Burchard of Mount Sion

1283 Descriptio Terrae Sanctae

Burchard of Mount Sion, or Burchard de Mont Sion, also wrongly called Brocard or Bocard, was a German Dominican,pilgrim and author who travelled to the Middle East at the end of the 13th century.

He was in Palestine for 10 years between 1274 to 1284. He then visited Armenia where he wrote about the court of the king of Cilician Armenia. Burchard described the country of Cilician Armenia as submitted to Mongol domination,[1] and explains that Mongols were present at the royal Armenian court:

"Actually, I spent three weeks with the king of Armenia and Cilicia, who had with him some Tartars. The rest of the attendants were Christians, to the number of about 200. I saw them gather to go to church, listen to the office, bend the knee, and pray with devotion."
— Burchard of Mount Sion, 1282.[2]

Burchard wrote "Descriptio Terræ Sanctæ", said to be the best medieval work on Palestine. He makes careful and precise descriptions of his observations.

Burchard also wrote a plan for a crusade, in which he recommended the conquest of Orthodox Serbia and Constantinople as pre-requisites to the accomplishment of a Crusade. His plan is said to have been rather impractical, and to have displayed a dislike of Orthodox Christians, more than of Muslims themselves.[3]

In 1455 Philip the Good ordered Jean Mielot, canon of Lille, to translate the Descriptio Terrae Sanctae, by Burchard of Mount Sion (1283). Against a stylized and conventional background, the artist has set details which show authentic knowledge; one might even think that he had been to the Holy Land himself. At the foot, by the edge of the sea, stands a ruined stronghold, with a great tower. Perhaps this is Athlit, the Pilgrims Castle that the Templars abandoned in 1291.
The first town, bristling with minarets, may well be Ramleh; the one on the left is certainly Bethlehem, with its great basilica. Jerusalem is viewed from the west; the Dome of the Rock still retains its octagonal shape, although the bulbous dome is imaginary; to the right stands Al-Aqsa, shown as a church. On the left the Holy Sepulchre displays its large, open-topped dome, and its outer enclosure. In the foreground the Tower of David can be seen complete with its four corner towers. The Dome of the Ascension dominates the Mount of Olives, up which winds a zigzag road. One might even, with a varying degree of certainty, be able to identify also St. James, St. Anne, Saint Mary and the Hospital.

Burchard is one of the last pilgrims to travel to the Holy Land and write a full report before the fall of the Latin Kingdom in 1291.His account is important not only because of its systematic and yet selective content, but also because of the extent of the actualia included in his discussion.[4]

Notes

  1. ↑ "He starts by explaining that the country was "submitted to the domination of the Mongols"", in Mutafian, p.66
  2. ↑ Quoted in Mutafian, p.66
  3. ↑ Ruciman, p.440
  4. ↑ Folda,J. "Crusader Art in the Holy Land, From the Third Crusade to the Fall of Acre".pg 392

References

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