When we left Jerusalem on the way to Bethlehem, the place of our Lord's nativity, distant six miles, we were shown the field in which Habakkuk was at work when the angel of the Lord ordered him to carry his meal to Daniel in Babylon, which is to the south, where Nebuchadnezzar reigned, but which is now the haunt of serpents and wild beasts. At Bethlehem there is a very large church in honour of St. Mary, in the middle of which is a crypt under a stone, the entrance of which is from the south, and the egress from the east, in which is shown the manger of our Lord, on the west side of the crypt. But the place in which our Lord cried, is to the east, having an altar where masses are celebrated. Near this church, to the south, is a church of the Blessed Innocents, the martyrs. One mile from Bethlehem, is the monastery of the Holy Shepherds, to whom the angel appeared at our Lord's nativity. Lastly, thirty miles to the east of Jerusalem is the river Jordan, on which is the monastery of St. John; in which space there are also many other monasteries. Among them, one mile to the south of the city of Jerusalem, is the church of St. Mamilla, in which are many bodies of martyrs slain by the Saracens, and diligently buried there by her.
We returned from the holy city of Jerusalem direct to the sea, where we took ship, and sailed sixty days in very great peril, from the violence of the wind. At length we landed at Mons Aureus, where is a crypt containing seven altars, and having above it a great forest; which crypt is so dark, that none can enter it without lamps. The abbot there is Dom Valentine. Thence we went to Rome, within which city, to the east, in a place called Lateran, is a well-built church in honour of St. John the Baptist, where is the special see of the popes; and there, every year, the keys are carried to the pope from every part of the city. On the west side of Rome is the church of St. Peter, the chief of the Apostles, where he rests; the magnitude of which is unequalled by any church in the whole world, and it contains a variety of ornaments. In which city repose innumerable bodies of saints.
Here I separated from my companions; I myself proceeded thence to St. Michael ad Duas Tumbas[54], which is a place situated on a mountain that runs out two leagues into the sea. At the summit of this mountain is a church in honour of St. Michael; the mountain is surrounded by the tide twice every day, at morning and evening, and men cannot go to the mountain until the sea retires. But on the Feast of St. Michael the sea does not join round the mountain when the tide comes in, but stands like walls to the right and left, so that on that day all who wish to perform their devotions there can pass to the mountain any hour of the day, which they cannot do on other days. There Phinimontius, a Breton, is abbot.
Now I will tell you how the Christians keep God's law both at Jerusalem and in Egypt. The Christians and Pagans have there such a peace between them, that if I should go a journey, and in the journey my camel or ass which carries my baggage should die, and I should leave everything there without a guard, and go to the next town to get another, on my return I should find all my property untouched. The law of public safety is there such, that if they find in a city, or on the sea, or on the road, any man journeying by night or by day, without a letter, or some mark of a king or prince of that land, he is immediately thrown into prison, till the time he can give a good account whether he be a spy or not.
The people of Beneventum, in their pride, slew their prince, Sichard, and did great injury to the Christian faith; then they had quarrels and contentions among themselves, until Louis, the brother of Lothaire and Charles[55], obtained the empire over them. And in Romania many crimes are committed, and there are bad people there, banditti and thieves, and so men cannot go to Rome to visit St. Peter, unless they join together in troops, and go armed. In Lombardy, under the reign of the aforesaid Louis, there is tolerably good peace. The Bretons also have peace among themselves; and it is there the custom that if any one injure another, a third immediately comes, whoever he may be who witnesses it, and takes up the cause of the injured man as though he were his neighbour. And if any one is proved to have stolen more than four deniers, they slay him, or hang him on a gallows[56].
I will add, in conclusion, that we saw in the village of Gethsemane squared marble stones of that fineness that a man might see any thing he liked in them, as in a looking-glass.
THE TRAVELS OF SÆWULF.
A.D. 1102 AND 1103.
I, Sæwulf, though conscious of my own unworthiness, went to offer up my prayers at the Holy Sepulchre; but, owing to my sins, or to the badness of the ship, being unable to proceed thither by the direct course on the open sea, I will commence with an enumeration of the different islands at which we touched.
Some pilgrims embark at Bari, others at Barlo (Barletta?), some at Siponte, or at Trani; while others take ship at Otranto, the entrance port of Apulia. We set sail from Monopoli, one day's journey from Bari, on Sunday, being the feast of St. Mildred[57]. But starting at an unlucky hour, as happened to us again on a subsequent occasion, we had not proceeded more than three miles, when the mercy of God alone saved us from perishing; for the same day the violence of the waves wrecked our vessel, but with God's help we all reached the shore in safety. We then went to Brandia[58], and again our ship, being refitted, set sail on an unlucky day[59], and reached the town of Corfu, on the eve of St. James the Apostle[60]. From thence we were driven by a tempest to the island of Cephalonia, which we reached on the 1st of August. Here Robert Guiscard died[61]; we also lost some of our party, which was the cause of sadness to us. We next touched at Polipolis[62]; after which we came to the celebrated island of Patras, the city of which we entered for the sake of praying to St. Andrew the Apostle, who suffered martyrdom and was buried here, but was afterwards translated to Constantinople. From Patras we went to Corinth, which we reached on the eve of St. Lawrence[63]. St. Paul preached the word of God here, and wrote an epistle to the citizens. In this place we suffered many contrarieties. Thence we sailed to the port of Hosta[64]; from which place we proceeded, some on foot, others on asses, to the city of Thebes, vulgarly called Stivas. On the eve of St. Bartholomew the Apostle[65], we came to Nigropont, where we hired another ship. Athens, where the Apostle Paul preached, is two days' journey from Corinth; St. Dionysius was born and taught there, and was afterwards converted by St. Paul. Here is a church of the blessed Virgin Mary, which has a lamp that burns always and never wants oil.