{"title":"John Mandeville","description":"Anthony Blake is Reader in Medieval Studies, Birkbeck College, London. He has published widely on various medieval topics, including Anglo-Jewish history, the poetry of Chaucer and Lydgate, the cult of St Edmund and fifteenth-century literature. His most recent book is Feeling Persecuted: Christians, Jews and Images of Violence in the Middle Ages.","products":[{"product_id":"the-travels-of-sir-john-mandeville-paperback","title":"The Travels of Sir John Mandeville - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe Travels of Sir John Mandeville\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eComplete 34 Chapters\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSir John Mandeville is the supposed author of The Travels of Sir John Mandeville, a travel memoir which first circulated between 1357 and 1371. The earliest surviving text is in French.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003e'FOR as much as the land beyond the sea, that is to say the Holy Land, that men call the Land of Promission or of Behest, passing all other lands, is the most worthy land, most excellent, and lady and sovereign of all other lands, and is blessed and hallowed of the precious body and blood of our Lord Jesu Christ; in the which land it liked him to take flesh and blood of the Virgin Mary....'\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBy aid of translations into many other languages, the work acquired extraordinary popularity. Despite the extremely unreliable and often fantastical nature of the travels it describes, it was used as a work of reference--Christopher Columbus, for example, was heavily influenced by both this work and Marco Polo's earlier Il Milione.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn his preface, the compiler calls himself a knight, and states that he was born and bred in England, in the town of St Albans. Although the book is real, it is widely believed that \"Sir John Mandeville\" himself was not. Common theories point to a Frenchman by the name of Jehan a la Barbe (or other possibilities discussed below).\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe most recent scholarly work suggests that The Travels of Sir John Mandeville was \"the work of Jan de Langhe, a Fleming who wrote in Latin under the name Johannes Longus and in French as Jean le Long\" (FR). Jan de Langhe was born in Ypres early in the 1300s and by 1334 had become a Benedictine monk at the abbey of Saint-Bertin in Saint-Omer which was about 20 miles from Calais. After studying law at the University of Paris, Langhe returned to the abbey and was elected abbot in 1365. He was a prolific writer and avid collector of travelogues, right up to his death in 1383.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51367728480479,"sku":"9781977545329","price":10.73,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/4tpwOQzT9z9781977545329.webp?v=1789113387"},{"product_id":"the-travels-of-sir-john-mandeville-paperback-1","title":"The Travels of Sir John Mandeville - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"The Travels of Sir John Mandeville\" which was written in Anglo-Norman French is believed to have first appeared sometime in the mid to late 14th century. It soon would be translated into many other languages and would subsequently be very popular in its time. While the identity of Sir John Mandeville is thought to possibly be based on a real historical figure the work seems to be largely one of fiction. \"The Travels of Sir John Mandeville\" depicts the wandering journey of an English knight to the holy land, the Middle East, the Far East, and lands beyond. While not as historically accurate as the earlier Marco Polo's \"Travels\", the work gained wide notoriety and is said to have influenced the explorer Christopher Columbus. A wildly fantastical tale of a medieval journeyman, \"The Travels of Sir John Mandeville\" is a read sure to bring out the explorer in all of us. This edition is printed on premium acid-free paper.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51368495743199,"sku":"9781420969108","price":14.38,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/gGEu39HwSF9781420969108.webp?v=1789128540"},{"product_id":"the-book-of-marvels-and-travels-paperback","title":"The Book of Marvels and Travels - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn his \u003cem\u003eBook of Marvels and Travels\u003c\/em\u003e, Sir John Mandeville describes a journey from Europe to Jerusalem and on into Asia, and the many wonderful and monstrous peoples and practices in the East. Written in the fourteenth century, the \u003cem\u003eBook\u003c\/em\u003e is a captivating blend of fact and fantasy, an extraordinary travel narrative that offers some revealing and unexpected attitudes towards other races and religions. It was immensely popular, and numbered among its readers Chaucer, Columbus, and Thomas More. Here Mandeville tells us about the Sultan in Cairo, the Great Khan in China, and the mythical Christian prince Prester John. There are giants and pygmies, cannibals and Amazons, headless humans and people with a single foot so huge it can shield them from the sun. Forceful and opinionated, the narrator is by turns learned, playful, and moralizing, with an endless curiosity about different cultures. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAnthony Bale provides a lively new translation along with an introduction that considers questions of authorship and origins, the early travel narrative, Crusading and religious difference, fantasy and the European Age of Discovery, and Mandeville's pervasive popularity and influence. The book includes helpful notes on historical context that provide insights into medieval culture and attitudes. There are also three maps, an index of places and a general index, and a note on medieval measurements. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAbout the Series\u003c\/strong\u003e: For over 100 years \u003cstrong\u003eOxford World's Classics\u003c\/strong\u003e has made available the broadest spectrum of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, voluminous notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51369591439583,"sku":"9780199600601","price":14.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/9z0feN2U1i9780199600601.webp?v=1789143433"}],"url":"https:\/\/blackandbarhe.com\/collections\/john-mandeville.oembed","provider":"Black \u0026 Barhe Bookstore","version":"1.0","type":"link"}