Beatrice Saletti Vestiti ala morescha: Pilgrims in disguise in late Medieval Accounts * 1. Nearly nothing is known about the pilgrim Thietmar, other than his German origins, the year of his pilgrimage and the fact that he was a clergyman. He arrived in Acre in 1217, before the beginning of the ifth Crusade («dum… terra adhuc inter Sarracenos et Christianos in pace treugis interpositis aliquantulum respiraret» 1 ). Despite the sense of alarm that permeates his text, the author observes the multicultural scene of the Holy Land with great interest. Indeed, he declares to have arrived in Acre «cum quibusdam Surianis et Sarracenis» 2 . When he begins his pilgrimage he visites Cana, where he has quidam sarracenus as his guide, then Mount Tabor, occupied by Saracens, and passes near Hatin… in short, every place that he sees reminds him of the erosion of the Crusader Kingdom 3 . After having visited Edom (in the Negev region), he has to turn toward the coast, and heads toward Damascus. In the city, under the rule of the recently formed Ayyubid Dynasty, Thietmar atempted to approach Christian prisoners, detained «in fovea sol- dani», but the act was too dangerous and he limited himself to communicating with his brethren through leters 4 . His writings go beyond simple outlines; if we read through the lines we see tension and sufering for the fate of the Christian soldiers (a feeling sharpe- * This paper was presented at the International Medieval Congress in Leeds on July 7, 2015; I have conserved its original conversational tone. I am deeply thankful to Prof. B.Z. Kedar for his careful reading and his suggestions. 1 Laurent (1857, 1). 2 Ibid. 3. 3 Ibid. 4: «A Chana Galilee perveni ad montem Thabor […]. Quem modo Sarraceni habent occupatum»; Ibidem: «Hinc transivi per campum, ubi exercitus Christianorum victus fuit et crux sancta ad inimicis crucis capta [Hatin]»; Ibid. 5: «Veni ad mare Galilee […] ubi post resurrectio- nem Dominus discipulis apparuit et piscem assatum cum eis corporaliter comedit […]. Super quem locum capella ediicata fuit, sed a Sarracenis destructa»; Ibid. 6: «veni Tyberiadem […] que a Sarracenis destructa adhuc a paucis tam Sarracenis quam Christianis inhabitatur». 4 Ibid. 13: «Cum fuissem in palatio Soldani […] volui videre Christianos captivos in fovea Sol- dani, quod est carcer, sed ductori meo visum est non esse consultum. Cum tamen non auderem, accepi literas eorum et ipsi meas per internuncios».