To geder schal sitte at the mete. Slowe the kyng and alle hys men. W Syth a non sone an swythe* Was Englond deled on fyve, That were nobyl and swythe ryche. That one hadde alle the londe of Kente, And in hys lond bysshopus tweye. The archebysshop of Caunturbery, Soussex, Southamptshire. As to the Mirabilia Mundi, mentioned in the statutes of New College at Oxford, in conjunction with these Poemata and Regnorum Chronica, the immigrations of the Arabians into Europe and the Crusades produced numberless accounts, partly true and partly fabulous, of the wonders seen in the eastern countries; which falling into the hands of the monks, grew into various treatises, under the title of Mirabilia Mundi. There were also some professed travellers into the East in the dark ages, who surprised the western world with their marvellous narratives, which could they have been contradicted would have been believed. At the court of the grand Khan, persons of all nations and religions, if they discovered any distinguished degree of abilities, were kindly entertained and often preferred. In the Bodleian library we have a superb vellum manuscript, decorated with antient descriptive paintings and illuminations, entitled, Histoire de Graunt Kaan et des MERVEILLES DU MONDE. The same work is among the royal manuscripts. A Latin epistle, said to be translated from the Greek by Cornelius Nepos, is an extremely common manuscript, entitled, De situ et Mirabilibus Indiæ. It is from Alexander the Great to his preceptor Aristotle: and the The first European traveller who went far Eastward, is Benjamin a Jew of Tudela in Navarre. He penetrated from Constantinople through Alexandria in Egypt and Persia to the frontiers of Tzin, now China. His travels end in 1173. He mentions the immense wealth of Constantinople; and says that its port swarmed with ships from all countries. He exaggerates in speaking of the prodigious number of Jews in that city. He is full of marvellous and romantic stories. William de Rubruquis, a monk, was sent into Persic Tartary, and by the command of S. Louis king of France, about the year 1245. As was also Carpini, by Pope Innocent the Fourth. Their books abound with improbabilities. Marco Polo a Venetian nobleman travelled eastward into Syria and Persia to the country constantly called in the dark ages Cathay, which proves to be the northern part of China. This was about the year 1260. His book is entitled De Regionibus Orientis. He mentions the immense and opulent city of Cambalu, undoubtedly Pekin. Hak. luyt cites a friar, named Oderick, who travelled to Cambalu in Cathay, and whose description of that city corresponds exactly with Pekin. Friar Bacon about 1280, from these travels formed his geography of this part of the globe, as maybe collected from what he relates of the Tartars. See Purchas Pilgr. iii. 52. And Bac. Op. Maj. 228. 235. d MSS. Bodl. F. 10. fol. prægrand. ad calc. Cod. The hand-writing is about the reign of Edward the Third. I am not sure whether it is not Mandeville's book. e Brit Mus. MSS. Bibl. Reg. 19 D i. 3. [The royal manuscript is a magnificent copy of the French translation of Marco Polo's travels, which it affirms to have been made in the year 1298.--EDIT.] f It was first printed à Jacobo Catalanensi without date or place. Afterwards at Venice 1499. The epistle is inscribed: Alexander Magnus Aristoteli præceptori suo salutem dicit. It was never extant in Greek. Greek original was most probably drawn from some of the fabulous authors of Alexander's story. There is a manuscript, containing La Chartre que Prestre Jehan maunda a Fredewik Empereur DE MERVAILLES DE SA TERRE. This was Frederick Barbarossa, emperor of Germany, or his successor; both of whom were celebrated for their many successful enterprises in the Holy Land, before the year 1230. Prester John, a Christian, was emperor of India. I find another tract, DE MIRABILIBUS Terræ Sanctæ. A book of Sir John Mandeville, a famous traveller into the East about the year 1340, is under the title of Mirabilia Mundi'. His Itinerary might indeed have the same title. An English title in the Cotton library is, "The Voiage and Travailes of Sir John Maundevile knight, which treateth of the way to Hierusaleme and of the MARVEYLES of Inde with other ilands and countryes." In the Cotton library there is a piece with the title, Sanctorum Loca, MIRABILIA MUNDI, &c. Afterwards the wonders of other countries were added: and when this sort of reading began to grow fashionable, Gyraldus Cambrensis composed his book De MIRABILIBUS HiberniæTM. Ibid. MSS. Reg. 20 A xii. 3. And in Bibl. Bodl. MSS. Bodl. E 4. 3. "Literæ Joannis Presbiteri ad Fredericum Imperatorem, &c." MSS. Reg. 14. C xiii. 3. i MSS. C. C. C. Cant. A iv. 69. We find De Mirabilibus Mundi Liber, MSS. Reg. ut supr. 13. E ix. 5. And again, De Mirabilibus Mundi et Viris illustribus Tractatus 14. C vi. 3. His book is supposed to have been interpolated by the monks. Leland observes, that Asia and Africa were parts of the world at this time "Anglis de sola fere nominis umbra cognitas. Script. Br. p. 366. He wrote his Itinerary in French, English, and Latin. It extends to Cathay, or China, before mentioned. Leland says, that he gave to Becket's shrine in Canterbury cathedral a glass globe enclosing an apple, which he probably brought from the East. Leland saw this curiosity, in which the apple remained fresh and undecayed. Ubi supr. Maundeville, on returning from his tra vels, gave to the high altar of S. Alban's It is printed among the Scriptores There is also another De MIRABILIBUS Anglia". At length the superstitious curiosity of the times was gratified with compilations under the comprehensive title of MIRABILIA Hibernia, Angliæ, et Orientalis. But enough has been said of these infatuations. Yet the history of human credulity is a necessary speculation to those who trace the gradations of human knowledge. Let me add, that a spirit of rational enquiry into the topographical state of foreign countries, the parent of commerce and of a thousand improvements, took its rise from these visions. I close this section with an elegy on the death of king Edward the First, who died in the year 1307. I. Alle that beoth of huert trewe P A stounde herkneth to my song, Of duel that Deth hath diht us newe. Of wham God hath done ys wille; Me thuncheth' that Deth has don us wrong II. Al Englond ahte forte' knowe: Of wham that song ys that y synge, Of Edward kyng that lith so lowe, Zent" al this world is nome con springe: Ant in werre war and wys; For him we ahte oure honden w wrynge, III. Byfore that oure kyng wes ded He speke ase mon that wes in care Y deze2 y ne may lyven na more; IV. Iche biquethe myn hirte aryht, That hit be write at mi devys, Over the sea that hue" be diht, V. Kyng of Fraunce! thou hevedest sunne, |