medieval diplomacy

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Prester John 9: The End Part One

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What happens to a mythical priest-king when you get too close to him? Does he just disappear?

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Prester John 8: Ambassador Mateus and his Many Doubters

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In the early years of the 16th-century, Ethiopia's regent, Eleni, sent an ambassador to Portugal to propose an alliance. She sent a man named Mateus. Unfortunately for Mateus, almost nobody believed him.

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Prester John 7: The Way from Lisbon

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It's part 7 of the Prester John story, on the trip to Prester John's Ethiopia, and on the Portuguese crown's pursuit of the priest-king and how that story was connected to the developing ones of exploration and colonialism.

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Prester John 6: The Ethiopian Prester John

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This is the first of two episodes on the next jump in the Prester John narrative, as the story pivots to Ethiopia and as Ethiopian envoys and pilgrims travel in 15th-century Italy and Spain.

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Abd-al-Razzaq Samarqandi 1: The Unwilling Envoy

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It's 1442, and Shah Rukh, the son of Timur, is sending an ambassador to Qaliqut / Kozhikode on the Indian coast. That ambassador, Abd-al-Razzāq, sails from Hormuz and experiences delays, sickness, death, and disappointment. Making matters worse, he never actually wanted to go.

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Ruy Gonzalez de Clavijo 5: A Season of Feasting at Samarkand

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Our travellers from early 15th century Spain arrive at the outskirts of Samarkand where they meet and feast with their host Timur.

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Ruy Gonzalez de Clavijo 2: Sacred Objects in the Imperial City

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In their journey to see Timur, Clavijo and the other envoys stop in at Constantinople where we visit artifacts and sacred objects.

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Ruy Gonzalez de Clavijo 1: Byzantine Entanglements

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In 1403, Henry III of Castile sent ambassadors to Timur (Tamerlane), among them a man named Ruy Gonzalez de Clavijo. In this episode, we cover the context and depart from port near Cadiz, travel the length of the Mediterranean, and visit Lesbos where we spend time with the ruling family and their involvements in Byzantine imperial politics.