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Silent Cities: Sensationalism And Removed Populations Within Fourteenth Century Western Christian And Muslim Travel Accounts Of Baghdad And Jerusalem, Abby Gibbons

Theses and Dissertations

This research explores the removal of surrounding populations within fourteenth century travel literature in the cities of Baghdad and Jerusalem, I analyze two Christian travelers, Marco Polo and John Mandeville, and one Muslim traveler, Ibn Battuta. As a basis of comparison, I discuss the twelfth century Muslim traveler, Ibn Jubayr. I specifically analyze Baghdad and Jerusalem due to the fact that they represent cities of centrality for Muslims and Christians, respectively, within medieval geographic understanding. I argue that fourteenth century travel literature presents a paradigm based in sensationalism and population removal due to their focus on entertainment and wonder, rather …