In Jerusalem. On death in the Holy City

Abstract

Death and Dying are omnipresent for medieval pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem. Not only the perilous crossing of the Mediterranean Sea is discussed in this article but also the presence of a multitude of tombs and memorials which requires an embedment into the relevant travelogue. The case studies of Bernhard von Breidenbach as well as Felix Fabri analyse the literary strategies of embedment, for example the various strategies of legitimisation, and the eschatological aspects of tombs of biblical characters. Such encounters allow the narrator to reflect and hence contribute to the possibilities of spiritual pilgrimage by readers at home. Therefore, the essay focusses on the dominance of the subject of death in its various forms within late medieval pilgrimage reports.