10.15160/1826-803X/1199
In the late middle ages, hundreds of pilgrims set sail from Venice to the Holy Land. Holy Places pilgrimages were for Jerusalem and the whole region (Jaffa, Bethlehem, the Jordan river) an important source of income. In Jaffa, pilgrims were controlled by officers with standard procedures, to collect due payments, prevent them from conducting &lt;I&gt;espionage&lt;/I&gt; activity, or from getting out of the control of the mandatory guides, putting at risk their own safety. This paper deals with a little-known aspect of the medieval pilgrimage to the holy land: the disguise strategies adopted by pilgrims, in order not to be ripped off, or to pay high tolls.
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1826-803X
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Beatrice Saletti
Sezione di Lettere
Holy Land Travel literature
<I>Vestiti a la morescha: Pilgrims in disguise in late Medieval Accounts</I>
Text.Serial.Journal
https://annali.unife.it/lettere
Letteratura
2016-07-08
2016-07-08
2016-07-13
2022-01-24
200-212
AOLF
Beatrice Saletti
2015
10.15160/1826-803X/1199
200
1826-803X
Holy Land Travel literature
it
212
<I>Vestiti a la morescha: Pilgrims in disguise in late Medieval Accounts</I>
https://annali.unife.it/lettere/article/download/1199/994
                                         Beatrice Saletti


                                Vestiti ala morescha:
                  Pilgrims in disguise in late Medieval Accounts*



1.
Nearly nothing is known about the pilgrim Thietmar, other than his German origins,
the year of his pilgrimage and the fact that he was a clergyman. He arrived in Acre in
1217, before the beginning of the fifth Crusade («dum… terra adhuc inter Sarracenos et
Christianos in pace treugis interpositis aliquantulum respiraret»1). Despite the sense of
alarm that permeates his text, the author observes the multicultural scene of the Holy
Land with great interest. Indeed, he declares to have arrived in Acre «cum quibusdam
Surianis et Sarracenis»2. When he begins his pilgrimage he visites Cana, where he has
quidam sarracenus as his guide, then Mount Tabor, occupied by Saracens, and passes near
Hattin… in short, every place that he sees reminds him of the erosion of the Crusader
Kingdom3.
   After having visited Edom (in the Negev region), he has to turn toward the coast,
and heads toward Damascus. In the city, under the rule of the recently formed Ayyubid
Dynasty, Thietmar attempted to approach Christian prisoners, detained «in fovea sol-
dani», but the act was too dangerous and he limited himself to communicating with his
brethren through letters4. His writings go beyond simple outlines; if we read through the
lines we see tension and suffering for the fate of the Christian soldiers (a feeling sharpe-



    This paper was presented at the International Medieval Congress in Leeds on July 7, 2015; I
     *

have conserved its original conversational tone. I am deeply thankful to Prof. B.Z. Kedar for his
careful reading and his suggestions.
   1 Laurent (1857, 1).
     2 Ibid. 3.
   3 Ibid. 4: «A Chana Galilee perveni ad montem Thabor […]. Quem modo Sarraceni habent
occupatum»; Ibidem: «Hinc transivi per campum, ubi exercitus Christianorum victus fuit et crux
sancta ad inimicis crucis capta [Hattin]»; Ibid. 5: «Veni ad mare Galilee […] ubi post resurrectio-
nem Dominus discipulis apparuit et piscem assatum cum eis corporaliter comedit […]. Super
quem locum capella edificata fuit, sed a Sarracenis destructa»; Ibid. 6: «veni Tyberiadem […] que
a Sarracenis destructa adhuc a paucis tam Sarracenis quam Christianis inhabitatur».
   4 Ibid. 13: «Cum fuissem in palatio Soldani […] volui videre Christianos captivos in fovea Sol-
dani, quod est carcer, sed ductori meo visum est non esse consultum. Cum tamen non auderem,
accepi litteras eorum et ipsi meas per internuncios».
Saletti – Vestiti ala morescha                                            AOFL X (2015) 2, 201-212




ned by the constant fear of ending up sharing in their lot). Nonetheless Thietmar reports
that «in Damasco et apud Damascum quelibet natio libere legem suam colit. In ea eciam
plures sunt ecclesie Christianorum»5.
   Once back in Acre he decided to leave for Sinai to visit the body of Saint Catherine,
even though he was well aware of the dangers that this journey entailed.
   At this point, hoping to avoid the fate of ending up «in fovea soldani», Thietmar di-
sguised himself as a Georgian monk, making sure to flaunt an adequately long beard,
and travelled along the Palestinian coast until Jaffa, where he then turned inland6. Ne-
vertheless, his itinerary took on winding detours to flee from the “Saracen” patrols: for
example, he first travelled to Sichem and then back down to Emmaus7. These precau-
tions, however, did not save him from capture8. The cell where he was detained, in a
strange coincidence, was the church constructed where Saint Stephen was martyred,
which had been converted for more mundane purposes9. Thietmar was freed thanks to
the mediation of the fellow countrymen of his travelling companion, a Hungarian noble:
Hungarian Muslims who came to Jerusalem obtentu studii10. Still, having been set free
did not guarantee greater safety. Proof of this can be seen in that, despite the fact that he
was in the Holy City, which he had decided to avoid before being captured, he thought
it unwise to visit Jerusalem for fear of ending up back in prison.
   Certainly Thietmar undertook his pilgrimage in a particularly hostile moment11. We
know that the treaty of Jaffa (1229) did not resolve the area’s problems of instability,
which in any case did not depend solely on the Franks and Ayyubids: except for the
narrow coastline in the North inhabited by the subjects of the Crusader Kingdom, the
invasion of the Khwarazmians and subsequent rise of the Mamluks made the Holy Land
a dangerous place for decades, basically until the fall of Acre.
   Even after the end of the Crusader Kingdom, Frank pilgrims often disguised themsel-
ves. In 1419 Nicolò d’Este, Marquis of Ferrara, pretended to be the brother of his galley’s




   5 Ibidem.
   6 Ibid. 20: «Accon igitur iter arripiens, habitu tamquam Georgianus monachus et longa barba
simulavi quod non eram».
   7 Ibid. 23-25.
   8 Ibid. 25f.: «Cum enim sit Bethleem iuxta Iherusalem, ut civitatem sanctam vitarem et pe-
riculum, feci vie dispendium; sed frustra, quia ibi quod verebar accidit, et captus a Sarracenis
ductum sum Iherusalem».
  9 Ibid. 26: «Sic captivus detinebar […] ubi sanctus Stephanus prothomartir lapidatus fuit. In
quo loco quondam constructa est ecclesia, sed nunc a Sarracenis funditus eversa».
   10 On this happy ‒ and very rare ‒ coincidence see also Kedar (1986, 325f.).
   11 Tyerman (2006, 626-643).
Saletti – Vestiti ala morescha                                                 AOFL X (2015) 2, 202-212




patron; in 1440 his son Meliaduse disguised himself as a Mamluk on the voyage from
Damascus to Jerusalem and from there to Cairo, though while in Jerusalem and the sur-
rounding areas he pretended to be a merchant from the Marche region. As for the late
XV century, at the port of Jaffa Bernardino Dinali pretended to be a galley rower, and, at
the port of Alexandria, Arnold von Harff a merchant, and the list could go on.
   In the case of Thietmar we saw that personal safety was the reason to mask his iden-
tity. But what did pilgrims risk in the 14th and 15th centuries? In the port of Alexandria
and in some neighborhoods of Cairo, thanks to international trade, a European presence,
particularly that of Venetian businessmen, was deeply entrenched. Nevertheless, gene-
rally speaking, under the Mamluk Empire western Christians were not kindly looked
upon by the masses. Jerusalem was «outside the main-stream of Mamluk trade and
politics»12, and thrived on pilgrimages (as it still does today). The city’s economy was
based essentially on the service sector: animal and clothing rental, the sale of food, drin-
ks, candles, souvenirs, and the services offered by interpreters and guides. In Egypt and
Syria the Christian “infidels” who passed through were tolerated by the Sultan because
they were economically fundamental, but they did have to avoid contact with the po-
pulation so as not to come under assault: from stones and clods of dirt thrown at them,
to beatings, being spit upon, slapped, etc. Exhausted by epidemics, political instability,
and cyclical famines, the masses found a tolerated outlet for their anger in harassing the
Franks.

         Elgi non credano che altro benne sia in terra, et da Dio creata gente degna sonnò
         loro […]. Elgi ne disprezianno e dicono parollo obbrobrioxe. Et se elgi li vengono
         volgia, anche danno dele bote: dicendo cangir, zoè “porco”, gerbul, zoè ‘scarpaza’,
         marab, zoè “ruffianno”, nachal, zoè “channo”, million, et molte altre soe biasteme;
         intanto che de certo l’è più tosto pericolo che non, andare per lo Cayre13.


         Vedeno mal volunteri li cristiani […]. Et dicti peregrini ne possano rendere testi-
         monio, perché bastonate, pugni, boffeti, tirati li capilli, gitati per terra de suso li
         asini, spudati nel volto, iniuriati per ogni via furono, finché stetero in Syria et in
         quelle parte14.


         Ubi in Chayra venissemus […] ad nos venerunt tres Mauri, cives urbis […]. Di-
         cebant enim ita a soldano ordinatum quod quandocumque Franci sive Latini
         venirent in civitatem, haberent eos usque ad domum trucemanni sociare, ad hoc




   12 Lufti (1985, 1).
   13 Don Messore, in Saletti (2009, 140f.).
   14 Roberto da Sanseverino, in Scuor (2005-2006, 119).
Saletti – Vestiti ala morescha                                               AOFL X (2015) 2, 203-212




         ne contra eos injuria moliretur, sed menciebantur ribaldi, solum enim faciebant
         ad extorquendam pecuniam de manibus nostris15.

         Andando per la terra, se avessi alcuni mazata o ceffata sputatoti addosso o sbef-
         feggiato, bisogna havere patientia, ma non solamente a minime persone, ma a’
         gran maestri è fatto simili stratij16.

   Not even senior European officials were able to avoid this treatment: in April 1503, in
Cairo, along the route that led the Venetian ambassador Benedetto Sanudo to a solemn
hearing in the Sultan’s presence, only the prudence of the so-called “head of security”,
who prevented a group of slaves from throwing rocks at Sanudo by having them beaten,
allowed the Venetian to avert such an aggression:

         Perché l’era zorno ordinario de audentia, che tutti coreno al castello, sopra la
         piaza avanti di esso castello era forsi milia cavali con li schiavi soi, che aspecta-
         vano loro patroni. Li quali schiavi sono soliti, quando vedeno christiani a cavalo,
         maledirli o trarli le prede driedo, non vardando né oratori né altro. E il castellan
         dubitando di questo, perché fu fato a missier Piero Diedo orator nostro, mandò,
         avanti che esso nostro orator usisse di castello, 10 soi mamaluchi a piedi con ba-
         stoni grossissimi in mano; quali comenzò talmente a bater quelli schiavi, che sta-
         vano preparati a salutar nostri al modo suo, rompendoli teste e brazi in tal modo
         che questi 10 messeno in fuga li 1000 cavali e li schiavi che erano con quelli, e
         da colpi di bastonate feceli tutti redur uniti in capo di la piaza, che non osavano
         parlar […]. E fato questo, l’orator montoe a cavalo senza strepito alcuno17.

   But let’s allow the pilgrims to speak for themselves. The ferocity with which between
Jaffa and Rama the Muslims assaulted harmless individuals is shocking:

         Ruscirono quella chanaglia addosso ai pellegrini […] e chominciamoci a basto-
         nare et tirare a terra degli asini et tirarci i panni di dosso, perché non usavamo
         ferirgli per lo nostro troppo grande pericolo, sendo in casa loro, ci tractavano
         male18.


         Nous guestoient les villains du pays sur le chemin a cheval et a pié, enbastonnés
         et de arcz en grant nombre et n’eust esté le grant nombre de ceulx de Rame qui
         nous conduissoient ilz nous eussent fait desplaisir, maiz encore aulcuns eurent
         des horions et passames par le plus terrible pays que l’en feroit pensoir19.




   15 Heers – de Groers (1978, 206-208).
   16 Michele da Figline, in Montesano (2010, 63).
   17 Diarii di Marino Sanudo, in Stefani (1881, 50).
   18 Alessandro Rinuccini O.P., in Calamai (1993, 64).
   19 Pierre Barbatre, in Tucoo-Chala – Pinzuti (1972-1973, 131).
Saletti – Vestiti ala morescha                                                  AOFL X (2015) 2, 204-212




          De Japha associavit se nobis dominus ipse de Rama nobiscum equitando propria
          in persona cum multis mammalucis […] ut salvos nos conducerent et custodirent
          a paganis et eorum filiis, qui in villis et locis illis se conglomerantes lapidibus so-
          lent impetere peregrinos et adeo ferociter quandoque invadere quam vix etiam
          adiuti a concomitatibus illesi possint peregrini preterire quin et aliquando ali-
          quos interimunt lapidibus obruendo sicut uni ex nostris pene accidisset. Unde
          periculosum valde est illud conficere iter de Japha usque Rama ob huiusmodi
          insidias et insultus paganorum20.


          Occurrerunt mulieres proicientes lapides contra, anathematizantes nos et esti-
          mantes nos indignos esse ambulandum super terram21.


          […] Aucuns d’iceulx Arrabes nous sievirent jusques là ou couchàmes, et illec
          robèrent à aucuns pellerins leurs chapeaux, bonnetz et aultres baghes22.


          Les femmes et enfans a force de pierres firent fouyr les pelerins devant eulx et en
          frapperent et gecterent a terre aucuns23.


          Chascun les escarnissoit et leur jettoeint la pouldre sur le visage24.

   As an anonymous French writer attests, even women and children played an active
role in these aggressions. But their exaggerated use of robbery is also striking, though
this can largely be explained, apart from their disdain, by their miserable living condi-
tions. Despite the ideological filters that assuredly hindered the Franks from empathi-
zing with the Muslims, the difficulty of the lives of the Sultan’s subjects could not have
escaped them.

2.
The Marquis Nicolò, as we mentioned, forced his escorts to address him as if he were
the Patron’s brother25. Had he not travelled incognito he probably would have paid much
more for everything: there are numerous cases of pilgrims being extorted by Muslim




     20 Breydenbach (1490, c. eiv).
     21 Paulus Whalterius O.F.M., in Sollweck (1892, 103).
     22 Georges Lengherand, in Ménilglaise (1861, 116f.).
     23 Anonyme (1486), in Dansette (1979, 333f.).
     24 Philippe de Voisins, in Tamizey de Larroque (1883, 28).
  25 Luchino dal Campo, in Brandoli (2011, 152): «non lo dimandassero ‘Signore’ ma Nicolò
Contarino, fratello del padrone de la galea».
Saletti – Vestiti ala morescha                                                AOFL X (2015) 2, 205-212




authorities, who expected more money than had been agreed on and, as they were in
positions of power (at times even jailing pilgrims as a demonstration), they usually obtai-
ned it. For these reasons Mariano da Siena wisely advised all pilgrims to hide their true
social status26. The noble condottiero Roberto da Sanseverino went even further, when he
affirmed that all pilgrims do this: that they dressed up in the most improbable ways be-
fore getting off the galley in Jaffa27. Let us now examine some particular cases: Meliaduse
d’Este, Roberto da Sanseverino himself, and other pilgrims as well.
   Meliaduse d’Este was an especially atypical pilgrim. Accompanied by, among others,
a Venetian knight who was an expert in the local language and customs, Folco Contarini,
it seems that Meliaduse experienced his pilgrimage in complete autonomy: he decided
where to go and what to visit. As he did not have economic problems, he spent nearly a
month between Rhodes and Cyprus, and then, having landed in Beirut, he stayed in Da-
mascus for about two months. When he finally left the city to go to Jerusalem he did so
in an absolutely unique way: on horseback, dressed as a Mamluk, armed with a scimitar
and a bow:

         E charichate nostre bisogne et alogati li nostri panni, et vestiti do panni al’arabe-
         scha, e cinti da samitare e archo, favente Deo, montiassimo a chavallo e via inanci,
         Jusep nostra guida. Et ad           hora de dixinare desmontassimo ala campagna,
         e ligati li nostri chavalgi, et da poi destexi i machadi e tapedi in terra, e sopra de
         epsi cominziamo a manziare di quelo nui havevamo tolto con nui28.


There is no need to say that during the reign of the Mamluks the Franks were banned
from riding horses. Furthermore, Muslims often did not even appreciate seeing Franks
ride mules, and push them off.
   As we can read in the above passage, the disguise was not limited to their clothes, but
also included their behavior: these men ate in the Oriental fashion. With this strategy
Meliaduse was surely extremely free in his movements. To decide his route, he hired a
Muslim guide and travelled at his pleasure; people were afraid to approach him, and he
didn’t even pay the numerous toll charges: «Et al far del’alba fussimo al cam de ***. E lì
sì se paga gaffarazo, ma non pagiame nulla, il perché fussimo tenuti Mori»29. Gaffarazo (a
loan word from the Arabic khafārah) stood for the State’s “protection” of merchants, tra-




  26 Mariano da Siena, in Pirillo (1991, 81): «guardasi ogni persona di non far segno di sé nes-
suno perché portarebbe grande pericolo; quanto è magiore, tanto più mostri esser vile».
  27 Roberto da Sanseverino, in Scuor (2005-2006, 47): «tuti se vestitero con più stranee vesti-
mente poterno, per non essere cognosciuti».
   28 Saletti (2009, 60).
   29 Ibid. 63; the three asterisks mark a lacuna.
Saletti – Vestiti ala morescha                                               AOFL X (2015) 2, 206-212




velers, and pilgrims who crossed the land; but the “toll” was to be paid, at least in certain
places, only by non-Muslims.
   What was this costume like, physically? We can reasonably assume that it was not very
different from the description that the Flemish pilgrim Adorno gave of Mamluk attire:

         Habitus autem mamalucorum gravis, honestus, talaris atque superbus est, ab ha-
         bitu Maurorum principue in capite differentes. Majores enim sicut soldanus ipse
         et magnus ejus admiraldus magnusque ejus trucemmanus (quatuor enim habet)
         in capite portant mappas albas crispas et subtiles ligatas per caput in V, VI aut VII
         cornibus, ac si mappa per quinque digitos manus recte stantes ligaretur. Soldanus
         vero solus septem cornua defert, alii autem aut sex aut quinque, secundum suas
         dignitates. Alii vero portant birreta […], alii mappas non in cornibus sed alio modo
         in altum eleganter multum ligatas et ita communiter omnes incedunt, sed quan-
         doque pillea rubea pilosa alta ferunt30.

   It is quite strange to read that, when already prepared to leave for Jerusalem, Melia-
duse first dressed up like a Mamluk, and then listened to mass31. In any case, travelling
while disguised in this way does have a disadvantage: to avoid being found out, when
in the presence of Muslims you must not speak32. We must now ask ourselves a question:
prior to changing from his Mamluk clothes back into European garb while hiding in an
abandoned farmhouse before entering Cairo, how is it that Meliaduse crossed the border
between Syria and Egypt, in bir Qatyā, since due to security and customs, inspections in
this town were extremely thorough?33 We read, then, that Folco Contarini, speaking in
Arabic, presented a pass from the nā’ib of Jerusalem. The document certifies that the group
is composed of merchants, and it is accepted without problems. How are we to interpret
this affirmation? We must first see how Meliaduse acquired the pass. When he had visited




   30 Heers – de Groers (1978, 200).
   31 Saletti (2009, 112): «Zobia a dì 30 de septembrio per matino a monte Syon nui fossimo
chiamati e levati e vestiti ala morescha, e l’altare grande fo messo in ordine per dire la sancta
messa; et odito noi quela sancta messa e ordine posto ale nostre some montiamo a cavallo, e via
incomminciamo el nostro camino verso del Cayre».
   32 Ibid. 114: «Et qui de intorno [sc. Hebron] tuti sonno giardini e vigno che fanno zibibo, e nui
intramo in uno giardino e lì, soto frutari asai, aloziamo cum li nostri cavalgi e noi al sereno et
ala morescha. Et non osavimo a parlar francho perhoché per tuto quelgi zardini eranno li Mori a
far li zibibi»; Ibid. 123: «[at Ṣāliḥiya] tuta quela nocte non potessimo mai parlare insiemi in lingua
francha peroché a lato a noi eranno Mori alogiati con noi contigui al sereno».
   33 Ibid. 121: «[At Bir Qatya] sta Signore per lo Soldano et anche se gli paga gaffaragio [khafar].
Unde fo de bisogno scharichare le nostre sonme, perhoché gli volsero vedere tuto zò che per lo
camino passa. Ma noi havivimo litera del signore de Jerusalem a quelo signor de Chachia, la
quale gli fo per missere Folcho aprezentada; e lecta che li havenno quela, non curareno de vedere
altro».
Saletti – Vestiti ala morescha                                                AOFL X (2015) 2, 207-212




Jericho, Meliaduse met the nā’ib of Jerusalem. It is truly a very strange testimony: the nā’ib
recognizes Franciscan friars beyond the shadow of a doubt, and thus he imagines, rightly,
that Meliaduse was a pilgrim. But Folco Contarini explains to him that they are merchants,
some from Venice and others from the Marche region, driven away from Damascus by a
person who I have not been able to identify, but who was likely either the governor of the
city, a nā’ib, or an official in charge of commercial transactions, thus a «náẓir al-muhimmāt
ashsharifa» (defined by Popper as a «controller of the Sultan’s business affairs»), or a
«nāẓir al-khāṣṣ» (or a «controller of the Sultan’s privy funds»). Note the diversification: mer-
chants from Venice and from the Marche region. It seems to me that the lie was planned
with care, to avoid being discovered. In fact, the Venetian dialect, which was quite distin-
ctive, was well known to the officers of the province of Jerusalem, thanks to the monopoly
on galley service from Venice to Jaffa. The patrons, Venetians, often held relationships with
local authorities, even though it was not always first hand, but rather through interpreters.
Meliaduse d’Este was not Venetian, and despite the fact that also the dialect of Ferrara is a
northern variety and has some features in common with Venetian, the lie would not have
been credible. This is why they chose the Marche, a region from further south, whose dia-
lect is different but not very commonly heard (much like that from Ferrara) in the Syrian
panorama. The questions regarding the details on their expulsion are given satisfactory
answers: this means that Meliaduse’s group had truly witnessed the event or had got re-
liable reports; otherwise they never would have been able to trick a provincial governor
about internal policy. These merchants who were forced to leave the city, in Contarini’s
version, were headed toward Cairo for their personal affairs, and as they were forced to
pass by these sacred places, they were visiting them by chance, nothing more. And thus
they took the opportunity to ask for a pass into Cairo. But how is it, in any case, that
Meliaduse was able to dress up as a Mamluk? This strategy was possible thanks to the
commercial treaties between Venice and the Sultan, which were aimed at increasing the
safety of merchants34.
   With respect to merchants, we must now touch upon a key feature of the conditions
of pilgrims in the Holy Land. The entire 15th century sees a sequence of expulsions, se-
questrations and sudden imprisonment of Frank merchants by the Sultan, which took place



    34 «Several clauses in the treaty [of 1442] testify to the great upswing of Venetian trade in
Syria. These are the clauses referring to the customs to be paid in some towns of Syria and espe-
cially to the right of the Venetians to travel dressed as moslems, over the countryside; since the
Venetians often visited the estates where cotton was planted, this was indeed an important con-
cession»: Ashtor (1983, 305). Despite the fact that refers to a concession found in the treaty of 1442,
it is evident that the practice of wearing eastern clothing must have already been popular for at
least a few years, otherwise the pilgrims would have had a great deal of difficult at the customs
office in bir Qatiya.
Saletti – Vestiti ala morescha                                                AOFL X (2015) 2, 208-212




to put pressure on their governments and thus receive commercial advantages. On numerous
occasions even pilgrims were imprisoned. In 1422 for example, in retaliation for piracy against
Muslim ships in the Mediterranean, Sultan Barsbāy arrested pilgrims, the consuls from Ge-
noa and Venice in Jerusalem, and all of the resident friars in Zion, while the church of the
Holy Sepulcher was forced to close35. Nevertheless, even when they ended up in the same jails,
the pilgrims were more vulnerable than the merchants, as they were not organized in
corporations and among their ranks were also people of modest economic backgrounds.

3.

Let us move on now to Roberto da Sanseverino. We already cited his observation about
the generalized disguising of pilgrims. We read here that, in his opinion, an intelligent
person would have recognized a lord even if he were dressed in rags, but the Saracens
have no such shrewdness. He therefore explains that the reason for dressing up is the
terrible treatment that is reserved for lords and gentlemen, as Muslims try to extort money
in every possible way:

          La cagione dela mutatione del’abito sono li mali tractamenti, li quali fano li sara-
          ceni ali signori cristiani et gientilhomini quando gli conoschono peroché, oltra gli
          fano molti rencrescimenti, cerchano et investigano ogni mala via a loro possibile
          per retardarli et ricevere qualche trabuto36.

   In order not to make the difference in his social status so obvious, Sanseverino pre-
tended to be a companion of his servant as they disembarked37. However, this precluded
him being able to find comfortable accommodation in Jerusalem: it was common practice
for “celebrities”, both lay and clergy, to be put up in the Franciscan monastery of Mount
Zion rather than having to stay in the dilapidated hospital of Saint John. And thus we see
a second deception: a Franciscan friar pretended, during the entire voyage at sea, that he
was Sanseverino’s brother, and he takes him to Zion38. Sanseverino could be much better




     35 Little (1995, 213).
     36 Scuor (2005-2006, 47).
  37 Roberto da Sanseverino, in ibidem: «se partì l’uno dal’altro et caduno con li famigli soy,
come con compagni e fratelli, aciò li saracini, li quali in quella hora expectavano, non potessaro
cognoscere il mazore dal minore».
   38 Ibid. 52: «Vene un frate di monte Syon […] che fin in galea finxe et feze voce et dimonstra-
tione ch’el dicto signore Ruberto era suo fratello, per più secureza de esso signore et achiò ch’el
si gli avesse più rispeto, lo quale condusse essi signore Ruberto et compagni a monte Syon». Ibid.
83: «… cum Boniforto da Piasenza mio familio quale chiamava mio nipote […] per non fare tropo
demonstratione».
Saletti – Vestiti ala morescha                                               AOFL X (2015) 2, 209-212




off but, he remarked, he had to pay a fixed price for the stay in any case39. Money, as we
mentioned above, is one of the pilgrim’s biggest worries.
   Bernardino Dinali also discusses this topic quite clearly. Given that after having arri-
ved in Jaffa the galley he was travelling on was blocked just off shore for bureaucratic
reasons, after six days the pilgrims on board were in extreme difficulty as they had nei-
ther food nor water. What’s more, it was well known that without a pass it was absolutely
forbidden to disembark, as the applicable laws allowed Muslims to capture people either
to collect a ransom or to make slaves of them. Dinali writes, «woe to the first pilgrim who
steps off the galley». Indeed, in order to procure food Dinali disguised himself as a galley
rower. He did not specify the way in which he changed his aspect, but he does explain that
he had to pretend extremely well, because as soon as he left the galley he was surrounded,
and before being able to collect some fruit he thought it prudent to refurnish the ship with
water40. Two days later the pilgrims received their documents, were allowed to disembark,
and they were led to a cave on the beach where each person had to give both his name and
profession. In this situation, all of the pilgrims supplied a fake identity: many pretended to
be merchants, some to be archers, others artillerymen and still others oarsmen. Note that
pilgrims had to pay the highest prices, twelve ducats, while galley workers and merchants
paid between three and five.
   There is still another explanation for why so many pilgrims pretended to be merchants.
The trick was well known, but some witnesses point out that it was mainly in the inte-
rests of the Patron to pretend that as many pilgrims as possible declare themselves as
crew members, since the contract that the pilgrims signed onto with Patron provided that
payment be made before leaving Venice: they had all already paid the standard twelve
ducat fare, required at Jaffa by the Sultan’s officers, and the remaining seven, eight, or
nine ducat difference for each pilgrim “passed off” as a crew member went directly to
the Patron41.




   39 Ibid. 53f.: «Bisogno fu, però, che e loro e li altri peregrini, quantuncha non alogiassero nel
dicto locho […] pagassene la sua rata per ciaschuno».
   40 Bernardino Dinali, in Sabbatini (2009, 69f.): «essendo io desideroso di discendere in terra
[…] con essi galeoti mi vesti’ e faceva in terra l’offitio de galeoto, perché guai al primo peregrino
che solo dismontasi in terra avanti che tuti insieme dismontino […]. In terra fui circundato da
una turba de mori, li quali sono generation sospectosissima, alhora io non fui lento a far l’offitio
di sollicito galeoto per rimuovere da loro ogni suspicione che già di me havevano conceputa: po-
semi de le barile de aqua in spala e beneché con gran sinestro le incomincia’ a portare in barcha.
E così havendoli cavati di suspecto, mi andai a fornire di fructi et di altre cose».
  41 Bernardino Dinali, in ibid. 71: «tuti furono scritti da marcatanti, alcuni da balestrieri, alcuni
da bombardier et alcuni da galeoti, et in questo modo assai danari si sparmiavano al patrone
Saletti – Vestiti ala morescha                                                   AOFL X (2015) 2, 210-212




  In the case that the anonymous French writer described, it doesn’t seem that the pil-
grim’s ran a great risk by pretending to be rowers, because in the worst case they would
not be believed and would have to pay the higher fare:

         Et print le patron quinze pellerins et les presenta en disant que c‘estoyent des
         serviteurs de la gallée, l’ung cannonier, l’aultre arbalestrier, les aultres galiotz, af-
         fin qu’il ne payast pour eulx que demy tribut combien qu’il avoit reçu de chascun
         LV ducatz. Et aulcuns desdictz pellerins passerent pour serviteurs, les aultres fu-
         rent reffusez et payerent plain tribut et n’y vallut riens la cautelle dudict patron
         combien qu’il gaigna beaucoup sur ceulx qui passerent42.

   Sometimes, however, a disguise that was uncovered could have very serious conse-
quences. During an embargo of Catalan goods, called for by the Sultan in 1423 in reac-
tion to piracy, Catalan pilgrims were imprisoned43. The interesting detail here is that
these Catalan had disguised themselves as Georgians, because they were aware of the
risk they were taken, travelling during a period of crise between their king (Alfonso of
Aragon) and the Sultan. But they were recognized just the same.
   To conclude, the act of pilgrimage was subject to numerous unforeseen circumstan-
ces. A pilgrim does not randomly disguise himself as a Georgian, Mamluk, or merchant
from the Marche region. On the contrary, he weighs thoroughly the political opportuni-
ties and the risks involved in taking on a false identity. Even wearing a mask could be a
serious business.



Beatrice Saletti
Università di Udine
Dipartimento di Studi umanistici e del patrimonio culturale (DIUM)
Palazzo Caiselli, vicolo Florio 2
33100 – Udine
beatrice.saletti@gmail.com




imperò che li peregrini pagano tuti ducati xii per uno, li altri pagano chi cinque e chi quatro e
chi tre ducati».
   42 Anonyme (1480), in Schefer (1882, 66).
   43 Ashtor (1983, 287): «the sultan proclaimed an embargo on Catalan merchandise, insisting
that other European traders should not sell them. Another measure of retaliation for the Catalan
attacks was the imprisonment of pilgrims from Catalonia who came to Jerusalem in 1423, disgui-
sing themselves as Georgians».
Saletti – Vestiti ala morescha                                                  AOFL X (2015) 2, 211-212




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Saletti – Vestiti ala morescha                                                    AOFL X (2015) 2, 212-212




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