The International Prester John Project: How A Global Legend Was Created Across Six Centuries

David and Bathsheba

That John himself sanctifies his couplings as Bathsheba was sanctified by David should  recall for western Christians the story in 2 Samuel 11 about David seducing and impregnating an already-married Bathsheba, whose child, punished by God, died a few days after being born. The text of the Letter suggests that John’s couplings, while perhaps driven by an austere piety, resonate nonetheless as infelicitous undertakings. This remark reveals a fear that the Christian kingdom of Prester John might actually represent a territory that continuously produces soldiers of God that are nonetheless left unsanctified by the deity they intend to serve.

David spies on a bathing Bathsheba

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