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Summary: The Enormously Popular 14th Century Travel Narrative of Sir John Mandeville
Comment: Sir John Mandeville was an English knight who wrote about his "travels" to the Holy Land, the Great Khan's Court, and other exotic places between 1322-1356. Other than his name, not much is known about John Mandeville to the extent that historians are unsure he traveled at all (one particularly glib person writes that he farthest John traveled was to the nearest library!). With the uncertainty regarding the veracity of such a basic fact the question arises - is John Mandeville's "travel" narrative still important? The answer is a resounding YES. Firstly, his work was more popular than Marco Polo's "Travels" (300 manuscripts of John's work survive in comparison to 70 of Marco's). Leonardo de Vinci had only one travel account in his massive library, Mandeville's. Columbus and Frobisher had Mandeville's text in their possession. Secondly, Mandeville's work was profoundly influential and authoritative in its time (really until the re-discovery of the new world etc). So why is the historical veracity of his travels questioned despite the fact that multiple travel narratives to China exist? (A while back I reviewed a volume of these concerning the Mongol Khan's court under the Title "Mission to Asia" for those interested). Most of the "proof" concerns his occasional blatant inaccuracies and fanciful tales of monsters. The author of the introduction points out that none of Mandeville's historical / geographical / biological inaccuracies prove that he did not travel but "equally it is not possible to dismiss his claim entirely" (13). Likewise, perhaps most importantly, "if this man did not travel at all, our opinion of his literary ability must be higher" (13).
Deespite its exact place as a travel narrative or piece of imaginative (and brilliant) literature this work was a cornerstone and authoritative piece on geography. Long sections of the text describe places in relation to other places - the many routes out to and from Jerusalem - different ways to the Khan's court - descriptions (often hilariously fanciful) of the kingdoms outside his lands. Mandeville "was a serious writer; his book was as accurate and up to date an account of the knowledge of world as he knew hot to make it" (14). Even more interesting to the reader is Mandeville's descriptions of the people he "meet" and their religions. He is remarkable correct and impartial in his descriptions of the main tenants of Islam, Jacobite Christians, and Jews and how they differ from the tenants Catholicism. Later editions of his work added the normal Medieval prejudices and condemnations against non-Roman Christians and drastically changed Mandeville's narrative voice. Mandeville also argues through out that hypocrisy and corruption run rampant the Christian faith (he suggests that this might be one of the reasons Christians were unable to hold Jerusalem during the Crusades). Mandeville is by far one of the most tolerant Medieval minds!
The introduction to this volume is masterful. C. W. R. D. Moseley describes the surviving manuscripts, Mandeville's sources, the questions I addressed above, the sources literary qualities, and its popularity in the Medieval and post-Medieval world. Even if historians later prove that the author never traveled or no further facts emerge supporting either position, Sir John Mandeville's Travels is a vital source for understanding the Medieval perception of the world. This is a fascinating and FUN read and definitely worth while (but read the Introduction first to place it in the correct context). Highly recommended!
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Summary: A Classic Text of Medieval Literature
Comment: An important text regarding a 14th century european traveling east for holy pilgrimage. In the tradition of Marco Polo but often devolving into fantastic and imaginative descriptions of places, animals and people that are less than accurate. Interesting to sample the 14th century european unterstanding of the world. Note this Dover Publication version is abridged.
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Summary: anarchy and imagination
Comment: This is a fourteenth-century travel book telling us of the English "Sir" John Mandeville's real or imagined adventures in the East. The first part deals with the land of Egypt and the second with "the lands beyond" -. But did he actually ever leave England?? Did this Knighted author actually exist? Was he French? We'll never know, but this volume is a thorough compendium of medieval mythic lore, which he artfully blends in collage-form (very much in the fashion of the allegedly "post-modern" writing), which would be a great success throughout Europe for centuries to come. One of these pleased readers would be Christopher Columbus, who here fed his imagination on the passion for distant travels! Together with this book I recommend the popular VOYAGE OF ST BRENDAN by Benedeiz, an earlier, twelfth-century text about the adventures of an Irish monk who never got tired of looking for fantastic islands on his tiny boat. The anarchy and imagination of the Middle-Ages always seems more fantastic when we read the original medieval authors directly.
This is a medieval best-seller for all.
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Summary: The curious history of John Mandeville
Comment: Sir John Mandeville was an Early-Renaissance writer of travel tales similar in content and style to his famous near-contemporary, Marco Polo. But history has judged these two men quite differently: whereas Marco Polo has become a household word, synonymous with bold explorations, Mandeville has been largely forgotten. But it was not always so. During his lifetime, and for a couple of centuries afterwards, Mandeville was by far the more famous of the two. A copy of Mandeville - but not Polo - was in the possession of Leonardo da Vinci. More telling, about 300 manuscripts (hand-written copies) of Mandeville survive, compared to only about 70 of Polo.
What accounts for Mandeville's reversals of fortune?
Mandeville (or someone calling himself that) wrote his book about 1356, or shortly thereafter. Its original tile was "The Voyages and Travels of Sir John Mandeville, Knight," but is now generally known as "Travels of Sir John Mandeville." Polo's book, originally titled, "Descriptions of the World," came out about 1300. Whereas Mandeville wrote his book himself, Polo used the services of a professional writer, Rusticello, who in turn based the book on Polo's notebooks. (Mandeville is the better written.)
Standards of what constitutes a historical/geographic work have greatly changed. Both books -- but especially Mandeville -- contain a fascinating pastiche of facts (often distorted), impressions, opinions, and utterly fantastic claims. Reading Mandeville today, one is left with a bewildering farrago of National Geographic and supermarket tabloids.
As the Age of Exploration progressed, reliable geographic, historic, and economic data came to be more highly valued than fantastic tales. Since Polo's book was found to be the more reliable its reputation increased. Mandeville, on the other hand, came to be seen as a "teller of tall tales," a kind of Baron Munchhausen.
Indeed, today many historians question whether the man "Mandeville" really existed. Most believe that the person who wrote "Mandeville" never actually traveled to the placed he describes, and obtained his material from other sources. He took the identity of "Sir John Mandeville" to bolster his credibility. (Recently there have been attempts to "rehabilitate" Mandeville.)
What is their relevance today? Except in a narrow historical context, I would say that Mandeville is definitely the more interesting. What Mandeville lacks in historic and geographic accuracy, he more than makes up by his insight into what continually fascinates mankind - both then and now. A considerable portion of Mandeville can be fairly equated to today's Elvis sightings, or to the woman from Ohio who has the spaceman's baby. We are too immersed in our contemporary world to clearly see what is behind such phenomena; but looking back at Mandeville's world our vision greatly improves. Consider:
Mandeville tells of a society in which women often have snakes in their ...uhm...private parts. In order to protect themselves their men hire the services of professional "testers." As absurd as this all sounds, could Mandeville actually be describing some venereal disease?
Another example: could the various human monstrosities described by Mandeville (people with dog's heads, etc.) have modern counterparts in television's Star Trek?
The Penguin book would be improved by additional maps and illustrations -- unfortunately this would increase the cost.
