333
Latin
The Bordeaux Pilgrim
Itinerarium Burdigalense
Anonymous
A bare itinerary from Bordeaux to Jerusalem listing every staging post and change of horses, with terse notes on the holy places seen at the end.
Western · Travel journal
301–400
The Fourth Century
1 work
401–500
The Fifth Century
1 work
c. 400–404
Greek, and in Rufinus's Latin
The History of the Monks in Egypt
Historia Monachorum in Aegypto
Anonymous, translated by Rufinus
Seven pilgrims travel up the Nile in the winter of 394 and write down what they saw: a monk who kept a lion out of his garden by argument, another who had not looked at a woman in fifty years, and towns where the ascetics outnumbered the citizens.
501–600
The Sixth Century
1 work
c. 547–550
Greek
Christian Topography
Cosmas Indicopleustes · 6th century
A merchant-turned-monk argues that the universe is shaped like the tabernacle of Moses, and reports at first hand on the Christians of Ceylon and the Malabar coast.
601–700
The Seventh Century
1 work
c. 679–688
Latin
On the Holy Places
De Locis Sanctis
Adomnán of Iona · c. 624–704
A description of Jerusalem, Palestine, and Egypt taken down from a Frankish bishop shipwrecked on Iona, complete with sketch plans of churches.
Celtic · Travel
701–800
The Eighth Century
1 work
c. 778–780
Latin
The Life of Willibald
Hodoeporicon
Hugeburc of Heidenheim · 8th century
An account of a seven-year pilgrimage from England to Jerusalem and back, taken down from the traveller's own dictation, including his arrest as a spy and a smuggled jar of balsam.
Anglo-Saxon · Travel
901–1000
The Tenth Century
1 work
969
Latin
The Embassy to Constantinople
Liudprand of Cremona · c. 920–972
A furious report of a failed diplomatic mission — bad wine, worse lodgings, humiliating protocol, and a Byzantine emperor who called the Western ruler no emperor at all.
Western · Report
1101–1200
The Twelfth Century
1 work
1191
Latin
The Journey Through Wales
Gerald of Wales · c. 1146–c. 1223
An account of preaching the Third Crusade around Wales, digressing constantly into local marvels, Welsh customs, and the author's opinion of everyone he meets.
Western · Travel
1401–1500
The Fifteenth Century
1 work
c. 1468–1475
Old Church Slavonic
The Journey Beyond Three Seas
Afanasy Nikitin · d. c. 1475
A merchant from Tver travels to India and records, with real distress, that he has lost track of the Christian calendar and cannot keep the fasts or Easter.
Rus · Travel
1601–1700
The Seventeenth Century
1 work
written to 1610; published 1615
Italian
On the Christian Expedition to China
Matteo Ricci · 1552–1610
An account of thirty years in China — learning the language, becoming a scholar in Chinese terms, the mathematics that opened doors, and the slow gathering of converts.
Jesuit · Memoir