Pilgrimage as a cultural and intellectual experience: A fourteenth-century Franciscan travelogue from Ireland [Oral Presentation]

The paper deals with a colourful, but incomplete fourteenth-century account written by an Irish Franciscan friar, Simon Semeonis, that describes his pilgrimage from Ireland to the Holy Land undertaken between 1323 and 1324. It places the text of Simon’s Itinerarium in the context of Franciscan intellectual and spiritual tradition. By looking at references to the literary sources and material culture, the paper illustrates how the travelling friars acted as important agents in the transfer of cultural ideas, including those on Islam. The alien places and people Simon encountered are described with a great attention to detail, allowing, as the paper suggests, to see his account as representative of Franciscan travel writing.