ЈЕДАН ОПИС БЕОГРАДА И ЈУГОИСТОЧНЕ ЕВРОПЕ У ЕНГЛЕСКОЈ КЊИЖЕВНОСТИ XV ВЕКА
ONE DESCRIPTION OF BELGRADE AND SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY ENGLISH LITERATURE

Summary/Abstract: This paper comments upon the passage from the so-called Metrical version of Mandeville’s travels, describing the land route from Hungary to Constantinople. Тhe passage contains an account of the city of Belgrade, not present in other redactions of this popular late medieval travelogue. Belgrade is described as the city abundant in victuals and viands, with marvelous buildings. The description probably originated from an eyewitness and a contemporary. Although only six verses long, it is one of the rare foreign accounts of the early XVth century Belgrade, preserved in a unique literary form. Presumably, it represents a reflection of the economic rise of the city after 1403, when it became the capital of Serbian despot Stefan Lazarević. The description of the voyage from Belgrade to Constantinople in the Metrical Version is concordant with other redactions of the Travels. The place and river names present in this passage have been analysed, identified and compared to other early English versions, as well as to Anglo-French, Tuscan, Castilian, Czech and Danish redactions of Mandeville’s travels.

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