Brocard (Burchard, or Rather Burckhardt)

Brocard (Burchard, Or Rather Burckhardt)

an early German traveller, was born in Westphalia or Strasburg, in the latter half of the 13th century. He entered the Dominican order, and was sent by his superiors in 1232 into the Levant, Armenia, and Egypt, passing ten years in the monasteries of Palestine and Mt. Sinai. On his return late in life (cir. 1283) he wrote an account of those parts, which contains notices of many places now utterly.in ruins. It was first published under the title Prologus Terrae Sanctae, by Luke Brandis in his Rudimentum Noviciorum (Libeck, 1475, pages 164-188), and often later, usually as Descriptio Terrce Sanctce; especially in Ugolino's Thesaurus, vol. vi, and at the end of Le Clerc's ed. of Eusebius's Onomasticon (see Tobler, Bibliogr. Geog. Palaest. page 27). It was a favorite work in mediaeval times, and was variously transcribed. Canisius has given, in the fourth volume of his Lectiones Antiquae, an account of the Holy Land, founded upon that of Brocard. See Hoefer, Nouv. Biog. Generale, s.v.