abbey of Greek monks, where there are good sanctuaries
and St. John the Baptist performed many miracles. Above that place, high up on the
mountain to the left, is a beautiful and holy place where there is a hermitage of Latin
hermits who are called the Friars of Carmel, and there is a Church of Our Lady; and
there are many good running springs and many good flowering herbs. From Pilgrims’ Castle
one goes to Caesarea. The city is situated on the sea, where one
finds on the right side the salt marsh of the Hospital of St. John. And then on the sea
one finds the Lost Bread [Pan perdu], a tower of St. Lazarus. On the
other side inland to the left is a Church of Our Lady of the Marsh, and many people come
there on pilgrimage from Caesarea and from Pilgrims’ Castle and
from the countryside. In that marsh are many crocodiles, ferocious beasts, which a rich
man who was in Caesarea put there. And he had them fed, because
he wanted them to eat his brother over a dispute between them, and for that reason he
had brought them from Egypt. One day he brought his brother to bathe in order to kill
him in secret. But his brother was more clever than he: he made him go down first, and
the beasts that he had raised immediately dragged him to the deep, so that he was never
found again. And the plot was seen through by those who were complicit, and thus the
traitor was lost and his brother saved. From that place beside Caesarea, at a place a
little way outside the walls, is the tomb of St. Cornelius whom St. Peter baptized, as
it is written in the Acts of the Apostles, and he was archbishop of that
city. A little further on there is a piece of marble, purple in color, called the Table
of our Lord, which the Saracens cut in half. Beside that table are two other great
pieces of marble, thick and quite round at the bottom and long and thin at the top, and
they are called the Candlesticks of Our Lord; and a spring that is walled all around and
very high. On the other side, outside the city to the right, a little above the sea, is
a chapel of St. Mary Magdalene, which is holy and righteous, and they say that there she
did her penance. (3) After Caesarea one goes to Asur, a castle
that stands on a rocky knoll a little above the sea, on the beach 9 leagues from
Caesarea. Up from there toward the mountain there is also a very dangerous place called
Cut Rock [Roche talie], for there thieves convene and cause much harm
to pilgrims and others.
2
Translation Note
Rev. Pringle 2018Works Cited
- 1 Unknown, Les chemins et les pelerinages de la Terre Saint (av. 1265), Texte A, in Itinéraires à Jérusalem et descriptions de la Terre Sainte rédigés en français au XIe, XIIe et XIIIe siècles, ed. Henri-Victor Michelant and Gaston Raynaud, repr. Osnabrück: Zeller, 1966, Publications de la Societe de l’Orient latin. Serie geographique 3 (Paris: Jules-Guillaume Fick, 1882), 177–78, p: 189-191, ch: 1.1-1.3.
- 2 Unknown, The Ways and Pilgrimages of the Holy Land (1244-1265) [Texts A and B], in Pilgrimage to Jerusalem and the Holy Land, 1187-1291, trans. Denys Pringle, Crusade Texts in Translation 23 (London: Routledge, 2018), 209–28, p: 209-213.
Additional Bibliography
- Sabino de Sandoli, Itinera Hierosolymitana Crucesignatorum (Saec. XII-XIII) IV: Tempore Regni Latini Extremo: 1245-1291. Textus Latini Cum Versione Italica, vol. 4, 4 vols., Studium Biblicum Franciscanum, Collectio Major 24 (Jerusalem: Franciscan Printing Press, 1984), p: 69-79.
How to Cite This Entry
Joseph L. Rife, “Unknown, Ways and Pilgrimages of the Holy Land B 1.1-1.3,” in Caesarea Maritima: A Collection of Testimonia, entry published June 30, 2023, https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/180.
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Bibliography:
Joseph L. Rife, “Unknown, Ways and Pilgrimages of the Holy Land B 1.1-1.3.” In Caesarea Maritima: A Collection of Testimonia, edited by Joseph L. Rife., edited by Joseph L. Rife. Caesarea City and Port Exploration Project, 2023. Entry published June 30, 2023. https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/180.About this Entry
Entry Title: Unknown, Ways and Pilgrimages of the Holy Land B 1.1-1.3
Authorial and Editorial Responsibility:
- Joseph L. Rife, general editor, Vanderbilt University
- Joseph L. Rife, editor, Caesarea Maritima: A Collection of Testimonia
- David A. Michelson, Daniel L. Schwartz, and William L. Potter, technical editor, “Unknown, Ways and Pilgrimages of the Holy Land B 1.1-1.3”
- Joseph L. Rife, entry contributor, “Unknown, Ways and Pilgrimages of the Holy Land B 1.1-1.3”
Additional Credit:
- TEI encoding by William L. Potter
- Electronic text added by Joseph L. Rife
- Testimonia identified by Joseph L. Rife