The History of Sir Konrad Grünemberg’s Pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 1486
DV 14
Konrad GRÜNEMBERG
The History of Sir Konrad Grünemberg’s Pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 1486Traslated and annotated by Kristiaan AERCKE
Dimensioni del Viaggio «Testi»
158 p.
ISBN 88-7760-514-6
28.00 €
In 1486, the German knight Konrad Grünemberg undertook a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. He followed the standard route via Venice, sojourned for an exceptional 20 days in the Holy Land, and returned after an absence of 31 (or 33) weeks to write an account of his experiences. This book contains the translation of his narrative, which shows similarities with other pilgrims’ diaries. The fact that Grünemberg only spoke his own language in the multi-linguistic Holy City highlighted his status as Other. The constant intervention of translators and interpreters reduced him and his fellows to a state of infantile helplessness, which was worsened by the hostilities they encountered. Indeed, in a spirit of Jihad the Muslim population and its leaders systematically exploited the pilgrims and maltreated them with aggressive condescendence if not with open violence. At the same time, the constant humiliations brought spiritual profit to this proud knight and allowed him to metaphorize his own via dolorosa into an imitatio Christi.
Credits – Introduction – About the translation – The Pilgrimage of Konrad Grünemberg to the Holy Land in 1486 – Notes – Appendix: Dictionary – Bibliography