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

Introduction: Page 2

Most crucially, this project shows that Prester John cannot be confined solely to the Middle Ages or to the recesses of the “premodern.” As will become clear, the popularity of the legend actually increases steadily over the five hundred year period this project traces. Rather than a vestige of medieval superstition and belief, Prester John figures crucially in the project of European modernity.

By plotting the proposed locations of John’s kingdom in line with the experiences of the authors responsible for these speculations, one begins to see the degree to which medieval and early modern writers used the idea of Prester John legend to create a global vision generated at the interstices of fact and fiction. As the maps shift over time— and with them, John’s kingdom— the degree to which Prester John’s kingdom helped determine the shape of the world begins to materialize.

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