The Great Magnificence of Prester John, Lord of Greater India and of Ethiopia
[Lagran Magnificentia del Preste Ianni Signore dell India Maggiore & della Etiopia]
(ca. 1499)
Also referred to as the Treatise on the Supreme Prester John, Pope and Emperor of India and Ethiopia, this poem by Giuliano Dati was the result of an Italian interest in Dati's omission of Prester John from his rhymed version of the letter sent by Columbus's admiral, detailing their adventures in the Indies.
Consisting of 59 eight-line stanzas, this text was derived from Jacopo Filippo Foresti's Treatise on the Pontificate of Prester John but, as Silverberg (p. 223) claims, before the "chapbook plagiarisms" of Foresti became available. Dati's text also draws from Andrea da Barberino's Guerino il Meschino and another text entitled Treatise on the Ten Nations and Sects of Christians.
In the text, Prester John is referred to as the ruler of the Indians (here designated as one of world's the "ten nations"). Here we see the blending of India and Ethiopia as Dati brings together the conversion of the Ethiopians by St. Matthew and the conversion of the Indians by St. Thomas (whose tomb here rests in Mylapur) into a single story set in a single homogenous-seeming territory.
Much of the text takes up the traditional catalogue of wonders, hearkening back to the Letter of Prester John. The ending of the poem promises a sequel, which has not survived, if it was written.
Rogers (p. 94) explains the story surrounding the poem's origin:
Columbus had disappointed the reading public of Europe, but his interpreter in verse [Dati] determined to make the necessary amends to his Italian reading public. Possibly prompted by suspicious that his rhymed version of Columbus in reality echoed a West Indian song, he projected an Indian cycle of two songs, composed of ingredients which would leave no reader dissatisfied. His first song, undated but of the period 1493-95, bears the traditionally imposing title Treatise on the Supreme Prester John, Pope and Emperor of India and Ethiopia. On his second poem Dati bestowed the simple title of Second Song of India.
The title of the first of this duo instantly recalls the Treatise on the Pontificate of Prester John by Foresti da Bergamo. Perhaps the rhymester-priest saw fit to give equal importance to the imperial aspect in closer accordance with the intent of the original twelfth-century letter from Prester John because he, living in the age of the Renaissance popes, sought to portray an ideal Church-state relation.
Rogers (p. 97-8) continues on the details of this text:
The first song appeared in at least four early editions... Giuliano Dati rhymes his reading in fifty-nine stanzas of ottava rima. He opens with an enumeration of the then nations of Christians, the order of occurrence- Latin, Greeks, Indians, Jacobites, Nestorians, Marionites, Armenians, Georgians, Syrians, and Mozarabs- and the spelling leaving no doubt of the poet's source [Guerino il Meschino]... The treatist on the ten Christian nations was published about 1490 in conjunction with the Joannes de Hese itinerary... Foresti's Treatise on the Pontificate of Prester John first joined the chapbook parade in about 1499... As Dati, writing before August 10, 1495, now resorts to this latter treatise, he obviously employed an edition of the Supplement to the Chronicles. The spelling of Prester John's residential city- Bibrithe in the Supplement, Brichbrich in the chapbook version, the former in Dati- confirms this supposition.
Here, as Brooks (p. 155) details, the frontispiece of the poem "depicts Prester John with decidedly European features, and the setting of the priest-king's court is not unlike those found in Europe at the time."
Brooks continues:
The unknown artist who created the frontispeice illustration provided this Prester John with an impressive crown containing jewels in the shape of the fleur de lis. Prester John in this image appears to be blessing the supplicants who remain seated before him, and he holds up two fingers in much the same manner as does the Roman Catholic Pope. The image is suggestive of a ruler with both religious and secular authority, certainly in keeping with Prester John’s role as king and patriarch.
The people who surround Prester John in the image also bear similarities to depictions of Europeans in the late fifteenth century. Interestingly, Prester John finds himself holding court over twelve individuals, perhaps an apostolic tip of the cap to Christ. Eleven of the visitors to Prester John's court are bearded and wear cloaks and hats not unlike those of fifteenth century Franciscan prelates, while one person directly to the right of Prester John has decidedly feminine features and is wearing what appears to be a nun’s habit. One is tempted to draw parallels between the symbolism in this image and Leonardo da Vinci’s L'Ultima Cena: the timing fits, but there may be additional reasons why this image shares some similarities with the aforementioned Milanese mural of such historical renown. In this illustration to the chapbook’s frontispiece, the artist depicted Prester John’s court above seven steps, each of which contains an admonition to readers to flee (“FVGE”) the seven deadly sins.
A copy of the the printed poem, which was published in Florence, is available at the British Museum: C.20. C.23.
More on Ethiopia's image in World Literature.
