The Shadow Crusader
Dieric Bouts the Elder, Meeting of Abraham and Melchizedek Courtesy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melchizedek#/media/File:Meeting_of_abraham_and_melchizadek.jpg This short chapter ushers in the era of Prester John, a priest-king of a gargantuan oriental realm and a potential crusader. The fact that Otto of Freising included this tale into his account of the world history shows its immediate impact. Whether the writer took it as a fact or fiction, this yarn helped materialize the Crusaders' anxiety and expectations on the eve of the Second Crusade. Here is a brief extract: Otto von Freising, a bishop and a prolific writer, didn't intend to amuse his readers with frivolous tales. His twelfth-century chronicle of world history features a battleground where the forces of good are pitted against the swarms of evil. Nevertheless, he is the author who baptized our character and breathed life into his somber shadow. ...