Tag: manuscript

The Bizarre and Mysterious Travel Memoir from the Middle Ages That Features Dragons, Giants, Monsters, and More

by Hailey Brophy
August 8, 2023

The Travels of Sir John Mandeville is a strange manuscript. This Medieval tale recounts the narrator’s supposed journey through the Eurasian continent. It features fanciful records of lands both real and fictional. According to the narrator, just beyond the horizon of Medieval Europe was a land of wonders and horrors; the wide world was a […]

Who is Calafia? The Forgotten Literary Origins of the State of California

by Hailey Brophy

October 17, 2022

California, the Golden State, was first explored by Europeans in the sixteenth century when Spanish explorers began traversing the Pacific coastline. By the late-eighteenth century, the Spanish had established a series of missions which ran along the state which was referred to as “Alta California.” After a relatively brief stint as a Mexican province, California […]

The Bizarre and Mysterious Travel Memoir from the Middle Ages That Features Dragons, Giants, Monsters, and More

Who is Calafia? The Forgotten Literary Origins of the State of California

Legends From History