Prester John moves to Ethiopia, and Portugal goes looking

SUMMARYPrester John moves to Ethiopia, and Portugal goes looking (Nov 11, 2026; Prester John line)

RECORDfrom about 1250 the legend shifts to Africa; about 1329 Dominican Jordanus writes that Europeans call the king of Ethiopia Prester John (Mirabilia Descripta). On May 7, 1487 Pêro da Covilhã and Afonso de Paiva leave Lisbon to find the sea road to India and ask after him; Covilhã reaches Ethiopia and "Although well received, he was forbidden to depart." In 1520 a Portuguese embassy reaches the Ethiopian court; its chaplain Francisco Álvares writes A True Relation of the Lands of Prester John of the Indies. Abraham Ortelius maps "Presbiteri Iohannis, sive, Abissinorum Imperii descriptio" (all via Wikipedia, "Prester John")

RECORDmedieval Europe counted Ethiopia among the "Three Indias" (see the Indies card, line 287).