Prester John
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 "Preste" as the Emperor of Ethiopia, enthroned on a map of East Africa in an atlas prepared by the Portuguese for Queen Mary, 1558. (British Library) |
The legends of Prester John (also Presbyter Johannes) were popular in Europe from the 12th through the 17th centuries, and told of a Christian patriarch and king said to rule over a Christian nation lost amidst the Muslims and pagans in the Orient. Written accounts of this kingdom are variegated collections of medieval popular fantasy. Prester John was reportedly a descendant of one of the Three Magi, said to be a generous ruler and a virtuous man, presiding over a realm full of riches and strange creatures, in which the Patriarch of the Saint Thomas Christians resided. His kingdom contained such marvels as the Gates of Alexander and the Fountain of Youth, and even bordered the Earthly Paradise. Among his treasures was a mirror through which every province could be seen, the fabled original from which the "speculum literature" of the late Middle Ages and Renaissance was derived, in which the prince's realms were surveyed and his duties laid out.
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| Otto of Freising on Prester John Otto of Freising on Prester John www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/otto-prester.html - Web |
| According to Sir John Mandeville, 14th century According to Sir John Mandeville, 14th century www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/mandeville.asp - Web |
| The Letter of Prester John in modern English (abri... The Letter of Prester John in modern English (abridged) www.graveworm.com/occult/texts/pjohn.html - Web |
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| Meir Bar-Ilan, "Prester John: Fiction and History" Meir Bar-Ilan, "Prester John: Fiction and History" faculty.biu.ac.il/~barilm/presjohn.html - Web |
| Encyclopædia Britannica (the 1911 edition) Encyclopædia Britannica (the 1911 edition) www.1911encyclopedia.org/Prester_John - Web |
| Dictionary of Ethiopian Biography: Prester John Dictionary of Ethiopian Biography: Prester John www.dacb.org/stories/ethiopia/prester_john.html - Web |
