Historical sources of the Crusades: pilgrimages and exploration

Historical sources of the Crusades: pilgrimages and exploration include those authors whose work describes pilgrimages to the Holy Land and other explorations to the Middle East and Asia that are relevant to Crusader history. In his seminal article in the Catholic Encyclopedia, Dominican friar and historian Bede Jarrett (1881–1934) wrote on the subject of Pilgrimage and identified that the "Crusades also naturally arose out of the idea of pilgrimages." This was reinforced by the Reverend Florentine Stanislaus Bechtel in his article Itineraria in the same encyclopedia. Pilgrims, missionaries, and other travelers to the Holy Land have documented their experiences through accounts of travel and even guides of sites to visit. Many of these have been recognized by historians, for example, the travels of ibn Jubayr and Marco Polo. Some of the more important travel accounts are listed here. Many of these are also of relevance to the study of historical geography and some can be found in the publications of the Palestine Pilgrims' Text Society (PPTS) and Corpus Scriptorum Eccesiasticorum Latinorum (CSEL), particularly CSEL 39, Itinerarium Hierosolymitana. Much of this information is from the seminal work of 19th-century scholars including Edward Robinson, Titus Tobler and Reinhold Röhricht. Recently, the Independent Crusaders Project has been initiated by the Fordham University Center for Medieval Studies providing a database of Crusaders (with sources identified) who traveled to the Holy Land independent of military expeditions.
Authors who wrote about their travels or pilgrimages to the Holy Land or to the land of the Mongols were prevalent through the 16th century, and lasted into the 19th century. Some were accounts by merchants trading with non-European partners.
Notable early travelers include Marco Polo, ibn Battūta, Odoric of Pordenone, John Mandeville, Bertrandon de la Broquière, Marino Sanuto the Younger, and Felix Fabri.Later travelers to include diplomats, were Jean Thenaud, Evliya Çelebi, and Richard Burton. Surveys of the Holy Land were sponsored by the Palestine Exploration Fund, beginning in 1864, including those by Claude R. Conder, Edward Hull, and Herbert Kitchener.
Collections of those works, as well as Crusader-era accounts that are in the Palestine Pilgrims' Text Society (PPTS) library (1886–1897), the Hakluyt Society (founded 1846) and the Societé de l'Orient Latin (founded 1875 by Paul Riant) that include Itinera hierosolymitana et descriptiones terrae sanctae... (1879) by Titus Tobler and Auguste Molinier; and Itinéraires à Jérusalem et descriptions de la Terre Sainte... (1882) by Henri-Victor Michelant and Gaston Raynaud. Other collections include Recueil de voyages... (1882–1916) by Charles Henri Auguste Schefer and Henri Cordier; Early Travels in Palestine (1848) by Thomas Wright; Cathay and the Way Thither (1866) by Henry Yule; and those identified in Titus Tobler's Bibliographia Geographica Palestinæ.
Descriptions of pilgrims to the Holy Land began long before the Crusades, as early as the 3rd century AD.
Origen. Origen (c. 184 – c. 253), a Christian scholar who wrote In Joannem (Commentary on John) about the desire of Christians to search after the footprints of Christ.
Eusebius. Eusebius of Caesarea (before 265 – after 339), a historian of Christianity published in PPTS I.1.
Itinerary of the Bordeaux Pilgrim. Itinerary from Bordeaux to Jerusalem (Itinerarium Burdigalense), an anonymous account of a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 333–334, with travels beginning shortly after that of Saint Helen. This is the oldest known Christian itinerarium. In PPTS I.2.
Egeria. Egeria (fl. 380s), also known as Etheria or Aetheria, was a Spanish pilgrim from the 4th century.
Saint Jerome. Saint Jerome (c. 347–420), a Latin historian wrote of the early pilgrims to Jerusalem, some of which were published in PPTS I.4, I.5.
Socrates of Constantinople. Socrates of Constantinople (c. 380 – after 439), also known as Socrates Scholasticus, a Greek historian.
Saint Eudocia. Saint Eudocia (c. 401 – 460), a Byzantine empress married to Theodosius II who went on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem in 438–439, returning with numerous holy relics. Her activities on her pilgrimage are recorded in Nicephoros Callistus' 14th-century work Historia Ecclesiastica.
Descriptions of the Holy Land in the 5th and 6th Centuries. Numerous works dating from 440 to 570 describe the geography, topography, and buildings in the Holy Land. These include: The Epitome of S. Eucherius (440); The Breviary of Jerusalem (530); Theodosius' De situ terrae sanctae, or Topography of the Holy Land (530); The Buildings of Justinian, by Procopius (500 – after 565); and The Holy Places Visited by Antoninus Martyr (c. 570), the so-called anonymous pilgrim of Piacenza. Both the Breviary and Antoninus Martyr describe the crown of thorns present in a “Basilica of Mount Zion.” In PPTS II.1–II.4.
Cosmas Indicopleustes. Cosmas Indicopleustes (fl. 6th century) was a Greek merchant and later hermit from Alexandria who made several voyages to India during the reign of Justinian. His work Christian Topography contains some of the earliest and most famous world maps.
Vita Genovefae Virginis Parisiensis. The anonymous Vita Genovefae Virginis Parisiensis was a life of Saint Geneviève of Paris written c. 520. The work relates an incident where Saint Symeon Stylites (died 459) on his pillar in Aleppo, asked for news of Geneviève and sent her a letter.
Arculf and Adomnán. Arculf (fl. late 7th century), a Frankish bishop who toured the Holy Land c. 680. Adomnán (c. 624–704) was a Scottish abbot who wrote about sacred places based on the work of Arculf. The accounts contain the second oldest known map of Jerusalem (the oldest being the Madaba Map). In PPTS III.1.
Saint Wlphlagio. De Sancto Wlphlagio (7th century), a priest in the Holy Land.
Saint Willibald. Saint Willibald (c. 700 – c. 787), an English bishop who traveled to Holy Land sometime between 720 and 740.
Commemoratorium de Casis Dei vel Monasteriis. Commemoratorium de Casis Dei vel Monasteriis is a report from 808 sent to Charlemagne tabulating all churches, monasteries, and hospices in the Holy Land. Its purpose was to allow the emperor to expeditiously distribute alms. In Descriptiones Terrae Sanctae ex saeculo VIII., IX., XII. et XV (1874) by Titus Tobler.
Peregrinatio Frotmundi. Peregrinatio Frotmundi (De S. Fromundo seu Prodomundo Espisco) is the account of a Frankish nobleman named Fromond who traveled with his brothers to Jerusalem in the mid-9th century in order to expiate a crime. Fromond is the first known penitent to travel to the Holy Land for salvation. In Acta Sanctorum (Aa. Ss.) 58.
Bernard the Pilgrim. Bernard the Pilgrim (fl. 865), a Frankish monk.
Ahmad ibn Rustah. Ahmad ibn Rustah (died after 903), a Persian explorer and geographer who wrote a geographical compendium known as Kitāb al-A‘lāq al-Nafīsa (Book of Precious Records), describing his travels to Europe, Russia and Arabia.
Al-Maqdisi. Al-Maqdisi (c. 945 – 991), an Arab geographer, also known as Mukaddasi, whose travels were documented in PPTS III.4.
Fulk III of Anjou. Fulk III, Count of Anjou (Foulque Nerra) undertook four penitential pilgrimages to the Holy Land between 1003 and 1038.
Lietbertus. Lietbertus (1010–1076), a bishop of Cambrai who attempted a pilgrimage to Jerusalem in 1054, only reaching as far as Cyprus. This is described in Raoul of Saint-Sépulcre's Vita Lietberti (cf. Luc d'Achery, Spicilegium IX). According to Miracula Sancti Wolframni Senonensis, Lietbertus met pilgrims who had been turned away from Jerusalem. It is reported that the Muslims also ejected some 300 pilgrims from the city in 1056.
Nasir Khusraw. Nasir Khusraw (1004–1088), also known as Nasir-i-Khusrau, a Persian writer.
Pilgrimages that took place during the Crusades include the following.
Henry of Portugal. Henry, Count of Portugal (c. 1066 – 1112) fought in the Reconquista with Raymond of St. Gilles and traveled to the Holy Land between 1101 and 1103. The return date is verified by the charters of his father-in-law Alfonso VI of Leon and Castile.
Sæwulf. Sæwulf, an English pilgrim who travelled to the Holy Land from 1102 to 1103.
Erik I of Denmark. Erik I of Denmark (c. 1060 – 1103) and his wife Boedil Thurgotsdatter were the first monarchs to attempt to travel to Jerusalem following the First Crusade, beginning their journey in 1103. Erik died en route in Cyprus and Boedil died in Jerusalem. Their journey is described in the Knýtlinga saga.
Hugh of Troyes. Hugh of Troyes (c. 1074 – c. 1125) was the count of Champagne who traveled three times to Jerusalem in the early 12th century. Following an assassination attempt in 1104, he left for the Holy Land where he would stay until sometime in 1107. In 1114, he made another trip to the Holy Land. He was accompanied by First Crusader Edard I of Brienne and Hugh's vassal Hugues de Payens. Hugues would later establish the Knights Templars in 1118. Hugh of Troyes returned to France in 1116, returning to Jerusalem in 1125 where he died. His travels are attested to in his many charters.
Daniel the Pilgrim. Daniel the Pilgrim (fl. c. 1107), also known as Daniel the Higumenos (abbot), was an Eastern Christian who traveled from Kievan Rus’ to the Holy Land.
Peter Chrysolan. Peter Chrysolan (died after 1113), also known as Grosolanus. Archbishop of Milan from 1102 to 1112 who went on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 1111.
Jindřich Zdík. Jindřich Zdík (c. 1083 – 1150), also known as Henry Zdik, was bishop of Olomouc from 1126 to 1150. He went on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 1137/1138. After his journey, he wrote a Descriptio Terra Sancte (Description of the Holy Places).
Fretellus. Rorgo Fretellus (fl. 1119–1154), a Frankish priest in the Kingdom of Jerusalem.
Charles the Good. Charles the Good (1084–1127) was count of Flanders who traveled to the Holy Land in 1107 or 1108. His travels and subsequent murder were chronicled by Galbert of Bruges in his De multro, traditione et occisione gloriosi Karoli comitis Flandriarum, published sometime after 1128. Galbert also reported that Charles was offered the throne of the Kingdom of Jerusalem during the captivity of Baldwin II of Jerusalem in 1123, and that Charles refused.
John of Würzburg. John of Würzburg (fl. 1160s), a German priest who traveled to the Holy Land in the 1160s.
John Phocas. John Phocas (fl. 12th century), a Byzantine traveler to the Holy Land.
Libellus de Locis Sanctis. Libellus de Locis Sanctis (Little Book of the Holy Places) is a 12th-century travelogue for use by pilgrims on their travels to the Holy Land written by an unknown monk named Theoderich who traveled to Palestine around 1172. In PPTS V.4.
Benjamin of Tudela. Benjamin of Tudela (1130–1173) was a Jewish Spaniard whose travels in 1166–1172 through Europe, Asia and Africa.
Orkneyinga saga. The Orkneyinga saga, also called the History of the Earls of Orkney, is a narrative of the history of the Orkney and Shetland islands and their relationship with Norway and Scotland. It was first written in the 12th century and updated several times afterward. Many of the pilgrimages of the Scandinavians are discussed in the saga.
Euphrosyne of Polotsk. Euphrosyne of Polotsk (before 1104 – 1173), a Belarus princess, the granddaughter of Vseslav the Sorcerer, who took a pilgrimage to Jerusalem c. 1173.
Henry the Liberal. Henry I of Troyes (1127–1181), also known as Henry the Liberal, was count of Champagne who took part in the Second Crusade. In 1179, he took a pilgrimage to Jerusalem accompanied by a group that included Peter of Courtenay, Philip of Dreux, Ertaud the Chamberlain, William Marshal (not the William Marshal below), Theobaldus de Fimis, Peter of Langres, Count Henry of Grandpré, Geoffrey (brother of Henry of Grandpré), Robert of Milly, Milo of Pevinno, William of Saint Maur and Petro Bristaudo. On his return, Henry was captured by Kilij Arslan II and ransomed by emperor Manuel I Komnenos. The account of his travels have been gleaned from his many charters.
Later Jewish Travelers. Numerous Jewish travelers went from Europe to the Holy Land in the 12th century and later. These include Samuel ben Sampson (fl. 1210) and Petachiah of Regensburg (died c. 1225). Their accounts have been documented by the 19th-century French scholar Eliakim Carmoly in his Itinéraires de la Terre Sainte (1847) and translation of Sibbub Rab Petachyah (Travels of Rabbi Petachia of Ratisbon, 1831)
Ibn Jubayr. Ibn Jubayr (1145–1217), an Arab geographer and traveler.
Hakon Paulsson. Haakon Paulsson (died c. 1123) was a Norwegian Jarl who traveled to Jerusalem in 1120 and whose account is presented in the Orkneyinga saga written by an unknown Icelandic author.
Peter Diaconus. Peter Diaconus (1107 – c. 1140), also known as Peter the Deacon, was a librarian at the monastery of Monte Cassino and, while having never traveled to the Holy Land, wrote the travelogue Liber de Locis sancti based on the accounts of pilgrims to Jerusalem. In CSEL 39.
Nikulas of Munkethverâ. Nikulas of Munkethverâ (died 1169), an Icelandic abbot who visited Jerusalem from 1149 to 1153.
Al-Harawi. Ali ibn Abi Bakr al-Harawi (died 1215), a Persian Sufi ascetic traveler.
Anthony of Novgorod. Anthony of Novgorod (1190–1232), archbishop of Novgorod.
William Marshal. William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke (c. 1146 – 1219) was a knight-errant to five English kings who traveled to the Holy Land in 1184–1186. His anonymous biography Histoire de Guillaume le Maréchal was written in 1226.
Margaret of Beverley. Margaret of Beverley (died c. 1215) was an English pilgrim who participated in the Siege of Jerusalem in 1187.
Wilbrand of Oldenburg. Wilbrand of Oldenburg (before 1180 – 1233) was a German bishop who served as ambassador to the Kingdom of Jerusalem in 1212.
Morkinskinna. The Morkinskinna is an Old Norse kings' saga written in Iceland around 1220 that includes the exploits of Sigurd Jorsalfar.
Heimskringla. The Heimskringla is the most famous of the Old Norse kings' sagas written around 1225 by Icelandic historian Snorri Sturluson (1179–1241).
Giovanni da Pian del Carpine. Giovanni da Pian del Carpine (c. 1185 – 1252), also known as John Pianô del Carpine, was a Franciscan missionary who was one of the first explorers to reach the Mongol empire. His travels from 1245 to 1247 were documented in his Ystoria Mongalorum, also referred to as Historia Mongalorum quos nos Tartaros appelamus (History of Mongols and Tartars). Pian del Carpine was accompanied on his journey by Stephen of Bohemia and Benedict of Poland who wrote the short chronicle De itinere Fratrum Minorum ad Tartaros (On the Journey of the Franciscan Friars to the Tatars) and the longer Hystoria Tartarorum (History of the Tartars, or Tartar Relation). Some of the material in The Travels of Sir John Mandeville (c. 1371) is believed to have derived from del Carpine's work.
Knýtlinga saga. The Knýtlinga saga is an Icelandic work that deals with the kings of Denmark, including Erik I of Denmark, after the early 10th century. It was written in the 1250s likely by Icelandic scholar Óláfr Þórðarson.
William of Rubruck. William of Rubruck (fl. 1253 – 1255), a Flemish Franciscan missionary who accompanied Louis IX of France on the Seventh Crusade and, in 1253, set out on a journey to Mongol territory. His report of his travels called Itinerarium fratris Willielmi de Rubruquis de ordine fratrum Minorum, Galli, Anno gratiae 1253 ad partes Orientales was presented to Louis IX in 1255.
Marco Polo. Marco Polo (1254–1324) was an Italian explorer who traveled in Asia from Persia to China in 1271–1295. He documented his exploits in The Travels of Marco Polo. In particular, he wrote of the Assassins at Alamut Castle.
Rabban Bar Sauma. Rabban Bar Sauma (1220–1289) was a Turkic monk who traveled from Mongol-controlled China to Jerusalem from 1287 to 1288 and recorded his activities in The Monks of Kublai Khan, Emperor of China, translated by E. A. W. Budge. He also wrote a biography of his traveling companion Nestorian Yahballaha III. In ROL, Vol II, III.
Burchard of Mount Sion. Burchard of Mount Sion (fl. 1283) was a German friar who took a pilgrimage to the Holy Land from 1274 to 1284 and documented his travels in Descriptio Terrae Sanctae (Description of the Holy Land), one of the last detailed accounts prior to 1291. Burchard traveled to Cyprus and was received by Henry II of Jerusalem and later prepared a plan for an eventual crusade to retake Jerusalem. In PPTS XII.1.
Some pilgrimages are referred to as crusades, especially if the journey resulted in some military activity. The primary examples are the following.
Norwegian Crusade. Norwegian Crusade (1107–1110). Also known as the Crusade of Sigurd Jorsalfar, king of Norway. More of a pilgrimage than a crusade, it did include the participation in military action, with the king's forces participation in the siege of Sidon. Accompanied by Áláskr Hani, Hámundr Thorvaldsson of Vatnsfjord, and Arni Fjöruskeiv. This crusade marks the first time a European king visited the Holy Land. This crusade is described in Heimskringla, by Icelandic historian Snorri Sturluson, and in Morkinskinna.
Crusade or Pilgrimage of Fulk V of Anjou. The future king of Jerusalem Fulk V of Anjou traveled to the Holy Land from 1120 to 1122 and joined the Knights Templar, according to Ordoric Vitalis' Historia Ecclesiastica (c. 1141).
Pilgrimage of Rognvald Kali Kolsson. The pilgrimage of Rognvald Kali Kolsson (1151–1153). Also known as the Crusade of Rognvald Kali Kolsson. In 1151, Rognvald set out on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land as described in the Orkneyinga saga. The earl's party left Orkney in the late summer of 1151 in fifteen ships, with six sailing to Jerusalem while Rognvald stopped in Narbonne. After visiting Jerusalem, the party returned via Constantinople, where they were received by the emperor, then sailed to Apulia where they took horses for the journey to Rome, arriving back in Orkney in time for Christmas 1153.
Crusade or Pilgrimage of Henry the Lion. A pilgrimage to Jerusalem by Henry the Lion in 1172 was documented by Arnold of Lübeck in his Chronicae Slavorum (1209), often referred to as a crusade.
Crusade of Henry of Mecklenburg. Henry I, Lord of Mechlenburg (died 1302) went on a crusade or pilgrimage to the Holy Land c. 1275 and was captured by the Egyptians and held for 32 years. The only known reference to this is by Thomas Fuller in his Historie of the Holy Warre, where it is referred to as the Last Voyage.
Kirakos Gandzaketsi. Kirakos Gandzaketsi (c. 1200 – 1271), an Armenian historian.
Riccoldo da Monte di Croce. Riccoldo da Monte di Croce (c. 1243 – 1320) was an Italian Dominican friar, travel writer, missionary, and Christian apologist. He is most famous for his polemical works on Medieval Islam and the account of his missionary travels to Baghdad.
Rustichello da Pisa. Rustichello da Pisa (fl. late 13th century), an Italian romance writer who shared a prison cell with Marco Polo in Genoa.
Ibn Battūta. Ibn Battūta (1304–1369), a Moroccan scholar and explorer.
Fourteenth-century Franciscan pilgrims. Noted Franciscan pilgrims to the Holy Land and beyond in the 14th century include:
Francesco Balducci Pegolotti. Francesco Balducci Pegolotti (c. 1290 – 1347), a Florentine merchant and politician.
John Mandeville. John Mandeville (fl. 14th century), claiming to be an English knight, but more likely a Benedictine monk named Jehan a la Barbe or Jan de Langhe. An English-language edition of his work earned him the spurious credit of being “the father of English prose." (cf. French Wikipedia, Jean le Long d'Ypres)
James of Verona. James of Verona (c. 1290 – after 1335), an Augustinian friar who made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 1335 and wrote an account of his travels in Latin.
Ludolf von Sudheim. Ludolf von Sudheim (fl. 1340), also known as Ludolf of Suchem, a traveler to the Holy Land from 1336 to 1341.
Giovanni de' Marignolli. Giovanni de' Marignolli (before 1290 – after 1353), an Italian traveler to China, also known as Jean de Marignolli.
Thomas Swinburne. Sir Thomas Swinburne (c. 1357 – 1412), an English member of Parliament.
John Poloner. John Poloner (fl. 1422), a German traveler.
Niccolò de' Conti. Niccolò de' Conti (c. 1395 – 1469), an Italian merchant, explorer, and writer, who traveled to India and other Asian destinations. His travels were used to help create the 1450 Fra Mauro map.
William Wey. William Wey (c. 1407 – 1476), an English traveller and author.
Bertrandon de la Broquière. Bertrandon de la Broquière (1400–1459), a Burgundian spy and pilgrim.
Ambrogio Contarini. Ambrogio Contarini (1429–1499), a Venetian nobleman, merchant and diplomat known for an account of his travel to Persia. Among his adventures was a meeting with Persian ruler Uzun Hassan.
Giosofat Barbaro. Giosafat Barbaro (1413–1494), also known as Josafa Barbaro, a diplomat, merchant, explorer and travel writer.
Hans Lochner. Hans Lochner (died 1491), personal physician to Frederick I, Elector of Brandenburg (1371–1440) who accompanied his sons on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem in 1435.
Marino Sanuto. Marino Sanuto (1466–1536), a Venetian historian and diarist, known as the Younger to distinguish from Marino Sanuto the Elder.
Felix Fabri. Felix Fabri (1441–1502), a Swiss Dominican theologian who travelled to the Holy Land.
William Wey. William Wey (c. 1407 – 1476), an English traveller and author.
Pietro Casola. Pietro Casola (1427–1507) was a Catholic canon who took a journey to Jerusalem in 1494, documenting his travels in a journal.
William Lily. William Lily (c. 1468 – 1522), an English classical grammarian and scholar.
Richard Guildford. Sir Richard Guildford (Guylforde) (c. 1450 – 1506), an English courtier serving Henry VII of England, including as Master of the Ordnance.
Ludovico di Varthema. Ludovico di Varthema (c. 1470 – 1517), an Italian traveler who was one of the first non-Muslim Europeans to enter Mecca as a pilgrim.
Jean Thenaud. Jean Thenaud (1480–1542/1546), a Franciscan friar and traveler. (cf. French Wikipedia, Jean Thenaud)
Denis Possot. Denis Possot (16th century), a French monk and traveler.
Andrew Boorde. Andrew Boorde (c. 1490 – 1549), an English traveler, physician and writer.
Jérôme Maurand. Jérôme Maurand (16th century), a French priest of Antibes.
Jean Chesneau. Jean Chesneau (fl. 1520–1553), a French writer and secretary to Gabriel de Luetz d'Aramon, the French ambassador to the Ottoman Empire.
Anthony Jenkinson. Anthony Jenkinson (1529–1611), an English merchant, sea-captain, traveler, and explorer on behalf of the Muscovy Company. In 1546, Jenkinson was sent into the Levant as training for a mercantile career. Later, he visited Turkey, Western Asia, the Holy Land and Cyprus.
Noé Bianco. Noé Bianco (died 1568), a Venetian traveler and merchant, also known as Joanne Cola.
Antoine Regnaut. Antoine Regnaut (fl. late 16th century), a French merchant and writer. Regnaut traveled to Jerusalem in 1549 and was dubbed Knight of the Holy Sepulchre.
Richard Hakluyt. Richard Hakluyt (1553–1616), an English author, editor and translator. Recognizing his contributions, the Hakluyt Society was founded in 1846, printing rare and unpublished accounts of voyages and travels.
Samuel Purchas. Samuel Purchas (c. 1577 – 1626), an English cleric who published a twenty-volume set of reports by international travelers.
Henry Timberlake. Henry Timberlake (1570–1625), a London ship captain and merchant adventurer. Timberlake traveled on his ship, the Troyan, to Egypt in 1601, and proceeded on land to Jerusalem.
George Sandys. George Sandys (1578–1644), an English traveler, colonist, poet, and translator. Sandys' writings influenced contemporary literature and other disciplines including art, archaeology and geography. Sandys is considered to be the first English Egyptologist.
Thomas Herbert. Sir Thomas Herbert, 1st Baronet (1606–1682), an English historian and explorer of Persia and the Far East.
Fynes Moryson. Fynes Moryson (1566–1630), an English traveler.
Gabriel Sionita. Gabriel Sionita (1577–1648), a Lebanese Maronite orientalist and author.
Evliya Çelebi. Evliya Çelebi (1611–1682), a Turkish explorer who traveled throughout the Ottoman Empire and surrounding lands over a period of 40 years.
Jean de Thévenot. Jean de Thévenot (1633–1667), a French traveler in the East and a linguist, natural scientist and botanist.
Nathaniel Crouch/Robert Burton. Nathaniel Crouch (born c. 1632), an English printer, bookseller and historical author. Crouch wrote under the pseudonym Robert or Richard Burton (sometimes, R.B.).
George Wheler. Sir George Wheler (1651–1724), an English clergyman and travel writer.
Gabriel Gerberon. Gabriel Gerberon (1628–1711), a Jansenist monk at the abbey of St. Denis.
Other 17th and 18th Century Travelers. Lesser-known English travelers to the Middle East in the 17th and 18th centuries include the following.
Cornelis de Bruijn. Cornelis de Bruijn (1652 – c. 1727), a Dutch artist and traveler.
Laurent d'Arvieux. Laurent d'Arvieux (1635–1702), a French traveler and diplomat. From 1658 to 1666, traveled to the Levant and later served as consul to Aleppo from 1679 to 1686.
Henry Maundrell. Henry Maundrell (1665–1701), an English academic and cleric who served as chaplain to the Levant Company in Syria.
Jean de la Roque. Jean de la Roque (1661–1745), a French traveler and journalist. (cf. French Wikipedia, Jean de Laroque)
Thomas Shaw. Thomas Shaw (1694–1751), an English cleric and traveler.
John Montagu. John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich (1718–1792), a British statesman.
Robert Clayton. Robert Clayton (1695–1758), an Irish Protestant bishop.
Alexander Drummond. Alexander Drummond (died 1769), a Scottish author and British consul to Aleppo.
Pierre Joseph de Beauchamp. Pierre Joseph de Beauchamp (1752–1801), a French missionary, diplomat, geographer and astronomer. Also known as Abbé de Beauchamp. (cf. Norwegian Wikipedia, Pierre Joseph de Beauchamp)
Louis-François de Ferrières-Sauvebeuf. Louis-François, count of Ferrières-Sauvebeuf (1762–1814), a French diplomat and adventurer. Recruited to take charge of secret missions in the Middle East and was assassinated in 1814. (cf. French Wikipedia, Louis-François de Ferrières-Sauvebeuf)
Robert Heron. Robert Heron (1764–1807), a Scottish writer.
William George Browne. William George Browne (1768–1813), an English traveler of Egypt and the Near East.
Gilles Boucher de La Richarderie. Gilles Boucher de La Richarderie (1733–1810), a French historian.
François-René de Chateaubriand. François-René, vicomte de Chateaubriand (1768–1848), a French writer, politician, diplomat and historian.
Frederic Shoberl. Frederic Shoberl (1775–1853), an English journalist, editor, translator, writer and illustrator.
Ernst Friedrich Karl Rosenmüller. Ernst Friedrich Karl Rosenmüller (1768–1835), a German orientalist and theologian.
Robert Kerr. Robert Kerr (1757–1813), a Scottish surgeon, writer on scientific subjects, and translator.
Joachim Heinrich Jäck. Joachim Heinrich Jäck (1777–1847), a German librarian and historian. (cf. German Wikipedia, Heinrich Joachim Jaeck)
William Martin Leake. William Martin Leake (1777–1860), an English officer, topographer, diplomat, antiquarian and author.
Julius Petzholdt. Julius Petzholdt (1812–1891), a German bibliographer. (cf. German Wikipedia, Julius Petzholdt)
Ludovic Lalanne. Ludovic Lalanne (1815–1898), a French historian and librarian.
Xavier Marmier. Xavier Marmier (1808–1892), a French author and traveler.
Thomas Wright. Thomas Wright (1810–1877), an English antiquarian and writer.
Valérie de Gasparin. Valérie Boissier, comtesse de Gasparin (1813–1894), a Swiss woman of letters and writer on religion, social topics and travel.
Gerhard Heinrich van Senden. Gerhard Heinrich van Senden (1793–1851), a Dutch traveler.
Richard H. Major. Richard Henry Major (1818–1891), an English geographer.
Henri-Victor Michelant. Henri-Victor Michelant (1811–1890), a French librarian, Romanist and medievalist. (cf. French Wikipedia, Henri-Victor Michelant)
C. W. M. van de Velde. Charles William Meredith van de Velde (1818–1898), a Dutch painter, cartographer and missionary.
Justin Taylor (Laorti-Hadji). Baron Isidore Justin Séverin Taylor (1789–1879), a French theater producer, traveler and author. Known as Laorti-Hadji in numerous sources including Tobler's Bibliographia Geographica Palestinæ.
Richard Francis Burton. Sir Richard Francis Burton (1821–1890), a British explorer, writer, translator and Arabist.
Alessandro Bassi. Alessandro Bassi (19th century), an Italian traveler.
Felix Geisheim. Felix Geisheim (19th century), a German historian featured in Tobler's Bibliographia Geographica Palestinæ.
Horatius Bonar. Horatius Bonar (1808–1889), a Scottish churchman, traveler and poet featured in Bibliographia Geographica Palestinæ.
Avraam Sergi︠e︡evich Norov. Avraam Sergi︠e︡evich Norov (Abraham von Noroff) (1795-1869), a Russian historian.
Henry Yule. Sir Henry Yule (1820–1889), a Scottish orientalist and geographer.
Titus Tobler. Titus Tobler (1806–1877), a Swiss oriental scholar.
Paul E. D. Riant. Paul Edouard Didier Riant (1836–1888), a French historian specializing on the Crusades.
Edward H. Palmer. Edward H. Palmer (1840–1882), an English orientalist and explorer. Member of the Palestine Exploration Fund.
Claude Reignier Conder. Claude Reignier Conder (1848–1910), an English soldier, explorer and antiquarian. Member of the Palestine Exploration Fund.
Surveys of the Holy Land. Surveys of the Holy Land were sponsored by the Palestine Exploration Fund, include works by the British explorers Claude R. Conder (1848–1910), Horatio Herbert Kitchener (1850–1916) and Edward Hull (1829–1917).
Charles Henri Auguste Schefer. Charles Henri Auguste Schefer (1820–1898), a French historian. (cf. French Wikipedia, Charles-Henri-Auguste Schefer)
Henri Cordier. Henri Cordier (1849–1925), a French linguist, historian, ethnographer and orientalist.
Charles Montagu Doughty. Charles Montagu Doughty (1843–1926), an English poet and explorer.
Edward H. Palmer. Edward Henry Palmer (1840–1882), an English orientalist and traveler.
James R. Macpherson. Rev. James Rose Macpherson, an English translator.
Stanley Lane-Poole. Stanley Edward Lane-Poole (1854–1931), a British orientalist and archaeologist.
Reinhold Röhricht. Reinhold Röhricht (1842–1905), a German historian of the Crusades, regarded as a pioneer with fellow German historian Heinrich Hagenmeyer (1834–1915) in the history of the kingdom of Jerusalem, laying the foundation for modern Crusader research.
Aubrey Stewart. Aubrey Stewart (1844–1916), an English historian and translator.
J. W. McCrindle. John Watson McCrindle (1825–1913), a Scottish philologist who translated the work Christian Topography by Greek merchant Cosmas Indicopleustes (fl. 6th century) who made several voyages to India during the reign of Justinian. His work contains some of the earliest and most famous world maps.
Kurt Villads Jensen. Kurt Villads Jensen, a professor of Medieval History at the University of Stockholm.
The study of the relics of Christianity is closely tied to pilgrimages as well as to the Crusades where relics were obtained either from the Holy Land or by theft from Constantinople. By the 3rd century, pilgrimages to the Holy Land had begun and the search for relics started in the 4th century by Saint Helena. Additional information on the translation of relics of the saints can be found in Bibliotheca Hagiographica Latina. Islam also recognizes relics dating from the time Abraham through that of the Prophet, known as the Sacred Trust, some of which are also relevant to Christianity.
The Recueil des historiens des croisades, Historiens occidentaux, Volume 5.VII, contains Documenta Lipsanographica ad I. bellum sacrum spectantia (Relics of the Holy Land), which is a collection of eleven accounts of relics of the Holy Land written from 1098 to 1125. Included are discussions of the translation of relics of Christ and the Virgin Mary, John the Baptist, Saints George, Nicholas, Basil and Stephen, the patriarchs at Hebron, among others.
Palestine Pilgrims' Text Society (PPTS). The Palestine Pilgrims' Text Society (PPTS), based in London, specialised in publishing editions and translations of medieval texts of pilgrimage's to the Holy Land. They began publishing in 1884, transferring to the Palestine Exploration Fund in 1189. The library of the Palestine Pilgrims' Text Society includes 13 volumes plus index and was published 1884–1896.
English Travelers through the Eighteenth Century. An overview to English travelers through the 18th century has been provided by Mohamad Ali Hachicho in his English Travel Books About the Arab Near East in the Eighteenth Century (1964), published in Die Welt des Islams.
Travelogues of the 18th to 20th Centuries. Travel accounts to Persia by Nader Nasiri-Moghaddam.
Hakluyt Society. The Hakluyt Society, a text publication society, founded in London in 1846. Publishes scholarly editions of primary records of historic voyages, travels and other geographical material. Named after English adventurer and author Richard Hakluyt.
Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins. Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins (Journal of the German Society for Exploration of Palestine) (1878–present), is a biannual journal covering research on the cultural history of the Levant.
Independent Crusaders Project. A database of Crusaders who travelled to the Holy Land independent of a major expedition, with source listings. Prepared and maintained by the Fordham University Center for Medieval Studies.