Zakariya al-Qazwini (1203–1283), born in Persia, served as a professor of Islamic law and cultivated interests in astronomy and geography. A prolific writer, he is best known for two works: Wonders of the Created Things and Monuments of the Lands (Athar al-bilad). Monuments is a geographic text compiled from other sources, which suggests that al-Qazwini did not actually visit many of the peoples and places that he writes about. In this passage, he describes “Frank-land,” as the Muslims called western Europe, in the aftermath of the Crusades.

Frank-land, a mighty land and a broad kingdom in the realms of the Christians. Its cold is very great, and its air is thick because of the extreme cold. It is full of good things and fruits and crops, rich in rivers, plentiful of produce, possessing tillage and cattle, trees and honey. There is a wide variety of game there and also silver mines. They forge very sharp swords there, and the swords of Frank-land are keener than the swords of India.

Its people are Christians, and they have a king possessing courage, great numbers, and power to rule. He has two or three cities on the shore of the sea on this side,1 in the midst of the lands of Islam, and he protects them from his side. Whenever the Muslims send forces to them to capture them, he sends forces from his side to defend them. His soldiers are of mighty courage and in the hour of combat do not even think of flight, rather preferring death. But you shall see none more filthy than they. They are a people of perfidy and mean character. They do not cleanse or bathe themselves more than once or twice a year, and then in cold water, and they do not wash their garments from the time they put them on until they fall to pieces. They shave their beards, and after shaving they sprout only a revolting stubble. One of them was asked as to the shaving of the beard, and he said, “Hair is a superfluity. You remove it from your private parts, so why should we leave it on our faces?”

READING AND DISCUSSION QUESTIONS