Any investigation into this legendary medieval figure first requires a brief introduction to its primary artifact. The Prester John legend is known primarily through a letter, apparently penned by the Prester himself, which began to circulate in the mid-twelfth century, at the zenith of crusading fervor. Prester John describes himself as a Christian sovereign ruling authoritatively over an East beyond the reach of Dar al-Islam. John boasts that his kingdom is the richest in the world and the features he describes reflect a strong familiarity with the geographical lore that had circulated in Europe since the time of the Alexander legends. As the unquestioned ruler over the medieval “three Indias” John alerts his western contemporaries that nothing can escape Christian domestication, however unfamiliar the objects and landscape of the East may appear.
As the primary artifact of the legend, this letter quickly generated attention across Europe and survives in over 400 manuscripts in at least fifteen languages. The popularity of the Letter was due in part to how it linked the impulse to explore a global landscape with a desire for this landscape to be revealed as a continuation of, rather than a departure from, the known—as already Christian.
But as central as the Letter of Prester John was to the development of a legend that survived for the next five centuries, this project demonstrates that the Letter only marks the beginning of a legend that was to persist for the next six centuries. Indeed, the "Letter of Prester John" grew into a global legend that inspired generations of writers and adventurers to seek out this mythical Christian terrestrial paradise.
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