THE PROLOGUE

FOR as much as the land beyond the sea, that is to say the Holy
Land, that men call the Land of Promission or of Behest, passing
all other lands, is the most worthy land, most excellent, and lady
and sovereign of all other lands, and is blessed and hallowed of
the precious body and blood of our Lord Jesu Christ; in the which
land it liked him to take flesh and blood of the Virgin Mary, to
environ that holy land with his blessed feet; and there he would of
his blessedness enombre him in the said blessed and glorious Virgin
Mary, and become man, and work many miracles, and preach and teach
the faith and the law of Christian men unto his children; and there
it liked him to suffer many reprovings and scorns for us; and he
that was king of heaven, of air, of earth, of sea and of all things
that be contained in them, would all only be clept king of that
land, when he said, REX SUM JUDEORUM, that is to say, 'I am King of
Jews'; and that land he chose before all other lands, as the best
and most worthy land, and the most virtuous land of all the world:
for it is the heart and the midst of all the world, witnessing the
philosopher, that saith thus, VIRTUS RERUM IN MEDIO CONSISTIT, that
is to say, 'The virtue of things is in the midst'; and in that land
he would lead his life, and suffer passion and death of Jews, for
us, to buy and to deliver us from pains of hell, and from death
without end; the which was ordained for us, for the sin of our
forme-father Adam, and for our own sins also; for as for himself,
he had no evil deserved:  for he thought never evil ne did evil:
and he that was king of glory and of joy, might best in that place
suffer death; because he chose in that land rather than in any
other, there to suffer his passion and his death.  For he that will
publish anything to make it openly known, he will make it to be
cried and pronounced in the middle place of a town; so that the
thing that is proclaimed and pronounced, may evenly stretch to all
parts:  right so, he that was former of all the world, would suffer
for us at Jerusalem, that is the midst of the world; to that end
and intent, that his passion and his death, that was published
there, might be known evenly to all parts of the world.

See now, how dear he bought man, that he made after his own image,
and how dear he again-bought us, for the great love that he had to
us, and we never deserved it to him.  For more precious chattel ne
greater ransom ne might he put for us, than his blessed body, his
precious blood, and his holy life, that he thralled for us; and all
he offered for us that never did sin.

Ah dear God!  What love had he to us his subjects, when he that
never trespassed, would for trespassers suffer death!  Right well
ought us for to love and worship, to dread and serve such a Lord;
and to worship and praise such an holy land, that brought forth
such fruit, through the which every man is saved, but it be his own
default.  Well may that land be called delectable and a fructuous
land, that was be-bled and moisted with the precious blood of our
Lord Jesu Christ; the which is the same land that our Lord behight
us in heritage.  And in that land he would die, as seised, to leave
it to us, his children.

Wherefore every good Christian man, that is of power, and hath
whereof, should pain him with all his strength for to conquer our
right heritage, and chase out all the misbelieving men.  For we be
clept Christian men, after Christ our Father.  And if we be right
children of Christ, we ought for to challenge the heritage, that
our Father left us, and do it out of heathen men's hands.  But now
pride, covetise, and envy have so inflamed the hearts of lords of
the world, that they are more busy for to dis-herit their
neighbours, more than for to challenge or to conquer their right
heritage before-said.  And the common people, that would put their
bodies and their chattels, to conquer our heritage, they may not do
it without the lords.  For a sembly of people without a chieftain,
or a chief lord, is as a flock of sheep without a shepherd; the
which departeth and disperpleth and wit never whither to go.  But
would God, that the temporal lords and all worldly lords were at
good accord, and with the common people would take this holy voyage
over the sea!  Then I trow well, that within a little time, our
right heritage before-said should be reconciled and put in the
hands of the right heirs of Jesu Christ.

And, for as much as it is long time passed, that there was no
general passage ne voyage over the sea; and many men desire for to
hear speak of the Holy Land, and have thereof great solace and
comfort; I, John Mandeville, Knight, albeit I be not worthy, that
was born in England, in the town of St. Albans, and passed the sea
in the year of our Lord Jesu Christ, 1322, in the day of St.
Michael; and hitherto been long time over the sea, and have seen
and gone through many diverse lands, and many provinces and
kingdoms and isles and have passed throughout Turkey, Armenia the
little and the great; through Tartary, Persia, Syria, Arabia, Egypt
the high and the low; through Lybia, Chaldea, and a great part of
Ethiopia; through Amazonia, Ind the less and the more, a great
part; and throughout many other Isles, that be about Ind; where
dwell many diverse folks, and of diverse manners and laws, and of
diverse shapes of men.  Of which lands and isles I shall speak more
plainly hereafter; and I shall devise you of some part of things
that there be, when time shall be, after it may best come to my
mind; and specially for them, that will and are in purpose for to
visit the Holy City of Jerusalem and the holy places that are
thereabout.  And I shall tell the way that they shall hold thither.
For I have often times passed and ridden that way, with good
company of many lords.  God be thanked!

And ye shall understand, that I have put this book out of Latin
into French, and translated it again out of French into English,
that every man of my nation may understand it.  But lords and
knights and other noble and worthy men that con Latin but little,
and have been beyond the sea, know and understand, if I say truth
or no, and if I err in devising, for forgetting or else, that they
may redress it and amend it.  For things passed out of long time
from a man's mind or from his sight, turn soon into forgetting;
because that mind of man ne may not be comprehended ne withholden,
for the frailty of mankind.

CHAPTER I

TO TEACH YOU THE WAY OUT OF ENGLAND TO CONSTANTINOPLE

IN the name of God, Glorious and Almighty!

He that will pass over the sea and come to land [to go to the city
of Jerusalem, he may wend many ways, both on sea and land], after
the country that he cometh from; [for] many of them come to one
end.  But troweth not that I will tell you all the towns, and
cities and castles that men shall go by; for then should I make too
long a tale; but all only some countries and most principal steads
that men shall go through to go the right way.

First, if a man come from the west side of the world, as England,
Ireland, Wales, Scotland, or Norway, he may, if that he will, go
through Almayne and through the kingdom of Hungary, that marcheth
to the land of Polayne, and to the land of Pannonia, and so to
Silesia.

And the King of Hungary is a great lord and a mighty, and holdeth
great lordships and much land in his hand.  For he holdeth the
kingdom of Hungary, Sclavonia, and of Comania a great part, and of
Bulgaria that men call the land of Bougiers, and of the realm of
Russia a great part, whereof he hath made a duchy, that lasteth
unto the land of Nyfland, and marcheth to Prussia.  And men go
through the land of this lord, through a city that is clept Cypron,
and by the castle of Neasburghe, and by the evil town, that sit
toward the end of Hungary.  And there pass men the river of Danube.
This river of Danube is a full great river, and it goeth into
Almayne, under the hills of Lombardy, and it receiveth into him
forty other rivers, and it runneth through Hungary and through
Greece and through Thrace, and it entereth into the sea, toward the
east so rudely and so sharply, that the water of the sea is fresh
and holdeth his sweetness twenty mile within the sea.

And after, go men to Belgrade, and enter into the land of Bougiers;
and there pass men a bridge of stone that is upon the river of
Marrok.  And men pass through the land of Pyncemartz and come to
Greece to the city of Nye, and to the city of Fynepape, and after
to the city of Dandrenoble, and after to Constantinople, that was
wont to be clept Bezanzon.  And there dwelleth commonly the Emperor
of Greece.  And there is the most fair church and the most noble of
all the world; and it is of Saint Sophie.  And before that church
is the image of Justinian the emperor, covered with gold, and he
sitteth upon an horse y-crowned.  And he was wont to hold a round
apple of gold in his hand:  but it is fallen out thereof.  And men
say there, that it is a token that the emperor hath lost a great
part of his lands and of his lordships; for he was wont to be
Emperor of Roumania and of Greece, of all Asia the less, and of the
land of Syria, of the land of Judea in the which is Jerusalem, and
of the land of Egypt, of Persia, and of Arabia.  But he hath lost
all but Greece; and that land he holds all only.  And men would
many times put the apple into the image's hand again, but it will
not hold it.  This apple betokeneth the lordship that he had over
all the world, that is round.  And the tother hand he lifteth up
against the East, in token to menace the misdoers.  This image
stands upon a pillar of marble at Constantinople.

CHAPTER III

OF THE CITY OF CONSTANTINOPLE, AND OF THE FAITH OF GREEKS

AT Constantinople lieth Saint Anne, our Lady's mother, whom Saint
Helen let bring from Jerusalem.  And there lieth also the body of
John Chrisostome, that was Archbishop of Constantinople.  And there
lieth also Saint Luke the Evangelist:  for his bones were brought
from Bethany, where he was buried.  And many other relics be there.
And there is the vessel of stone, as it were of marble, that men
clepe enydros, that evermore droppeth water, and filleth himself
every year, till that it go over above, without that that men take
from within.

Constantinople is a full fair city, and a good, and well walled;
and it is three-cornered.  And there is an arm of the sea
Hellespont:  and some men call it the Mouth of Constantinople; and
some men call it the Brace of Saint George:  and that arm closeth
the two parts of the city.  And upward to the sea, upon the water,
was wont to be the great city of Troy, in a full fair plain:  but
that city was destroyed by them of Greece, and little appeareth
thereof, because it is so long sith it was destroyed.

About Greece there be many isles, as Calliste, Calcas, Oertige,
Tesbria, Mynia, Flaxon, Melo, Carpate, and Lemnos.  And in this
isle is the mount Athos, that passeth the clouds.  And there be
many diverse languages and many countries, that be obedient to the
emperor; that is to say, Turcople, Pyncynard, Comange, and many
other, as Thrace and Macedonia, of the which Alexander was king.
In this country was Aristotle born, in a city that men clepe
Stagyra, a little from the city of Thrace.  And at Stagyra lieth
Aristotle; and there is an altar upon his tomb.  And there make men
great feasts for him every year, as though he were a saint.  And at
his altar they holden their great councils and their assemblies,
and they hope, that through inspiration of God and of him, they
shall have the better council.

In this country be right high hills, toward the end of Macedonia.
And there is a great hill, that men clepe Olympus, that departeth
Macedonia and Thrace.  And it is so high, that it passeth the
clouds.  And there is another hill, that is clept Athos, that is so
high, that the shadow of him reacheth to Lemne, that is an isle;
and it is seventy-six mile between.  And above at the cop of the
hill is the air so clear, that men may find no wind there, and
therefore may no beast live there, so is the air dry.

And men say in these countries, that philosophers some time went
upon these hills, and held to their nose a sponge moisted with
water, for to have air; for the air above was so dry.  And above,
in the dust and in the powder of those hills, they wrote letters
and figures with their fingers.  And at the year's end they came
again, and found the same letters and figures, the which they had
written the year before, without any default.  And therefore it
seemeth well, that these hills pass the clouds and join to the pure
air.

At Constantinople is the palace of the emperor, right fair and
well-dight:  and therein is a fair place for joustings, or for
other plays and desports.  And it is made with stages, and hath
degrees about, that every man may well see, and none grieve other.
And under these stages be stables well vaulted for the emperor's
horses; and all the pillars be of marble.

And within the Church of Saint Sophia, an emperor sometime would
have buried the body of his father, when he was dead.  And, as they
made the grave, they found a body in the earth, and upon the body
lay a fine plate of gold; and thereon was written, in Hebrew,
Greek, and Latin, letters that said thus; JESU CHRISTUS NASCETUR DE
VIRGINE MARIA, ET EGO CREDO IN EUM; that is to say, 'Jesu Christ
shall be born of the Virgin Mary, and I trow in him.'  And the date
when it was laid in the earth, was two thousand year before our
Lord was born.  And yet is the plate of gold in the treasury of the
church.  And men say, that it was Hermogenes the wise man.

And if all it so be, that men of Greece be Christian yet they vary
from our faith.  For they say, that the Holy Ghost may not come of
the Son; but all only of the Father.  And they are not obedient to
the Church of Rome, ne to the Pope.  And they say that their
Patriarch hath as much power over the sea, as the Pope hath on this
side the sea.  And therefore Pope John xxii. sent letters to them,
how Christian faith should be all one; and that they should be
obedient to the Pope, that is God's Vicar on earth, to whom God
gave his plein power for to bind and to assoil, and therefore they
should be obedient to him.

And they sent again diverse answers; and among others they said
thus:  POTENTIAM TUAM SUMMAM CIRCA TUOS SUBJECTOS, FIRMITER
CREDIMUS.  SUPERBIAM TUAM SUMMAM TOLERARE NON POSSUMUS.  AVARITIAM
TUAM SUMMAM SATIARE NON INTENDIMUS.  DOMINUS TECUM; QUIA DOMINUS
NOBISCUM EST.  That is to say:  'We trow well, that thy power is
great upon thy subjects.  We may not suffer thine high pride.  We
be not in purpose to fulfil thy great covetise.  Lord be with thee;
for our Lord is with us.  Farewell.'  And other answer might he not
have of them.

And also they make their sacrament of the altar of Therf bread, for
our Lord made it of such bread, when he made his Maundy.  And on
the Shere-Thursday make they their Therf bread, in token of the
Maundy, and dry it at the sun, and keep it all the year, and give
it to sick men, instead of God's body.  And they make but one
unction, when they christen children.  And they anoint not the sick
men.  And they say that there is no Purgatory, and that souls shall
not have neither joy ne pain till the day of doom.  And they say
that fornication is no sin deadly, but a thing that is kindly, and
that men and women should not wed but once, and whoso weddeth
oftener than once, their children be bastards and gotten in sin.
And their priests also be wedded.

And they say also that usury is no deadly sin.  And they sell
benefices of Holy Church.  And so do men in other places:  God
amend it when his will is!  And that is great sclaundre, for now is
simony king crowned in Holy Church:  God amend it for his mercy!

And they say, that in Lent, men shall not fast, ne sing Mass, but
on the Saturday and on the Sunday.  And they fast not on the
Saturday, no time of the year, but it be Christmas Even or Easter
Even.  And they suffer not the Latins to sing at their altars; and
if they do, by any adventure, anon they wash the altar with holy
water.  And they say that there should be but one Mass said at one
altar upon one day.

And they say also that our Lord ne ate never meat; but he made
token of eating.  And also they say, that we sin deadly in shaving
our beards, for the beard is token of a man, and gift of our Lord.
And they say that we sin deadly in eating of beasts that were
forbidden in the Old Testament, and of the old Law, as swine, hares
and other beasts, that chew not their cud.  And they say that we
sin, when we eat flesh on the days before Ash Wednesday, and of
that that we eat flesh the Wednesday, and eggs and cheese upon the
Fridays.  And they accurse all those that abstain them to eat flesh
the Saturday.

Also the Emperor of Constantinople maketh the patriarch, the
archbishops and the bishops; and giveth the dignities and the
benefices of churches and depriveth them that be unworthy, when he
findeth any cause.  And so is he lord both temporal and spiritual
in his country.

And if ye will wit of their A.B.C. what letters they be, here ye
may see them, with the names that they clepe them there amongst
them:  Alpha, Betha, Gama, Deltha, e longe, e brevis, Epilmon,
Thetha, Iota, Kapda, Lapda, Mi, Ni, Xi, o brevis, Pi, Coph, Ro,
Summa, Tau, Vi, Fy, Chi, Psi, Othomega, Diacosyn.

And all be it that these things touch not to one way, nevertheless
they touch to that, that I have hight you, to shew you a part of
customs and manners, and diversities of countries.  And for this is
the first country that is discordant in faith and in belief, and
varieth from our faith, on this half the sea, therefore I have set
it here, that ye may know the diversity that is between our faith
and theirs.  For many men have great liking, to hear speak of
strange things of diverse countries.

CHAPTER XX

OF THE EVIL CUSTOMS USED IN THE ISLE OF LAMARY.  AND HOW THE EARTH
AND THE SEA BE OF ROUND FORM AND SHAPE, BY PROOF OF THE STAR THAT
IS CLEPT ANTARCTIC, THAT IS FIXED IN THE SOUTH

FROM that country go men by the sea ocean, and by many divers isles
and by many countries that were too long for to tell of.  And a
fifty-two journeys from this land that I have spoken of, there is
another land, that is full great, that men clepe Lamary.  In that
land is full great heat.  And the custom there is such, that men
and women go all naked.  And they scorn when they see any strange
folk going clothed.  And they say, that God made Adam and Eve all
naked, and that no man should shame him to shew him such as God
made him, for nothing is foul that is of kindly nature.  And they
say, that they that be clothed be folk of another world, or they be
folk that trow not in God.  And they say, that they believe in God
that formed the world, and that made Adam and Eve and all other
things.  And they wed there no wives, for all the women there be
common and they forsake no man.  And they say they sin if they
refuse any man; and so God commanded to Adam and Eve and to all
that come of him, when he said, CRESCITE ET MULTIPLICAMINI ET
REPLETE TERRAM.  And therefore may no man in that country say, This
is my wife; ne no woman may say, This my husband.  And when they
have children, they may give them to what man they will that hath
companied with them.  And also all the land is common; for all that
a man holdeth one year, another man hath it another year; and every
man taketh what part that him liketh.  And also all the goods of
the land be common, corns and all other things:  for nothing there
is kept in close, ne nothing there is under lock, and every man
there taketh what he will without any contradiction, and as rich is
one man there as is another.

But in that country there is a cursed custom, for they eat more
gladly man's flesh than any other flesh; and yet is that country
abundant of flesh, of fish, of corns, of gold and silver, and of
all other goods.  Thither go merchants and bring with them children
to sell to them of the country, and they buy them.  And if they be
fat they eat them anon.  And if they be lean they feed them till
they be fat, and then they eat them.  And they say, that it is the
best flesh and the sweetest of all the world.

In that land, ne in many other beyond that, no man may see the Star
Transmontane, that is clept the Star of the Sea, that is unmovable
and that is toward the north, that we clepe the Lode-star.  But men
see another star, the contrary to him, that is toward the south,
that is clept Antartic.  And right as the ship-men take their
advice here and govern them by the Lode-star, right so do ship-men
beyond those parts by the star of the south, the which star
appeareth not to us.  And this star that is toward the north, that
we clepe the Lode-star, ne appeareth not to them.  For which cause
men may well perceive, that the land and the sea be of round shape
and form; for the part of the firmament sheweth in one country that
sheweth not in another country.  And men may well prove by
experience and subtle compassment of wit, that if a man found
passages by ships that would go to search the world, men might go
by ship all about the world and above and beneath.

The which thing I prove thus after that I have seen.  For I have
been toward the parts of Brabant, and beholden the Astrolabe that
the star that is clept the Transmontane is fifty-three degrees
high; and more further in Almayne and Bohemia it hath fifty-eight
degrees; and more further toward the parts septentrional it is
sixty-two degrees of height and certain minutes; for I myself have
measured it by the Astrolabe.  Now shall ye know, that against the
Transmontane is the tother star that is clept Antarctic, as I have
said before.  And those two stars ne move never, and by them
turneth all the firmament right as doth a wheel that turneth by his
axle-tree.  So that those stars bear the firmament in two equal
parts, so that it hath as much above as it hath beneath.  After
this, I have gone toward the parts meridional, that is, toward the
south, and I have found that in Lybia men see first the star
Antarctic.  And so far I have gone more further in those countries,
that I have found that star more high; so that toward the High
Lybia it is eighteen degrees of height and certain minutes (of the
which sixty minutes make a degree).  After going by sea and by land
toward this country of that I have spoken, and to other isles and
lands beyond that country, I have found the Star Antarctic of
thirty-three degrees of height and more minutes.  And if I had had
company and shipping for to go more beyond, I trow well, in
certain, that we should have seen all the roundness of the
firmament all about.  For, as I have said to you before, the half
of the firmament is between those two stars, the which halvendel I
have seen.  And of the tother halvendel I have seen, toward the
north under the Transmontane, sixty-two degrees and ten minutes,
and toward the part meridional I have seen under the Antarctic,
thirty-three degrees and sixteen minutes.  And then, the halvendel
of the firmament in all holdeth not but nine score degrees.  And of
those nine score, I have seen sixty-two on that one part and
thirty-three on that other part; that be, ninety-five degrees and
nigh the halvendel of a degree.  And so, there ne faileth but that
I have seen all the firmament, save four score and four degrees and
the halvendel of a degree, and that is not the fourth part of the
firmament; for the fourth part of the roundness of the firmament
holds four score and ten degrees, so there faileth but five degrees
and an half of the fourth part.  And also I have seen the three
parts of all the roundness of the firmament and more yet five
degrees and a half.  By the which I say you certainly that men may
environ all the earth of all the world, as well under as above, and
turn again to his country, that had company and shipping and
conduct.  And always he should find men, lands and isles, as well
as in this country.  For ye wit well, that they that be toward the
Antarctic, they be straight, feet against feet, of them that dwell
under the Transmontane; also well as we and they that dwell under
us be feet against feet.  For all the parts of sea and of land have
their opposites, habitable trepassable, and they of this half and
beyond half.

And wit well, that, after that that I may perceive and comprehend,
the lands of Prester John, Emperor of Ind, be under us.  For in
going from Scotland or from England toward Jerusalem men go upward
always.  For our land is in the low part of the earth toward the
west, and the land of Prester John is in the low part of the earth
toward the east.  And [they] have there the day when we have the
night; and also, high to the contrary, they have the night when we
have the day.  For the earth and the sea be of round form and
shape, as I have said before; and that that men go upward to one
coast, men go downward to another coast.

Also ye have heard me say that Jerusalem is in the midst of the
world.  And that may men prove, and shew there by a spear, that is
pight into the earth, upon the hour of midday, when it is equinox,
that sheweth no shadow on no side.  And that it should be in the
midst of the world, David witnesseth it in the Psalter, where he
saith, DEUS OPERATUS EST SALUTEM IN MEDIA TERRAE.  Then, they, that
part from those parts of the west for to go toward Jerusalem, as
many journeys as they go upward for to go thither, in as many
journeys may they go from Jerusalem unto other confines of the
superficiality of the earth beyond.  And when men go beyond those
journeys toward Ind and to the foreign isles, all is environing the
roundness of the earth and of the sea under our countries on this
half.

And therefore hath it befallen many times of one thing that I have
heard counted when I was young, how a worthy man departed some-time
from our countries for to go search the world.  And so he passed
Ind and the isles beyond Ind, where be more than 5000 isles.  And
so long he went by sea and land, and so environed the world by many
seasons, that he found an isle where he heard speak his own
language, calling on oxen in the plough, such words as men speak to
beasts in his own country whereof he had great marvel, for he knew
not how it might be.  But I say, that he had gone so long by land
and by sea, that he had environed all the earth; that he was come
again environing, that is to say, going about, unto his own
marches, and if he would have passed further, till he had found his
country and his own knowledge.  But he turned again from thence,
from whence he was come from.  And so he lost much painful labour,
as himself said a great while after that he was come home.  For it
befell after, that he went into Norway.  And there tempest of the
sea took him, and he arrived in an isle.  And, when he was in that
isle, he knew well that it was the isle, where he had heard speak
his own language before and the calling of oxen at the plough; and
that was possible thing.

But how it seemeth to simple men unlearned, that men ne may not go
under the earth, and also that men should fall toward the heaven
from under.  But that may not be, upon less than we may fall toward
heaven from the earth where we be.  For from what part of the earth
that men dwell, either above or beneath, it seemeth always to them
that dwell that they go more right than any other folk.  And right
as it seemeth to us that they be under us, right so it seemeth to
them that we be under them.  For if a man might fall from the earth
unto the firmament, by greater, reason the earth and the sea that
be so great and so heavy should fall to the firmament:  but that
may not be, and therefore saith our Lord God, NON TIMEAS ME, QUI
SUSPENDI TERRAM EX NIHILO?

And albeit that it be possible thing that men may so environ all
the world, natheles, of a thousand persons, one ne might not happen
to return into his country.  For, for the greatness of the earth
and of the sea, men may go by a thousand and a thousand other ways,
that no man could ready him perfectly toward the parts that he came
from, but if it were by adventure and hap, or by the grace of God.
For the earth is full large and full great, and holds in roundness
and about environ, by above and by beneath, 20425 miles, after the
opinion of old wise astronomers; and their sayings I reprove
nought.  But, after my little wit, it seemeth me, saving their
reverence, that it is more.

And for to have better understanding I say thus.  Be there imagined
a figure that hath a great compass.  And, about the point of the
great compass that is clept the centre, be made another little
compass.  Then after, be the great compass devised by lines in many
parts, and that all the lines meet at the centre.  So, that in as
many parts as the great compass shall be departed, in as many shall
be departed the little, that is about the centre, albeit that the
spaces be less.  Now then, be the great compass represented for the
firmament, and the little compass represented for the earth.  Now
then, the firmament is devised by astronomers in twelve signs, and
every sign is devised in thirty degrees; that is, 360 degrees that
the firmament hath above.  Also, be the earth devised in as many
parts as the firmament, and let every part answer to a degree of
the firmament.  And wit it well, that, after the authors of
astronomy, 700 furlongs of earth answer to a degree of the
firmament, and those be eighty-seven miles and four furlongs.  Now
be that here multiplied by 360 sithes, and then they be 31,500
miles every of eight furlongs, after miles of our country.  So much
hath the earth in roundness and of height environ, after mine
opinion and mine understanding.

And ye shall understand, that after the opinion of old wise
philosophers and astronomers, our country ne Ireland ne Wales ne
Scotland ne Norway ne the other isles coasting to them ne be not in
the superficiality counted above the earth, as it sheweth by all
the books of astronomy.  For the superficiality of the earth is
parted in seven parts for the seven planets, and those parts be
clept climates.  And our parts be not of the seven climates, for
they be descending toward the west [drawing] towards the roundness
of the world.  And also these isles of Ind which be even against us
be not reckoned in the climates.  For they be against us that be in
the low country.  And the seven climates stretch them environing
the world.

CHAPTER XXX

OF THE ROYAL ESTATE OF PRESTER JOHN.  AND OF A RICH MAN THAT MADE A
MARVELLOUS CASTLE AND CLEPED IT PARADISE; AND OF HIS SUBTLETY

THIS emperor, Prester John, holds full great land, and hath many
full noble cities and good towns in his realm, and many great
diverse isles and large.  For all the country of Ind is devised in
isles for the great floods that come from Paradise, that depart all
the land in many parts.  And also in the sea he hath full many
isles.  And the best city in the Isle of Pentexoire is Nyse, that
is a full royal city and a noble, and full rich.

This Prester John hath under him many kings and many isles and many
diverse folk of diverse conditions.  And this land is full good and
rich, but not so rich as is the land of the great Chan.  For the
merchants come not thither so commonly for to buy merchandises, as
they do in the land of the great Chan, for it is too far to travel
to.  And on that other part, in the Isle of Cathay, men find all
manner thing that is need to man - cloths of gold, of silk, of
spicery and all manner avoirdupois.  And therefore, albeit that men
have greater cheap in the Isle of Prester John, natheles, men dread
the long way and the great perils in the sea in those parts.

For in many places of the sea be great rocks of stones of the
adamant, that of his proper nature draweth iron to him.  And
therefore there pass no ships that have either bonds or nails of
iron within them.  And if there do, anon the rocks of the adamants
draw them to them, that never they may go thence.  I myself have
seen afar in that sea, as though it had been a great isle full of
tree, and buscaylle, full of thorns and briars, great plenty.  And
the shipmen told us, that all that was of ships that were drawn
thither by the adamants, for the iron that was in them.  And of the
rotten-ness, and other thing that was within the ships, grew such
buscaylle, and thorns and briars and green grass, and such manner
of thing; and of the masts and the sail-yards; it seemed a great
wood or a grove.  And such rocks be in many places thereabout.  And
therefore dare not the merchants pass there, but if they know well
the passages, or else that they have good lodesmen.

And also they dread the long way.  And therefore they go to Cathay,
for it is more nigh.  And yet it is not so nigh, but that men must
be travelling by sea and land, eleven months or twelve, from Genoa
or from Venice, or he come to Cathay.  And yet is the land of
Prester John more far by many dreadful journeys.

And the merchants pass by the kingdom of Persia, and go to a city
that is Clept Hermes, for Hermes the philosopher founded it.  And
after that they pass an arm of the sea, and then they go to another
city that is clept Golbache.  And there they find merchandises, and
of popinjays, as great plenty as men find here of geese.  And if
they will pass further, they may go sikerly enough.  In that
country is but little wheat or barley, and therefore they eat rice
and honey and milk and cheese and fruit.

This Emperor Prester John taketh always to his wife the daughter of
the great Chan; and the great Chan also, in the same wise, the
daughter of Prester John.  For these two be the greatest lords
under the firmament.

In the land of Prester John be many diverse things and many
precious stones, so great and so large, that men make of them
vessels, as platters, dishes and cups.  And many other marvels be
there, that it were too cumbrous and too long to put it in
scripture of books; but of the principal isles and of his estate
and of his law, I shall tell you some part.

This Emperor Prester John is Christian, and a great part of his
country also.  But yet, they have not all the articles of our faith
as we have.  They believe well in the Father, in the Son and in the
Holy Ghost.  And they be full devout and right true one to another.
And they set not by no barretts, ne by cautels, nor of no deceits.

And he hath under him seventy-two provinces, and in every province
is a king.  And these kings have kings under them, and all be
tributaries to Prester John.  And he hath in his lordships many
great marvels.

For in his country is the sea that men clepe the Gravelly Sea, that
is all gravel and sand, without any drop of water, and it ebbeth
and floweth in great waves as other seas do, and it is never still
ne in peace, in no manner season.  And no man may pass that sea by
navy, ne by no manner of craft, and therefore may no man know what
land is beyond that sea.  And albeit that it have no water, yet men
find therein and on the banks full good fish of other manner of
kind and shape, than men find in any other sea, and they be of
right good taste and delicious to man's meat.

And a three journeys long from that sea be great mountains, out of
the which goeth out a great flood that cometh out of Paradise.  And
it is full of precious stones, without any drop of water, and it
runneth through the desert on that one side, so that it maketh the
sea gravelly; and it beareth into that sea, and there it endeth.
And that flome runneth, also, three days in the week and bringeth
with him great stones and the rocks also therewith, and that great
plenty.  And anon, as they be entered into the Gravelly Sea, they
be seen no more, but lost for evermore.  And in those three days
that that river runneth, no man dare enter into it; but in the
other days men dare enter well enough.

Also beyond that flome, more upward to the deserts, is a great
plain all gravelly, between the mountains.  And in that plain,
every day at the sun-rising, begin to grow small trees, and they
grow till mid-day, bearing fruit; but no man dare take of that
fruit, for it is a thing of faerie.  And after mid-day, they
decrease and enter again into the earth, so that at the going down
of the sun they appear no more.  And so they do, every day.  And
that is a great marvel.

In that desert be many wild men, that be hideous to look on; for
they be horned, and they speak nought, but they grunt, as pigs.
And there is also great plenty of wild hounds.  And there be many
popinjays, that they clepe psittakes their language.  And they
speak of their proper nature, and salute men that go through the
deserts, and speak to them as apertly as though it were a man.  And
they that speak well have a large tongue, and have five toes upon a
foot.  And there be also of another manner, that have but three
toes upon a foot, and they speak not, or but little, for they can
not but cry.

This Emperor Prester John when he goeth into battle against any
other lord, he hath no banners borne before him; but he hath three
crosses of gold, fine, great and high, full of precious stones, and
every of those crosses be set in a chariot, full richly arrayed.
And for to keep every cross, be ordained 10,000 men of arms and
more than 100,000 men on foot, in manner as men would keep a
standard in our countries, when that we be in land of war.  And
this number of folk is without the principal host and without wings
ordained for the battle.  And when he hath no war, but rideth with
a privy meinie, then he hath borne before him but one cross of
tree, without painting and without gold or silver or precious
stones, in remembrance that Jesu Christ suffered death upon a cross
of tree.  And he hath borne before him also a platter of gold full
of earth, in token that his noblesse and his might and his flesh
shall turn to earth.  And he hath borne before him also a vessel of
silver, full of noble jewels of gold full rich and of precious
stones, in token of his lordship and of his noblesse and of his
might.

He dwelleth commonly in the city of Susa.  And there is his
principal palace, that is so rich and so noble, that no man will
trow it by estimation, but he had seen it.  And above the chief
tower of the palace be two round pommels of gold, and in everych of
them be two carbuncles great and large, that shine full bright upon
the night.  And the principal gates of his palace be of precious
stone that men clepe sardonyx, and the border and the bars be of
ivory.  And the windows of the halls and chambers be of crystal.
And the tables whereon men eat, some be of emeralds, some of
amethyst, and some of gold, full of precious stones; and the
pillars that bear up the tables be of the same precious stones.
And the degrees to go up to his throne, where he sitteth at the
meat, one is of onyx, another is of crystal, and another of jasper
green, another of amethyst, another of sardine, another of
cornelian, and the seventh, that he setteth on his feet, is of
chrysolite.  And all these degrees be bordered with fine gold, with
the tother precious stones, set with great pearls orient.  And the
sides of the siege of his throne be of emeralds, and bordered with
gold full nobly, and dubbed with other precious stones and great
pearls.  And all the pillars in his chamber be of fine gold with
precious stones, and with many carbuncles, that give great light
upon the night to all people.  And albeit that the carbuncles give
light right enough, natheles, at all times burneth a vessel of
crystal full of balm, for to give good smell and odour to the
emperor, and to void away all wicked airs and corruptions.  And the
form of his bed is of fine sapphires, bended with gold, for to make
him sleep well and to refrain him from lechery; for he will not lie
with his wives, but four sithes in the year, after the four
seasons, and that is only for to engender children.

He hath also a full fair palace and a noble at the city of Nyse,
where that he dwelleth, when him best liketh; but the air is not so
attempre, as it is at the city of Susa.

And ye shall understand, that in all his country nor in the
countries there all about, men eat not but once in the day, as they
do in the court of the great Chan.  And so they eat every day in
his court, more than 30,000 persons, without goers and comers.  But
the 30,000 persons of his country, ne of the country of the great
Chan, ne spend not so much good as do 12,000 of our country.

This Emperor Prester John hath evermore seven kings with him to
serve him, and they depart their service by certain months.  And
with these kings serve always seventy-two dukes and three hundred
and sixty earls.  And all the days of the year, there eat in his
household and in his court, twelve archbishops and twenty bishops.
And the patriarch of Saint Thomas is there as is the pope here.
And the archbishops and the bishops and the abbots in that country
be all kings.  And everych of these great lords know well enough
the attendance of their service.  The one is master of his
household, another is his chamberlain, another serveth him of a
dish, another of the cup, another is steward, another is marshal,
another is prince of his arms, and thus is he full nobly and
royally served.  And his land dureth in very breadth four month's
journeys, and in length out of measure, that is to say, all isles
under earth that we suppose to be under us.

Beside the isle of Pentexoire, that is the land of Prester John, is
a eat isle, long and broad, that men clepe Mistorak; and it is in
the lordship of Prester John.  In that isle is great plenty of
goods.

There was dwelling, sometime, a rich man; and it is not long since;
and men clept him Gatholonabes.  And he was full of cautels and of
subtle deceits.  And he had a full fair castle and a strong in a
mountain, so strong and so noble, that no man could devise a fairer
ne stronger.  And he had let mure all the mountain about with a
strong wall and a fair.  And within those walls he had the fairest
garden that any man might behold.  And therein were trees bearing
all manner of fruits, that any man could devise.  And therein were
also all manner virtuous herbs of good smell, and all other herbs
also that bear fair flowers.  And he had also in that garden many
fair wells; and beside those wells he had let make fair halls and
fair chambers, depainted all with gold and azure; and there were in
that place many diverse things, and many diverse stories:  and of
beasts, and of birds that sung full delectably and moved by craft,
that it seemed that they were quick.  And he had also in his garden
all manner of fowls and of beasts that any man might think on, for
to have play or sport to behold them.

And he had also, in that place, the fairest damsels that might be
found, under the age of fifteen years, and the fairest young
striplings that men might get, of that same age.  And all they were
clothed in cloths of gold, full richly.  And he said that those
were angels.

And he had also let make three wells, fair and noble and all
environed with stone of jasper, of crystal, diapered with gold, and
set with precious stones and great orient pearls.  And he had made
a conduit under earth, so that the three wells, at his list, one
should run milk, another wine and another honey.  And that place he
clept Paradise.

And when that any good knight, that was hardy and noble, came to
see this royalty, he would lead him into his paradise, and show him
these wonderful things to his disport, and the marvellous and
delicious song of diverse birds, and the fair damsels, and the fair
wells of milk, of wine and of honey, plenteously running.  And he
would let make divers instruments of music to sound in an high
tower, so merrily, that it was joy for to hear; and no man should
see the craft thereof.  And those, he said, were angels of God, and
that place was Paradise, that God had behight to his friends,
saying, DABO VOBIS TERRAM FLUENTEM LACTE ET MELLE.  And then would
he make them to drink of certain drink, whereof anon they should be
drunk.  And then would them think greater delight than they had
before.  And then would he say to them, that if they would die for
him and for his love, that after their death they should come to
his paradise; and they should be of the age of those damosels, and
they should play with them, and yet be maidens.  And after that yet
should he put them in a fairer paradise, where that they should see
God of nature visibly, in his majesty and in his bliss.  And then
would he shew them his intent, and say them, that if they would go
slay such a lord, or such a man that was his enemy or contrarious
to his list, that they should not dread to do it and for to be
slain therefore themselves.  For after their death, he would put
them into another paradise, that was an hundred-fold fairer than
any of the tother; and there should they dwell with the most
fairest damosels that might be, and play with them ever-more.

And thus went many diverse lusty bachelors for to slay great lords
in diverse countries, that were his enemies, and made themselves to
be slain, in hope to have that paradise.  And thus, often-time, he
was revenged of his enemies by his subtle deceits and false
cautels.

And when the worthy men of the country had perceived this subtle
falsehood of this Gatholonabes, they assembled them with force, and
assailed his castle, and slew him, and destroyed all the fair
places and all the nobilities of that paradise.  The place of the
wells and of the walls and of many other things be yet apertly
seen, but the riches is voided clean.  And it is not long gone,
since that place was destroyed.