Constructed space in the late middle ages: Arnold von Harff's incidental discovery of a new paradigm of urban space in Cairo

Recent discussions on living space and practiced space in medieval and early-modem cultures provide good theoretical concepts for a better understanding of some of the latemedieval German travelogues to the Holy Land, such as Arnold von Harff's report from 1496 to 1498. Von Harff approached space differently in his descriptions of Cairo versus Jerusalem - an Islamic versus a Christian city - the religious orientation limited the urban space in the Christian world to a rigid time-space continuum, whereas Islamic cities offered considerable freedom for the Christian spectator to elaborate on new concepts of urban space determined primarily by political, mercantile, and social criteria.