Travel report of Arnold von Harff

General information
Original location Unknown (Rhineland - Duchy of Jülich-Berg, to whose dukes the report was dedicated)
Current location 12 manuscripts still exist in various libraries in Germany (and one in Oxford, Bodleian Library); 3 more are known to have once existed: see Jorgensen and Ferré and Handschriftencensus
Artist Anonymous (original and other manuscripts); Katrein a Bram from Essen (MS Bonn, Universitätsbibliothek, codex S. 447)
Date 1499 (year of dedication; probably year of manufacture of the first manuscript) and later
Material Ink and water colour on paper
Visual elements
Short description Extensive travel report of the German knight Arnold von Harff of his pilgrimages to Santiago de Compostela, Rome, Jerusalem, and other places. Almost all manuscripts which contain a copy of the work are illustrated with many depictions showing the encountered foreign peoples and their clothing, exotic animals and mythic creatures, as well as depictions of Arnold himself in pilgrims' garment, praying before the saints who are venerated at a certain pilgrimage destination. There are pictures of Arnold praying before the three Magi in Cologne, St Peter in Rome, St Catherine in the Sinai, St Thomas in India, the Crucified Christ in Jerusalem, St James in Santiago, and St Michael at Mont St Michel in Normandy. Besides these prayer portraits of the pilgrim, there are three other instances in which Arnold is depicted as a pilgrim: Arnold as a wandering pilgrim, accompanied by his coat of arms in the beginning of the book; the pilgrim traveling on a camel; and Arnold in captivity, bound by his hands and feet, in Gaza.
Depicted pilgrim
Personal information
Name Arnold von Harff
Social status / profession Knight in the service of the dukes of Jülich-Berg; Lord of Nierhoven; Treasurer (Kämmerer) of Geldern; Studied in Cologne
Coat of arms Late gothic shield - per fess, A: in red a blue label of three points, B: silver; crest: a red roundel on a silver and blue hat between silver wings (on various scenes with the kneeling pilgrim)
Text See the edition of Von Groote
Pilgrimages
Year of pilgrimage 7 November 1496- 10 October 1498
Attributes Jerusalem pilgrimage None
Other known pilgrimages Cologne, Rome, Monastery of St Catherine in the Sinai, Mont Saint Michel, Santiago
Death
Year of death 1505
Location of grave Lövenich (Erkelenz), Parish Church of the Confession of St Paul
Image of grave Arnold's tomb slab shows the signs of his pilgrimages, but no Jerusalem cross
Additional information related to this person
Personal remarks Arnold von Harff's travel report is, even more than the account of a pious pilgrimage, the story of an adventurer, always curious to discover the unknown. His journey is highly unusual for a late medieval pilgrim, and not only because he combined the three great late medieval pilgrimages (Rome, Santiago, and Jerusalem) in one pilgrimage and took a different route than most Jerusalem pilgrims. He also claims to have visited Mekka, to have been as far as India, to have visited the tomb of the Apostle Thomas there, and to have seen dog-headed men, among others. This part of his account is almost certainly fictitious, and based on other medieval travel literature. Yet this does not mean that the entire story should be considered a fraud. Unlike other medieval authors who claimed to have made fantastic journeys, such as John of Mandeville, Arnold von Harff can be shown to have really existed. Moreover, apart from the trip to India, von Harff's route is clearly traceable and (mostly) logical.
The cycle of illustrations in the travel report was clearly intended as an inextricable part of the story, already from its initial conception shortly after Arnold returned to his home. Not only are almost all illustrations copied without many adaptations in almost all manuscripts of the report, also references to the illustrations are made in the text.
Additional information
Literature
  • Jorgensen, Peter A., and Barbara M. Ferré, 'Die handschriftlichen Verhältnisse der spätmittelalterlichen Pilgerfahrt des Arnold von Harff', Zeitschrift für deutsche Philologie 110 (1991), pp. 406-421
  • Harff, Arnold von, Die Pilgerfahrt des Ritters Arnold von Harff von Cöln durch Italien, Syrien, Aegypten, Arabien, Aethiopien, Nubien, Palästina, die Türkei, Frankreich und Spanien, wie er sie in den Jahren 1496-1499 vollendet, beschrieben und durch Zeichnungen erläutert hat. Nach den ältesten Handschriften und mit deren 47 Bildern in Holzschnitt herausgegeben, ed. by Eberhard von Groote (Cologne 1860)
  • Harff, Arnold von, Rom - Jerusalem - Santiago. Das Pilgertagebuch des Ritters Arnold von Harff (1496-1499), ed. by Helmut Brall-Tuchel and Folker Reichert (Cologne, Weimar, and Vienna 2009) (see there, pp. 22-25, for a complete bibliography)
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