PRESTER JOHN
\pɹˈɛstə d͡ʒˈɒn], \pɹˈɛstə dʒˈɒn], \p_ɹ_ˈɛ_s_t_ə dʒ_ˈɒ_n]\
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pres't[.e]r jon, n. the name applied by medieval credulity (12th-14th cent.) to the supposed Christian sovereign of a vast empire in Central Asia. [O. Fr. prester (Fr. prêtre), priest.]
By Thomas Davidson
By Sir Augustus Henry
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A mysterious personage, said to have lived in the twelfth century, as the Christian king of an immense empire in Asia, being at the same time a priest. Some have supposed that he was Joyhoul Wang Khan, who was killed in a battle with Gengis Khan, 1203. It is also said that the name Prester John was applied in the West to a dynasty of Tartar sovereigns.
By Henry Percy Smith
Word of the day
Platidiam
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