Jacopo da Verona (ca. 1290-ca. 1345, esp. 1335)

by Zhao Luyang 赵鲁阳 (See Chinese translation)

Jacopo da Verona (alternative names) was probably born around 1290 in Verona, Italy. He was presumably an Augustinian friar but some historians have seen him as a Franciscan. He was a lecturer in the Order of the Hermits of St. Augustine (eremitarum sancti Augustini), and was related to Mastino I della Scala, who founded the Scaliger House of Lords of Verona. In 1335, Jacopo made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, and wrote the travel account entitled Liber Peregrinationis.

Rich in biblical quotes, this work is an extensive account of Jacopo's trip to the Holy Land. He intended it as a religious offering of devotions for meditation. Unfortunately, the original version of the book is lost and only one manuscript survives, dated 1424. It was copied by Johannem de Purmerende. However, there are many reprints of the version edited by Röhricht from 1880.

Jacopo da Verona’s book is of huge interest not only because of its extensive nature, but also because he included four illustrations to enhance his readers' understanding: The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the sacred sites of Sinai, the Sinai Peninsula and the Jordan river. Unfortunately, the copy of 1424 is missing several illustrations. For example, there is a blank page where the illustration of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre should be. The drawing of Sinai, however, is preserved in the 1424 version; it was reproduced by Betschart in 1996.

Reinhold Röhricht assumed, in 1880, that Jacopo was acting under the sovereign’s order when he travelled to the Holy Land; it was in order to understand the circumstances in the Orient. Röhricht came to this conclusion because of Jacopo's aggressive tone, which reminded him of the Crusades. His view may have been based on a misunderstanding, as Röhricht mistook Jacopo da Verona for Jacopo from Bern, and presumed that his journey took place in 1346/47 rather than in 1335.

In the preface to Liber Peregrinationis three short anonymous texts are included: a guide to the Holy Land with notes about existing indulgences, a prayer for the journey, and a blessing for John the Evangelist in Latin (benediction vini in amore Iohannis Evangeliste et Apostoli).

Jacopo began his journey in Verona, Italy, on the 7th of May 1335. He first went to Venice, where he boarded a ship for the Holy Land on the 30th of May. On his way to the Holy Land he passed Otranto in Italy, Crete in Greece and Cyprus. He reached Jerusalem on the 5th of August and then travelled to Bethlehem and the Jordan river. On the 23rd of August he reached Gaza and visited the sacred sites of Sinai. His onward journey from Gaza is difficult to reconstruct.

After Cairo, his account becomes unreliable. Such a long route via Galilee would not have been possible for such a short pilgrimage. Moreover, he did not provide dates after this point. It is most likely that he copied this paragraph from previous travel books, such as that by Burchard of Mount Sion. Röhricht also assumed that Jacopo da Verona used the geographical map of the Holy Land and Egypt that Marino Sanudo the Elder drew in 1321. Copying from former pilgrims was not seen as an act of plagiarism among travellers around this period. Referring to prior authorities was common to establish one’s own credibility, especially for amateur writers who not only wrote for themselves, but for a wider audience.

Liber Peregrinationis is characterised by its meticulous detail. One chapter considers the geographical and administrative structure of the Mamluk Sultanate in Egypt. It also describes the siege of Lajazzo (today’s Yumurtalık, Turkey), an encounter with an Armenian envoy in Damascus, and the burying of harbours in Syria and Egypt.

Jacopo urged his readers to experience the Holy Land as fully as possible. He himself had also tried not only to look very closely at sacred sites but also to touch them. He washed his hands in the Dead Sea, and also shamelessly recounts how he had his friends distract the Greek monks while he extracted a piece of the stone from the foundation where Jesus’ cross had stood. Yet Jacopo da Verona also criticises prior pilgrims who did the same.