The existence of Prester John is one of the great enigmas of the Middle Ages. Marco Polo's words may perhaps indicate that he really happened
«Master John by the grace of God, almighty King over all Christian kings, we salute the Emperor of Rome and the King of France, my friends. We make ourselves known about ourselves and our state and the government of our land. Know that we have the highest crown in the whole world, as well as gold and silver and precious stones, and cities, castles and towns. Know that we also have in our power 42 almighty kings and good Christians. Our Empire extends, on the one hand, four months; but no one knows how far our dominance reaches on the other side.'
This fragment belongs to a letter that in 1177 reached the main European courts. It was signed by a certain Prester John. His kingdom was marvelous and his power unlimited. No one knew that Christian King who lived in the East. Why had everyone ignored him until now? There was no answer. Let us bear in mind that at that time the ignorance of distant lands was normal. Communication was very scarce and no one doubted the existence of Prester John.
The Christian King of the Far East
Almost a century after that letter, Marco Polo speaks of Prester John in his travel book. According to the account of Genghis Khan and Prester John they faced each other: «After two days, the two parties armed and fought hard, and it was the greatest and fiercest battle that the human race had ever seen. And there were heavy casualties on both sides, but in the end Genghis Khan won the battle and in it Prester John perished and was dispossessed, and Genghis Khan continued his conquests."
From the chronicles we know that Genghis Khan was elected King in 1187. In the year 1200, according to Marco Polo, Genghis Khan asked to marry the daughter of Prester John. Request that was denied. As a result of this they clashed. Thus we have a letter sent in 1187 and his death in 1200. Was Prester John a real person?
Did Prester John really exist?
There are various theories about it. In Kerait there was a King named Yeliutaschi. He came to power in 1126. He was a Christian King. He came to have a great empire in Central Asia. He starred in one of the great battles of that time, that of Samarkand. The chronicles place his death in the year 1143. Taking into account what Marco Polo explained and that the letter was sent in 1187, we must rule it out.
In the year 1145 the Bishop of Gabula met Otto with Freising, half-brother of the German Emperor Conrad III. It is during this meeting that the reference to Prester John appeared for the first time. The bishop assured him that he was a Nestorian Christian. This means that he considered Christ radically separated into two persons, one human and the other divine, who form two independent entities, two persons united in Christ, who is God and man at the same time, but made up of two different persons. Otto von Fresing recounts what he heard from Bishop Gabula:
«After the battle, the aforementioned John headed his army on the way to Jerusalem in order to help the Church of this city. But when he reached the banks of the Tigris he could not cross it for lack of boats so he headed north, where this river froze in winter, as he had heard. Now, after waiting a few years for the ice to appear and never reaching his object as a result of the mild climate, he was forced to return to his homeland.
Despite what was said and the words of von Fresing, nothing was known about Prester John. Supposedly, Genghis Khan had killed him. Now, why did he decide to send that letter to the Byzantine Emperor Manuel I, Pope Alexander III, and the German Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa? It's a mystery. It is noted that the origin is European. Some have attributed it to Bishop Christian of Mainz. If his will was to arouse the interest of some and explain to them that Christianity was spreading in the East, he succeeded. Now, little more. The letter stayed there and they never had contact with him again. Little by little they forgot the name and went on with their lives.
His name appeared again in 1221. The Bishop of Akkon wrote a letter to Pope Honorius III in which he commented that Prester John had set out to "exterminate the doctrinal pestilence of the infidel Muhammad." The so-called Prester John was none other than Genghis Khan. The above did not occur. Prester John broke into Georgia with violence and left it devastated. Genghis Khan's advance was halted in southern Russia. In the following years he invaded all of Russia and in 1242 he reached Vienna.
Nickname for Defender of Christianity
Some travelers, such as Pietro Carpani and Wilhelm von Rubruk, traveled to distant lands to learn about Prester John. They couldn't find anything. Only Marco Polo brings us closer to his figure. Marco Polo, among others, assumed that the kingdom of Prester John would be located in Abyssinia, called African India. That is why during the 14th and 15th centuries he came to be called Prester John of Ethiopia. The letters were repeated in 1530. Pope Clement VII and Emperor Charles V received letters signed by Prester John. That is the latest news about the character.
The existence of Prester John is one of the great enigmas of the Middle Ages. Marco Polo's words can tell us that he really existed. Now, he also names Genghis Khan that way. The hypothesis can be launched that this was the name given to that King or Emperor who had a great empire and fought against the Muslims. That no one ever saw him and that he did not appear before anyone can prove what we have said. In other words, he was a nickname for the defender of Christianity. Be that as it may, myth, legend or nickname, the word Prester John has survived for a thousand years in our memory.
No comments:
Post a Comment