{"id":{"repo_id":"wustl","oai_identifier":"oai:openscholarship.wustl.edu:etd-1271"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/wustl/oai:openscholarship.wustl.edu:etd-1271","repository":{"repo_id":"wustl","name":"Washington University in St. Louis","base_url":"https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/do/oai/"},"display":{"title":"Mandeville's Intolerance: The Contest for Souls and Sacred Sites in The Travels of Sir John Mandeville","abstract":"As the first medieval text to combine the matter of the East with the matter of the Holy Land, <italic>The Travels</italic> circulated widely in over 300 manuscripts, making it an important text when studying medieval Christian attitudes toward non-Christians. Although many scholars point to <italic>The Travels</italic> as a tolerant text ahead of its time, a historicized approach reveals that Mandeville's project is better understood in terms of his intolerant universalism. I argue that in casting non-Christians as proto-Christians who stand as evidence of Christianity's global spiritual hegemony, the author appropriates and consumes them in service of his universalist agenda. I suggest that reading the text in terms of this intolerant universalism is a more productive approach to questions surrounding <italic>The Travels</italic> including Mandeville's demonization of Jews: an exception to his \"generous\" treatment of non-Christians), his concern for the Holy Land, and his reasons for combining the matter of the Holy Land with the matter of the East.","abstract_html":"As the first medieval text to combine the matter of the East with the matter of the Holy Land, &lt;italic&gt;The Travels&lt;/italic&gt; circulated widely in over 300 manuscripts, making it an important text when studying medieval Christian attitudes toward non-Christians. Although many scholars point to &lt;italic&gt;The Travels&lt;/italic&gt; as a tolerant text ahead of its time, a historicized approach reveals that Mandeville&#x27;s project is better understood in terms of his intolerant universalism. I argue that in casting non-Christians as proto-Christians who stand as evidence of Christianity&#x27;s global spiritual hegemony, the author appropriates and consumes them in service of his universalist agenda. I suggest that reading the text in terms of this intolerant universalism is a more productive approach to questions surrounding &lt;italic&gt;The Travels&lt;/italic&gt; including Mandeville&#x27;s demonization of Jews: an exception to his &quot;generous&quot; treatment of non-Christians), his concern for the Holy Land, and his reasons for combining the matter of the Holy Land with the matter of the East.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Patterson, Robert"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":"English and American Literature","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["David Lawton"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2009,"date_issued":"2009-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2009-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T06:13:40Z","subjects":["Literature","Medieval","English","General","Anti-Jewishness","Anti-Judaism","Crusade","Mandeville","Travel","Universalism"],"languages":["English (en)"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.doi","label":"DOI","values":["https://doi.org/10.7936/K76M34X6"],"render_values":[{"text":"https://doi.org/10.7936/K76M34X6","href":"https://doi.org/10.7936/K76M34X6","code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/etd/272","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["David Lawton"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Patterson, Robert"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2010-01-01T08:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["English and American Literature"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Literature","Medieval","English","General","Anti-Jewishness","Anti-Judaism","Crusade","Mandeville","Travel","Universalism"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["English (en)"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/etd/272"]},{"key":"dc:identifier.doi","label":"DOI","values":["https://doi.org/10.7936/K76M34X6"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["As the first medieval text to combine the matter of the East with the matter of the Holy Land, <italic>The Travels</italic> circulated widely in over 300 manuscripts, making it an important text when studying medieval Christian attitudes toward non-Christians. Although many scholars point to <italic>The Travels</italic> as a tolerant text ahead of its time, a historicized approach reveals that Mandeville's project is better understood in terms of his intolerant universalism. I argue that in casting non-Christians as proto-Christians who stand as evidence of Christianity's global spiritual hegemony, the author appropriates and consumes them in service of his universalist agenda. I suggest that reading the text in terms of this intolerant universalism is a more productive approach to questions surrounding <italic>The Travels</italic> including Mandeville's demonization of Jews: an exception to his \"generous\" treatment of non-Christians), his concern for the Holy Land, and his reasons for combining the matter of the Holy Land with the matter of the East."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Mandeville's Intolerance: The Contest for Souls and Sacred Sites in The Travels of Sir John Mandeville"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["David Lawton"],"dc:creator":["Patterson, Robert"],"dc:date.available":["2010-01-01T08:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["As the first medieval text to combine the matter of the East with the matter of the Holy Land, <italic>The Travels</italic> circulated widely in over 300 manuscripts, making it an important text when studying medieval Christian attitudes toward non-Christians. Although many scholars point to <italic>The Travels</italic> as a tolerant text ahead of its time, a historicized approach reveals that Mandeville's project is better understood in terms of his intolerant universalism. I argue that in casting non-Christians as proto-Christians who stand as evidence of Christianity's global spiritual hegemony, the author appropriates and consumes them in service of his universalist agenda. I suggest that reading the text in terms of this intolerant universalism is a more productive approach to questions surrounding <italic>The Travels</italic> including Mandeville's demonization of Jews: an exception to his \"generous\" treatment of non-Christians), his concern for the Holy Land, and his reasons for combining the matter of the Holy Land with the matter of the East."],"dc:identifier":["https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/etd/272"],"dc:identifier.doi":["https://doi.org/10.7936/K76M34X6"],"dc:language":["English (en)"],"dc:subject":["Literature","Medieval","English","General","Anti-Jewishness","Anti-Judaism","Crusade","Mandeville","Travel","Universalism"],"dc:title":["Mandeville's Intolerance: The Contest for Souls and Sacred Sites in The Travels of Sir John Mandeville"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["English and American Literature"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T06:13:40Z"}