Christian pilgrims to Jerusalem and their perception of Muslims in the Later Middle Ages

Abstract

Jerusalem was the Holy Land where Jesus Christ preached the gospel and was crucified, and for this reason, Christians made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem in search of the footsteps of Christ. However, from the 7th century, when Islam entered the Mediterranean, until the end of the Middle Ages, Jerusalem was always under Islamic rule, except for a brief period when the Crusaders took it back. Therefore, Christians who made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem were forced into contact with Muslims in the area.
 Christian pilgrims who would make their pilgrimage to Jerusalem in the Later Middle Ages often had previous prejudices and distorted information about Islam. In general, pilgrims to Jerusalem in the Later Middle Ages were able to see and experience the Holy Land with their own eyes, but they reproduced well-established stereotypes by referring to previous literature and travel reports that had prejudices and negative perceptions about Islam.
 Contact with local Muslims was generally prone to instilling a negative perception of them, especially because the pilgrims experienced discomfort during disembarkation at the port of Jaffa and an overnight stay in a cave, contact with Muslim donkey drivers asking for too much money, unexpected incidents on the way to Jerusalem, etc.
 Pilgrims’ oral storytelling and the pilgrimage accounts they shared with those around them influenced the perception of Muslims. Although some laymen also wrote pilgrimage accounts, it was mostly priests who wrote them. In this sense, most of the pilgrimage accounts show a strong awareness of the church and the clergy’s attitude toward Islam. Negative perceptions such as hatred and antipathy towards Muhammad and Islam dominate most of the pilgrimage accounts.
 Even people who made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem in the same year often spoke differently about their own experiences, and their perceptions of Muslims with whom they came in contact were not always consistent. In this regard, it should be said that the perceptions of Muslims appearing in the pilgrimage accounts in the Later Middle Ages did not have one perspective but varied. However, the Christian clergy’s stance on or perceptions of the Muslims were hostile.