Passage, passing et passeur: Bertrandon de la Broquière et son Voyage d’Outremer

Diplomats. Squires, Knights. Pilgrims. Spies. Fifteenth-century travellers under the authority of the powerful Dukes of Burgundy adopted fluid and nebulous roles and identities. In his Voyage d’Outremer, Bertrandon de la Broquière exploits this fluidity during his travels to the East. His narrative demonstrates the possibility of intercultural as well as geographical crossings. This article examines how the traveller navigates the communities and cultures encountered during his journey and how his authority is constructed not by a change of state or cultural assimilation but by using and revealing local networks and chains of passages.