Thietmar (pilgrim)
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Thietmar or Dithmar was a German
Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...
pilgrim who visited the
Holy Land The term "Holy Land" is used to collectively denote areas of the Southern Levant that hold great significance in the Abrahamic religions, primarily because of their association with people and events featured in the Bible. It is traditionall ...
in 1217–1218 and wrote an account of his travels, the . According to his own account, Thietmar and a group of pilgrims set out from Germany "signed with and protected by the cross".Denys Pringle, ''Pilgrimage to Jerusalem and the Holy Land, 1187–1291'' (Ashgate, 2012), pp. 27–29. This would seem to indicate that he was a crusader, a conclusion accepted by Jaroslav Folda,Jaroslav Folda, ''Crusader Art in the Holy Land, From the Third Crusade to the Fall of Acre, 1187–1291'' (Cambridge University Press, 2005), pp. 121–124 and nn. but his account indicates that he was an unarmed pilgrim. From his work it can be seen that he was an educated man. He is sometimes called ''magister'' (teacher, German ), but the better manuscript tradition does not contain this word. He was probably a churchman from Westphalia and the leader of his group. He has been called a Franciscan friar, but the ''Chronicle'' of Nicholas Glassberger, written between 1491 and 1508, calls him a monk. Glassberger also wrote that he prepared his book for Pope Honorius III, although Glassberger may have inferred this from the text itself. He also associates the pope's receipt of the book with the preaching of the Fifth Crusade, which had begun under his predecessor,
Innocent III Pope Innocent III (; born Lotario dei Conti di Segni; 22 February 1161 – 16 July 1216) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 8 January 1198 until his death on 16 July 1216. Pope Innocent was one of the most power ...
. Thietmar's travels coincided with the outbreak of hostilities associated with the Fifth Crusade. He landed in
Acre The acre ( ) is a Unit of measurement, unit of land area used in the Imperial units, British imperial and the United States customary units#Area, United States customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one Chain (unit), ch ...
in the early summer or fall of 1217, when the city was already host to armies from Europe preparing to battle the Muslims. The truce was broken during his stay in the Holy Land and in several instances he was in a place just days or weeks before it saw serious fighting. In spite of this, Thietmar does not mention the crusade in his book. Thietmar's sojourn in the Holy Land involved two pilgrimages. The first was to see the icon of the Virgin Mary in
Our Lady of Saidnaya Monastery Our Lady of Saidnaya Patriarchal Monastery () is a monastery of the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch located in Saidnaya, Syria. It is one of the most ancient monasteries in the world and in the region of the Middle East and North Africa, traditio ...
in Syria. Starting from Acre, he went by way of
Nazareth Nazareth is the largest Cities in Israel, city in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. In its population was . Known as "the Arab capital of Israel", Nazareth serves as a cultural, political, religious, economic and ...
, Cana, Mount Tabor, Nein and
Tabgha Tabgha (, ''al-Tabigha''; , ''Ein Sheva'' which means "spring of seven") is an area situated on the north-western shore of the Sea of Galilee in Israel and a depopulated Palestinian village. It is traditionally accepted as the place of the feedi ...
to
Tiberias Tiberias ( ; , ; ) is a city on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee in northern Israel. A major Jewish center during Late Antiquity, it has been considered since the 16th century one of Judaism's Four Holy Cities, along with Jerusalem, Heb ...
, from where he followed the south shore of the
Sea of Galilee The Sea of Galilee (, Judeo-Aramaic languages, Judeo-Aramaic: יַמּא דטבריא, גִּנֵּיסַר, ), also called Lake Tiberias, Genezareth Lake or Kinneret, is a freshwater lake in Israel. It is the lowest freshwater lake on Earth ...
, crossed the river Jordan and went by way of Nawā, Maliḥa, Ṣanamayn and
Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...
to Saidnaya. From there he returned to Acre. He does not say by what route, presumably because it was the same one.Pringle (2012), pp. 3–4. In 1218, he set out from Acre on a second pilgrimage to
Saint Catherine's Monastery Saint Catherine's Monastery ( , ), officially the Sacred Autonomous Royal Monastery of Saint Catherine of the Holy and God-Trodden Mount Sinai, is a Christian monastery located in the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt. Located at the foot of Mount Sinai ...
in the Sinai. His account of this trip is the most detailed description of a pilgrimage in the Sinai from the 12th or 13th century. From Acre he went south by the coastal road to
Jaffa Jaffa (, ; , ), also called Japho, Joppa or Joppe in English, is an ancient Levantine Sea, Levantine port city which is part of Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel, located in its southern part. The city sits atop a naturally elevated outcrop on ...
, then inland to Ramla, from where he headed directly towards Bethlehem. He avoided
Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...
because the Muslim authorities were nervous about Christian pilgrims at that time. He and his party were arrested anyway and detained in the ''Asnerie'', the former donkey stables of the
Knights Hospitaller The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), is a Catholic military order. It was founded in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century and had headquarters there ...
by the Church of Saint Stephen just outside the Jerusalem. They were released only through the intervention of some Hungarian Muslims known to one of his fellow captives. From there he continued on to Bethlehem, from where he made an excursion to
Hebron Hebron (; , or ; , ) is a Palestinian city in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Hebron is capital of the Hebron Governorate, the largest Governorates of Palestine, governorate in the West Bank. With a population of 201,063 in ...
before returning to Bethlehem. He visited
Bethany Bethany (,Murphy-O'Connor, 2008, p152/ref> Syriac language, Syriac: ܒܝܬ ܥܢܝܐ ''Bēṯ ʿAnyā''), locally called in Palestinian Arabic, Arabic Al-Eizariya or al-Aizariya (, "Arabic nouns and adjectives#Nisba, laceof Lazarus (name), L ...
, then
Jericho Jericho ( ; , ) is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, and the capital of the Jericho Governorate. Jericho is located in the Jordan Valley, with the Jordan River to the east and Jerusalem to the west. It had a population of 20,907 in 2017. F ...
, then crossed the Jordan, after which he says he visited Zoar and
Ein Gedi Ein Gedi (, ), also spelled En Gedi, meaning "Spring (hydrology), spring of the goat, kid", is an oasis, an Archaeological site, archeological site and a nature reserve in Israel, located west of the Dead Sea, near Masada and the Qumran Caves. ...
west of the Dead Sea. Possibly he crossed the sea by boat, but more likely he was confused and in fact passed through
Mount Nebo Mount Nebo (; ) is an elevated ridge located in Jordan, approximately Height above sea level, above sea level. Part of the Abarim mountain range, Mount Nebo is mentioned in the Bible as the place where Moses was granted a view of the Promised L ...
and Madaba before picking up the King's Highway. Guided by
Bedouin The Bedouin, Beduin, or Bedu ( ; , singular ) are pastorally nomadic Arab tribes who have historically inhabited the desert regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia (Iraq). The Bedouin originated in the Sy ...
s, he followed this south through Heshbon, Rabba, Kerak, Shoubak,
Petra Petra (; "Rock"), originally known to its inhabitants as Raqmu (Nabataean Aramaic, Nabataean: or , *''Raqēmō''), is an ancient city and archaeological site in southern Jordan. Famous for its rock-cut architecture and water conduit systems, P ...
,
Mount Hor Mount Hor (Hebrew: , romanized: ''Hōr hāHār'') is the name given in the Hebrew Bible to two distinct mountains. One borders the land of Edom in the area south of the Dead Sea, and the other is by the Mediterranean Sea at the Northern border ...
and the Arabah to
Aqaba Aqaba ( , ; , ) is the only coastal city in Jordan and the largest and most populous city on the Gulf of Aqaba. Situated in southernmost Jordan, Aqaba is the administrative center of the Aqaba Governorate. The city had a population of 148, ...
on the Red Sea coast. He followed the western coast passed Pharaoh's Island until coming to Saint Catherine's. Afterwards he returned to Acre, although he does not describe his return journey. Thietmar's ('book of the pilgrimage') survives in full or abbreviated in eighteen manuscripts. An abbreviated version from a 14th-century manuscript of Basel was published in 1844 and again in 1851. A 13th-century copy from Ghent was also published in 1851. These texts belong to a later abbreviated and interpolated recension along with manuscripts from Munich and Berlin. Manuscripts more faithful to the original are found in Hamburg, Berlin, Rostock and Wolfenbüttel. An edition based on the Hamburg copy appeared in 1852. A third recension, intermediate in quality, is represented by a single manuscript in
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. The later pilgrim Burchard of Mount Sion made use of Thietmar's text in his own work.Pringle (2012), p. 50.


Editions

*J. A. Sprecher van Bernegg, ed
"Magister Thetmars Reise nach Palästina und Egypten, in Anfang des 13. Jahrhunderts"
In H. M. Malten, ed. ''Neueste Weltkunde''. Frankfurt, 1844, pp. 184–193. It reproduces only the first part of the travel report: Acre, Mt Tabor, Damascus, Mt Carmel, Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Mamre,
Bethany Bethany (,Murphy-O'Connor, 2008, p152/ref> Syriac language, Syriac: ܒܝܬ ܥܢܝܐ ''Bēṯ ʿAnyā''), locally called in Palestinian Arabic, Arabic Al-Eizariya or al-Aizariya (, "Arabic nouns and adjectives#Nisba, laceof Lazarus (name), L ...
, and
Jericho Jericho ( ; , ) is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, and the capital of the Jericho Governorate. Jericho is located in the Jordan Valley, with the Jordan River to the east and Jerusalem to the west. It had a population of 20,907 in 2017. F ...
. * T. Tobler, ed
''Magistri Thetmari iter ad Terram Sanctam anno 1217''
St Gall, 1851. *J. de Saint-Génois, ed. "Voyages faits en Terre Sainte par Thetmar en 1217 et par Burchard de Strasbourg en 1175 au 1225." ''Mémoires de l'Académie royale de Belgique'' 26 (1851), pp. 19–58. * J. C. M. Laurent, ed
''Magistri Thietmari historia de dispositione terre sancte''
Hamburg, 1852. *:A translation of Laurent's edition can be found in Denys Pringle, trans., ''Pilgrimage to Jerusalem and the Holy Land, 1187–1291'' (Ashgate, 2012), pp. 95–133.


References


Further reading

* * {{Medieval travelogues of Palestine 13th-century German writers Holy Land travellers