3. Pilgrimage

This chapter analyses the five Holy Land pilgrim guidebooks or accounts printed in Italy up to 1500, including the Franciscan Peregrinationes totius terrae sanctae; the accounts of the contemporary secular pilgrims Gabriele Capodilista and Santo Braca, the latter heavily dependent on the former; and the fourteenth-century account of the Franciscan pilgrim Niccolò da Poggibonsi, together with its recension by the fifteenth-century Franciscan pilgrim Girolamo Castiglione. In sum, these accounts yield four layers of music and sound, in varying proportions according to the objectives and interests of the authors. First, the sounds of the pilgrims themselves as they sing or recite hymns and prayers at the appropriate locations. Second, the sounds of the Gospel and Exodus stories, powerfully evoked in the mind’s ear as the pilgrims visit the associated sites. Third, the Christian (but often not Catholic) observances celebrated in the numerous churches at the holy sites by diverse clergy based locally. And fourth, the sounds of the local Muslim community, termed in our printed accounts “Saracens” or “Moors.”