Ibn Battuta has an overall negative opinion on Constantinople. He describes parts of it and gives a very brutally honest opinion. He says "The bazaars in this part of the town are good but filthy, and a small and very dirty river runs through them. Their churches too are filthy and mean". This shows how he isn't exactly fond of Constantinople. However, I wasn't to sure on the use for the focus of Ibn Battuta; he seemed to give a very focused opinion. His opinions were focused more on the money side of things (of course.).
Benjamin of Tudela's view of Constantinople, in contrast to Battuta's, is positive. Similar to Battuta, however, Benjamin's focus on the wealth was very noticeable. He says that their wealth is "not to be found in the whole world", showing how fond he is of it. It could be said he idealized the idea of Constantinople as a place to live, he compliments pretty much everything. The entertainment, the wealth, the people, he loves it all; quite the jolly guy it seems.
Liudprand of Cremona sticks to an Ibn-esque description of Constantinople, he tends to stick to the negatives. He doesn't hesitate to just flat out give his honest opinion on it, he uses his experiences to help express why he seriously dislikes it. When he came there, he was treated as an inferior, and was forced to walk on foot even though he arrived on horseback. He also seriously dislikes the king, emperor, "Rex", take your pick, but he describes him with serious brutality. He calls him a "monstrosity of a man, a dwarf, fat headed" among other things, very biased and almost immature.
No comments:
Post a Comment