The Travels of Sir John Mandeville

Prester John is a powerful and wealthy emperor (though less powerful and wealthy than the khan). He rules many islands from the city Nise, near which are magnetic rocks that draw in any ships that have iron. He and the khan are always allied through marriage to avoid war.

Prester John and many in his lands are Christians, but they follow slightly different doctrines than Catholics. He controls 72 provinces, each ruled by its own king (many of whom rule sub-kings). When Prester John goes into battle he carries three crosses, all encrusted with jewels and guarded by 110,000 men. When he rides in peace, he has a simple wooden cross near him to remind him of Jesus’s sufferings. Prester John sleeps in a sapphire bed that exerts a magical force that stops him from having lustful thoughts.

Of the many marvels in this land, Mandeville focuses on a sea of gravel and sand that nevertheless has tides, waves, and fish. Mandeville ate one of these fish; while it was oddly shaped, it was edible. A river of precious stones flows into this sea.

Near Prester John’s lands is an island called Malazgirt, which a man named Catolonabes once ruled.