Islam, Jews and Eastern Christianity in Late Medieval Pilgrims' Guidebooks: Some Examples from the Franciscan Convent of Mount Sion

The Holy Land was described, not just in the accounts of the pilgrims whovisited the most sacred land of Christianity, but also in several compilations and collectionsof texts conceived as guidebooks for clerics and pilgrims. From the fourteenth centuryonwards, many of these collections are clearly linked to the Franciscan Convent of MountSion. These assemblages often include texts on customs and religious beliefs of the peoples ofthe Near East and on the history of the Holy Land. One of the aims of the compilers seemsto have been to prepare the reader to meet unorthodox practices and beliefs, emphasising thecontrast between Latin Christianity and Eastern Christianity or Islam.