The Bondage and Travels of Johann Schiltberger, a Native of Bavaria, in Europe, Asia, and Africa, 1396-1427Schiltberger, Johannes
History
The Bondage and Travels of Johann Schiltberger, a Native of Bavaria, in Europe, Asia, and Africa, 1396-1427
Schiltberger, Johannes
Timur, 1336-1405 -- Early works to 1800; Turkey -- History -- Bayezid I, 1389-1403; Voyages and travels -- Early works to 1800
Another title, though less bombastic, is still more puzzling, unless
“Kaylamer” is to be identified with the fortress of Kalamil visited
in 1221 by Willbrand of Oldenburg (Viv. de Saint-Martin, _Desc. de
l’A. M._, i, 488), after leaving Mamistra (Mopsvesta of the ancients,
Mimistra of the Byzantines, the actual Missis). When upon this
journey, Willbrand left on his right hand a place called the King’s
Black Castle, an indication that conducts us with Saint-Martin to the
defile known to the ancients as the Pylæ Armeniæ or Pylæ Ciliciæ,
now called Demyr Kapou by the Turks; evidently the same locality
as that noticed by Marino Sanudo (_Liber Secret. Fidel._, etc.,
221—Pauthier, Marco Polo, cxxxii, 1). “Tartari autem sequenti anno
(1260) violenter irrumpentes, ceperunt Alapiam, Harem, Hamam, Calamelam
et Damascum.” The fortress of Calamela being included among the
chief cities in Syria, it is to be inferred that its strategical and
commercial importance had greatly increased during the half century
that transpired after Willbrand’s visit. Nor does Calamila seem to
have escaped the notice of Italian navigators, for the name, slightly
varied, appears in the hydrographic charts of the 14th century. In the
Catalan atlas, 1375, for instance, Caramila is evidently the same as
the Cramela spoken of by the author of _Liber Secretorum Fidelium_,
etc., who observes that it stood on the site of ancient Issus, the gulf
of this city being marked on the chart, “golfo de Cramela”. At that
time, Cramela divided the possessions of the sultan of Egypt from those
of the king of Armenia; and considering its importance, the sultan may
not have disdained to style himself amir of Calamila, transformed by
Schiltberger into “Amorach of Kaylamer”.
The next name, “Galgarien”, is undoubtedly intended for Khozary or
Gazary, described by Marino Sanudo (Kunstmann, _Stud. über M. S._
105) as Galgaria, a dependancy of the Tatars, inhabited by “Gothi et
aliqui Alani”. It was a Genoese possession in the Crimea, whence was
carried on a large export trade, chiefly in slaves to Alexandria,
where many afterwards became men of note; but Khozary was a dependancy
of Kiptchak, a name that signifies—hollow tree—the distinctive title
immediately following that of “the mighty emperor of Galgarien” as
“the Lord of the withered tree”. The rulers of Kiptchak, or khans of
the Golden Horde, were long bound by the strictest ties of friendship
to the sultans of Egypt, and as zealous followers of Mahomet, were
not likely to question their right to hold the first place among the
monarchs of Islam.
That the high position attained by those sultans did not influence them
against according their protection to Christian potentates, is evident
from the intimate relations that existed between themselves and the
kings or emperors of Abyssinia, among whom should certainly be included
“Prester John, in enclosed Rumany”.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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