This site requires Javascript to be turned on. Please enable Javascript and reload the page.

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

Floating Tomb

Considering that Muslims and Nestorians represented two of the West’s most historically problematic and intractable “heresies” it should come as no surprise that they are also grouped together in Western Christian texts. Western authors of the twelfth century invented a tradition that directly unites adherents of St. Thomas with those of Muhammad: despite the lack of any literary precedent, writers constructed separate legends that the tombs of Muhammad and St. Thomas’s floated in mid-air. In both traditions, the phenomenon proves merely the result of strategically placed magnets. These stories, which were entirely Latin Christian inventions, forge a connection between the Eastern Christians’ reverence of the Apostle Thomas with Muslims’ adulation of their prophet Muhammad as a way of un-knowing the difference between them.

The de Adventu contains the narrative of Thomas’ floating tomb, described beautifully by Uebel (47-65; 55-6). Embrico of Mainz’s twelfth-century Vita Mahumeti inaugurated the tradition of Muhammad’s tomb being suspended in mid-air by magnets. Other twelfth-century portraits of Muhammad, including those in the Chanson d’Antioche and Gautier de Compiegne’s De otia Machometi, offer similar descriptions of Muhammad’s tomb, envisioned ostensibly in order to showcase the way in which Muhammad feigned piety and miracles in order to assure adherents of his sanctity.

This page is referenced by:

On the Arrival of the Patriarch of the Indians to Rome under Pope Calixtus II De Adventu patriarchae Indorum ad Urbem sub Calixto papa secundo (1122)

Long considered to be an origin point for the legend of Prester John, the anonymous De Adventu appears to be a compilation of lore about India, most notably borrowed from Gregory of Tours. The connection to the Prester John legend involves an anecdote concerning a man called Patriarch John who traveled from India to Rome (by way of Byzantium) in 1122. Reportedly discovered by papal legates in Byzantium, and having arrived for diplomatic reasons, this John had allegedly visited the Byzantine church to be formally recognized as "Patriarch of the Indies" (his predecessor had died).

Upon arriving in Rome to an audience with Pope Calixtus II (r. 1119-1124), Patriarch John described the marvelous land over which he ruled, including India's capital city of Hulna (unknown to geographers), where he resided and was protected by the largest walls in the world.

In addition, this text discusses he reputed miracles performed by the Apostle Thomas, including his magical floating tomb.

Although De Adventu does not invoke the name "Prester John" directly, its linking of a rich Christian patriarch of India and the figure of St. Thomas allows scholars to see it as one of the early, potentially direct influences on the Letter of Prester John. Uebel argues that this text directly influenced the Elyseus Narrative.

The text features descriptions that the Letter of Prester John would later echo, including an emphasis on the magnificent size of the capital city, the realms inclusion of a biblical river (Physon) full of precious gems, the punishment for non-believers in his realm, and the resting place of the Apostle Thomas.

That this anonymous account is corroborated by Odo of Rheims' "Letter to Count Thomas" makes the de Adventu all the more compelling as a potential source text for the Prester John legend.

Michael Uebel provides an English translation of one of the more interesting moments in the text:
A short distance outside the walls of the city [Hulna] is a mountain, surrounded everywhere by the waters of the deepest lake, which extends in height out of the water, at the top of which stands the mother church of St. Thomas the Apostle… During the year the aforementioned mountain, where the church of St. Thomas is located, is not accessible to anyone, nor would anyone without cause dare to approach, but the patriarch who must go there in order to celebrate the sacred mysteries, and in the church people from everywhere are allowed entrance only once a year. 29. For, eight days before and after the approaching feast day, the level of the water surrounding the mountain so greatly diminishes that it is hard to tell there was any water there at all; from this place there, people from everywhere came together [to visit the sanctuary of St Thomas]

Zarncke created his edition of the text from nine manuscripts, one printing, one fragment, and from two chronicles which contained the tale (Brewer, 5)

Slessarev provides a useful overview of the text (pp. 9-11):
“The first Western sources to record the miracles performed by St. Thomas and to announce the victory of Prester John over a Moslem army had one common characteristic… Both accounts contain legendary elements, and while in the case of St. Thomas such a background was regarded as more or less natural, Prester John has been almost exclusively viewed in a historical setting. Yet he too was at least partially clothed in the garb of legend, and the connections between the two traditions want examination."
“The anonymous author called the Indian prelate Patriarch John and let him travel for a year from his home country to Constantinople where he was to be confirmed in his position and invested with a pallium. Here in the imperial city he became acquainted with papal envoys who had come from Rome to negotiate an end to the unfortunate split between the Greek and Roman churches… the Patriarch begged the papal emissaries to take him along on their return so that he might see Rome… and it was at a papal reception in the Lateran palace that the Indian dignitary told the story of St. Thomas’ miracle-working hand."
"The city over which he ruled… was the capital of India and its name was Hulna. In circumference it extended for four days’ journey and its walls were so thick that two Roman chariots set abreast could be driven on them. Through the middle of the city flowed the River Physon on its course from the earthly paradise. Its waters were crystal clear and they were full of gold and precious stones. Hulna’s population consisted exclusively of Christians among whom there were no heretics or unbelievers, because such persons either came to their senses or died."

Brewer's compilation of Prester John sources begins with de Adventu (pp. 30-38) and includes an English translation.

Read Latin text on Google Books (pp. 837-843)
More on St. Thomas and medieval Christianity in India.
Acts of Thomas Originally composed in Syriac in the third century, The Acts of Thomas described the missionary travels of Jesus' apostle Thomas east of Europe into India. Since the text circulated fairly widely in the Middle Ages (having been translated twice into Latin in the 6th century), it became one of the central texts to familiarize European readers with the existence of a place called India.

In addition to introducing readers to India, The Acts of Thomas helped inaugurate a strange controversy—one which resurfaced around the time of the Prester John legend—concerning the location of Thomas' tomb. It appears that some traditions insisted that Thomas' bones rested in India, while others asserted that his remains were carried west to Edessa. It was even thought that Thomas rested simultaneously in Edessa and India, a theory circulating as early as the fourth century, perhaps beginning with the Syrian theologian St. Ephraim.

Both Latin translations of The Acts of Thomas identify the city of Edessa as the final burial place of Thomas. The Acts (p.152) states
“they brought goodly garments and many linen cloths, and buried [Thomas] Judas in the sepulcher in which the ancient kings were buried." Later, however, when certain villagers go to Thomas’ tomb, the text claims “[they] did not find the bones, for one of the brethren had taken them away secretly and conveyed them to the West” (p.153).

The resting place of the tomb of the Apostle Thomas reappears as a discussion point in a number of twelfth century texts, including the Letter of Prester John. The renewed interest was timely. While Edessa had long displayed the relics of St. Thomas, the mid-twelfth century Seljuk incursion persuaded city leaders to temporarily transfer Thomas' remains to the Aegean island of Chios. In 1258, moved further west to their current resting place: the town of Ortona in central Italy.

Given Thomas as a figure of interest in both eastern and western Christianities, not to mention his association with Edessa, a city connected to the legend, it makes sense that the tomb of St. Thomas should become part of Prester John's domain. Later interpolations of the Letter even integrate the scene from the Acts in which Thomas constructs an ethereal palace for King Gundafor.

This page references:

Floating Tomb