Daniel the Traveller
Daniel the Traveller, known also as Daniel the Pilgrim (
Travels
Origin
Constantinople, Greece, Cyprus
Daniel's journeys took him to Constantinople, then by way of Cyprus to the Holy Land.[6]
Daniel's narratives begin at Constantinople.[7] He began his travels in the early 12th century and was likely in Constantinople around 1106 to 1108.[3][6][7][8]
Holy Land
Daniel stayed in the
When coming to Jerusalem from Jaffa, he mentions that this was where ‘Saracens sally forth and kill travellers’, he also attested to several venerable sites that was ‘destroyed by the pagans’. When going to
Daniel's description of the Holy Land preserves a record of conditions that are peculiarly characteristic of the time.[7] He describes the Saracen raiding almost up to the walls of Christian Jerusalem and the friendly relations between Roman and Eastern churches in Syria. Daniel visited Palestine in the reign of Baldwin I of Jerusalem and apparently soon after the crusader capture of Acre in 1104. He claims to have accompanied Baldwin on an expedition against Damascus (c. 1107).[5][7] Daniel's narratives show that Baldwin treated him with much friendliness.[6]
Daniel records that several of his friends from Kyiv and Old
Significance
12th-century Holy Land
Daniel's account of Jerusalem is descriptive and accurate.[7] His observant and detailed record of Palestine is one of the most valuable medieval documents that exist.[7] Daniel had some knowledge of both Greek and Latin and so was able to use interpreters. He writes, It is impossible to come to know all the holy places without guides and interpreters. He writes of a holy man of great learning, well advanced in years, who had lived in the Galilee for thirty years and had accompanied him in Palestine,[6] however he made some major mistakes in topography and history.[7] Daniel visited about sixty places in the area.[6]
Travel literature
While Daniel was not the first traveller to leave the Rus, his travels were the first which there are written records of.
Church history
Daniel's narratives are also important in the history of the Old East Slavic language and in the study of ritual and liturgy of the time (i.e. description of the Easter services in Jerusalem and the Descent of the Holy Fire).[7]
Manuscripts
There are seventy-six manuscripts of Daniel's narratives of which only five are before the year 1500.[7] The oldest of his narratives is dated 1475[dubious ] of which three editions still exist in Saint Petersburg at the Library of Ecclesiastical History.[5]
Notes
- ^ Anzovin, p. 201, item 3391: "The first Russian travel-writer was Daniel of Kiev, called in Russian Daniel Kievsky."
- ^ Merriam-Webster, p. 298 Daniel, the Pilgrim, also called Daniel of Kiev, (fl. 12th century). The earliest known Russian travel writer, whose account of his pilgrimage to the Holy Land is the earliest surviving record in Russian of such a trip.
- ^ S2CID 162641720. "Daniel is the earliest Russian author, sacred or secular, who has described a journey from his country to any other part of the outer world."
- ^ The Pilgrimage of Abbot Daniel at A History of Russian Literature: 11th-13th century. Accessed September 2020.
- ^ a b c public domain: Beazley, Charles Raymond (1911). "Daniel of Kiev". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 7 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 808. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "Danylo, the Ukrainian 12th-century pilgrim". Retrieved 2008-09-04.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Merriam-Webster, p. 298
- ^ a b Anzovin, p. 201, item 3391
- ISBN 978-1-78185-890-5.
Bibliography
Daniel's text
- Mme B. de Khitrovo, Itineraires russes en orient, (Geneva, 1889) (Societe de l'orient Latin); in French.
- Charles William Wilson, C.W. Wilson's edition (Palestine Pilgrims' Text Society, London, 1895) at holyfire.org. Accessed 6 September 2020.
- C.W. Wilson's edition[permanent dead link] from Colorado State University - Pueblo
- Abbot Daniel (1864). Pèlerinage en Terre-Sainte de l'igoumène russe Daniel au commencement du ... (in French). St. Petersburg: Académie Impériale des Sciences.
Nasir Khusraw's text
- Nasir Khusraw (1004–1088), A Journey through Syria and Palestine, translated and annotated by Guy Le Strange (1888). Palestine Pilgrims' Text Society, Vol IV.
Secondary literature
- Anzovin, Steven, Famous First Facts', H. W. Wilson Company (2000), ISBN 0-8242-0958-3
- C. R. Beazley, Dawn of Modern Geography, ii. 155–174. (C. R. B.), has the account of Daniel.
- I. P. Sakharov's (St Petersburg, 1849), Narratives of the Russian People, vol. ii. bk. viii. pp. 1–45.
- Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature, Merriam-Webster (1995), ISBN 0-87779-042-6
- C.W. Wilson, ed., The Pilgrimage of the Russian Abbot Daniel to the Holy Land, 1106-1107 A.D. (London, 1895).
External links
- Danylo, the Ukrainian 12th-century pilgrim with details and map of his travels.