Prester John

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Prester John, a legendary Christian king, endured in the imaginations of many medieval crusade theorists and geographers. Thought to be a savior who would assist the forces of Christendom to defeat Islam in a final crusade to take Jerusalem, Prester John occupied an important place in the minds of those who hoped for a successful crusade. In this episode, join newcomer Josh as he takes you on a whirlwind tour of Asia and Africa in search of this mythical figure.

Podcaster: Josh

Further Reading

Suzanne Conklin Akbari, Idols in the East: European Representations of Islam and the Orient, 1100-1450, Cornell University Press, (2009).

Geraldine Heng, The Invention of Race in the European Middle Ages, Cambridge University Press, (2018).

Thomas Lecaque, "The Apocalyptic Myth that Helps Explain Evangelical Support for Trump," The Washington Post, (2019).

Kim Phillips, Before Orientalism: Asian Peoples and Cultures in European Travel Writing, 1245-1510, University of Pennsylvania Press, (2014). 

Prester John: The Legend and its Sources, Edited by Keagan Brewer, Crusade Texts in Translation v. 27, Routledge, (2015).

Brett Edward Whalen, Dominion of God: Christendom and Apocalypse in the Middle Ages, Harvard University Press, (2009).

​​Music: "Evening Melodrama" by Kevin Macleod (www.incompetech.com)