Croatian Regions, Cities-Communes, and Their Population in the Eastern Adriatic in the Travelogues of Medieval European Pilgrims (original) (raw)

In this article, based on the information gathered from a dozen medieval pilgrim travelogues and itineraries, my aim has been to indicate the attitudes, impressions, and experiences noted down by sometimes barely educated and at other times very erudite clerical and lay pilgrims, who traveled to the Holy Land and Jerusalem as palmieri or palmarii ultra mare and wrote about the geographical features of the Eastern Adriatic coast, its ancient and medieval monuments, urban structures, visits to Istrian and Dalmatian communes, contacts with the local population, encounters with the secular and spiritual customs and the language, the everyday behavior of the locals, and so on. Such information is contained, to a greater or lesser extent, in their travelogues and journals. To be sure, this type of sources, especially when written by people who were prone to analyze the differences between civilizations and cultural features, are filled with their subjective opinions: fascination with the landscapes and cities, sacral and secular buildings, kindness of the local population, ancient monuments in urban centres, the abundance of relics, and the quality of wine, fish, and other foods, but also amazement, prejudices, misunderstandings, and rejection concerning the society, people, and customs in this region.