ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the linguistic problems of western travellers during the tenth, eleventh and twelfth centuries, largely the crusading period. It suggests that the early bilingual word lists and phrase lists, including a few tenth century siblings, did not function as preparation for a journey eastward. Diplomats in the west could learn the basics of Greek, including some polite phrases, from returning compatriots who had resided in the Greek capital or from Greek monks who occasionally travelled in western Europe. The interest in the Greek language as such can be seen in the compilation of Latin-Greek word lists where sometimes Greek characters were used for Greek words. In the context of travelling in the Byzantine world it may be useful to look at Aimon's geographical description of parts of the Byzantine empire, where consciously or unconsciously he refers to contemporary events.
