28 THE KING'S MIRROR 



Mainz. It was also possible to take a more easterly 

 route, and sometimes the travelers would go by sea to 

 the Low Countries and thence southward past Utrecht 

 and Cologne; but all these three routes converged at 

 Mainz, whence the journey led up the Rhine and across 

 the Alps. It will be noted that a long stretch of the jour- 

 ney from Norway to Rome would lead through the 

 German kingdom. Concerning the people of the Old 

 Saxon or German lands an Icelandic scribe makes the 

 following significant remark: " In that country the 

 people are more polished and courteous than in most 

 places and the Northmen imitate their customs quite 

 generally." * 



The cultural influences which followed in the wake of 

 the returning crusaders were no doubt largely of Frank- 

 ish origin. As a rule the crusading expeditions followed 

 the sea route along the coasts of France and the Spanish 

 peninsula; thus the Northern warriors came in contact 

 with French ideas and customs in the Frankish home- 

 land as well as in the Christian armies, which were 

 largely made up of enthusiastic and venturesome 

 knights from Frankland. The author of the King's 

 Mirror urges his son to learn Latin and French, " for 

 these idioms are most widely used." f 



One of the reasons why the~son wishes to master the 

 mercantile profession! is that he desires to travel and 



* Nikolas Ssemundarson, abbot of Thingeyrar, who made a journey to the 

 Holy Land about 1151, wrote an itinerary for the use of pilgrims from which 

 the above quotation is taken. The itinerary is summarized in Riant, Exp6- 

 ditions et Pelerinages des Scandinaves en Terre Sainte, 80-87. 

 t C. iii. It is likely that English culture found its way into the North along 

 with the French. When King Sigurd sailed to the Orient in 1107, he spent 

 the winter of 1107-1108 at the English court. 



