The English Version.
First, zif a man come from the west syde of the world, as Engelond, Irelond, Wales, Skotlond or Norwaye; he may, zif that he wole, go thorge Almayne, and thorge the kyngdom of Hungarye, that marchethe to the lond of Polayne, and to the lond of Pannonye, and so to Slesie. And the Kyng of Hungarye is a gret lord and a myghty, and holdeth grete lordschippes and meche lond in his hond. For he holdeth the kyngdom of Hungarie, Solavonye and of Comanye a gret part, and of Bulgarie, that men clepen the lond of Bougiers, and of the Reme of Roussye a gret partie, whereof he hathe made a Duchee, that lasteth unto the lond of Nyflan, and marchethe to Pruysse. And men gon thorghe the lond of this lord, thorghe a cytee that is clept Cypron, and by the castelle of Neaseburghe, and be the evylle town, that sytt toward the ende of Hungarye. And there passe men the ryvere of Danubee. This ryvere of Danubee is a fulle gret ryvere; and it gothe into Almayne, undre the hilles of Lombardye: and it receiveth into him 40 othere ryveres; and it rennethe thorghe Hungarie and thorghe Greece and thorghe Traachie, and it entreth into the see, toward the est, so rudely and so scharply, that the watre of the see is fressche and holdethe his swetnesse 20 myle within the see.
And aftre gon men to Belgrave, and entren into the lond of Bourgres; [Footnote: Bulgaria.] and there passe men a brigge of ston, that is upon the ryver of Marrok. [Footnote: The river Maros.] And men passen thorghe the lond of Pyncemartz, and comen to Greece to the cytee of Nye, and to the cytee of Fynepape, and aftre to the cytee of Dandrenoble, [Footnote: Adrianople.] and aftre to Constantynoble, that was wont to be clept Bezanzon.
CAPVT. 3.
De vrbe Constantinopoli, et reltquijs ibidem contentis.
Constantinopolis pulchra est Ciuitas, et nobilis, triangularis in forma, firmitérque murata, cuius duæ partes includuntur mari Hellesponto, quòd plurimi modò appellant brachium sanctì Georgij, et aliqui Buke, Troia vetus. Versus locum vbi hoc brachium exit de mari est late terræ planities, in quâ antiquitus stetit Troia Ciuitas de qua apud Poetas mira leguntur sed nunc valdè modica apparent vestigia Ciuitatis. In Constantinopoli habentur multa mirabilia, ac insuper multæ sanctorum venerandæ relliquæi, ac super omnia, preciosissimi Crux Christi, seu maior pars illius, et tunica inconsutilis, cum spongia et arandine, et vno clauorum, et dimidia parte coronæ spineæ, cuius altera medietas seruatur in Capetla Regis Franciæ, Parisijs. Nam et ego indignus ditigenter pluribus vicibus respexi partem vtrámque: dabatur quóque mihi de illa Parisijs vnica spina, quam vsque nunc preciose conseruo, et est ipsa spina non lignea sed uelut de iuncis marinis rigîda, et pungitiua. [Sidenote: Eclesia sanctæ Sophiæ] Ecclesia Constantinopolitana in honorem sanctæ Sophiæ, id est, ineffabilis Dei sapientiæ dedicato dicitur, et nobilissima vniuersarum mundi Ecclesiarum, tam in schemate artificiosi operis, quàm in seruatis ibi sacrosanctis Relliquijs: [Sidenote: Regina Helena Britanna] nam et continet corpus sancte Annæ matris nostræ Dominæ translatum illuc per Reginam Helenam ab Hierosolymis: et corpus S. Lucæ Euangelistæ translatum de Bethania Iudeæ; Et Corpus beati Ioannis Chrysostomi ipsius Ciuitatis Episcopi, cum multis atlijs reliquijs preciosis; quoniam est ibi vas grande cum huiusmodi reliquijs velut marmoreum de Petra Enhydros; quod iugiter de seipso desudans aquam semel, in anno inuenitur suo sudore repletum. [Sidenote: Imago Iustiniani.] Ante hanc Ecclesiam, super columnam marmoream habetur de ære aurato opere fuscrio, magna imago Iustiniani quondam Imperatoris super equum sedentis, fuit autem primitus in manu imaginis fabricata sphæra rotunda, quæ iam diu è manu sua sibi cecidit, in signum quòd Imperator muliarum terraram dominium perdidit. Námque solebat esse Dominus, Romanorum Græcorum, Asiæ, Syriæ, Iudeæ, Ægypti, Arabiæ, et Persiæ, at nunc solum retinet Greciam, cum aliquibus terris Greciæ adiacentibus, sicut Calistrum, Cholchos, Ortigo, Tylbriam, Minos, Flexon, Melos, Carpates, Lemnon, Thraciam, et Macedoniam totam: Súntque sub eo Caypoplij, et alti Pyntenardi, ac maxima pars Commannorum. Porrò imago tenet manum eleuatam et extentam in orientem, velut in signum cominationis ad Orientales infideles. De prædicta terra Thraciæ fuit Philosophus Aristoteles oriundus in Ciuitate Stageres, et est ibi in loco tumba eius velut altare, vbi et singulis annis certo die celebratur à populo festum illius, ac si fuisset sanctus. Temporibus ergò magnorum consiliorum conueniunt illuc sapientes terræ, reputantes sibi per inspirationem immitti consilium optimum de agendis. Item ad diuisionem Thraciæ et Macedoniæ sunt duo mirabiliter alti montes, vnus Olympus, alter Athos, cuius vltimi vmbra oríente sole apparet ad 76. miliaria, vsque in insulam Lemnon. In horum cacumine montium ventus non currit, nec aer mouetur, quod frequentèr probatum est per ingenium Astronomorum, qui quandóque ascendentes scripserunt, literas in puluere, quas sequenti anno inuenerunt quasi recentèr scriptas, et quia est ibi purus aer sine mixtione elementi aquæ necesse est vt ascendentes habeant secum spongias aquæ plenas pro adhelitus respiratione: In prædicta autem sanctæ sophiæ Ecclesia, (sicut ibidem dicitur,) voluit olim quidam Imperator corpus cuiusdam sui defuncti sepelire cognati: cuius cum foderetur sepulchrum, ventum est ad mausoleum antiquum in quo super incineratum corpus iacebat discus auri puri, et erat sculptum in eo literis Græcis, Hebraicis, et Latinis sic. Iesus Christus nascetur de Virgine, et ego credo in eum. Et erat simul inscripta data defuncti secundum modum illius temporis quæ continebat duo millia annorum ante incarnationem ipsius Christi de Maria Virgine. Seruatur quóque hodierno tempore eadem patina in Thesaurario eiusdem Ecclesiæ, et dicitur illud corpus fuisse Hermetis sapientis. Omnes quidem, terrarum, regionum et insularum homines, qui isti Greco obediunt Imperatori sunt Christiani, et baptizati, tamen variant singuli in aliquo articulo fidem suam a nostra vera fide Catholica, et diuersificant in multis suos ritus à ritibus Romanæ Ecclesiæ, quia iamdiu omiserunt obedire Pontifici Romano, dicentes, quoniam beatus Petrus Apostolus habuit sedem in Antiochia, quamuis passus fuit in Roma: [Sidenote: Patriarchæ Antiocheni authoritas.] Idcirco patriarcha Antiochenus habet in illis Orientalibus partibus similem potestatem, quàm Pontifex Romanus in istis Occidentalibus. Imperator etiam Constantinopolitanus creat eorum patriarcham, et instituit pro sua voluntate Archiepiscopos, et Episcopos, et confert dignitates, et beneficia, similiter inuenta occasione destituit, deponit, et priuat.
The English Version.
And there dwellethe comounly the Emperour of Greece. And there is the most fayr chirche and the most noble of alle the world: and it is of Seynt Sophie. And before that chirche is the ymage of Justynyan the Emperour, covered with gold, and he sytt upon an hors y crowned. And he was wont to holden a round appelle of gold in his hond: but it is fallen out thereof. And men seyn there, that it is a tokene, that the Emperour hathe y lost a gret partie of his londes, and of his lordschipes: for he was wont to be Emperour of Romayne and of Grece, of alle Asye the lesse, and of the lond of Surrye, of the lond of Judee, in the whiche is Jerusalem, and of the lond of Egypt, of Percye, of Arabye. But he hathe lost alle, but Grece; and that lond he holt alle only. And men wolden many tymes put the appulle into the ymages hond azen, but it wil not holde it. This appulle betokenethe the lordschipe, that he hadde over alle the worlde, that is round. And the tother hond he lifteth up azenst the est, in tokene to manace the mysdoeres. This ymage stont upon a pylere of marble at Constantynoble.
Of the Crosse and the Croune of oure Lord Jesu Crist.
[Sidenote: Cap. II.] At Costantynoble is the cros of our Lord Jesu Crist, and his cote withouten semes, that is clept tunica inconsutilis, and the spounge, and the reed, of the whiche the Jewes zaven oure Lord eyselle [Footnote: Vinegar] and galle, in the cros. And there is on of the nayles, that Crist was naylled with on the cros. And some men trowen, that half the cros, that Crist was don on, be in Cipres, in an abbey of monkes, that men callen the Hille of the Holy Cros; but it is not so: for that cros, that is in Cypre, is the cros, in the whiche Dysmas the gode theef was honged onne. But alle men knowen not that; and that is evylle y don. For profyte of the offrynge, thei seye, that it is the cros of oure Lord Jesu Crist. And zee schulle undrestonde, that the cros of oure Lord was made of 4 manere of trees, as it is conteyned in this vers,