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

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

• 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

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