The International Prester John Project: How A Global Legend Was Created Across Six CenturiesMain MenuOrientation to ProjectPath One: 1122-1235Path Two: 1236-1310 ADPath Three : 1311-1460 ADPath Four : 1461-1520 ADPath Five: 1521-1699 ADPath Six: 1700-1800 ADChristopher Taylor // christopher.eric.taylor@gmail.com946e2cf6115688379f338b70e5b6f6c039f8ba6f Global Middle Ages
Biblical Rivers
12022-08-14T18:02:17-07:00Christopher Taylor // christopher.eric.taylor@gmail.com946e2cf6115688379f338b70e5b6f6c039f8ba6f52811plain2022-08-14T18:02:18-07:00Christopher Taylor // christopher.eric.taylor@gmail.com946e2cf6115688379f338b70e5b6f6c039f8ba6fPrester John's Ydonus River reflects a trope of biblical rivers being located somewhere in the East, but this passage bears a clear resemblance with one in De Adventu, which describes the gem-filled Physon river, featured in Genesis, as part of Patriarch John's realm.
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12022-08-15T19:40:35-07:00Rivers in Prester John Lore2plain2022-08-15T20:01:34-07:00From the biblical river that flows through his realm to the river he could not cross to save Christendom, rivers play a curiously significant role in Prester John lore.
One of the source texts for the legend, Odo of Rheim's Letter to Count Thomas describes the river that, when flooded, prevents access to the miracles of the shrine of St. Thomas, a key landmark in Prester John's realm.
The flooded Nile River prevented the Christian army of the Fifth Crusade from reaching Cairo to await the prophesied arrival of Prester John. Centuries later, in Ariosto's Orlando Furiuso, Senapo, an Ethopian priest-king who shares unmistakable commonalities with Prester John, controls the flow of the Nile, the very river that dashed the soldiers of the Fifth Crusade's hopes to see Prester John in the flesh.