The Travels of Sir John Mandeville

The Travels of Sir John Mandeville is a 14th-century book detailing the travels of an English knight who claims to have gone to China and back. It blends elements of a guide to geography and a travel narrative, as Mandeville includes both places he claims to have personally visited and “objective” descriptions of regions without personal comment. It was an exceptionally popular book after its release, quickly being translated into multiple languages and becoming a staple of the travel literature genre. Offering a window into Medieval Depictions of the Exotic and the Other, The Interplay of Religion, Folklore, and Reality in the Medieval Mind, and The Lessons Christians Can Learn From Other Cultures, the book influenced how Middle Eastern, Asian, and African cultures were thought of in Europe and inspired later colonial explorers, including Christopher Columbus. However, the amount of misinformation contained within has led many to doubt the authenticity of the entire narrative. It is now widely believed that John Mandeville was a fictious character and that the real author traveled little, if at all. There are many theories about the book’s true authorship, but none have received wide support.

This study guide refers to the 2005 Penguin Classics edition translated and edited by C. W. R. D. Mosely.

Content Warning: The Travels of Sir John Mandeville reflects the proto-colonial and ethnocentric biases of 14th-century Europe, often depicting non-European societies in exoticized or fantastical ways. Mandeville also shows antisemitism and Islamophobia when discussing Judaism and Islam.

Summary

The Travels of Sir John Mandeville consists of a prologue and 34 subsequent chapters detailing the areas and peoples that the narrator claims to have seen on a journey from Europe, through the Middle East and North Africa, to East Asia and back. The book begins with Mandeville giving his reason for writing: He wants to satisfy widespread interest. Though the Crusades have ended, people still want to learn about the “Holy Land” (roughly, modern-day Israel and Palestine), so Mandeville set out to describe his travels. Starting in Europe, Mandeville records a vague route through the Byzantine Empire, Cyprus, Egypt (where he claims to have fought in the sultan’s army), and finally to Jerusalem. He claims this is the route many choose to take on pilgrimage, as it allows them to see the most distant regions first and then the return to Jerusalem, thereby saving time. Throughout his descriptions, Mandeville highlights areas of religious significance to Christians and occasionally gives information on supposed supernatural phenomena. He then maps out several possible routes back to Europe and alternative routes from Europe to the Holy Land.

Once Mandeville has detailed a standard route pilgrims might take to see Jerusalem, he shifts his focus to lands farther removed from Europe. He first tracks a route going through Chaldea (Southern Iraq), to Ethiopia (which he seems to believe encompasses lands near the Middle East and much of Africa) and then to India. India, in Mandeville’s view, is comprised of thousands of islands, which he charts a course through. In many locations, he gives information about the people who live there, who often have fantastical anatomy or engage in practices that would seem strange to Western European readers. Along the way he detours into a proof that the Earth is round and Jerusalem at its center.

Eventually, Mandeville reaches China, which he calls Cathay. Here he focuses on its Mongol rulers, talking about their power, history, and customs. He says he fought in wars alongside the Mongols when in China, helping them subjugate the remnants of the Song Dynasty (though in reality this happened long before Mandeville claims to have been in China). After this, he gives fantastical information on various lands between China and Europe until he moves on to the Indian kingdom of Prester John. Prester John, a mythical Christian king, is depicted as a powerful ruler (second only to the Mongol khan), who is unimaginably wealthy and devoted to fighting for God. Near his kingdom are more supernatural marvels that Mandeville describes. Beyond is a large stretch of wilderness—the paradise from which Adam and Eve were ejected, Mandeville claims.

To conclude the book, Mandeville claims that the pope has attested to the veracity of everything within. Encouraging more adventurers to find marvelous lands, Mandeville asks for the prayers of readers and hopes they will end up in heaven.