
Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
In the Middle Ages, Prester John was seen as the great hope for Crusaders struggling to hold on to, then regain, Jerusalem. He was thought to rule a lost Christian kingdom somewhere in the East and was ready to attack Muslim opponents with his enormous armies. There was apparent proof of Prester John's existence, in letters purportedly from him and in stories from travelers who claimed they had met, if not him, then people who had news of him. Most pointed to a home in the earthly paradise in the Indies, outside Eden, with fantastical animals and unimaginable riches. Later, Portuguese explorers thought they had found him in Ethiopia, despite the mystified denials of people there. Melvyn Bragg asks why the legend was so strongly believed for so long, and what facts helped sustain the myths.
With
Marianne O'Doherty
Martin Palmer
And
Amanda Power
Producer: Simon Tillotson.
4.6
50155,015 ratings
In the Middle Ages, Prester John was seen as the great hope for Crusaders struggling to hold on to, then regain, Jerusalem. He was thought to rule a lost Christian kingdom somewhere in the East and was ready to attack Muslim opponents with his enormous armies. There was apparent proof of Prester John's existence, in letters purportedly from him and in stories from travelers who claimed they had met, if not him, then people who had news of him. Most pointed to a home in the earthly paradise in the Indies, outside Eden, with fantastical animals and unimaginable riches. Later, Portuguese explorers thought they had found him in Ethiopia, despite the mystified denials of people there. Melvyn Bragg asks why the legend was so strongly believed for so long, and what facts helped sustain the myths.
With
Marianne O'Doherty
Martin Palmer
And
Amanda Power
Producer: Simon Tillotson.
7,704 Listeners
3,218 Listeners
300 Listeners
501 Listeners
525 Listeners
295 Listeners
1,058 Listeners
1,883 Listeners
596 Listeners
722 Listeners
280 Listeners
862 Listeners
230 Listeners
294 Listeners
4,766 Listeners
350 Listeners
227 Listeners
314 Listeners
3,156 Listeners
3,157 Listeners
14,047 Listeners
72 Listeners
724 Listeners
1,001 Listeners
498 Listeners
2,320 Listeners
323 Listeners
616 Listeners
229 Listeners
276 Listeners
26 Listeners
88 Listeners
8 Listeners