Bertrandon de la Bro(c)quière (c. 1400 – 9 May 1459) was aBurgundianspy andpilgrim to theMiddle East in 1432–33.[1] The book of his travels,Le Voyage d'Outre-Mer, is a detailed and lively account of the political situations and practical customs of the various regions he visited. He wrote it inFrench at the request ofPhilip the Good,Duke of Burgundy, for the purpose offacilitating a new crusade.
Bertrandon was born late in the fourteenth century or early in the fifteenth in theDuchy of Aquitaine. His life before 1421 is unknown. In that year he was made anesquire (écuyer tranchant) byPhilip the Good. He rapidly gained the confidence of the duke and was entrusted with a series of important missions. In 1423 he was honoured with the titlepremier écuyer tranchant, "first esquire".
From February 1432 to the middle of 1433 Bertrandon undertook his pilgrimage to the Mideast. Upon his return he was treated to more honours. In 1442 Philip arranged for Bertrandon to marry Catherine, daughter of Jean de Bernieulles, one of the richest heiresses of theArtois, and in 1443 he granted Bertrandon the captaincy of the castle ofRupelmonde on the left bank of theEscaut, a strategic fortress. In 1452 Bertrandon was present with Philip at theBattle of Gavere against the rebels ofGhent. In July 1453 he was among the elite lords present in the ducal tent when the conditions of peace were imposed on Ghent.
The last mention of Bertrandon in contemporary records dates from 1455, when Philip coaxed him to compose some memoirs of his expedition to the east. A finished copy of these was given to Philip in 1457. One of the manuscripts of theVoyage records that Bertrandon died atLille on 9 May 1459 and was buried in thecollegiate church of Saint-Pierre.
Bertrandon de la Broquière left Ghent in February 1432. He took the route throughChampagne andBurgundy toItaly. He first went toRome, where he was received byPope Eugene IV. On 25 March he set out from Rome forVenice, where he embarked on a galley bound forJaffa on 8 May. The ship was loaded with pilgrims, many of them Burgundians. This part of the voyage is largely ignored in his memoires. He provides only brief descriptions of the Italian cities he passed through on his way to the sea.
After several stops at Venetian ports, in theMorea, onCorfu, onRhodes andCyprus, Bertrandon reached Jaffa. There he was forced to pay atribute to theEgyptian sultan, the usual demand on pilgrims.[2] From Jaffa he moved towardsJerusalem, which took two days. Probably he behaved as a regular pilgrim at the time, though he was also on a mission of observation.
He saw the image of theNotre Dame de Sardenay (Ṣaidnāyā), but called the healing oil supposedly sweating from it a "mere trick to get money", noting that both Christian and Saracen were devoted to the image.[3] His stay in Jerusalem was short, after which he moved south toGaza. There he and ten companions made preparations to cross the desert, despite the heat and the brigands, to visit theSaint Catherine's Monastery onMount Sinai. Though Bertandon fell ill and had to turn back to Gaza, he does record the sighting of several exotic desert animals in hisVoyage.
In Gaza he was nursed back to health by someArabs, whom he admits in hisVoyage were not as bad as often portrayed in Europe. They conducted him toMount Zion, where he was placed in the care of theConventual Franciscans. He wished to continue to visit the sites of the Holy Land, but on account of the political situation could not. He took an Arab ship from Jaffa toBeirut and there joined a mule team headed forDamascus. In Damascus met the French merchantJacques Coeur and a Genoese merchant fromCaffa who was working forBarsbay,Sultan of Egypt, to purchase slaves for hismameluke ranks.[4]
From Damascus he returned to Beirut, where he attended a nocturnal Arab festival that made a strong impression on him. He does, however, report the decline of Beirut, that Jaffa was nothing but a collection of tents covered in reeds, and thatAcre had only 300 houses.[5] In Beirut he decided to return to Europe by land, though pilgrims of the time usually took a boat back to Italy. At Damascus he had negotiated with the leader of a caravan, Kodja Barqouq, making its way fromMecca toBursa. On the condition that he wear the Turkish costume, so as not to endanger his fellow travellers, he was permitted to accompany the caravan. The riches from Mecca greatly impressed him.
In the caravan Bertrandon met and befriended amameluke, who taught him aspects of Turkish culture, cuisine and military custom. He also learned the rudiments of theTurkish language. The caravan stopped first inAntioch, crossedLittle Armenia, and rounded the gulf ofAlexandretta. The voyage acrossAsia Minor was relatively fast. AtIconium Bertrandon took leave of the caravan and joined an embassy headed to theBeylik ofKaraman. When he finally arrived in Bursa, he took up lodging with a localFlorentine for ten days. At Bursa he joined a company of European merchants, aSpaniard and three Florentines, and followed them toPera.
InConstantinople he took up with aCatalan merchant. The description of the city in hisVoyage contains some interesting accounts of ajoust and other ceremonies he attended, but very little onthe city's architecture. He records a low opinion of theEmperor John VIII, describing him as an impotent tributary of the Ottoman sultan.[4]
Bertrandon left Constantinople on 23 January 1433 in the company ofBenedict Folco of Forlì, the ambassador ofFilippo Maria Visconti,Duke of Milan, heading to the court of theOttoman sultanMurad II atAdrianople, where they arrived late in February. Bertrandon records in hisVoyage the sumptuous reception accorded the ambassador. On 12 March Bertrandon and Benedict left Adrianople. They visitedMacedonia,Bulgaria,Albania, andBosnia. He also visitedSerbia and was well received bydespotGeorge Brankovic. Bertrandon records in hisVoyage of this time that he found the Turks more friendly than Greeks.[4] He and Benedict arrived inBelgrade on 12 April. It was there that Bertrandon began to think strategically about the conquest of theOttoman Empire. He describes Turkish armies, armour, administration, and military system. In hisVoyage he presents a plan to uniteEngland,France, andGermany against the Turks. He says the conquest would be easy, but it is the Greeks—not the Turks—who do not trust the Westerners; the possibility of an alliance with the Greeks is slim.[6] Murad, he writes, could conquer Europe with his resources, but he includes a copy of the report of the VenetianJohn Torcello in hisVoyage, to buttress his claim that the Westerners are better armed.[7] He and Benedict then traversed theGreat Hungarian Plain and stopped inBuda, where they parted ways.
It took Bertrandon five days to get toVienna from Buda, and there he was cordially welcomed byDuke Albert V of Austria, cousin of Philip the Good. Albert presented him with the first opposition to his plans. From Vienna Bertrandon took six days to arrive atLinz. He took the route throughBavaria andSwabia toBasel, where he attended a meeting of theCouncil of Basel. He reentered Burgundy atMontbéliard. At the abbey ofPothières in theCôte d'Or early in July he reported to Philip the Good. He gave him a copy of theKoran and a life ofMohammed translated intoLatin by the chaplain of the Venetian consul at Damascus. He also gave him his clothes and his horse, both acquired from the East. The duke gave the Koran and thevita to bishopJohn Germain, the chancellor of theOrder of the Golden Fleece, but kept the robes.[4]
