Volume 90, Number 1 - California Historical Society

who wished to join the fight. Admittedly, there is
some debate if the confraternity of Belchite and
other military societies truly regarded knights
and clerics as the same. To resolve the question
would take us too far afield. 56 But, what matters
more is that priests and monks, like Muslims
who made ribat, could consider battle part of
their vocation.
A year later, in 1123, the First Lateran Council
convened by Pope Callistus II in Rome continued
the consecration of war. War as pilgrimage
could now encompass the liberation of Spain as
well as Jerusalem. Like a pilgrim who saw his
journey as a sacred duty to lessen his punishment
in the afterlife, the council decreed that
Opposite: The panoramic views that illustrate Bernhard von
Breydenbach’s fifteenth-century account of his pilgrimage to the
Holy Land (1483–84) are among the first detailed and accurate
printed illustrations of major cities along the pilgrimage
route, including Jerusalem, a section of which is illustrated in
this detail. In consideration of his somewhat reckless youth, the
wealthy Breydenbach, dean of Mainz Cathedral, had resolved to
undertake this pilgrimage in the hopes of obtaining salvation.
Panoramic View of Jerusalem, from Hugh Wm. Davies, Bernhard
von Breydenbach and His Journey to the Holy Land, 1483–4:
A Bibliography (London: J. & J. Leighton, 1911)
Left: Breydenbach’s account described various eastern peoples
he met en route, including these illustrations of Saracens and
the Arabic alphabet, believed to be the first printed specimen
of that language. His report included the birth, life, and death
of Muhammad; the Quranic laws; and the “Manners and
Errors of the Saracens.” Influenced by Arab and Muslim culture,
Spanish explorers brought Islamic art and architecture to
Mexico and California.
General Collection, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library,
Yale University
the Christian warrior now had two places to seek
penance: “To those who set out for Jerusalem
and offer effective help towards the defense of
the Christian people and overcoming the tyranny
of the infidels, we grant remission of their sins,
and we place their houses and families under
the protection of blessed Peter and the Roman
church. . . . Those who have put crosses on their
clothes, with a view to journeying to Jerusalem or
to Spain, and have later taken them off, we command
by our apostolic authority to wear crosses
again and to complete their journey. . . . Otherwise,
from that moment we cut them off from
entry into church and forbid divine services in all
their lands.” 57
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