A patriarch from 'India' in Rome1122 · RomeUnder Pope Callixtus II, reports say a patriarch from 'India' visited Rome and told of the shrine of St. Thomas and a Christian realm in the East. The visit comes to us secondhand and its details are argued, but it is the seed of the Prester John story.Wikipedia, Prester John (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prester_John)
Otto of Freising: the priest who is also a king1144–1145 · Viterbo, papal court1145: chronicler Otto of Freising writes that he met Hugh, bishop of Jabala, at Pope Eugene III's court the year before. Hugh spoke of John, 'a Nestorian Christian who served in the dual position of priest and king' in the far East, who 'regained the city of Ecbatana' and descended from the Three MaOtto of Freising, Chronicon (1145), via Wikipedia, Prester John (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prester_John)
The Letter of Prester John1165 · ConstantinopleAbout 1165 a letter signed 'John, Christian Sovereign and Lord of Lords' reaches the Byzantine emperor Manuel I Komnenos, describing a realm of wonders from Persia to China, over the 'Three Indias.' It is copied and translated across Europe for centuries. Who wrote it is argued: most scholars call iWikipedia, Prester John (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prester_John); Letter of Prester John (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letter_of_Prester_John)
Toghrul, the Ong Khan1203 · Kerait lands, Tuul River (Mongolia)The record's nearest real man: Toghrul, the Ong Khan of the Kerait, a Nestorian Christian ruler, defeated by Genghis Khan after war broke out in 1203. Marco Polo later tells it as Genghis asking for 'Prester John's daughter' and winning the war.Wikipedia, Prester John (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prester_John); Toghrul (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toghrul)
'King David of India'1221 · Damietta, Egypt (Fifth Crusade)1221: Jacques de Vitry, bishop of Acre, writes from the Fifth Crusade of 'King David of India, the son or grandson of Prester John,' marching west and conquering Persia. It was Genghis Khan.Wikipedia, Prester John (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prester_John)
Prester John moves to Africa1250–1329 · Aksum, EthiopiaFrom about 1250 the legend shifts to Ethiopia. About 1329, Dominican Jordanus writes in his Mirabilia that Europeans call the king of Ethiopia Prester John. Medieval Europe counted Ethiopia among the 'Three Indias.'Jordanus, Mirabilia Descripta (c. 1329), via Wikipedia, Prester John (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prester_John)
Columbus looks for the Great Khan1492 · Gibara, CubaNovember 1492: carrying letters for the Grand Khan, Columbus hears the Taíno name Cubanacán and takes it for 'el Gran Can.' He sends Luis de Torres inland to find the Khan. The same maps that put Prester John in 'India' put the Khan in 'Asia Major,' and the land's people are named 'Indians.' See P15Columbus's journal; WW9 Proof Library P157
Prester John's land in Chicora1521–1526 · Winyah Bay, South Carolina (Chicora)June 1521: slavers under Ayllón's commission seize about 70 people at the River of San Juan Bautista; one, baptized Francisco de Chicora, tells chronicler Peter Martyr in Spain of a land ruled by priests and a giant king, Datha. Martyr links Prester John's land to Chicora. In 1526 Francisco walks baWikipedia, Prester John (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prester_John) (weak source: one article); Francisco de Chicora (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francisco_de_Chicora)