1 00:00:06,824 --> 00:00:14,040 In 1165, copies of a strange letter began to circulate throughout Western Europe. 2 00:00:14,040 --> 00:00:16,500 It spoke of a fantastical realm, 3 00:00:16,500 --> 00:00:20,290 containing the Tower of Babel and the Fountain of Youth— 4 00:00:20,290 --> 00:00:25,616 all ruled over by the letter’s mysterious author: Prester John. 5 00:00:25,616 --> 00:00:30,155 Today, we know that this extraordinary king never existed. 6 00:00:30,155 --> 00:00:33,825 But the legend of this mythical kingdom and its powerful ruler 7 00:00:33,825 --> 00:00:40,157 would impact the decisions of European leaders for the next 400 years. 8 00:00:40,157 --> 00:00:44,519 Prester John’s myth would propel the age of exploration, 9 00:00:44,519 --> 00:00:51,940 inspire intercontinental diplomacy, and indirectly begin a civil war. 10 00:00:51,940 --> 00:00:56,908 When Prester John’s letter appeared, Europe was embroiled in the Crusades. 11 00:00:56,908 --> 00:00:59,118 In this series of religious wars, 12 00:00:59,118 --> 00:01:05,345 Europeans campaigned to seize what they regarded as the Christian Holy Land. 13 00:01:05,345 --> 00:01:08,921 The Church vilified any faith outside of Christianity, 14 00:01:08,921 --> 00:01:13,671 including that of the Jewish and Muslim communities populating the region. 15 00:01:13,671 --> 00:01:19,656 Crusaders were eager to find Christian kingdoms to serve as allies in their war. 16 00:01:19,656 --> 00:01:24,279 And they were particularly interested in rumors of a powerful Christian king 17 00:01:24,279 --> 00:01:29,231 who had defeated an enormous Muslim army in the Far East. 18 00:01:29,231 --> 00:01:33,912 In fact, it was a Mongol horde including converted Christian tribes 19 00:01:33,912 --> 00:01:35,622 that had routed the army. 20 00:01:35,622 --> 00:01:39,272 But news of this victory traveled unreliably. 21 00:01:39,272 --> 00:01:42,582 Merchants and emissaries filled gaps in the story 22 00:01:42,582 --> 00:01:45,942 with epic poems and Biblical fragments. 23 00:01:45,942 --> 00:01:47,942 By the time the story reached Europe, 24 00:01:47,942 --> 00:01:52,187 the Mongol horde had been replaced with a great Christian army, 25 00:01:52,187 --> 00:01:55,497 commanded by a king who shared the Crusader’s vision 26 00:01:55,504 --> 00:01:57,944 of marching on Jerusalem. 27 00:01:57,944 --> 00:02:03,399 And when a letter allegedly written by this so-called “Prester John” appeared, 28 00:02:03,399 --> 00:02:06,609 European rulers were thrilled. 29 00:02:06,609 --> 00:02:09,829 While the letter’s actual author remains unknown, 30 00:02:09,829 --> 00:02:14,070 its stereotypes about the East and alignment with European goals 31 00:02:14,070 --> 00:02:16,830 indicate it was a Western forgery. 32 00:02:16,830 --> 00:02:21,267 But despite the letter’s obvious origins as European propaganda, 33 00:02:21,267 --> 00:02:27,115 the appeal of Prester John’s myth was too great for the Crusaders to ignore. 34 00:02:27,115 --> 00:02:28,205 Before long, 35 00:02:28,205 --> 00:02:33,660 European mapmakers were guessing the location of his mythical kingdom. 36 00:02:33,660 --> 00:02:38,621 In the 13th and 14th centuries, European missionaries went East, 37 00:02:38,621 --> 00:02:41,755 along the newly revived Silk Road. 38 00:02:41,755 --> 00:02:44,185 They weren’t searching for the letter’s author, 39 00:02:44,185 --> 00:02:48,953 who would have been over a century old; but rather, for his descendants. 40 00:02:48,953 --> 00:02:52,393 The title of Prester John was briefly identified 41 00:02:52,393 --> 00:02:55,063 with several Central Asian rulers, 42 00:02:55,063 --> 00:02:59,733 but it soon became clear that the Mongols were largely non-Christian. 43 00:02:59,733 --> 00:03:02,083 And as their Empire began to decline, 44 00:03:02,083 --> 00:03:05,933 Europeans began pursuing alternate routes to the Far East, 45 00:03:05,933 --> 00:03:09,263 and new clues to Prester John’s location. 46 00:03:09,263 --> 00:03:11,889 At the same time these explorers went south, 47 00:03:11,889 --> 00:03:15,889 Ethiopian pilgrims began traveling north. 48 00:03:15,889 --> 00:03:19,149 In Rome, these visitors quickly attracted the interest 49 00:03:19,149 --> 00:03:22,629 of European scholars and cartographers. 50 00:03:22,629 --> 00:03:26,900 Since Ethiopia had been converted to Christianity in the 4th century, 51 00:03:26,900 --> 00:03:32,406 the stories of their African homeland fit perfectly into Prester John’s legend. 52 00:03:32,406 --> 00:03:35,906 Portuguese explorers scoured Africa for the kingdom, 53 00:03:35,906 --> 00:03:41,992 until a mix of confusion and diplomacy finally turned myth into reality. 54 00:03:41,992 --> 00:03:45,992 The Ethiopians graciously received their European guests, 55 00:03:45,992 --> 00:03:48,496 who were eager to do business with the ruler 56 00:03:48,496 --> 00:03:50,696 they believed to be Prester John. 57 00:03:50,696 --> 00:03:54,297 Though the Ethiopians were initially confused by the Portuguese’s 58 00:03:54,297 --> 00:03:56,393 unusual name for their Emperor, 59 00:03:56,393 --> 00:04:01,622 they were savvy enough to recognize the diplomatic capital it afforded them. 60 00:04:01,622 --> 00:04:06,324 The Ethiopian diplomats played the part of Prester John’s subjects, 61 00:04:06,324 --> 00:04:11,347 and the Portuguese triumphantly announced an alliance with the fabled sovereign— 62 00:04:11,347 --> 00:04:17,360 over 350 years after the European letter had begun the search. 63 00:04:17,360 --> 00:04:21,120 But this long-awaited partnership was quickly tested. 64 00:04:21,120 --> 00:04:24,160 A decade later, the Sultanate of Adal, 65 00:04:24,160 --> 00:04:29,316 a regional power supported by the Ottoman Empire, invaded Ethiopia. 66 00:04:29,316 --> 00:04:34,041 The Portuguese sent troops that helped Ethiopians win this conflict. 67 00:04:34,041 --> 00:04:35,151 But by this time, 68 00:04:35,151 --> 00:04:40,309 it was clear that Ethiopia was not the powerful ally Europe had hoped. 69 00:04:40,309 --> 00:04:44,655 Worse still, the increasingly intolerant Roman Catholic Church 70 00:04:44,655 --> 00:04:49,085 now deemed the Ethiopian sect of Christianity heretical. 71 00:04:49,085 --> 00:04:51,375 Their subsequent attempts to convert the people 72 00:04:51,375 --> 00:04:53,885 they once revered as ideal Christians 73 00:04:53,885 --> 00:04:56,515 would eventually spark a civil war, 74 00:04:56,515 --> 00:05:00,722 and in the 1630s, Ethiopia cut ties with Europe. 75 00:05:00,722 --> 00:05:02,518 Over the next two centuries, 76 00:05:02,518 --> 00:05:07,028 the legend of Prester John slowly faded into oblivion— 77 00:05:07,028 --> 00:05:12,448 ending the reign of a king who made history despite having never existed.