Cross and Crescent Moon: Pilgrimages to the Holy Land

The author (1940, history lecturer at KU Brussels and Leuven) drew on thirty travel stories of pilgrims who, mainly in the second half of the 15th century, travelled from Western Europe to Jerusalem and the St. Catherine's Monastery in the Sinai. In doing so, he oriented himself broadly with historians. He describes in detail what kind of people they were, their motives, the routes they chose, how they travelled, the inconveniences and dangers. There was a lot of adventure in it: people were beset by heat, cold, storms, hunger and thirst. The journey often went over the Alps and from Venice by ship to Jaffa; thieves, robbers and pirates were eager for booty. The reader gets an idea of ​​how people lived and thought in the late Middle Ages and what significance religion had for this. Islam saw the pilgrims as a capital error and they looked strangely at the Eastern way of life and customs. Readers with a feeling for historical atmosphere and anecdotes will be happy to pick up the book. With 22 beautiful illustrations in color, 25 in black and white and 6 maps. Bibliography, notes and index.