Date and Composition of The Travels of Sir John Mandeville

• written ca. 1356-57
• first and most popular piece of travel literature, a genre of writing increasingly popular after the mid-14th century
• originally written in Anglo-Norman French
• author "Mandeville" claims to be Sir John Mandeville, Knight of At. Albans, who is writing a memoir of his travles in his old age
  • Most critics today agree that "Mandeville" is not a real person, but rather a pseudonymn for an author who never travled at all.
    • Other than the text, there is no evidence that " Sir John Mandeville of St Albans" ever existed
    • Most of the text is based upon other published travel accounts and reference works common in the Middle Ages, such as encyclodedias
• book purported to be a guide, both geographical and ethical, for pilgrims to the Holy Land based on the author's own journeys in the east, including pilgrimages to Rome and Jerusalem and military service with the Sultan of Egypt
  • reports on the native peoples, topography, customs, etc. of these places he supposedly visited.
  • a compilation of various encyclopedic works, carries the reader from Jerusalem, to Turkey, Tartary, Persia, Egypt and India
• more a natural history with romance and marvels than strictly a geography
• includes aspects such as the fountain of youth, the ant-hills of gold dust, and the home of the monstrous races of people.