Ottoman Traveller: Fynes Moryson

Ottoman Traveller: Fynes Moryson

Were the emotions and feelings of early modern people different to our own? The story of travel writer Fynes Moryson sheds light on how a 16th century gentleman traveller's wanderlust resulted in tragedy and how he shared his grief for posterity.

In July 1596, Fynes Moryson - a Lincolnshire gentleman and travel writer - was struck down with grief when his younger brother died as they crossed the desert on their return from Jerusalem. Moryson described his journeys and devastating experiences two decades later in an account titled Itinerary, at once a personal memoir and a huge manual of travel advice.  


In this edition of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Dr. Eva Johanna Holmberg, whose study of Moryson, his travels and his travails, sheds light on the lives and emotions of people in the early modern period.