Between Scribes and Authors: On Three Exceptional Manuscripts of the Descriptio Terrae Sanctae

Abstract

This paper focuses on accounts of travel to the Holy Land, and specifically on one of the most influential texts in this body of literature: Burchard of Mount Sion’s Descriptio Terrae Sanctae, written circa 1283. It analyses three case studies from the fifteenth century, where later editors updated the Descriptio based on their own experience in the Holy Land. The paper argues that the writers corrected or updated the Descriptio as a service to their fifteenth-century audience, and at the same time used it to commemorate their own travels. It further emphasizes the editors’ role as creative agents, arguing that editors should, in certain cases, be recognized as authors. This paper thus contributes to the broader discourse on medieval categories of writing.