I KNOW of nothing more likely to be provocative of a literary war than the question of Sir John Mandeville's personal entity. Were I to express an opinion either way—that he was a real being, or that he never existed—fierce would be the criticism on my views, and much good ink be spilt, which might well be devoted to a better purpose, so that I prefer letting the reader form his own opinion thereon,—a course which will save everybody any trouble or vexation of spirit.

We labour under this difficulty—all that is known about him is what he tells us himself, and no one who reads the book can altogether trust his absolute verity. If his book is a mere compilation from other sources, so then is that of Odorico (who died January, 1331), which I place in an Appendix, and which agrees with Mandeville in so many particulars, that one might reasonably suppose him to be the "fellawe," or companion, whom he frequently mentions, and connect him with that Minorite friar from Lombardy (for Odorico was born at Udine or Friuli) who shrove them before their entrance into "y^e Valey of Divels."¹ According to his own account, he was a knight, that he was born at St. Albans, and that he left England on his wonderful voyage on 29th September, 1322. He informs us that he travelled through Asia Minor, Armenia, Tartary, Persia, Syria, Arabia, Upper and Lower Egypt, Libya, ChaldÆa, a large portion of Ethiopia, Amazonia, Lower India, and the greater part of Upper India, together with the neighbouring islands. If his narrative can be trusted, he lived in most friendly relations with the ruler of Egypt, whom he served in his war against the Bedouins, and was on such familiar terms that they would privately argue on religious topics, and he was even offered a richly dowered princess as a wife, if he would but change his creed, and become a Mahometan. If he can be believed, he wandered all over the then known world, and gratified his military instincts by helping the Emperor of China in his war against the sovereign of Manzi. He tells us that after thirty-four years of wandering and exile he returned to England, taking Rome in his way home, in order to get the Pope's Imprimatur to his book, for which he naÏvely gives as reason: "and, for as much as many men beleve not that they see with theyr eyen, or y^t they may conceiue & know in their mynde, therefore I made my way to Rome in my coming homewarde, to shew my boke to the holy father the pope, and tell him of the mervayles y^t I had sene in diverse countreys; so that he with his wise counsel wold examine it, with diverse folke y^t are at Rome, for there dwell men of all nations of the world, and a lytle time after whan he & his cousel had examined it all through, he sayde to me for a certayne that it was true, for he sayd he had a boke of latin contayning all that, and much more, of y^e which Mappa Mundi is made, the which boke I saw, & therefore the pope hath ratyfied & confirmed my boke in all poyntes." If any portion of this is true, it is probable that the "boke of latin" may have been Pliny, Solinus, or some other equally veracious writer.

As to the "Mappa Mundi" constructed from such sources, that at Hereford may be taken as a type of ideal geography of the time. This was almost contemporary with Mandeville, and is ascribed to the very early part of the fourteenth century. Indeed, it can be proved to be of this date, for, among other inscriptions on the map, is the following:-

Which may be thus translated:—

"All who have, or shall have, or shall read, or shall see this history—pray to Jesu in deity (or as God) that he may have pity on Richard of Haldingham and of Lafford, who has made and contrived it, that joy in heaven may be given unto him."

Richard of Haldingham, or Holdingham, whose real name was Richard de la Battayle, or de Bello,² held the prebend of Lafford (now Sleaford), in Lincoln Cathedral up to the year 1283, and afterwards held the prebend of Norton, in Hereford Cathedral. Hardy, in his edition of Le Neve's Fasti EcclesiÆ AnglicanÆ, says he was appointed to this stall in 1305. He was afterwards preferred to the Archidiaconate of Berkshire. Perhaps the best description of this map is in a paper read before the Geographical Society of Paris, 30th November, 1861, by M. D'Avezac, President of the Society, a translation of which may be found in the Gentleman's Magazine of May, 1863. He considers it to have been executed early in the year 1314, because Lyons was not annexed to France till the 30th of April, 1313, and gives other reasons, equally strong, in support of his argument.

Thus, then, we have a contemporary map as a guide, and on this Hereford map are portrayed all the monsters described by Mandeville—the one-eyed men, those with their heads in their breasts, even the big-footed one-legged man—all those things which are regarded as fable in Mandeville—are here drawn, and evidently must have been currently believed in. So that when Mandeville, or some subsequent editor, challenged the Mappa Mundi as confirmatory evidence, he clearly knew what he was about.

A strong presumption of his personal being is drawn from the fact that LiÈge is said to be the place of his burial, see Appendix Harl., 3589. 2, "qui obiit Leodii a.d. 1382." That he was believed to have lived at LiÈge is also shown in Appendix Grenville, 6728/3, where he is said to have written his book in the year 1355; and if Weever³ is to believed, he died there, but at an earlier date, namely, 1371. Speaking of St. Albans, he says: "This Towne vaunts her selfe very much of the birth and buriall of Sir Iohn Mandeuill Knight, the famous Trauailer, who writ in Latine, French, and in the English tongue, his Itinerary of three and thirty yeares. And that you may beleeue the report of the Inhabitants to bee true, they haue lately pensild a rare piece of Poetry, or an Epitaph for him, vpon a piller; neere to which, they suppose his body to haue beene buried, which I think not much amisse to set downe; for although it will not bee worth the reading, yet do but set it to some lofty tune, as to the Hunting of Antichrist, or the leke, I know it will be well worth the singing: marke how it runs.

"That he was borne heere in this Towne I cannot much deny; but I am sure that within these few yeares, I saw his Tombe in the Citie of Leege, within the Church of the religious house of the Guilliammits, with this Inscription vpon it, and the verses following hanging by on a table.

"Hic iacet vir nobilis D. Ioannes de Mandevile, Al;⁴ D. ad Barbam miles; Dominus de Campdi: natus de Anglia, Medicine professor, deuotissimus orator: et bonorum largissimus pauperibus erogator qui toto quasi orbe lustrato. Leodij diem vite sue clausit extremum. Ann. Dom. M.C.C.C.lxxi. Mens. Nouemb. die xvi.

ALIUD.

"The Churchmen will shew you here his kniues, the furniture of his horse, and his spurres, which he vsed in his trauells."

Thus speaks Weever, and nobody doubts but that there was a tomb of a Jehan de Maundeville in the Abbey of the Guilelmites,⁵ which is mentioned by Bollandus in his Acta Sanctorum (Februarius, Tom. 2, p. 481, edit. 1658) as "Domus de Motta extra Leodium, inchoata, anno CI?CCLXXXI." The abbey, or hospital, is now destroyed; but, as side proofs, let me give two extracts from different works of the eighteenth century. One, "AbrÉgÉ curieux et nouveau de l'histoire de Liege," &c. (no date), 24mo., p. 117. "L'HÔpital & la Chapelle de S. Guilleaume aux Faux-bourgs de S. Walburge furent fondez l'an 1330," and in "AbrÉgÉ Chronologique de l'histoire de Liege, jusqu'a l'annÉe 1784, &c." Liege, 1784, 12mo., p. 66. It says, "L'hÔpital & la chapelle de Saint Guillaume au fauxbourg de Sainte Walburge furent fondÉs l'an 1330."

As I said before, regarding Mandeville it must be a question of faith. If Weever is to be relied on, he was a physician, and from the fact of his wearing a beard, probably acquired in his eastern travels, he received the sobriquet of "ad Barbam." This title, however, is claimed for a certain "Jehan de Bourgoigne dit À la Barbe," but the bare fact of anyone wearing a beard in France, in the clean-shaven fourteenth century, was sufficient to make him remarkable.

If, again, Weever and others are to be relied on, he died in 1371, and it is a curious fact that the earliest French, or Romance, manuscript known in this country is one of that date, and, moreover, it is circumstantially dated, as will be shown hereafter. This MS. is in the Earl of Ashburnham's collection (catalogued Barrois 24), which every lover of literature will regret was not secured for the nation in its entirety. Its text is most beautiful, and the few illuminations are fine examples of fourteenth century French art. But what I want particularly to point out, is the curious coincidence of dates—absolutely contemporaneous. Whether there were any MSS. published before then I cannot tell, but here is a book published the year of his death, when inquiry would have proved easily whether such a man had ever lived, but the whole style of the MS. shows that he was well known as a traveller, and it is evidently copied from an earlier edition, as at the end it says, "Ce livre cy fist escrire honorables homes sages et discret maistre Gervaise crestien, maistre en medicine, et premier phisicien de tres puissant noble et excellent prince Charles, par la Grace de Dieu, roy de France, Escript par Raoulet dorliens lan de grace mil ccclxxj le xviij jour de Septembre."

Here we have an authentic date, which there could be no earthly reason to falsify, and this MS. was written—unless Weever and others are liars—during the man's lifetime. For, according to their authority, he did not die until November of that year, and we must not fail to remember that Liege was not a very far cry from Paris, and that his fame must have been great, or his book would never have been written as a present for the king, as it probably was.

This manuscript, being the earliest known, is also useful in another way. By some singular chance, all the English versions make out that Mandeville wrote his book first in Latin, then in French, and afterwards in English. But this manuscript settles the point, as it says, "Et sachies q~ je eusse cest livret mis en latin pour plus briefment deviser. Mais pour ce que pluseurs entendent mieulx rom~ant que latin je lay mis en rom~ant par quoy q~ chacun lentende." Which I translate: "And know that I should (or might) have written this book in Latin, for the sake of brevity. But, because more people know the Romance (or French) tongue, than Latin, I have written it in Romance, so that anyone may understand it." And this translation is endorsed by E. M. Thompson, Esq., the head of the MS. department in the British Museum. It all depends on the words "je eusse." They do not mean I had; and, even in modern French, might be used for I should have, although of course j'aurais would be better.

For many years he has been called the "father of English Prose," but this title, after the above, is doubtful, even if his existence is granted, and belongs of right to Wyclif.

Another book, and a very rare and curious one it is, is attributed to Mandeville. There is a copy of this book in the British Museum (C. 27, f. 2), which, although in Gothic letter, gives no clue as to its date, or place of birth, nor do any of the bibliographical authorities which I have consulted (and they are all that can be found in the British Museum) throw any light upon it. The museum authorities catalogue it as Lyons? 1530? Its title is "Le Lapidaire en francoys compose par messire Jehan de mandeuille chevalier." Its contents are of little worth, except that they contain a store of legendary lore relating to precious stones, such as are met with in most medieval treatises on jewels and it winds up with a prayer. The authorship of this book, too, must be a matter of faith, since it has nothing to guarantee it but its title-page.

It is somewhat singular too, that the Latin letter supposed to be written by Mandeville to King Edward the Third, and which is apropos of nothing, only exists in the French edition.

In the appended Travels of Oderico, the Minorite Friar, I have italicized many of the passages which are identical with Mandeville's description in order that the reader may have easier reference.

1: "And there were in our company two friers minours of Lombardy, & sayd, if any of us wold go in, they wold also, as they had sayd so, and upon trust of them we sayd that we wold go, & we dyd sing a masse, and were shriven & houseled, and we went in xiiii men, and whe we came out we were but x."

2: Havergal's Fasti Herefordenses, p. 161.

3: "Ancient Funerall Monuments, &c. Composed by the Travels and Studie of John Weever." Lond. 1631. It is exceedingly singular that a book published at Antwerp in 1584, "The Itinerarium per nonnullas GalliÆ BelgicÆ partes Abrahami Ortelii et Joannis Viviani," confirms Weever, in such almost identical words, that it is not worth while to append a translation. Ortelius, or Ortell, writes (p. 16):—"Est in hac quoq. regione Gulielmitaru Coenobium in quo epitaphiu hoc Joannis À Mandeuille excepimus: Hic iacet vir nobilis dn?s Jo?s de Mandeville al' dc?vs ad barbam, miles dn?s de CÃpdi, natus de Anglia, medici? p~f~essor devotissimvs orator et bonorum largissimvs pauperibus erogata qui toto quasi orbe lustrato leodii diem vite sue clavsit extremum a?no dn?i M^o CCC^o LXXI mensis nov?bre' die XVII.

"HÆc in lapide, in quo coelata viri armati imago, leonem calcantis, barba bifurcata, ad caput manus benedicens, & vernacula hÆc verba: Vos ki paseis sor mi povr lamovr deix proies por me. Clypeus erat vacuus, in quo olim laminam fuisse dicebant Æream, & eius in ea itidem coelata insignia, leonem videlicet argenteum, cui ad pectus lunula rubea, in campo coeruleo, quem limbus ambiret denticulatus ex oro. Eius nobis ostendebÃt & cultros, ephippioque, & calcaria, quibus usum fuisse afferebÃt in perigrando toto fere terrarum orbe, vt clarius eius testatur Itinerarium, quod typis etiam excusum passim habetur."

4: "Otherwise called the Bearded Knight."

5: An order founded by Sir William of Maleval—a hermit—who died 10th Feb., 1157. The order was somewhat austere, as the members went barefoot, and their fasts were almost continual. They have nearly all been absorbed into the Augustines.