During the Middle Ages, many Europeans imagined that there existed a powerful and marvel-filled Christian realm beyond the lands of Islam ruled by a devout emperor they called “Priest John,” or “Prester John.” Spurred by a forged letter that mysteriously appeared around 1165 and quickly “went viral” in hundreds of manuscripts across Western Europe, the legend of Prester John and his exotic kingdom was not just a utopian fantasy, but a way to bring contemporary political and theological questions into sharper focus. In this new study, John Eldevik shows how the manuscripts that transmitted the story of Prester John reflect the ways contemporary audiences processed ideas about religious conflict and helped them imagine a new, global dimension of Christianity. It includes an appendix with a new translation of the B recension of The Letter of Prester John.
Publikation durchsuchen
Bibliographische Angaben
Auflage
1/2024
Copyrightjahr
2024
ISBN-Print
978-1-942401-83-4
ISBN-Online
978-1-80270-197-5
Verlag
Arc Humanities Press, Yorkshire
Reihe
Beyond Medieval Europe
Sprache
Englisch
Seiten
170
Produkttyp
Monographie
Inhaltsverzeichnis
KapitelSeiten
Contents Kein Zugriff
List of Illustrations Kein Zugriff
Acknowledgements Kein Zugriff
Introduction Kein Zugriff Seiten 1 - 14
Chapter 1. Wonders of the East: Visions of Global Christendom in the Early Middle Ages Kein Zugriff Seiten 15 - 38
Chapter 2. The Letter of Prester John and its Reception in the Twelfth Century Kein Zugriff Seiten 39 - 74
Chapter 3. Reading and Reimagining Prester John in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries Kein Zugriff Seiten 75 - 92
Chapter 4. Prester John, the Mongols, and the Resilience of Wonder Kein Zugriff Seiten 93 - 108
Chapter 5. The New Horizons of Christendom: Prester John in Africa Kein Zugriff Seiten 109 - 128
Conclusion Kein Zugriff Seiten 129 - 134
Appendix. The Letter of Prester John (B Redaction) Kein Zugriff Seiten 135 - 144
