L'Oriente dei viaggiatori. Diari di pellegrinaggio fiorentini tra XIII e XV secolo

Abstract

The phenomenon of pilgrimage to the Holy Sites of Christianity, which became a significant factor in the 4th century and has endured to this day as if it were a universal category, underwent substantial changes in content and form during the Middle Ages. While on one hand, we can speak of a universal spirit of pilgrimage, on the other hand, it might be unnecessary to specify that its historical manifestations were numerous and diverse. In any case, we can speak of penitential or thanksgiving pilgrimages, pilgrimages undertaken individually or collectively, pilgrimages by armed or unarmed individuals, according to the characteristics assumed by the religious spirit in various experiences. This book aims to investigate the Jerusalem pilgrimage during that particular period of friction in relations between the East and the West, marking the transition from the late Middle Ages to the early modern period. The main focus of interest is the perception of the East by Western pilgrims. However, this is not in a general sense, but within the specific context of an entire corpus of narrative texts from the period: this choice constitutes the peculiarity of the project. Indeed, although there is a considerable amount of studies on pilgrimage and the related texts, this specific point of view has remained rather in the shadows as significant for the history of Western thought.