Burchard (Brocard) of Mount Zion (of Saxony)

BURCHARD (Brocard) of Mount Zion (of Saxony). - Traveller in the Holy Land, author of a famous Descriptio Terrae Sanctae, b. at Barby in Magdeburg around 1220. Some manuscripts and several editions of the work assign him to the Order of Preachers, which is very probable. From the single date (1283) and from certain allusions found in the book, it emerges that B. resided in Palestine for about ten years, whence he had occasion to visit the holy places repeatedly.

His account is of great historical value for the abundance of information and details that, as an eyewitness, he gives us concerning the Near East, especially on the biblical places and on Eastern customs and usages. A connoisseur of the language of the country, B. drew his information directly from Christians and Muslims, sifting it with diligence and impartiality, sparing neither praise for the Christians of the Eastern rite nor censure of those of the West, who often by their conduct showed themselves unworthy to dwell in the holy places.

Thus we have in B.'s work a faithful picture of the state of the Holy Land during the last years of the Crusader occupation. As the so-called Antico Compendio was during the 11th and 12th centuries, so the Descriptio Terrae Sanctae was in vogue until the 16th century, often also plundered by unscrupulous narrators, who took from B. without further ado information on the holy places, never seen nor visited, particularly as regards Galilee.

Teofilo Antolin