The Master’s Tale and the Slave’s Narrative: The Book of John Mandeville, Leo Af

Abstract

The paper discusses influential European travel books specifically, The Book of John Mandeville (1360), the edited?section?of?Leo?Africanus’?“A?Geographical?Historie? of?Africa,”?(1600)?and?Christopher?Marlowe’s?The Jew of Malta?(1591)?in?their?reflection?of?the?political,?social,? and commercial concerns of the Elizabethans whose overt yearning for a utopian Christian region in the travel books and as depicted in the play is in its essence a covert desire for free trade and the accumulation of wealth. The following study employs both a Foucauldian spatial interpretation of closed spaces as “places of intimacy” as mentioned in “Space, Power, and Knowledge” (Foucault 1993) and the moral, sentimental, and the “mercantile uses of Christianity” behind imperialism as put forth in J. A.?Hobson’s?(1905)?Imperialism: A Study as a conduit to show how the travel tale of The Book of John Mandeville and the slave narrative of Leo Africanus share with many literary pieces of the period, including the play, Elizabethan dual values in assessing global affairs. The paper argues that The Jew of Malt portrays Christopher Marlowe’s?criticism?of?the?Elizabethans?whose?outlook?on? global relations is motivated by a stated spiritual purpose and clandestine materialistic desires.

Key words: Renaissance; Drama; Travel; Slave Narrative; Marlowe; Leo Africanus; John Mandeville; Foucault

Résumé

Le?document?examine?les?influents?des?livres?de?voyage? européens?spécifiquement,?le?livre?de?Jean?de?Mandeville?(1360),?la?section?éditée?de?Léon?l’Africain???Une? Historie?géographique?de?l’Afrique??,?(1600)?et?de? Christopher Marlowe ? Le Juif de Malte ? (1591) dans leur réflexion sur les préoccupations politiques, sociales et commerciales ; des élisabéthains dont manifeste le désir?d’une?région?utopique?chrétienne?dans?les?livres? de voyage et tel que représenté dans le jeu est dans son essence une volonté secrète de libre-échange et l’accumulation?de?richesses.?L’étude?qui?suit?emploie?à la fois une interprétation foucaldienne spatiale des espaces?clos?comme?des??lieux?d’intimité???comme? mentionné dans ? Espace, Pouvoir et Savoir? (Foucault 1993) et la morale, sentimentale, et le ?mercantile utilise du?christianisme???derrière?l’impérialisme?en?tant?que? mis?en?avant?dans?JA?Hobson?(1905)???l’impérialisme??:? Une étude en tant qui conduit pour montrer comment le récit du voyage de le Livre de Jean de Mandeville et le?récit?esclave?de?Léon,?l’Africain?de?partager?avec?de? nombreux?morceaux?littéraires?de?l’époque,?y?compris? le?jeu,?les?valeurs?élisabéthains?double?dans?l’évaluation? des affaires mondiales. Le document fait valoir que le Juif de malt dépeint la critique de Christopher Marlowe des élisabéthains dont les perspectives sur les relations mondiales est motivée par un but précis spirituelle et clandestins désirs matérialistes.

Mots clés:?Renaissance;?Le?théatre;?Les?voyages;?Le? récit?esclave;?Marlowe;?Léon?l’Africain;?John?Mandeville;? Foucault.

fall of the city of Constantinople in the hands of the Ottomans in the fifteenth century, for example, has aggrieved Europeans for losing vast Christian homelands to Muslims. In the Introduction to Empires of Islam in Renaissance Historical Thought Margaret Meserve (2008) states that Bishop of Siean, Aneas Sylvius Picclomin wrote a letter to his friend lamenting the historic defeat of Christendom to people who were described as “barbaric”(p.1). Europeans, centuries later, found themselves as travelers continuously caught in religious battles on both land and sea and as captives customarily sold into slavery by Arabs, especially in the Barbary region who were motivated by the Turks to heave raids on Christian ships. Though the invasions by the Turks were continuous and wars were ceaseless, European travelers trekked the continents chiefly for commerce and often brought with them along, with merchandise, tales of Christians living in distant places. Both the travelers and their audiences were exalted to know places where Christianity is practiced. The remote Christian enclaves and the detail surrounding them constitute the focus of late medieval and Renaissance travel books.

Elizabethan travel narratives, especially stories of Africa and Asia, frequently mentioned those places were Christianity existed. In “A Journal of the First Voyage of Vasco Da Gama” (1497-1499), for example, the daily confrontation of people from different faiths especially between the Europeans and the African Muslims is narrated in this tale of the legendary Christian king:

The myth of “Prestor John” dominated travel tales and appears in one of the most important late medieval travel books, namely, The Book of John Mandeville (1360). The travel narrative was instrumental in the late middle ages in shaping a European world view, especially of Moslems, that rippled in its effect in the Renaissance tales of travel. The Book of John Mandeville shows the social and class interests of the well-to-do European traveler and is exemplary of the type of narrative customarily recited by merchants. The book first started circulating around 1360?and?claims?to?be?a?first?hand?account?of?a?knight?who? traveled abroad. The travel narrative, which also shows some of the astronomical and philosophical theories of the time, reveals common perceptions of the nature of travel and its purposes. In the section entitled, “Of the Foul Customs Followed in the Isle of Lamory and How the Earth and Sea are of Round Shape, Proved by the Means of the Star Antarctic,” the author combines social perspectives and intellectual reflection which is usually found?in?travel?narratives?(p.425).?However,?the?book’s? importance lies in shaping a European view of the world and in its popularity among commoners. It was widely circulated until 1515 and was printed in eight languages. The narrative structure is composed of several anecdotes on?chilling?customs?of?people?eating?human?flesh?(p.425).? The tale proceeds by providing as anecdote on the narrator’s?fear?of?falling?off?the?edge?of?the?world.?The? resolution to his climactic narrative ends up peacefully by reaching the civil and welcoming lands of practicing Christians in the section entitled “Of the Royal Estate of Prestor John.” According to the narrative, Prestor John is an emperor of immense wealth who controls different regions and commands a diversity of cultures.

The book stresses the importance of having Christians welcome a weary traveler and the comfort of finding a place to rest from the incivility of others and from the dangers of the journey. It can be argued that the conditions of travel and the hostility of the geography and people prompted European travelers to enlighten others on the importance of having a utopian Christian region in the Mediterranean. In “Space, Power, and Knowledge,”Foucault regards the individual desire for closed places of intimacy as a yearning for a utopian liberty (p.162-69). The myth of Prestor John in the travel tales emphasizes the importance of having Christians in Africa and aims at a utopian goal of acquiring geographical lands ruled by Christians.?The?story’s?importance?also?lies?in?its?influence? on European travelers who trafficking across the globe reassured their audiences of Christianity found in all corners of the globe.

The narrative in The Book of John has social ramifications and it also includes embedded political and commercial objectives. J. A. Hobson (1905) states in Imperialism: A Study?that?“wherever?‘the?commercial’? is?combined?with?‘the?imaginative’?in?any?shape?or?sort,? the latter is exploited by the former” or as Hobson later renames as the “mercantile uses of Christianity” (p.177). The narrator indirectly reveals the European zeal for travel as partially related to an enthusiasm for commercial gains that can be acquired from pagans. For example, the narrator states that on the Isles of Lamory there is plenty of “meats, fish, grains, gold, silver, and every other commodity” and that “Nothing is held in private, nothing is locked up, and every person there takes what he?wants?without?anyone?saying?‘no.’?Each?is?as?rich?as? the other” (Mandeveille, p. 425). The account proceeds by describing?people?and?events?on?the?traveler’s?path?way? with reservations on the kind of Christianity practiced in non European places because the narrator states: “Yet they do not share all the articles of our faith” and marries the daughter of the Great Khan and the Great Khan marries his?daughter”?(p.427).?However,?the?traveler’s?happiness?

at finding practicing Christians outweighs his criticism especially in light of the fact that merchants are frequently caught?in?religious?fights?and?are?easy?targets?for?Moslems? who practiced piracy and customarily targeted Christians.

The fear of being captured as slaves was a serious concern for European travelers and those who were unfortunate but managed to escape told stories of their hardships in captivity. Their accounts often served as a reminiscent to the average European of the need for collecting alms to ransom those Christians from abject slavery practiced by Barbarians who were encouraged by the Turks to hold Christian travelers in captivity. The number of narratives of captives held by people living in the Barbary region is considerable, and a whole genre entitled Barbary captivity narratives exists in European literature. The genre was quite popular and aimed at gaining sympathy because they claim to be firsthand accounts of people who were in danger, and survived to tell of their misfortunes. Similar to other captivity narratives, the stories of “white captives” often pointed to the need for a Christian alliance against their heathen masters.

During the same period another type of slave narratives also gained favor among the average European reader. The hardship stories of white captives were often contrasted with the kinder treatment of non European slaves who narrated their conversion to Christianity as a result of the more humane treatment. The famous narrative of Leo Africanus was widely circulated and pointed out the kinder treatment practiced by his Christian captors and his own willingness to convert to Christianity. The Eurocentric viewpoint appears in the second part of “A Geographical Historie of Africa,” which the English translator Pory added. At the beginning of the second part of the “Historie,” the editor claims to give an account of what Leo Africanus omitted in reference to the?kinds?of?religions?practiced?in?Africa.?The?first?three? headings summarize and provide a detailed description of the manifold religions of Africa and the witchcraft that permeates all of them including Christianity. Nevertheless, there is emphasis on the importance of spreading Christianity as two more sections follow mentioning places where Christianity resides in Africa(Africanus,1600, p.107). The editor laments the meager existence of Christians in the main land [interior], and in the second section entitled “Of the Islands of the Atlantic Ocean, where the Spaniards and Portuguese have planted religion” (p.107). The editor praises the dominating existence of Christianity on the shores because of its important geographical location to travelers. In the third section, the editor commends the effort exerted by Christians in spreading religion, but contains an embedded criticism of some practices by acclaimed self-righteous groups. As the subtitle clearly indicates, the narrative contains disapproval of factions of Christianity.

The English editor of “A Geographical Historie of Africa” emphasizes his criticism of the Portuguese and Spanish role in the fourth section, entitled “Of the Negroes.” In this section, the editor comments on the preaching of Christianity as practiced by the Portuguese and Spanish which he regards as constricted because of a miscalculated worldly gain. According to the editor, the Negro-slaves are being converted “through continual conversation” and that the great hindrance to the Negroslaves’?conversion?is?“the?avarice?of?their?masters,?who,? to hold them in the more subjection, are not willing that they should become Christians” (p.109). The editor raises the disturbing notion that Christians were not interested in converting a group of people believed to be inferior if there is no materialistic gain and he believes that excluding natives from being Christians is not in European favor and the absence of Christianity could result in a financial?loss?for?a?variety?of?reasons.?The?most?important? lies in the dangers of absent Christian homelands where there would be vast regions becoming more hostile and therefore would lead to more European travelers captured as slaves by enemies of Christianity.

The fear of being sold into slavery was a very serious concern as the editor of the “Historie” elaborates in the last section. He shows his sympathy for “the best and most sincere Christianity in all Africa” in a section entitled “Of those poor distressed European Christian in Africa, who are holden as slaves unto the Turks and Moors” (p.109). The number of captured Christians mentioned in the “Historie” is huge, and alms were often raised to free them. The section, therefore, ends with a belief that Christian allies are vital because the numbers of white slaves are continually rising in alarming numbers as the enemies of Christianity are in pursuit of unfortunate travelers.

In both The Book of John Mandeville and the “Historie”there exists a Eurocentric emphasis on the imperative need for Christian allies in the hostile regions of Africa. The enemies of Christianity, as mentioned in the “Historie,”were often defined as the Turks and Arabs who were politically used by the Turks to create a hostile spatial place for Christian travelers and continuously threaten them and undermine their economic standing. The Elizabethan concern with their own physical and spiritual well being in a world filled with international wars as a result of absent Christianity is often reflected in various travel narratives, and in literary pieces as in Christopher Marlowe’s?The Jew of Malta.

The Jew of Malta?displays?Marlowe’s?controversial? nature and personal views on how the Renaissance man saw contemporary global relations in light of his own material and spiritual needs. The play is informed by the Eurocentric views of Elizabethans as portrayed in the famous travel tale of The Book of John Mandeville and by?the?equally?famous?narrative?of?Leo?Africanus’s?“A?

Historie?of?Africa.”?Marlowe’s?critical?attitude?towards? Elizabethans overt yearning for a Christian utopia and their covert and imperialistic desire for wealth is exposed in the play. The prelude emphasizes the major theme of greed and Machiavellian notions; the audience becomes aware from the onset of the real motivation behind all the character’s?actions.?The?play?begins?with?showing?avarice? as European motivation by introducing Machevill, the name synonymous with Machiavelli, who appears freely traveling across the continent seeking friends for “his soul but?flown?beyond?the?Alps,?/And?now?the?Guise?is?dead,?is? come from France/ To view this land, and frolic with his friends”(Marlowe, p. 9). As the Prologue clearly indicates, Machevill is ecstatic with the familiarity and intimacy of friends in the predominately Christian homeland and in which he has many followers.

The play stresses materialism as international in its scope and most of the major and minor characters of different religious backgrounds are materialistic in their motivation. In the Prologue, Marlowe alludes to the often misinterpreted?historical?figure?of?Machiavelli?to?establish? the?play’s?major?emphasis?on?wealth.?The?fictional? Machevill announces the Jew as his star principal because Barabas is one “who smiles to see how full his bags are crammed, / Which money was not got without my means,”but Barabas is not the only person who is motivated by greed. The list includes members of the upper class such as Ferneze, the Governor, Selim-Calymath, the son of the Turkish Emperor who appears as a foil for the Turkish leader, and Callapine, a Bashaw in addition to lower class individuals as Ithamore, the Turkish slave to Barabas, and Belle Amira, the courtesan. However, spectators observe the?disturbing?notion?of?men?of?piety’s?avarice?and? materialistic pursuit and Barabas through his knowledge of?Christians?used?Friar?Bernadine?and?Friar?Jacomo’s?lust? for money to exact his revenge on both of them.

Barabas is portrayed as different from other characters because his immense fortune was a result of freedom from all constraints; social, political or religious. Moreover, his autonomy is the reason behind the jealousy of other“pious” individuals as portrayed in the play. Barabas explains to the audience the importance of global trade to achieve an immense wealth. According to Barabas, the most fruitful enterprises were with Arabs, or they had to be conducted across their lands which is an advantage Christian merchants do not have access to because of limitations placed on them by the social and political milieu. Barabas clarifies that trading in Europe is not profitable?as?the?returns?are?insignificant:

Accordingly, Barabas shows the Elizabethan audience that he does not limit business affairs to regions or to a group of people and that he is not involved in the animosity between Christians and Arabs which was a major obstacle for a more productive trade for Europeans.

The nature of international trade as portrayed in the play reveals the social, political, and religious concerns of the Elizabethans as well as the obstacles to having a more prosperous trading enterprise. As Barabas mentioned in his opening statement, the least returns were in Europe as opposed to the immense profits accumulated from Arabs, who were mostly Moslems. Most often they were not enthusiastic about trading with Christians because both parties were engaged in military disputes and often both Christian and Moslem tradesmen were indirectly involved in practicing piracy. Another major problem for Europeans during the Middle Ages were the trading routes which crossed places where Moslems and Arabs resided and they frequently aimed at taking Christian hostages. Consequently, Christians were hindered by a vast geographical region that proved to be a dangerous zone as there was not a safe route for trade. In addition to the common hostility, there were also military battles frequently carried out and one historical allusion is made significant?in?The Jew of Malta.

The play specifically alludes to the historic Turkish attempted invasion of Malta in 1562 and summarizes the English perception of the larger Mediterranean cultural and?political?landscape.?Elizabethans?regarded?the?Turk’s? continuous siege and demand of tribute money as one part of the problem, but the more serious setback was that the Turks hindered trade and, therefore, Christian traders were unable to accumulate vast wealth. There are various?references?to?battles?of?the?sea?and?Marlowe’s?“ships of war” as Lasley Dameron (1963) suggests were a hyperbole that indicated the military threat was not only by the Turks but also by the Spanish navy that were a serious threat to the English homeland (p.20). The play’s?references?to?battles?at?the?sea?especially?were?of? importance as there was a competition among Europeans for domination of various trade routes.

Marlowe indirectly portrays the enthusiasm for international trade and the allusion to battles with other Europeans as a reflection of the Elizabethan zeal for an imperial expansion. In spite of constraints on Christian merchants some of them were wealthy and many of them promoted the idea that international trade, in spite of hindrances, is essential to the accumulation of material wealth because it proves essential to gaining more political power and as necessary for “ransoming kings

Barabas asserts that international trade is essential in gaining more wealth and exposes the hypocritical Christian viewpoint that proclaims an ultraistic aim of saving other Christians as the reason behind their choice of not expanding globally. Marlowe through Barabas shows a Christian perspective that indirectly promotes imperial expansion by encouraging tapping to resources in the East and by providing reasons to fight enemies who create a hostile region in international business. As Kenneth Friedenreich (1977) points out in a survey of critical opinions on The Jew of Malta a great number of?critics?have?confirmed?Marlowe’s?anti-Christians? sentiments in the play (p.324).

Ithamore’s?role?in?the?play?is?to?provide?an?additional? emphasis on how Elizabethans deemed Christian allies necessary not only in international business, but also in social?life.?Ithamore?reflects?the?Elizabethan?viewpoint?of? Turks and Arabs as the traditional enemies of Christianity and his confession of the destruction wreaked on Christian places, people, and holy places is an indication that Ithamore born in “In Thrace; brought up in Arabia” will“do much villainy”(Marlowe 45). Therefore, Ithamore is transformed from an individual into a prototype who intends to harm Christians:

Barabas as the lines indicate does not need to convince Ithamore of playing a role in the revenge scheme. In Act IV, the evil plan by the master and slave reveals the extent of their villainy and malice as they tie a noose over Bernardine while he is asleep and strangle him, and moments later they put the dead priest to lean on a staff so that Jacomo gives him a blow with his staff and is later sentenced to the gallows. The roles of Barabas and Ithamore mirror Elizabethans perceptions of the enemies of Christianity. Barabas, after all, is according to Elizabethan thought beyond redemption, unlike Abigail, his daughter, whose conversion to Christianity is permitted because she displays innocent femininity (Beskin, 2007, p.133). Nevertheless, the villainy of Ithamore is portrayed to conform to Elizabethan perceptions because the wickedness exceeds that of his Jewish master.

The play conforms to Elizabethan views on the stock character?Ithamore’s?ceaseless?duplicity?because?Ithamore? soon betrays Barabas in the same act. The other characters in the play realize the betrayal nature of Ithamore and Bellamira sends him a letter with the knowledge that the servant needs little encouragement to betray his master. The plan works as Ithamore decides to blackmail Barabas for 300 hundred crowns and in Act IV scene three, Barabas?finally?gives?in?to?the?blackmail?and?laments?the? betrayal because Ithamore exceeded his expectations.

However, Marlowe shows the multi layered interpretation?of?Ithamore’s?decisions.?According?to?Linda? McJannet (2008), the figure of the Turk carries a new dimension in The Jew of Malta because Marlowe gave a more?positive?portrayal?of?the?Turks?in?the?figure?of?Selim? who in spite of his personal flaws dealt fairly with his enemies (pp.84-85). Also, Marlowe portrayed Ithamore as a Machiavellian, but he constructs Act IV so as to include others characters in malicious acts because they were equally motivated by avarice and the lust for gold. Dena Goldberg (1992) in a reading of the play follows the?classical?rituals?of?sacrifice?portrayed?in?the?play?and? reveals a framework by which the community of Malta

was seeking to achieve a redemptive status (p.233-245). Marlowe, therefore, was trying to portray the common perceptions of Elizabethans for the purpose of redeeming society in exposing its mercantile use of Christianity.

The emphasis in The Jew of Malta is on the communal sharing of guilt because most of the characters are engaged?in?betrayal?acts?and?thus?indicates?Marlowe’s? negative perceptions of Elizabethans and their Christian views. Critics have pointed out that the third and fourth scenes have undergone drastic revisions, but as Leo Kirschbaum (1946) states the Friar scenes were an integral part of the play (p.53-56). Marlowe therefore wanted to emphasize the friars as involved in the pursuance of worldly gains and that evil is not limited to traditional enemies as Elizabethans would like to have them in travel narratives and in literary productions. On the contrary, Marlowe portrays the use of religion as a pretext for commercial gains as more dangerous than unadorned greed. The play draws on multiple ironies to reveal its complexity and disturb the ideological complacency of its Elizabethan spectators. It also makes use of popular travel tales to make compelling arguments against prejudice and a more thorough self-examination of the soci-economic factors in global relations.

Marlowe and his contemporaries have realized the importance of exposing the mercantile use of Christianity by using the popular travel tales to reflect Elizabethan perceptions of other cultures and were often accurately depicting aspects of African culture to reinforce the selfexamination?of?global?relations.?In?Shakespeare’s?Othello, for example, aspects of African culture, such as the Yoruba myths, were meticulously depicted (Mafe, 2004, pp.46-61). The accuracy of detail in describing the nature of international trade and people in The Jew of Malta reinforces the inward examination of complacency by Elizabethan audiences to view this emphasis on finding practicing Christians in distant lands as part of their materialistic greed coated in a hypocritical desire for a Christian utopia.

The literature of the middle and late medieval periods abounds with examples of Moslems posing as a threat and reflects a desire for a more inviting environment of Christian allies. The Jew of Malta, along with the popular travel tale, The Book of John Mandeveille and the slave narrative of Geographical Historie of Africa reveal the social, political, and cultural viewpoints of the Elizabethans towards non Christians, especially Turks and Arabs and show the yearning for a more stable region. Literary works of the period, in particular, were informed?by?travel?tales?and?slave?narratives?and?reflected? the cultural perceptions of Elizabethans towards others. A reading of early modern culture in light of the travel tales provides a paradigm in The Jew of Malta that shows a Christian proclamation of the urgency of an intimate region that is less threatening and contains Christian allies. Marlowe in the play provided a controversy on established Elizabethan global perceptions by explicitly portraying the decree of such outcries as a worldlier outlook on life instead of being a pious religious pursuit.

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