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GEOFFREY DE MANDEVILLE (d. 1144)

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Originally appearing in Volume V17, Page 564 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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GEOFFREY DE See also:MANDEVILLE (d. 1144)  , See also:earl of See also:Essex, succeeded his See also:father, See also:William, as See also:constable of the See also:Tower of See also:London in or shortly before 1130 . Though a See also:great Essex See also:land-owner, he played no conspicuous See also:part in See also:history till 1140, when See also:Stephen created him earl of Essex in See also:reward for his services against the empress See also:Matilda . After the defeat and See also:capture of Stephen at See also:Lincoln (1141) the earl deserted to Matilda, but before the end of the See also:year, learning that Stephen's See also:release was imminent, returned to his See also:original See also:allegiance . In 1142 he was again intriguing with the empress; but before he could openly join her cause he was detected and deprived of his castles by the See also:king . In 1143-1144 See also:Geoffrey maintained himself as a See also:rebel and a bandit in the fen-See also:country, using the Isle of See also:Ely and See also:Ramsey See also:Abbey as his headquarters .. He was besieged by Stephen in the See also:fens, and met his See also:death in See also:September 1144 in consequence of a See also:wound received in a skirmish . His career is interesting for two reasons . The charters which he extorted from Stephen and Matilda illustrate the See also:peculiar See also:form taken by the ambitions of See also:English feudatories . The most important concessions are grants of offices and jurisdictions which had the effect of making See also:Mandeville a See also:viceroy with full See also:powers in Essex, See also:Middlesex and London, and See also:Hertfordshire . His career as an outlaw exemplifies the worst excesses of the anarchy which prevailed in some parts of See also:England during the See also:civil See also:wars of 1140-1147, and it is probable that the deeds of Mandeville inspired the rhetorical description, in the See also:Peterborough See also:Chronicle of this See also:period, when " men said openly that See also:Christ and his See also:saints were asleep." See J . H . See also:Round, Geoffrey de Mandeville, a Study of the Anarchy (London, 1892) .

(H . W . C . D.) ' MANDEVILLE, JEHAN DE (" See also:

Sir See also:John Mandeville "), the name claimed by the compiler of a singular See also:book of travels, written in See also:French, and published between 1357 and 1371 . By aid of See also:translations into many other See also:languages it acquired extraordinary popularity, while a few interpolated words in a particular edition of an English version gained for Mandeville in See also:modern times the See also:spurious See also:credit of being " the father of English See also:prose." In his See also:preface the compiler calls himself a See also:knight, and states that he was See also:born and bred in England, of the See also:town of St Albans; had crossed the See also:sea on Michaelmas See also:Day 1322; had travelled by way of See also:Turkey (See also:Asia See also:Minor), See also:Armenia the little (See also:Cilicia) and the great, Tartary, See also:Persia, See also:Syria, See also:Arabia, See also:Egypt upper and See also:lower, See also:Libya, great part of See also:Ethiopia, See also:Chaldaea, Amazonia, See also:India the less, the greater and the See also:middle, and many countries about India; had often been to See also:Jerusalem, and had written in See also:Romance as more generally understood than Latin . In the See also:body of the See also:work we hear that he had been at See also:Paris and See also:Constantinople; had served the See also:sultan of Egypt a See also:long See also:time in his wars against the Bedawin, had been vainly offered by him a princely See also:marriage and a great See also:estate on See also:condition of renouncing See also:Christianity, and had See also:left Egypt under sultan Melech Madabron, i.e . Muzaffar or Mudhaffar' (who reigned in 1346-1347); had been at See also:Mount See also:Sinai, and had visited the See also:Holy Land with letters under the great See also:seal of the sultan, which gave him extraordinary facilities; had been in See also:Russia, See also:Livonia, See also:Cracow, Lithuania, " en roialme daresten " (? de Daresten or See also:Silistria), and many other parts near Tartary, but not in Tartary itself; had drunk of the well of youth at Polombe (See also:Quilon on the See also:Malabar See also:coast), and still seemed to feel the better; had taken astronomical observations on the way to Lamory (See also:Sumatra), as well as in See also:Brabant, See also:Gerry, Bohemia and still farther See also:north; had been at an isle cared Pathen in the See also:Indian Ocean; had been at Cansay (Hangchow-fu) in See also:China, and had served the See also:emperor of China fifteen months 1 The on in Madabron apparently represents the Arabic nunation, though its use in such a See also:case is very See also:odd . against the king of Manzi; had been among rocks of See also:adamant in the Indian Ocean; had been through a haunted valley, which he places near " Milstorak " (i.e . Malasgird in Armenia) ; had been driven See also:home against his will in 1357 by arthritic See also:gout; and had written his book as a See also:consolation for his " wretched See also:rest." The See also:paragraph which states that he had had his book See also:con-firmed at See also:Rome by the See also:pope is an See also:interpolation of the English version . Part at least of the See also:personal history of Mandeville is See also:mere invention . Nor is any contemporary corroboration of the existence of such a Jehan de Mandeville known . Some French See also:MSS., not contemporary, give a Latin See also:letter of presentation from him to See also:Edward III., but so vague that it might have been penned by any writer on any subject .

It is in fact beyond reasonable doubt that the travels were in large part compiled by a See also:

Liege physician, known as Johains a 1e Barbe or Jehan a la Barbe, otherwise Jehan de Bourgogne . The See also:evidence of this is in a modernized See also:extract quoted by the Liege See also:herald, See also:Louis Abry 1 (1643-1720), from the lost See also:fourth book of the Myreur See also:des Hystors of Johans des Preis, styled d'Oultremouse . In this " See also:Jean de Bourgogne, dit a la Barbe," is said to have revealed himself on his deathbed to d'Oultremouse, whom he made his executor, and to have described himself in his will as " messire Jean de Mandeville, See also:chevalier, See also:comte de See also:Montfort en Angleterre et seigneur de l'isle de Campdi et du See also:chateau Perouse." It is added that, having had the misfortune to kill an unnamed See also:count in his own country, he engaged himself to travel through the three parts of the See also:world, arrived at Liege in 1343, was a great naturalist, profound philosopher and astrologer, and had a remarkable knowledge of physic . And the See also:identification is confirmed by the fact that in the now destroyed See also:church of the Guillelmins was a tombstone of Mandeville, with a Latin inscription stating that he was otherwise named " ad Barbam," was a See also:professor of See also:medicine, and died at Liege on the 17th of See also:November 1372: this inscription is quoted as far back as 1462 . Even before his death the Liege physician seems to have confessed to a See also:share in the See also:composition of the work . In the See also:common Latin abridged version of it, at the end of c. vii., the author says that when stopping in the sultan's See also:court at See also:Cairo he met a See also:venerable and See also:expert physician of " our " parts, that they rarely came into conversation because their duties were of a different See also:kind, but that long afterwards at Liege he composed this See also:treatise at the exhortation and with the help (hortatu et adiutorio) of the same venerable See also:man, as he will narrate at the end of it . And in the last See also:chapter he says that in 1355, in returning home, he came to Liege, and being laid up with old See also:age and arthritic gout in the See also:street called Bassesauenyr, i.e . Basse Savenir, consulted the physicians . That one came in who was more venerable than the others by See also:reason of his age and See also:white hairs, was evidently expert in his See also:art, and was commonly called Magister lohannes ad Barbam . That a See also:chance remark of the latter caused the renewal of their old Cairo acquaintance, and that Ad Barbam, after showing his medical skill on Mandeville, urgently begged him to write his travels; " and so at length, by his See also:advice and help, See also:manila et adiutorio, was composed this treatise, of which I had certainly proposed to write nothing until at least I had reached my own parts in England." He goes on to speak of himself as being now lodged in Liege, " which is only two days distant from the sea of England "; and it is stated in the See also:colophon (and in the MSS.) that the book was first published in French by Mandeville, its author, in 1355, at Liege, and soon after in the same See also:city translated into " SIP& said " Latin form . Moreover, a MS. of the French See also:text extant at Liege about 18602 contained a similar 1 Quoted again from him by the contemporary Liege herald, Lefort, and from Lefort in 1866 by Dr S . Bormans .

Dr J . Vogels communicated it in 1884 to Mr E . W . B . See also:

Nicholson, who wrote on it in the See also:Academy of See also:April 12, 1884 . 2 See Dr G . F . See also:Warner's edition (See also:Roxburghe See also:Club), p . 38 . In the See also:Bull. de l'Institut archeologique Liegeois, iv . (186o), p . 171, M .

Ferd . Henaux quotes the passage from " MSS. de la Bibliothc que publique de Liege, a 1'Universite, no . 36o, fol . 118," but the MS. is not in the 1875 printed See also:

catalogue of the University Library, which has no Oldstatement, and added that the author lodged at a See also:hostel called " al See also:hoste Henkin Levo ": this MS. gave the physician's name as "Johains de Bourgogne dit See also:ale barbe," which doubtless conveys its See also:local form . There is no contemporary English mention of any English knight named Jehan de Mandeville, nor are the arms said to have been on the Liege See also:tomb like any known Mandeville arms . But Dr G . F . Warner has ingeniously suggested that de Bourgogne may be a certain Johan de Bourgoyne, who was pardoned by See also:parliament on the loth of See also:August 1321 for having taken part in the attack on the Despensers, but whose See also:pardon was revoked in May 1322, the year in which " Mandeville " professes to have left England . And it should now be added that among the persons similarly pardoned on the recommendation of the same nobleman was a Johan Mangevilayn, whose name appears closely related to that of "de Mandeville"3—which is merely a later form of "de Magneville." Mangeuilain occurs in See also:Yorkshire as See also:early as 16 See also:Hen . I . (See also:Pipe See also:Roll See also:Soc., xv . 40), but is very rare, and (failing evidence of any See also:place named Mangeville) seems to be merely a variant spelling of Magnevillain .

The meaning may be simply " Magneville," de Magneville; but the See also:

family of a 14th See also:century See also:bishop of See also:Nevers were called both "Mandevilain " and " de Mandevilain "—where Mandevilain seems a derivative place-name, meaning the Magneville or Mandeville See also:district . In any case it is clear that the name "'de Mandeville " might be suggested to de Bourgogne by that of his See also:fellow-See also:culprit Mangevilayn, and it is even possible that the two fled to England together, were in Egypt together, met again at Liege, and shared in the compilation of the Travels . Whether after the See also:appearance of the Travels either de Bourgogne or " Mangevilayn " visited England is very doubtful . St Albans Abbey had a See also:sapphire See also:ring, and See also:Canterbury a crystal See also:orb, said to have been given by Mandeville; but these might have been sent from Liege, and it will appear later that the Liege physician possessed and wrote about See also:precious stones . St Albans also had a See also:legend that a ruined See also:marble tomb of Mandeville (represented See also:cross-legged and in See also:armour, with See also:sword and See also:shield) once stood in the abbey; this may be true of "Mangevilayn " or it may be a mere myth . It is a little curious that the name preceding Mangevilayn in the See also:list of persons pardoned is " Johan le See also:Barber." Did this suggest to de Bourgogne the See also:alias " a le Barbe," or was that only a Liege See also:nickname ? See also:Note also that the arms on Mandeville's tomb were See also:borne by the Tyrrells of Hertfordshire (the See also:county in which St Albans lies); for of course the See also:crescent on the See also:lion's See also:breast is only the " difference " indicating a second son . Leaving this question, there remains the equally complex one whether the book contains any facts and knowledge acquired by actual travels and See also:residence in the See also:East . Possibly it may, but only as a small portion of the See also:section which treats of the Holy Land and the ways of getting thither, of Egypt, and in See also:general of the See also:Levant . The See also:prologue, indeed, points almost exclusively to the Holy Land as the subject of the work . The mention of more distant regions comes in only towards the end of this prologue, and (in a manner) as an afterthought . By far the greater part of these more distant travels, extending in fact from See also:Trebizond to See also:Hormuz, India, the See also:Malay See also:Archipelago, and China, and back again to western Asia; has been appropriated from the narrative of See also:Friar See also:Odoric (written in 1330) .

These passages, as served up by Mandeville, are almost always, indeed, swollen with interpolated particulars, usually of an extravagant kind, whilst in no few cases the writer has failed to understand the passages which he adopts from Odoric and professes to give as his own experiences . Thus (p . 209),4 where Odoric has given a most French MS. of Mandeville at See also:

present . It was probably See also:lent out and not returned . The de Mandevilles, earls of Essex, were originally styled de Magneville, and See also:Leland, in his See also:Comm. de Script . Britt . (CDV), calls our Mandeville himself " Joannes Magnovillanus, alias Mandeville." 4 See also:Page indications like this refer to passages in the 1866 reissue of Halliwell's edition, as being probably the most ready of See also:access . curious and veracious See also:account of the See also:Chinese See also:custom of employing tame cormorants to catch See also:fish, the cormorants are converted by Mandeville into " little beasts called loyres (layre, B), which are taught to go into the See also:water " (the word loyre being apparently used here for "See also:otter," lutra, for which the Provencal is lurk or loiria) . At a very early date the coincidence of Mandeville's stories with those of Odoric was recognized, insomuch that a MS. of Odoric which is or was in the chapter library at See also:Mainz begins with the words: Incipit Ilinerarius fidelis fratris Odorici socii Militis Mendavil per Indian; licet hic [read ilk] prius et alter posterius peregrinationem suam descripsit . At a later day Sir T . See also:Herbert calls Odoric " travelling See also:companion of our Sir John "; and See also:Purchas, with most perverse injustice, whilst calling Mandeville, next to See also:Polo, " if next . . . the greatest Asian traveller that ever the world had," insinuates that Odoric's See also:story was stolen from Mandeville's .

Mandeville himself is crafty enough, at least in one passage, to anticipate See also:

criticism by suggesting the See also:probability of his having travelled with Odoric (see p . 282 and below) . Much, again, of Mandeville's See also:matter, particularly in See also:Asiatic See also:geography and history, is taken bodily from the Historiae Orientis of Hetoum, an Armenian of princely family, who.became a See also:monk of the Praemonstrant See also:order, and in 1307 dictated this work on the East, in the French See also:tongue at See also:Poitiers, out of his own extraordinary acquaintance with Asia and its history in his own time . It is curious that no passage in Mandeville can be plausibly traced to Marco Polo, with one exception . This is (p . 163) where he states that at Hormuz the See also:people during the great See also:heat See also:lie in water—a circumstance mentioned by Polo, though not by Odoric . We should suppose it most likely that this fact had been interpolated in the copy of Odoric used by Mandeville; for if he had borrowed it See also:direct from Polo he would have borrowed more . A See also:good See also:deal about the See also:manners and customs of the See also:Tatars is demonstrably derived from the famous work of the Franciscan loannes de Plano See also:Carpini, who went as the pope's See also:ambassador to the Tatars in 1245–1247; but Dr Warner considers that the immediate source for Mandeville was the See also:Speculum historiale of See also:Vincent de See also:Beauvais . Though the passages in question are all to be found in Plano Carpini more or less exactly, the expression is condensed and the order changed . For examples compare Mandeville, p . 250, on the tasks done by Tatar See also:women, with Plano Carpini, p . 643;' Mandeville. p .

250, on Tatar habits of eating, with Plano Carpini, pp . 639–64o; Mandeville, p . 231, on the titles borne on the See also:

seals of the Great See also:Khan, with Plano Carpini, p . 715, &c . The account of Prester John is taken from the famous See also:Epistle of that imaginary potentate, which was so widely diffused in the 13th century, and created that renown which made it See also:incumbent on every traveller in Asia to find some new See also:tale to tell of him . Many fabulous stories, again, of monsters, such as See also:cyclopes, sciapodes, hippopodes, monoscelides, anthropophagi, and men whose heads did grow beneath their shoulders, of the See also:phoenix and the weeping See also:crocodile, such as See also:Pliny has collected, are introduced here and there, derived no doubt from him, See also:Solinus, the bestiaries, or the Speculum maturate of Vincent de Beauvais . And interspersed, especially in the chapters about the Levant, are the stories and legends that were retailed to every See also:pilgrim, such as the legend of See also:Seth and the grains of See also:paradise from which See also:grew the See also:wood of the cross, that of the See also:shooting of old See also:Cain by See also:Lamech, that of the See also:castle of the See also:sparrow-See also:hawk (which appears in the tale of Melusina), those of the origin of the See also:balsam See also:plants at Matariya, of the See also:dragon of See also:Cos, of the See also:river See also:Sabbation, &c . But all these passages have also been verified as substantially occurring in See also:Barrois's French MS . Nouv . Acq . See also:Franc . 4515 in the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris, mentioned below (of A.D .

1371), cited B, and in that numbered xxxix. of the See also:

Grenville collection (See also:British Museum), which See also:dates probably from the early part of the 15th century, cited G . 1 Viz. in D'Avezac's ed. in torn. iv. of Rec. de voyages et de memoires pub. by the Soc. de Geog., 1839 . Even in that part of the book which might be supposed to represent some genuine experience there are the plainest traces that another work has been made use of, more or less—we might almost say as a framework to fill tip . This is the itinerary of the See also:German knight Wilhelm von Boldensele, written in 1336 at the See also:desire of See also:Cardinal Talleyrand de See also:Perigord.' A cursory comparison of this with Mandeville leaves no doubt that the latter has followed its See also:thread, though digressing on every See also:side, and too often eliminating the singular good sense of the German traveller . We may indicate as examples Boldensele's account of See also:Cyprus (Mandeville, p . 28 and p. so), of See also:Tyre and the coast of See also:Palestine (Mandeville, 29, 30, 33, 34), of the See also:journey from See also:Gaza to Egypt (34), passages about See also:Babylon of Egypt (40), about See also:Mecca (42), the general account of Egypt (45), the pyramids (52), some of the wonders of Cairo, such as the slave-See also:market, the chicken-hatching stoves, and the apples of paradise, i.e. plantains (49), the Red Sea (57), the See also:convent on Sinai (58, 6o), the account of the church of the Holy See also:Sepulchre (74–76), &c . There is, indeed, only a small residuum of the book to which genuine See also:character, as containing the experiences of the author, can possibly be attributed . Yet, as has been intimated, the borrowed stories are frequently claimed as such experiences . In addition to those already mentioned, he alleges that he had witnessed the curious See also:exhibition of the See also:garden of transmigrated souls (described by Odoric) at Cansay, i.e . Hangchow-fu (211) . He and his See also:fellows with their valets had remained fifteen months in service with the emperor of See also:Cathay in his wars against the king of Manzi—Manzi, or See also:Southern China, having ceased to be a See also:separate See also:kingdom some seventy years before the time referred to . But the most notable of these false statements occurs in his See also: