Rudolph von Frameynsberg (fl. 1346)

by Zhao Luyang 赵鲁阳 (See Chinese translation)

Rudolph von Frameynsberg (alternative names) was a knight at Fammelsberg castle near Bogen, Bavaria (Germany). He carried out a pilgrimage to Palestine and Egypt in 1346, and composed the account called Itinerarium nobilis viri Rudolphi de Frameynsberg in palestinam, ad montem Sinaï et in Aegyptum A.D. 1346. He set off on his pilgrimage on 14 March 1346. The date of his return is not recorded, but it is suspected to have been on 25 November in the same year.

In describing his journey, Rudolph often compared the new places he saw to those in his homeland. He described the city of Gaza as bigger than his hometown Landshut in Germany, the mountain Sinai as three times higher than the hill where Bogen sits in Lower Bavaria, and the Nile with the river Isar in Germany. This was a common practice in travel accounts at the time. Europeans were able to gain an intuitive understanding of the places they visited on their pilgrimages by comparing them to the features of Europe with which they were familiar.