Introduction: Project Overview
Database
The first component of this project consists of a database that attempts to catalogue all non-Letter references to Prester John. The database contains of three tables, which correspond to authors, texts, and locations of Prester John’s kingdom. For all location-specific information latitude and longitude coordinates are provided. The tables are linked through identification numbers (Author ID, MS ID, PJ ID).
The Author Table contains the following information: author name, author century, author birth/death dates (if known), dates of relevant travel (if applicable), city of origin, occupation, location when writing about Prester John, and locale the author visited that is furthest away from city of origin (if applicable).
The Manuscript Table contains the following information: name of text (in English), name of text (original), century, approximate date of composition, terminus ante quem, original manuscript language, number of extant manuscripts of text, and translation languages.
The Prester John Locations Table contains the following information: century, year ascribed to Prester John observation, proposed location of John’s kingdom, name of John’s kingdom (if applicable), names or titles ascribed to the figure other than Prester John (if applicable), and contemporary historical resonances (if applicable).
Taken together, the database is meant to provide insight into the following questions:
-How did the legend spread geographically and linguistically over time?
-Where did people think Prester John’s kingdom was located and how did this change over time?
-Who wrote about Prester John: when, where, and for what purposes?
-As the legend changed over time, by what names did writers identify Prester John and to what degree were these names location-dependent?
-Is there a relationship we can trace between where texts situated Prester John and where these texts were themselves written?
-Is there any correlation between the putatively historical texts mentioning Prester John (travel narrative, chronicle, geographical treatise) and the reflexively fictional accounts of his kingdom?
-What can the spread of the legend in a given century tell us about the global concerns of medieval and early modern Europeans?
The process of comprehensive and accurate cataloguing to find these answers remains ongoing. The results thus far are quite encouraging. Some highlights include:
Texts/Authors: over 100
Author Origin Countries (17): Greece, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Norway, Flanders, Turkey, England, Iceland, Portugal, Scotland, Russia, Netherlands, Syria, Ethiopia, Belgium
Languages (20): Latin, Hebrew, Greek, Syriac, Arabic, Persian, Old Norse, Old Icelandic, Old Russian, Middle High German, Old French, Anglo-Norman, Italian, Castilian, Catalan, Middle Scots, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, and English
Kingdom Locations (12+): Syria, Christian India, Turkey, Mongolia, Turkestan, Baghdad, China, Ethiopia, Russia, Nubia, Benin, Japan
Alternate Forms of Prester John: Presbyter Iohannes, Patriarch John, King John, Prete Ianni, Presto Giovanni, Preste Juan, Prestre Johan, Presbytero-Johanides, Tsar-Priest John, Prete Ianne, Johannes Africanus, Bel Gian, Praeciosus Iohannes, Preste Ioam, Belul Jan, Jonanam, Presbyter Bedigian, Prestigian, Precious John
Alternate Names/Titles: King David, King George, King of the Abexi, Kofar al-Turak, Keeper of the Grail, King Voddomaradeg, Senapo, King Ogané, Christien de Sentour,
Historical Personages: Patriarch of Nubia, Abyssinia, Cathay, or India; Ethiopian Emperors (Eskender, Jan), John the Presbyter of Syria, Yeh-lu Tashi, Georgian General Orbelian, Ung Khan, Ghengis Khan, Wedem Ra’ad, King Gorguz of Ongut Turks, Oni of Ife, Zar’a Yakob, Dalai Lama
Maps
The next step was to visualize the data from the three aforementioned tables. Using Carto DB I created a series of maps to illustrate the unfolding of the legend over time. This second feature shows how the once-European phenomenon of Prester John spread across the globe.
The following page contains a composite map of the data from all three tables, covering the years 1122-1700.
