Hundreds of pilgrims set out form Europe to the Holy Land between 185 and 1099 AD, but of these only eighteen wrote descriptions which have survived. They provide essential background material for the history of Christianity in the Holy Land, as well as for all archaeologists and geographers of the Byzantine and Early Arab period. In this companion volume to Wilkinson's Egeria's Travels, these texts are translated and whereever possible related to archaeological work. With maps and indexes, the reader is provided with a vivid picture of the physical conditions of travel and the development of Christian prayer in the Holy Places.
Thousands of pilgrims journeyed to the Holy Land before the Crusades, but only twenty or so accounts of that journey survive. In his previous book, Egeria's Travels, John Wilkinson discusses the beginning of Christian pilgrimage through the account of Egeria in 381. Jerusalem Pilgrims starts one year after Egeria's pilgrimage finished and includes nineteen authors, some of whom visited the Holy Land themselves and some who offer accounts of other people's pilgrimages. One author, Bede, simply looked up his account in books, having no personal connection to Jerusalem at all. Also included are several guidebooks, of which Wilkinson has translated three: the Breviarius, describing Jerusalem at the end of the fourth century; a preliminary notebook written by Theodosius in the sixth-century; and an international guide from the early seventh century, written in both Armenian and Greek. Not-so-easily-categorized are a description of Justinian architecture by Procopius, the Commemoratorium by Charlemagne's inspectors, and Rodulf Glaber's account of a pilgrim's death in the eleventh century. These translations follow an insightful introduction in which Wilkinson describes each source in the context of general history, gives an overview of travel in Palestine during this period (including a number of detailed maps of the region), and discusses the practice of prayer as the distinctive activity of the pilgrim. Following the documents is a one hundred page 'Gazetteer'-a concordance of places that includes biblical, early Christian, and geographical references. Once again, John Wilkinson's knack for meticulous scholarship reveals the particulars of a fascinating period in early Christian history. 420 pp.
Thousands of pilgrims journeyed to the Holy Land before the Crusades, but only twenty or so accounts of that journey survive. In his previous book, Egeria's Travels, John Wilkinson discusses the beginning of Christian pilgrimage through the account of Egeria in 381. Jerusalem Pilgrims starts one year after Egeria's pilgrimage finished and includes nineteen authors, some of whom visited the Holy Land themselves and some who offer accounts of other people's pilgrimages. One author, Bede, simply looked up his account in books, having no personal connection to Jerusalem at all. Also included are several guidebooks, of which Wilkinson has translated three: the Breviarius, describing Jerusalem at the end of the fourth century; a preliminary notebook written by Theodosius in the sixth-century; and an international guide from the early seventh century, written in both Armenian and Greek. Not-so-easily-categorized are a description of Justinian architecture by Procopius, the Commemoratorium by Charlemagne's inspectors, and Rodulf Glaber's account of a pilgrim's death in the eleventh century. These translations follow an insightful introduction in which Wilkinson describes each source in the context of general history, gives an overview of travel in Palestine during this period (including a number of detailed maps of the region), and discusses the practice of prayer as the distinctive activity of the pilgrim. Following the documents is a one hundred page 'Gazetteer'-a concordance of places that includes biblical, early Christian, and geographical references. Once again, John Wilkinson's knack for meticulous scholarship reveals the particulars of a fascinating period in early Christian history. 420 pp.
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