page_title: Bertrandon de la Broquière
section_title: Damascus to Constantinople
hierarchical_section_title: Bertrandon de la Broquière / Le Voyage d'Outremer / Damascus to Constantinople
caption_attribution_description: Map of Constantinople (modern Istanbul), designed in 1422 by Florentine cartographer Cristoforo Buondelmonti (Description des îles de l'archipel, Bibliothèque nationale, Paris) is the oldest surviving map of the city, and the only surviving map which predates the Turkish conquest of Constantinople in 1453.
context_page_description: Bertrandon de la Broquière was a Burgundian spy and pilgrim to the Middle East in 1432–33. 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 in French at the request of Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, for the purpose of facilitating a new crusade.
context_section_description: 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 that Acre had only 300 houses. 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 from Mecca to Bursa. 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 a mameluke, who taught him aspects of Turkish culture, cuisine and military custom. He also learned the rudiments of the Turkish language. The caravan stopped first in Antioch, crossed Little Armenia, and rounded the gulf of Alexandretta. The voyage across Asia Minor was relatively fast. At Iconium Bertrandon took leave of the caravan and joined an embassy headed to the Beylik of Karaman. When he finally arrived in Bursa, he took up lodging with a local Florentine for ten days. At Bursa he joined a company of European merchants, a Spaniard and three Florentines, and followed them to Pera.
  In Constantinople he took up with a Catalan merchant. The description of the city in his Voyage contains some interesting accounts of a joust and other ceremonies he attended, but very little on the city's architecture. He records a low opinion of the Emperor John VIII, describing him as an impotent tributary of the Ottoman sultan.
caption: 1422 map of Constantinople (Pera at top) by Florentine cartographer Cristoforo Buondelmonte
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