Unknown, Pilgrimages to Jerusalem 1-4
https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/311
Context
A late-13th-century guide for pilgrims to Jerusalem and Galilee of
unknown authorship survives under the title Les pelerinaiges por aler en
Iherusalem. It appears at the end of a French translation and continuation of the
chronicle by William of Tyre in a manuscript written at Rome in May of 1295, and an expanded
version appears in a 14th-century French compilation. The work parallels the content of
Ways and Pilgrimages of the Holy Land A but exhibits enough variation to
indicate that, while both works most likely belong to the same general era, they descend
from a common source. In the passage on the sites between Acre and Ioppa, the author
describes locales in the hinterland of Caesarea as well as in its immediate vicinity or
interior.
Text
(1) Premierement l’en va d’Acres à Cayfas où il a .iiij. lieues. Après
d’iqui est la montaigne du Carme où monseignor saint Denis est, qui fu nés à une ville
qui est apelée Francheville, auquel lieu est une chapele desouz l’autel en une petite
caverne où il fu nés, & encore i pert le lieu. Emprès la chapele a une petite valée;
au giét d’une pierre a une fontaine de monseignor saint Denis, laquele i trova &
fist de ses propres mains, & i a mout biau lieu & est le plus sain lieu de toute
la montaigne por cors d’ome.En cele meïsme montaigne est l’abaïe de Sainte Marguerite
laquele est de moines griex où il a ausi biau lieu. En cele abaïe a de bones reliques,
& au pendant est le lieu où saint Helyes habita, u quel lieu il a une chapele en la
roche. Emprès de cele abaïe de Sainte Marguerite en la costiére de cele meïsme montagne
a .j. mout biau lieu & delitieus, où habitent li hermitain latin que l’en apele
fréres du Carme, où il a une petite yglise de Nostre Dame & par tout ce lieu a on
grant plenté de bones eves qui issent de meïsme la rochede la montaigne, & a une
lieue & demie de l’abaïe des griex iusques as hermitains latins.(2) Entre Sainte
Marguerite & les frères du Carme a Anne, un lieu en sus de la mer qui a non Anne;
ilueques furent fait li clou dont Nostre Sire fu crucefiés, & encore i apert le lieu
où il furent forgiés, & près de cele montaigne du Carme devers les hermitains latins
& par devers Chastiau Pelerin a un lieu que l’en apele Saint Iohan de Tire. Iluec a
un mostier de griex, où il a de mout beles reliques, & fist iluec saint Iohan de
mout beles miracles. Emprès d’iqui vers Chastiau Pelerin a une ville que l’en apele
Capharnaon; iluec furent batus les deniers dont Diex fu vendu.De Cayfas à Chastiau
Pelerin a .iij. lieues & siét sus la mer, & est de la maison du Temple, &
gist iluec sainte Eufemie, virge & martire.(3) De Chastiau Pelerin à la cité de Cesaire a .v. lieues, laquele cité est sus la mer & est
d’un baron du roiaume. Dehors les murs de la cité a une chapele où saint Cornille, qui
saint Pierre baptiza, gist, liqués fu après monseignor saint Père arcevesque de celé
cité. Après cele chapele a une mout bele pierre de marbre, grant & longue, laquele
on apele la table Ihesucrist, où il a .ij. petites pierres qui sont roondes, grosses
desous & aguës desus, que l’en dit les chandeliers Nostre Seignor. En celé chapele
gisent les .ij. filles de monseignor saint Phelippe, qui converti & baptiza enuchum,
& quant il l’ot baptizié, Dex le ravi & l’emporta à Assur; & de Assur vint
prêchant le non Nostre Seignor iusques à la cité de Cesaire.Près d’iqui à main senèstre près d’une ville qui a non Peine Perdue est une chapele de
Nostre Dame, qui est sus .j. mares, où l’en va mout souvent de Cesaire en pèlerinage, car il i a mout bel lieu & mout
dévot; ou quel marès a mult de cocatriz, lesquex i mist .j. sires de Cesaire, qui les fist aporter d’Egypte.(4) De Cesaire à Assur a .ix. lieues; lequel chastel est un petit
près de la mer sus .j. tertre de sablon, liqués chastiaus fu de l’Ospital; auquel chemin
par desus est une roche taillie, & i a un mauvès pas, & là se herbergent
mauvaises gens aucune foiz, por desrober & por taillier le chemin à ceus qui vont a
Iaffe.1
Textual Note
Ed. Michelant and Raynaud 1882Textual Note
Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale, fr. 9082 (anc. supp. fr. 104, Noailles), folios 343a-435a (Rome, dated May 1295)Translation
(1) First of all one goes from Acre to Cayfas, a journey of 4
leagues. After that is Mount Carmel where my lord St. Denys is, where he was born in a
town called Freetown (Francheville). There is a chapel there, and beneath its altar is a
small cave where he was born, and the place can still be seen. Near the chapel is a
small valley; a stone’s throw away is the fountain of my lord St. Denys, which he found
and made with his own hands. This is a very beautiful place, and it is the healthiest
place on the whole mountain in the heart of man.On this same mountain is the abbey of
my lady St. Margaret, which belongs to Greek monks, where there is also a beautiful
place. In this abbey are good relics. And on the slope is the place where St. Elias
lived, where there is a chapel in the rock. Near this abbey of St. Margaret, on the side
of this same mountain, there is a very beautiful and delightful place where live the
Latin hermits, who are called the Friars of Carmel; in that place is a small church of
Our Lady. And throughout that whole place there is a great supply of good water, which
issues from the same rock of the mountain. From the abbey of the Greeks to the Latin
hermits is one league and a half.(2) Between St. Margaret and the Friars of Carmel is
Anne, a place above the sea called Anne. There, so it is said, were made the nails with
which Our Lord was nailed; and the place where they were forged can still be seen. And
near that mountain, Carmel, in the direction of the Latin hermits on the flank facing
Pilgrims’ Castle (Chastiau Pelerin) there is a place called St. John of Tira. At that
place is a monastery of the Greeks, where there are many beautiful relics, and St. John
performed many beautiful miracles there. Nearby towards Pilgrims’ Castle there is a town
called Capharnaon; there were struck the pieces of silver for which God was sold.From
Cayphas to Pilgrims’ Castle is 3 leagues. It stands on the sea and belongs to the House
of the Temple; and there lies St. Euphemia, virgin and martyr.(3) From Pilgrims’
Castle to the city of Caesarea is 5 leagues. That city is on the
sea and belongs to a baron of the kingdom. Outside the walls of that city is a chapel
where St. Cornelius lies, whom St. Peter baptized and who after my lord St. Peter was
the archbishop of that city. After that chapel is a very beautiful stone of marble, big
and long, which is called the Table of Our Lord. There (also) are two small stones that
are round, thick at the bottom and long, pointed at the top, which are called the
Candlesticks of Our Lord. In this chapel lie the two daughters of our lord St. Philip,
who converted and baptized the eunuch. And when he had baptized him, God took him up and
carried him to Assur, and from Assur he came preaching the name of Our Lord as far as
the city of Caesarea.Afterwards, on the left, near a town
called Lost Pain (Peine perdu), there is a chapel of Our Lady above the marsh. People
very often go there on pilgrimage from Caesarea, because it is a
very beautiful and holy place. In that marsh there are many crocodiles, which were put
there by a lord of Caesarea, who had them brought from Egypt.(4) From Caesarea to Assur is 2 leagues. That castle is close to
the sea on a sandy knoll; it belonged to the Hospital. Along the road and up from it is
a cut rock, a bad place where bad people encamp from time to time to rob and to cut off
the road to those going to Iaphe.2
Translation Note
Adapted from Pringle 2018Works Cited
- 1 Unknown, Les pelerinaiges por aler en Iherusalem, in Itinéraires à Jérusalem et descriptions de la Terre Sainte rédigés en français au XIe, XIIe et XIIIe siècles, ed. Gaston Raynaud and Henri-Victor Michelant, Publications de la Societe de l’Orient latin. Serie geographique 3 (Paris: Jules-Guillaume Fick, 1882), 87–103, ch: 1-4, p: xix-xxi, 89-92.
- 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: 42-43, 208-213.
How to Cite This Entry
Joseph L. Rife, “Unknown, Pilgrimages to Jerusalem 1-4,” in Caesarea Maritima: A Collection of Testimonia, entry published October 19, 2022, https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/311.
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Bibliography:
Joseph L. Rife, “Unknown, Pilgrimages to Jerusalem 1-4.” In Caesarea Maritima: A Collection of Testimonia, edited by Joseph L. Rife., edited by Joseph L. Rife. Caesarea City and Port Exploration Project, 2022. Entry published October 19, 2022. https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/311.About this Entry
Entry Title: Unknown, Pilgrimages to Jerusalem 1-4
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, Pilgrimages to Jerusalem 1-4”
- Joseph L. Rife, entry contributor, “Unknown, Pilgrimages to Jerusalem 1-4”
Additional Credit:
- TEI encoding by William L. Potter
- Electronic text added by Joseph L. Rife
- Testimonia identified by Joseph L. Rife