Reading Prester John
Cultural Fantasy and its Manuscript Contexts
Seiten
2024
|
New edition
ARC Humanities Press (Verlag)
978-1-942401-83-4 (ISBN)
ARC Humanities Press (Verlag)
978-1-942401-83-4 (ISBN)
This book explores the origins and diffusion of the Prester John legend and its influence on theology, politics, and the geographic imagination in the Middle Ages. Includes a new translation of the B recension of The Letter of Prester John.
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.
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.
John Eldevik is Professor of History at Hamilton College in Clinton (New York State), and has previously published on medieval social and religious history.
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Chapter 1. Wonders of the East: Visions of Global Christendom in the Early Middle Ages
Chapter 2. The Letter of Prester John and its Reception in the Twelfth Century
Chapter 3. Reading and Reimagining Prester John in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries
Chapter 4. Prester John, the Mongols, and the Resilience of Wonder
Chapter 5. The New Horizons of Christendom: Prester John in Africa
Conclusion
Appendix: The Letter of Prester John (B Recension)
Bibliography
Index
| Erscheinungsdatum | 21.08.2024 |
|---|---|
| Reihe/Serie | Beyond Medieval Europe |
| Zusatzinfo | 7 Tables, black and white; 1 Maps; 3 Illustrations, black and white |
| Sprache | englisch |
| Maße | 152 x 229 mm |
| Themenwelt | Geschichte ► Allgemeine Geschichte ► Altertum / Antike |
| Geschichte ► Allgemeine Geschichte ► Mittelalter | |
| Geisteswissenschaften ► Geschichte ► Regional- / Ländergeschichte | |
| Geisteswissenschaften ► Religion / Theologie ► Weitere Religionen | |
| ISBN-10 | 1-942401-83-3 / 1942401833 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-1-942401-83-4 / 9781942401834 |
| Zustand | Neuware |
| Informationen gemäß Produktsicherheitsverordnung (GPSR) | |
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