Medieval Dog-heads: An Eye-Witness Report January 9, 2012
Posted by Beachcombing in : Medieval
***Dedicated to Radko who sent in this passage*** An interesting passage from the Itinerarium of Friar Odoric (obit 1331), a pioneering Italian traveller in Asia: Odoric may have been the first European to reach Lhasa. He certainly stood before the great Khan and penetrated China. He also visited the south seas. The island of Moumoran [...]
The dog-headed saint January 12, 2011
Posted by Beachcombing in : Ancient, Medieval
St Christopher is in many ways a typical early eastern saint. He was for many years a prisoner of war: check. He was a Roman soldier when he turned to Christ: check. His staff miraculously took to life and began to bloom: check. An angel – Raphael no less – gave him the gift of speaking Greek: [...]
Dog-headed Indians November 26, 2010
Posted by Beachcombing in : Ancient
What do Marco Polo, Augustine, Paul the Deacon, Vincent of Beauvais and the Buddhist missionary, Hui-Sheng all have in common? Well, to keep things short – Beachcombing is on bedtime duty tonight for his insomniac daughter – they all described and (with the exception of Augustine) believed in tribes of dog-headed human beings in lands distant [...]
