The Historical Prester John

The archaeology of complexity and cosmopolitanism in medieval Ethiopia: an introduction

“…From a European perspective, this lack of attention is perhaps partly explained by the view that Ethiopia was isolated—the mountainous land of the legendary Christian king Prester John (Nowell 1953: 437; Axelson 1973: 33–34)—and surrounded by antagonistic Muslim sultanates and barbarous ‘pagans’. Although such views are discredited, archaeology has been somewhat tardy in adding material evidence to the often fragmentary and minimal historical sources, and in linking medieval Ethiopia to the rest of Africa and beyond.…”

Global Circulation as Christian Enclosure: Legend, Empire, and the Nomadic Prester John

“…Whether through the early visions of a post‐Crusade Christian landscape or by the later nautical adventures undertaken in order to appropriate the excessive riches of an imagined Eastern ally, the expectations that the legend of Prester John engendered never strayed very far from the fate (and presumed success) of a global Christianity. Buried under such a burden of historical expectation, John seemed destined to disappoint for any number of reasons, not the least of which because he did not technically exist. However, despite never showing up to defend Crusader armies and refusing to reveal himself to European travelers seeking his kingdom, his increasingly global audience refused to relinquish faith.…”