Holy Land Topography and Travel at the Time of the Crusades

This volume brings together fourteen studies relating to accounts of travel to the Holy Land at the time of the crusades written by pilgrims, crusaders and other visitors, discussing their descriptions of the topography of the land and the identification of the many towns, villages, castles, churches and holy places that they mention. The studies include new editions of various surviving texts, some of them published here for the first time. While most of these texts represent descriptions written by or for pilgrims, others include a description of Edessa and its region at the time of its loss in 1144, a list of properties and their rents in Jerusalem belonging to the Hospitallers of St John c.1157–63, a discussion of the places near Jerusalem granted to the Franks by the treaty made between Richard of Cornwall and the Ayyubids of Egypt in 1241, and two letters concerning the chapel established by Edward I of England for the Confraternity of St Edward the Confessor in Acre in 1271–72. Holy Land Travel and Topography at the time of the Crusades will be of interest to scholars, students and other readers interested in medieval pilgrimage to the Holy Land and the topographical identification of places mentioned in texts of the period.