12th century history

Prester John 2.5: Papal Correspondence

A shorter episode, on a letter from Pope Alexander III to Prester John.

Prester John 2: Where From and What For

On the many fantastic additions to the Letter of Prester John (Dragons! Strange Bakeries! Etc!), and on the theories around it.

Prester John 1: The Letter

The legend in its early forms: the arrival in Rome of a patriarch from the east, the chronicles of Otto of Freising, and that famous "letter."