Prester John: The History of the Legendary Patriarch and His Fabled Christian Kingdom in Africa

Portuguese maritime explorers had been gradually probing southwards along the west coast of Africa since the early part of the 15th century, seeding spores of the Portuguese language, religion, and trade interests at numerous points along the way. These journeys were both enterprises in their own right, insofar as trade off the African coast was an end unto itself, as well as an effort to establish Portuguese primacy in the spice trade with India through the discovery of a viable sea route...