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

Map 1.2 : Explore Prester John's Kingdoms

In this visualization, we trace Prester John's locations as a cognate to a longstanding attempt to instill an imperial logic of Christian expansion from the dawn of the Crusades to the imperialism of later centuries.
 
This map indicates the theoretical locations for Prester John's kingdom, as imagined by contemporary texts. The polygons represent the locations of the imagined kingdoms of Prester John. 
 
Click on the individual polygons on the map to see detailed information on which author and text mention that specific kingdom.
 
 
 
In this first era of the legend, the locations follow a common and unsurprising pattern. Either Prester John is believed to be somewhere on the periphery of the crusading world or he is believed to exist in India. Given the vague meaning of India in the Middle Ages, I have done my best to approximate the location based on the actual description of the place in the attendant text. 
 
 
 
Learn more about the following locations:
 
  • Hulna, India (Patriarch John) - Not Pictured Above
  • Ani, Turkey (Georgian General Ivane Orbelian)
  • Qatwan, North of Uzbekistan (Kofark al-Turak/Yeh-lu Tashi)
  • Ectbana, Iran (Priest John)
  • India (Presbyter Iohannes)
  • Syria (John the Presbyter)
  • Greater India (King of Greater India)
  • India (Grail Kingdom)
 
If there are any other observations you would like to make, please use the "comment" box below.

Continue to Path Two: 1220-1310 AD
 

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