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

Mansa Musa

Brooks on Mansa Musa (p. 65):

The emergence of Mali in post-Ghanaian West Africa owed much to the discovery of the Bure gold fields, and one of the primary beneficiaries of the metallic wealth was the Mali king Mansa Musa. Reigning from 1312 to 1337, word of the kingdom of Mansa Musa-- widely considered by medieval African specialists as the ‘golden age of Mali’ -- likely reached Europe in some distilled form via interaction with North African traders.

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Catalan Atlas
Atles català (1375)

Cresques’ “Catalan” atlas was commissioned by Prince John of Aragon so that the crown might possess a master set of nautical charts that covers both East and West. The atlas consists of twelve leaves that are mounted on folding boards.

Named after the school that Abraham resided at in Majorca, the atlas was largely influenced by the geography of Marco Polo's Il Milione; however, the map does not position Prester John anywhere near China. The atlas does contain a large illustration of Prester John, but locates him in Nubia, accompanied with the text (qtd. in Brewer, p. 322):
A quest rey de Nubia esta en guerra e armes [ab los] chrestians de Nubia qui son so[ts] la senyoria del enperador de Etiopia e de la terra de Preste Johan

Though Prester John features prominently on the map, Cresques clearly positions Mansa Musa to command the most attention among the depicted African figures.

For more on the map, see Grosjean's edition.

Translation of legend on map of Cresques by G.R. Crone.

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Mansa Musa