Symon Semeonis

{{Infobox person

| pre-nominals =

| name =Symon Semeonis

| post-nominals = OFM

| image =

| image_upright =

| alt =

| caption =

| native_name = Síomón Mac Síomóin

| native_name_lang = ga

| nationality = Irish (Lordship of Ireland)

| other_names = Simon FitzSimon(s)

| citizenship = Lordship of Ireland

| alma_mater =

| occupation = Franciscan friar

| years_active = 1320s

| notable_works =Itinerarium Symonis Semeonis ab Hybernia ad Terram Sanctam

| style =

}}

Symon Semeonis (fl. 1322–24; also Simon FitzSimon or Simon FitzSimmons) was a 14th-century Irish Franciscan friar and author.

Biography

Of Hiberno-Norman origin, Semeonis was the author of Itinerarium fratrum Symonis Semeonis et Hugonis illuminatoris (The Itinerary of Brother Symon Semeonis and Hugo Illuminator).[https://books.google.com/books?id=WrxdMwAACAAJ&dq=Itinerarium+Symonis+Semeonis Itinerarium Symonis Semeonis], 22. In 1323 he and his companion friar, Hugo Illuminator (Hugh the Illuminator), undertook a pilgrimage from Clonmel in Ireland to Jerusalem. In his manuscript account, he described his experiences and encounters during that journey.{{fact|date=October 2021}}

His encounter with a migrant group he called ‘the descendants of Cain’ outside the town of Heraklion (Candia) in Crete is probably the earliest surviving description by a Western chronicler of the Romani people in Europe. The account of his experiences in what is now Greece is also one of the earliest written reports of that land to reach Britain.{{cite web |url=http://www.albanianhistory.net/en/texts1000-1799/AH1322.html |title= Texts and Documents of Albanian History |access-date=2014-03-23 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140323105557/http://www.albanianhistory.net/en/texts1000-1799/AH1322.html |archive-date=2014-03-23 |author=Robert Elsie}}

He received a special passport for mendicants from Sultan Al-Nasir Muhammad at a reduced fee. This passport was apparently authenticated by the application of the Sultan's fingerprints.[https://books.google.com/books?id=LsqfhL6U1ykC&pg=PA103&dq=Itinerarium+Symonis+Semeonis#PPA91,M1 Eastward Bound: Travel and Travellers, 1050–1550 By Rosamund Allen.] The original manuscript is currently held as MS 407 in the Library of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge.{{fact|date=October 2021}}

His surname is now rendered FitzSimon, FitzSimmonds, or Simmonds, and still found in Ireland.{{fact|date=October 2021}}

Journey

Fitzsimons described a detailed itinerary. Starting from Clonmel, he did not say how he left Ireland, but the fact that he entered Wales at Holyhead makes his departure via Dublin a near-certainty; even today, Dublin–Holyhead is an active ferry route. From Clonmel, the road went north to Roscrea, and then Fitzsimons could follow the Slighe Dála ("Way of the Assembly") east to Abbeyleix, and then northeastwards through Naas, Tallaght and Dublin.[https://i.pinimg.com/originals/28/2f/1f/282f1f29b70bb35f8169a5f0a15cb4ab.jpg Map: Roadways in Ancient Ireland]

From Holyhead, his party continued eastwards across North Wales. They then followed Watling Street down through England to Canterbury, leaving via Dover — not to Calais, but to Wissant. They continued south across France to Paris, then down the Seine to Châtillon, crossing overland to Beaune and then down the Saône and Rhône to Marseilles.

During his journey through Eastern Europe, Symon Semeonis started to pay more attention to inhabitants and local customs, which led him to mention and briefly describe Romani people who he encountered in Crete. This is the first known mention of the Romani people in Europe.{{Cite journal|last=Justicia Lara|first=Agustí|url=https://www.academia.edu/43266530|title=The Corpus Islamolatinum as Auctoritas in the Polemical Discourse of Symon Semeonis|journal=Propaganda and (Un)Covered Identities in Treatises and Sermons: Christians, Jews, and Muslims in the Premodern Mediterranean|publisher=Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona Servei de Publicacions|year=2020|location=Bellaterra|pages=41–54|language=English}}

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; margin: 1em auto;"

{{Location map+ |Europe|relief=yes|width=800|float=center|caption=Places in Europe visited by Symon Semeonis on his pilgrimage.|places=

{{Location map~ |Europe|lat=52.3539|long=-7.7116|label=Clonmel |position=left}}

{{Location map~ |Europe|lat=53.346030|long=-6.230280|label=Dublin |position=left}}

{{Location map~ |Europe|lat=53.309|long=-4.633|label=Holyhead |position=left}}

{{Location map~ |Europe|lat=53.267|long=-4.093|label=Beaumaris |position=top}}

{{Location map~ |Europe|lat=53.28|long=-3.83|label=Conwy |position=right}}

{{Location map~ |Europe|lat=53.294|long=-3.464|label=Rhuddlan |position=right}}

{{Location map~ |Europe|lat=53.244|long=-3.132|label=Flint |position=right}}

{{Location map~ |Europe|lat=53.19|long=-2.89|label=Chester |position=left}}

{{Location map~ |Europe|lat=52.8066|long=-2.1171|label=Stafford |position=right}}

{{Location map~ |Europe|lat=52.6835|long=-1.82653|label=Lichfield |position=left}}

{{Location map~ |Europe|lat=52.408056|long=-1.510556|label=Coventry |position=right}}

{{Location map~ |Europe|lat=51.88603|long=-0.52102|label=Dunstable |position=left}}

{{Location map~ |Europe|lat=51.755|long=-0.336|label=St. Albans |position=right}}

{{Location map~ |Europe|lat=51.507222|long=-0.1275|label=London |position=left}}

{{Location map~ |Europe|lat=51.3883|long=0.4982|label=Rochester |position=right}}

{{Location map~ |Europe|lat=51.275|long=1.087|label=Canterbury |position=right}}

{{Location map~ |Europe|lat=51.1295 |long=1.3089|label=Dover |position=left}}

{{Location map~ |Europe|lat=50.8861|long=1.6636|label=Wissant |position=right}}

{{Location map~ |Europe|lat=50.726|long=1.6147|label=Boulogne-sur-Mer |position=right}}

{{Location map~ |Europe|lat=50.4648 |long=1.763|label=Montreuil-sur-Mer |position=left}}

{{Location map~ |Europe|lat=49.892|long=2.299|label=Amiens |position=right}}

{{Location map~ |Europe|lat=49.4303|long=2.0952|label=Beauvais |position=right}}

{{Location map~ |Europe|lat=48.9356|long=2.3539|label=Saint-Denis |position=left}}

{{Location map~ |Europe|lat=48.853|long=2.3498|label=Paris |position=right}}

{{Location map~ |Europe|lat=48.5604|long=3.299|label=Provins |position=right}}

{{Location map~ |Europe|lat=48.2997|long=4.0792|label=Troyes |position=right}}

{{Location map~ |Europe|lat=47.8701|long=4.5727|label=Châtillon-sur-Seine |position=right}}

{{Location map~ |Europe|lat=47.025|long=4.8397|label=Beaune |position=right}}

{{Location map~ |Europe|lat=44.9333|long=4.8917|label=Valence |position=left}}

{{Location map~ |Europe|lat=46.7806|long=4.8528|label=Chalon-sur-Saône |position=left}}

{{Location map~ |Europe|lat=45.76|long=4.84|label=Lyon |position=left}}

{{Location map~ |Europe|lat=45.5242|long=4.8781|label=Vienne |position=right}}

{{Location map~ |Europe|lat=44.2575|long=4.6492|label=Pont-Saint-Esprit |position=left}}

{{Location map~ |Europe|lat=43.95|long=4.81|label=Avignon |position=right}}

{{Location map~ |Europe|lat=43.8058|long=4.6603|label=Tarascon |position=right}}

{{Location map~ |Europe|lat=43.6767|long=4.6278|label=Arles |position=left}}

{{Location map~ |Europe|lat=43.6406|long=5.0972|label=Salon-de-Provence |position=left}}

{{Location map~ |Europe|lat=43.2964 |long=5.37|label=Marseilles |position=bottom}}

{{Location map~ |Europe|lat=43.5403|long=6.4667|label=Draguignan |position=bottom}}

{{Location map~ |Europe|lat=45.42|long=6.0328|label=Saint-Maximin |position=right}}

{{Location map~ |Europe|lat=43.4058|long=6.0615|label=Brignoles |position=right}}

{{Location map~ |Europe|lat=44.411111|long=8.932778|label=Genoa |position=bottom}}

{{Location map~ |Europe|lat=44.766667|long=9.383333|label=Bobbio |position=left}}

{{Location map~ |Europe|lat=45.047778|long=9.700556|label=Piacenza |position=left}}

{{Location map~ |Europe|lat=44.8|long=10.333333|label=Parma |position=right}}

{{Location map~ |Europe|lat=45.156389|long=10.791667|label=Mantua |position=right}}

{{Location map~ |Europe|lat=45.55 |long=11.55|label=Vicenza |position=left}}

{{Location map~ |Europe|lat=45.4375|long=12.335833|label=Venice |position=right}}

{{Location map~ |Europe|lat=44.866667|long=13.85|label=Pula |position=left}}

{{Location map~ |Europe|lat=43.171561|long=16.443272|label=Hvar |position=left}}

{{Location map~ |Europe|lat=42.95|long=17.125|label=Korčula |position=left}}

{{Location map~ |Europe|lat=42.640278|long=18.108333|label=Dubrovnik |position=left}}

{{Location map~ |Europe|lat=41.92|long=19.2|label=Ulcinj |position=left}}

{{Location map~ |Europe|lat=41.316667|long=19.45|label=Durrës |position=left}}

{{Location map~ |Europe|lat=36.821667 |long=21.706944|label=Methoni |position=left}}

{{Location map~ |Europe|lat=36.428206|long=22.486244|label=Porto Kagio |position=left}}

{{Location map~ |Europe|lat=36.25 |long=23|label=Kythira |position=right}}

{{Location map~ |Europe|lat=35.516667|long=24.016667|label=Chania |position=left}}

{{Location map~ |Europe|lat=35.333333|long=25.133333|label=Heraklion |position=right}}

{{Location map~ |Europe|lat=31.783333|long=35.216667|label=Jerusalem |position=right}}

}}

{{Location map+ |Egypt|relief=yes|width=800|float=center|caption=Places in Egypt and the Levant visited by Symon Semeonis on his pilgrimage.|places=

{{Location map~ |Egypt|lat=31.2|long=29.916667|label=Alexandria |position=left}}

{{Location map~ |Egypt|lat=30.044444|long=31.235833|label=Cairo |position=right}}

{{Location map~ |Egypt|lat=30.006111|long=31.229722|label=Babylon |position=left}}

{{Location map~ |Egypt|lat=30.416667|long=31.566667|label=Bilbeis |position=left}}

{{Location map~ |Egypt|lat=30.632032|long=31.938796|label=Es-Salahieh |position=right}}

{{Location map~ |Egypt|lat=30.959232|long=32.746910|label=Bir Qatia |position=right}}

{{Location map~ |Egypt|lat=31.516667|long=34.45|label=Gaza |position=left}}

{{Location map~ |Egypt|lat=31.783333|long=35.216667|label=Jerusalem |position=right}} }}

colspan="2"| The pilgrimage of Symon Semeonis. Towns and cities are called by their modern names.

References

Sources

[https://books.google.com/books?id=WrxdMwAACAAJ&dq=Itinerarium+Symonis+Semeonis Itinerarium Symonis Semeonis Ab Hybernia Ad Terrum Sanctam], ed. and translated by Mario Esposito, Dublin, 1960.
[https://books.google.com/books?id=dCc1GgAACAAJ&dq=9780199226658 A New History of Ireland, volume one], pp. 453, 460.
[https://web.archive.org/web/20120920020122/http://www.classicsireland.com/2003/murphy.html An Early Irish Visitor to the Island of Crete] by Conn Murphy, UCC, at [http://www.ucd.ie/cai/classics-ireland/ Classics Ireland].
[http://www.jerusalem-library.org/collection_browser.php?type=text&type2=PDF&first=25&num=5&firstletter= The itineraries of Fr. Simon Fitzsimons-1322-23] and others. Thomas Brygg. (Scroll to last PDF entry)
[https://www.scribd.com/doc/87009/Two-Irish-Travellers-in-Albania-in-1322 Two Irish Travellers in Albania in 1322]
M. Esposito, Itinerarium Symonis Semeonis ab Hybernia ad Terram Sanctam, Dublin, The Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1960
G.Golubovich, Biblioteca Bio-bibliografica della Terra Santa e dell’Oriente Francescano, III, Florence, Collegio di S. Bonaventura, 1919
Agustí Justicia Lara (2020). "[https://www.academia.edu/43266530/The_Corpus_Islamolatinum_as_Auctoritas_in_the_Polemical_Discourse_of_Symon_Semeonis The Corpus Islamolatinum as Auctoritas in the Polemical Discourse of Symon Semeonis]" in Propaganda and (un)covered identities in treatises and sermons: Christians, Jews, and Muslims in the premodern Mediterranean (ed. Cándida Ferrero). Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona Servei de Publicacions, Bellaterra. pp. 41-54
Agustí Justicia Lara (2020). "[https://www.academia.edu/44386255/The_mirabilia_of_the_Mediterranean_Basin_in_the_Itinerarium_Symonis_Semeonis The mirabilia of the Mediterranean Basin in the Itinerarium Symonis Semeonis]" in The mirabilia of the Mediterranean Basin