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From Hutton Webster's, Early European History (1917); edited for this on-line publication, by ELLOPOS
XXIII. GEOGRAPHICAL DISCOVERY AND COLONIZATION
» Contents of this Chapter
Page 4
LEGEND OF PRESTER JOHN
What specially drew explorers eastward was the belief that somewhere in the center of Asia existed a great Christian kingdom which, if allied to European Christendom, might attack the Moslems from the rear. According to one form of the story the kingdom consisted of the Ten Tribes of Israel, who had been converted to Christianity by Nestorian missionaries. Over them reigned a priest-king named Prester (or Presbyter) John. The popes made several attempts to communicate with this mythical ruler. In the thirteenth century, however, Franciscan friars did penetrate to the heart of Asia. They returned to Europe with marvelous tales of the wealth and splendor of the East under the Mongol emperors.
THE POLOS IN THE EAST, 1271-1295 A.D.
The most famous of all medieval travelers were Nicolo and Maffeo Polo, and Nicolo's son, Marco. These Venetian merchants set out for Asia in 1271 A.D., and after an adventurous journey reached the court of Kublai Khan at Peking. The Mongol ruler, who seems to have been anxious to introduce Christianity and European culture among his people, received them in a friendly manner, and they amassed much wealth by trade. Marco entered the khan's service and went on several expeditions to distant parts of the Mongol realm. Many years passed before Kublai would allow his useful guests to return to Europe. They sailed at length from Zaitun, a Chinese seaport, skirted the coast of southeastern Asia and India, and then made their way overland to the Mediterranean. When the travelers reached Venice after an absence of twenty-four years, their relatives were slow to recognize in them the long-lost Polos.
MARCO POLO'S BOOK
The story of the Polos, as written down at Marco's dictation, became one of the most popular works of the Middle Ages. In this book Europe read of far Cathay (China), with its wealth, its huge cities, and swarming population, of mysterious and secluded Tibet, of Burma, Siam, and Cochin- China, with their palaces and pagodas, of the East Indies, famed for spices, of Ceylon, abounding in pearls, and of India, little known since the days of Alexander the Great. Even Cipango (Japan) Marco described from hearsay as an island whose people were white, civilized, and so rich in gold that the royal palace was roofed and paved with that metal. The accounts of these countries naturally made Europeans more eager than ever to reach the East.
THE MAKING OF EUROPE / EARLY EUROPEAN HISTORY: Table of Contents
url: www.ellopos.net/politics/european-history/default.asp
Cf. The Ancient Greece * The Ancient Rome
Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantium) * Western Medieval Europe * Renaissance in Italy
