The African Prester John and the Birth of Ethiopian-European Relations, 1402-1555

Author:   Matteo Salvadore
Publisher:   Taylor & Francis Ltd
ISBN:  

9780367204518


Pages:   236
Publication Date:   15 April 2019
Format:   Paperback
Availability:   In Print   Availability explained
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The African Prester John and the Birth of Ethiopian-European Relations, 1402-1555


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Overview

From the 14th century onward, political and religious motives led Ethiopian travelers to Mediterranean Europe. For two centuries, their ancient Christian heritage and the myth of a fabled eastern king named Prester John allowed the Ethiopians to engage the continent's secular and religious elites as peers. Meanwhile, back home the Ethiopian nobility came to welcome European visitors and at times even co-opted them by arranging mixed marriages and bestowing land rights. The protagonists of this encounter sought and discovered each other in royal palaces, monasteries, and markets throughout the Mediterranean basin, the Red Sea, and the Indian Ocean littoral, from Lisbon to Jerusalem and from Venice to Goa. Matteo Salvadore's narrative takes the reader on a voyage of reciprocal discovery that climaxed with the Portuguese intervention on the side of the Christian monarchy in the Ethiopian-Adali War. Thereafter, the arrival of the Jesuits at the Horn of Africa turned the mutually beneficial Ethiopian-European encounter into a bitter confrontation over the souls of Ethiopian Christians.

Full Product Details

Author:   Matteo Salvadore
Publisher:   Taylor & Francis Ltd
Imprint:   Routledge
Weight:   0.367kg
ISBN:  

9780367204518


ISBN 10:   0367204517
Pages:   236
Publication Date:   15 April 2019
Audience:   College/higher education ,  General/trade ,  Tertiary & Higher Education ,  General
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print   Availability explained
This item will be ordered in for you from one of our suppliers. Upon receipt, we will promptly dispatch it out to you. For in store availability, please contact us.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations Preface Introduction Part One: The Mediterranean Way Chapter 1: Ethiopians in the Lagoon, 1402–1459. The Stato da Mar and the Christian Highlands 1402 Maps and Itineraries Chapter 2: The Crown of Aragon, 1427–1453 Valencia Naples Chapter 3: Rome via Jerusalem, 1439–1484 Ethiopians at the Council of Florence Ethiopian Initiatives The Establishing of Santo Stefano degli Abissini Chapter 4: Lisbon, 1441–1508 The Atlantic Way The Indian Way Part Two: The Indian Run Chapter 5: Beyond the Sea, 1509–1520 Matewos’s Mission Mare Rubrum Chapter 6: Shewa, 1400s–1526 The First Faranji Faranji at Court in the Late 15th Century Lima at Court Chapter 7:A Tale of Three Cities, 1527–1539 Bologna Rome Lisbon Chapter 8: Ending the War and the Encounter, 1540–1555 The Barber-Bleeder Turned Patriarch The Ethiopian Monk Who Almost Turned Missionary The Ethiopian Monk Turned Catholic Bishop Conclusion Appendix: leading political figures Ethiopian Emperors Kings of Portugal Governors and Viceroys of the Estado da India Roman Pontiffs Bibliography Archival sources Published sources Secondary literature

Reviews

Matteo Salvadore has written that rarest of books, one that considers not just how Europe shaped Africa, but how Africa shaped Europe. In this fascinating account--full of vivid characters, lively writing, and surprising findings--Salvadore overturns many misconceptions about early modern African-Europeans relations, not the least of which is that Prester John was a mere European fantasy having nothing to do with African discourse. This remarkable intellectual history, taking advantage of rare Italian and Portuguese sources, will change how many see not just Ethiopia, but the global middle ages. Wendy Laura Belcher, Associate Professor Princeton University, USA (author of Abyssinia's Samuel Johnson: Ethiopian Thought in the Making of an English Author) The multiple viewpoints in this readable and scholarly study of the external relations of the once mythical and mysterious Christian kingdom of Ethiopia will surprise specialists and appeal to readers interested in global history. David Northrup, Emeritus Professor, Boston College, USA


Matteo Salvadore has written that rarest of books, one that considers not just how Europe shaped Africa, but how Africa shaped Europe. In this fascinating account--full of vivid characters, lively writing, and surprising findings--Salvadore overturns many misconceptions about early modern African-Europeans relations, not the least of which is that Prester John was a mere European fantasy having nothing to do with African discourse. This remarkable intellectual history, taking advantage of rare Italian and Portuguese sources, will change how many see not just Ethiopia, but the global middle ages. Wendy Laura Belcher, Associate Professor Princeton University, USA (author of Abyssinia's Samuel Johnson: Ethiopian Thought in the Making of an English Author) The multiple viewpoints in this readable and scholarly study of the external relations of the once mythical and mysterious Christian kingdom of Ethiopia will surprise specialists and appeal to readers interested in global history. David Northrup, Emeritus Professor, Boston College, USA


Author Information

Matteo Salvadore is Assistant Professor of History at American University of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.

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