George Abbot's Geography
Description of the Whole Worlde (1599)
A sober view of the geographical knowledge of time, George Abbot's Geography went through nine editions between its publication in 1599 and 1664.
Brooks summarizes how Abbot defamiliarizes Prester John and his kingdom from Catholicism:
Abbot described Prester John as a “a prince absolute,” and that he also had “a priestlike, or patriarchall functió, & iurisdiction among [the Abyssinians].” In Abbot’s estimation, Prester John was a “verie mightie prince, & reputed to be one of the greatest Emperors of the world.” Ever keen to understand the true religious persuasion of his subjects, the Anglican cleric assured readers that Prester John “in no sorte acknowledge[ed] any supreame prerogatiue of the B. of Rome.” This was bit of information was likely quite important to English readers, given their own recent history of estrangement with the Vatican. (153-154)
In other words, Abbot, the future Archbishop of Canterbury, capitalizes on the long history of failures among Catholics (from missionaries to Popes) to convert Prester John to Catholicism. In this way he is able to skew Prester John's reputation for iconoclasm as a means to frame Prester John as an ally to England and to Anglicanism.
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