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.
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.
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.
The Mongols, their conquests, and the travellers who went to see them were all going to necessitate some changes to the Prester John narrative. This episode is all about those changes.
Ramon Llull sat down one night to write a love song, but instead he experienced a religious vision that would totally change the direction of his life.
Shah Rukh's ambassador to the Indian city of Qaliqut arrives at the heart of the Vijayanagara Empire, finding much to admire but also war, a usurper, and uncertainties about his own status. We visit Hampi, the centre of that late-medieval power, and we talk about elephants.
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.
This is a story about Abū Zakariyyāʾ Yaḥyā ibn Ḥakam al-Bakrī al-Jayyānī, known also as al-Ghazāl (the Gazelle). It's the story of a 9th century poet on an embassy from the Emirate of Córdoba to a Viking ruler.
Clavijo and his Castilian fellow travellers continue the journey toward Timur, cutting across northern Iran and dealing with sickness and heat. On the upside, there will be melons and a great deal of wine. There will also be a visit with Timur's potentially problematic son.
It's a quick break from the Clavijo storyline for some Halloween material. Specifically, this is a story from the Icelandic Eyrbyggja, the Saga of the People of Eyri. In it, a stranger comes to Froda, blood rains down, and the dead rise up to trouble the living.