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

The History of High Ethiopia or Abassia

Historia de Ethiopia a Alta, ou Abassia (1628-1646)

Manuel de Almeida

For more on The History of Ethiopia, see Ross.

Manoel de Almeida, Some Records of Ethiopia, 1593-1646: Being Extracts from the History of

High Ethiopia or Abassia, by Manoel de Almeida, together with Bahrey's History of the

Galla. Translated and edited by C.F. Beckingham and G.W.B. Huntingford. London:

Hakluyt Society, 1954.

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The Travel of the Jesuits in Ethiopia
Historia Geral de Ethiopia a Alta ou Abassia do Preste Ioam (1660)

Portuguese writer Balthazar Téllez's The Travel of the Jesuits in Ethiopia (1660) is an academic compilation of the journeys reflected in the book's title. A major source for the text was Manuel de Almeida's history of Ethiopia, which was never published in its original Portuguese. Brewer (p. 294) goes so far as to call Téllez's work "an abridgement and revision" of Almeida's that also accounts for the observations of other Portuguese travelers to Africa. Téllez also drew on the account of Jerónimo Lobo.

In the text, Téllez argues that Prester John was an Asian monarch, not an Ethiopian king, and he blames Covilhā for perpetuating the misunderstanding that Prester John was in Africa. This account and rationale influenced Hiob Ludolf's History of Ethiopia (1681) and a dozen later writers.