They Came to the Holy Land

A multifaceted cultural history of pilgrimage and travel to the Holy Land from the Middle Ages to the dawn of the twentieth century

For countless pilgrims throughout history, the Holy Land was a destination unlike any other. Travelling there could free you of your sins, get you knighted, or offer hope of being cured of illness. Above all, it brought you closer to the mystery surrounding places laden with religious meaning. But for Christians in particular, the journey was often very different from what they expected and the gap between expectation and reality plunged more than a few into deep crisis. They Came to the Holy Land tells the remarkable stories of those who undertook this taxing and often dangerous trip to Palestine.

Drawing on travel writings spanning the medieval era to the end of the Ottoman Empire, many newly translated and presented in English for the first time, Bernd Brunner reveals how the Holy Land was a place of both fulfillment and disappointment for Jews, Muslims, and Christians who were drawn there by religious fervour, the thirst for knowledge, or misinformation. We meet a host of fascinating characters, from German Templers and American missionaries to Zionist visionaries, Indigenous dragomans, scientists, aristocrats, and pilgrims journeying alone. What they all had in common was a destination whose peoples, cultures, and arid landscape often proved a source of profound disillusionment.

Historically insightful and richly told, They Came to the Holy Land brings to life the experiences of swashbucklers, true believers, and border crossers of every kind, offering a vivid portrait of how the Holy Land was imagined, misunderstood, and rediscovered over the centuries.