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
(5A.) The statement that the statue was placed on a pillar is
corroborated by Cedrenus in his Chronicles, and in the Annals of
Zonaras, in which works we find it stated that the great pillar
Augusteon was erected in the fifteenth year of the reign of Justinian,
the statue being placed on it two years later. When Bertrandon de la
Brocquière saw the equestrian statue, which he inadvertently calls that
of Constantine, it grasped a sceptre in the left hand. Pierre Gilles,
the naturalist and author, sent to the Levant by Francis I. of France,
found portions of this statue in the melting house where ordnance were
cast, it having been overturned and destroyed in 1523 (_Antiquities of
Constantinople_, London, 1729); or in 1525, according to the anonymous
author of the Constantiniade. The proportions were colossal, for the
leg exceeded the height of a man, and the nose was nine inches in
length, as were also the hoofs of the horse. Gilles represents that the
statue, which was made of brass, faced the East, as if the emperor was
marching against the Persians; the right arm was stretched out, and in
the left hand was a globe to signify universal power over the whole
world, all success in war being attributed to the cross fixed on the
top. He was dressed like Achilles, in a coat of mail and shining helmet.
It is certain that the globe and cross disappeared fully one hundred
years before the arrival at Constantinople of Gilles, whose detailed
description of the statue must have reference to its original
condition.—ED.
CHAPTER LVIII.
(1.) “Lemprie; in it is a mountain that is so high, it reaches to the
clouds.”—French and Italian names commencing with a vowel, commonly
became transformed by the addition of the article which preceded them,
and in this way, Imbro was altered during the Latin empire to Lembro,
the name ordinarily given to the island, whence “Lemprie”, and Nembro
of Clavijo. During a part of the 15th century, Imbros belonged to the
Gattilusio, a Genoese family, and in 1430 became subject to the Greek
emperor. The island is overspread with the ruins of many castles, the
walls of which are covered with inscriptions and armorial bearings
(Heyd, _Le Colonie Commer._, i, 416).—BRUUN.
(1A.) The author’s statement may be taken as being the reverse of the
fact, and that the clouds had descended to the mountain, for the
highest point of land on the island of Imbros is only 1959 feet, an
altitude altogether insignificant when compared to the mountains he
must have seen in his journeys; they include the great range of the
Caucasus, shewing summits at upwards of 18,000 feet, and the noble
Ararat, rising nearly 15,000 feet above the plains of the Araxes. Had
his course lay further to the west, Samothraky, at 5248 feet above the
sea, would have excited his imagination still more.—ED.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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