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Fictitious King/Priest
Question by Ethan Gelber

The Question:

Back in the days when the Crusades dominated world news, there lived a great king and priest in the Far East beyond Persia and Armenia. As legend has it, he was a great Christian warrior who led his troops to great victories and planned an assault on Palestine to reclaim Jerusalem for the Pope. Curiously, he never appeared. And to this day, no trace of his vast realm in "the three Indies" has ever been found. One of the reasons Marco Polo set out on his famous journey was to search for this kingdom.

Who is this (fictitious?) man?

The Answer:

The legend of Prester John (also known as Presbyter John, or John the Elder) finds its antecedents in rumors spread during the early Crusades. In 1071, after the holy city of Jerusalem fell to a powerful Turkish army, Christian pilgrims were subject to harsh persecution. In response to this, in 1096, Pope Urban II, prompted by several European leaders, urged his followers to undertake a crusade and "rescue" the Holy Land. From 1096 to 1270 there were eight major crusades, of which only the First and Third were successful.

First word of Prester John's accomplishments first hit the books in 1145. From a report made by a Middle Eastern bishop, word spread to Europe. Apparently, a Christian "priest and king" named John living "in the Far East beyond Persia and Armenia" had conquered the local Muslim chiefs and sacked their capital. The latest dispatches had him headed west to retrieve Jerusalem for the Pope. He never arrived. Later, in 1221, another Middle Eastern bishop sent word of a new Christian victory over the Muslims, this time at the hands of King David of India, reportedly a descendant of John. Even later, a European historian chronicled a letter from Prester John that had been sent in 1165 to Europe's leading politicos. The letter describes John's realm as "the three Indies." Although most scholars believe this letter to have been a fake, Pope Alexander III did reply. He never received a response.

Mid-millennium adventurers, such as Marco Polo, set off in search of Prester John's empire, a land where the rivers were supposedly filled with gold. The legend of the land of Prester John was also the first of European origin to mention a "fountain of youth". Not surprisingly, no one ever found it.

Modern scholars have attempted to reconcile what is probably myth and fiction with factual history. Perhaps the battle referred to in the report of 1145 was actually one between empires of Central Asia. The honorific title of the victor of a significant skirmish in 1141 was Kor-khan, a word that could easily have become "John" after phonetic passage through Hebrew (Yohann) and Latin (Johannes). Similarly, the battle reported in the letter of 1221 may well have been to the loss of the son of Ta-yang Khan (Great King John) to Genghis Khan in 1218. Who knows?

In short, it is likely that neither Prester John nor his great empire ever existed.

The Winners:

This week's first five correct answers came from Mary McLain, Patrick Holland, Ed Berkowitz, Fifeplayer, and Matti Sovero. The following people also answered correctly: Trina Burke, William O'Connell, Kevin Gidusko, Chris Bevis, Matt Morden, Eric Johnson, Robert Garrard, Bert Cohen, Jack Tarlin, Dave Sleipness, Asmar Muhammad, Gerald Kessler, Bill Siemens, Jim Kane, Brian Palmer, Mutjaba Ghouse, Richard Hill, Jim Fuller, Chris Sigmund, hmbdan, Mollyann Tretter, and Terry Tretter.

Special mention goes out to Dave Sleipness for catching an editing error (we had initially asked people to name this "river." His response, "North Fork of the Prester John River" got a good and solid guffaw.

Other good guesses included: Kublai Khan, Hannibal, Ali Baba, Alexander the Great, King Solomon, King Arthur, Charlemagne, Gregory VII, Tamerlane, and Jesus.

THANKS for your contributions!