Medieval Travel Writing

This project provides direct access to a widely scattered collection of original medieval manuscripts that describe travel - real and imaginary - in the Middle Ages.

These sources tell us much about the attitudes and preconceptions of people across Europe in the medieval period, shedding light on issues of race, economics, trade, militarism, politics, literature and science. They will be welcomed by scholars in both literature and history as well as by French and German studies departments.

The project combines:

Multiple manuscript sources detailing the journeys of famous travellers from Prester John and Marco Polo to Sir John Mandeville and John Capgrave

Translations and supporting materials (all of which are fully searchable)

Maps showing the routes of the travellers

Introductory essays by leading scholars

Medieval Travel Writing

Editorial Board:

Dr Kim Phillips, Department of History, University of Auckland

Professor David Abulafia, Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge

Professor Andrew Jotischky, Department of History, Lancaster University

Professor Peter Jackson, Department of History, Keele University

Professor Alison Stones, Department of History of Art & Architecture, University of Pittsburgh

Source Libraries:

The manuscripts are sourced from the British Library, the Bodleian Library, Cambridge University Library, Trinity College, Cambridge, Heidelberg University, Berlin Staatsbibliothek, the National Library of Vienna, St Gall Cloister Library in Switzerland, the Beinecke Library at Yale University and about 30 other Libraries and Archives to make a truly international collection.

Nature of the Material:

The core of the material is a magnificent collection of medieval manuscripts from libraries across Europe and dating from the 13th to the 16th centuries. These have been reproduced in colour where appropriate. These are augmented by an array of translations and supporting materials (all of which are fully searchable) and maps showing the routes of the travellers.

Scope of the Collection:

This project provides an extensive collection of manuscript materials for the study of medieval travel writing in fact and in fantasy. The main focus is accounts of journeys to the Holy Land, India and China.

Featured authors include Ambassadors, Missionaries, Merchants, and Fantasists such as:

Prester John
John of Plano Carpini
Ascelin
William of Rubruck
Marco Polo
Ricoldo de Montecroce
Jordanus of Severac
Haiton of Armenia
Oderic of Pordenone
Sir John Mandeville
Ruy Gonzalez de Clavijo
Hans (Johann) Schiltberger
Johannes Witte de Hesse
John Capgrave

A good number of manuscript images are provided in full colour. The original documents are in a range of languages including French, Latin, German, Spanish, Dutch and English. Translations are an important feature of the project and the full text search capability will be especially useful for undergraduates. Supporting the manuscripts are relevant secondary texts, maps of journeys, bibliographies and glossaries.

The content of this collection is suitable for teaching in Medieval Studies as well as wider topics such as concepts of race, cartography, and post-colonial studies.

Essays by the Consultant Editors will provide a good introduction to the collection and contain hyperlinks that take the user directly to the source material. Essay themes include:

The Travelers and their Accounts
Travel and Pilgrimage
Medieval Travel, Mapping & Geographical Concepts
Medieval Travel Writing and Accounts of the Far East

"Original manuscripts of travel are a priceless resource for understanding medieval attitudes to space and time, to people and places near and far from home"

Professor Alison Stones, University of Pittsburgh

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