The Holy Land in the Middle Ages

In a region often caricatured by the images and rhetoric of crusade and jihad, it’s important to realize that through most of its medieval history the Holy Land was host to countless curious and devout travelers of all three faiths. They sailed to the same ports, walked and rode the same roads, lodged in the same cities and towns and visited and revered the same secular and sacred sites. The Holy Land in the Middle Ages: Six Travelers’ Accounts. Digital Edition offers important texts documenting these centuries of peaceful co-existence.

Version 1.0 of this completely revised and updated digital edition is now available. It presents texts written by medieval Christian, Muslim and Jewish travelers to the Holy Land, including: St. Jerome, The Pilgrimage of Holy Paula, c.382 CE * Paula & Eustochium, Letter to Marcella on the Holy Places, 386 * Mukaddasi of Jerusalem, Description of Palestine, 985 * Nâsir-i-Khusrau, Diary of a Journey through Syria and Palestine, 1047 * Theoderich of Würzburg, Guide to the Holy Land, c.1172 * Benjamin of Tudela, Description of the Holy Land, from his Itinerary, c.1173.

The Holy Land in the Middle Ages is fully searchable and can be navigated page-by-page like a traditional print book, accessed via the interactive table of contents of texts or images, or through the page-search feature. Hyperlinked references access the appropriate notes to the text and introductions, and a Bibliographical Guide completes the edition. Loaded onto a laptop computer, tablet or smart phone, this e-book provides the perfect companion to the student, the jet-seat or arm-chair traveler.