Prisoners of Prester John

The Portuguese Mission to Ethiopia in Search of the Mythical King, 1520-1526

Cates Baldridge (Autor)

Buch | Softcover

305 Seiten

2012
McFarland & Co Inc (Verlag)
978-0-7864-6800-3 (ISBN)

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During the 16th century, Portugal endeavored to locate the mythical kingdom of Prester John--a Christian nation rumored to be somewhere in the Orient, amidst the pagans and Muslims. This study chronicles Portugal's final attempt, a six-year odyssey in Ethiopia that resulted in a tragicomic collision with a proud but isolated Christian kingdom. After summarizing the Prester John myth and the many efforts it spawned, the work focuses on the Ethiopian mission's chronicler, Father Francisco Alvares, who fell in love with the country and its people, became a friend of its king, hid the Abyssinians' heresies from his superiors, and set in motion events that saved Ethiopia from imminent destruction. Unique in the annals of Europeans' initial contacts with African peoples, the Portuguese mission is a portrait of hopeful preconceptions buffeted and eventually transformed by encounters with a fascinating, utterly unexpected reality.

Cates Baldridge, a professor of English at Middlebury College in Vermont, is the author of two books and several journal articles. In 2008, he travelled to Ethiopia to retrace the route of the Portuguese embassy that is the subject of this book.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Preface

A Note on the Text

1. News from Nowhere

2. Stalking a Phantom

3. The Lake of Fire

4. Strangers in a Strange Land

5. The Far Pavilions

6. The King and I

7. After Strange Gods

8. Divided We Fall

9. The Magic Mountain

10. The Last Crusade

11. Sermons in Stone

12. Duty’s Prisoner

Chapter Notes

Bibliography

Index

Zusatzinfo	11 photos, 4 maps, notes, bibliography, index
Verlagsort	Jefferson, NC
Sprache	englisch
Maße	152 x 229 mm
Gewicht	413 g
Themenwelt	Reisen ► Reiseführer ► Afrika
Themenwelt	Geisteswissenschaften ► Geschichte ► Allgemeine Geschichte
ISBN-10	0-7864-6800-9 / 0786468009
ISBN-13	978-0-7864-6800-3 / 9780786468003
Zustand	Neuware