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• 1 2016-07-17T18:01:10-07:00 Crusader County of Edessa 10 image_header 2022-08-08T20:18:29-07:00 The County of Edessa was the first Crusader territory established in the aftermath of the First Crusade. Its seat was the ancient city Edessa. Located in upper Mesopotamia in what is now Turkey, Edessa was considered something of a "gateway to the East" during the Middle Ages.
  
  European interest in Edessa increased during the twelfth century, which is curious considering that the city was both a hotbed of Nestorianism (a Nestorian theological school flourished in Edessa until 489) and one of the reputed resting places of the Apostle Thomas. In other words, there appear to have been clear links between Edessa and the legend of Prester John.
  
  The 1144 fall of the County of Edessa from Christian control precipitated the Second Crusade and portended a wider loss of control in the area that would take place across the next fifty years. The following year, Otto of Freising reported rumors of a distant eastern priest king intending to make his way westward. 
  
  
  Through two twelfth-century narratives insisting on Christian miracles in the city of Edessa, writers establish Edessa not only as a magical place worth defending, but as a naturally Christian locale. By way of his associations with Thomas, Prester John, in turn, offers support to those worried about the loss of Edessa.
  
  Given that the Prester John legend arose, in part, out of news that Edessa had fallen, it should not be surprising that this association persists well into the fourteenth century. Johannes Witte de Hese, whose fanciful “travels” recall those of the more famous John Mandeville, even names Edessa as the city that houses the infamous kingdom of Prester John.