Barbarossa

The theorized mastermind behind Prester John…

Hand coloured portrait engraving of Frederick Barbarossa, Holy Roman Empire. It was originally hung in a room of the City Hall of Frankfurt’s Kaisersaal used for coronations of Holy Roman Emperors. By artwork: Christian Siedentopf; file: James Steakley (Der Spiegel Nr. 32 (2006), p. 50.) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

The letter was written during the time of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa’s power, and a year after his coronation, Frederick made a Treaty of Constance, whereby he promised to calm the rebellious Romans and protect the Pope against the Sicilians in exchange for receiving the Emperor status from Pope Eugene [1]. Unfortunately, very little “calm” was achieved and by 1155 he ended up fleeing Rome [2]. He had achieved the imperial crown, but he had also made several enemies and was in danger, so in that same year, he made a goal of developing an imperial territory dominating Europe’s center with military, financial, and spiritual power [3]. To his biographer, Bishop Otto of Freising, he confided that “God has committed to me the government of the Holy City and the world;” Barbarossa decided that Rainald of Dassel would be his ticket to achieving this goal [4].

There was pressing conflict against Pope Alexander the third who was strong opposition for Barbarossa’s cause [5]. Though Jesus said to love your enemies, Barbarossa said not this one. It wasn’t until 1177 that he signed a peace treaty with the Byzantine Empire and the Sicilians, and before that there were fierce competitions [6]. Barbarossa was known to have tricks up his sleeve, and Rainald of Dassel was a ruthless aggressor. They had written many propagandistic literature in that period [7]. Many theorize (most notably, Bernard Hamilton) that the letter of Prester John was forged by a member of Barbarossa’s inner circle as they were forming campaigns and imperial propaganda against Pope Alexander the third’s authority [8]. Hamilton believes the letter was likely written by Rainald of Dassel [9].

It is established that the author of this Letter was an illusion [10], and Edward Said even mentions Prester John as one of the prodigious figments of the East Orient’s theatrical history and culture in his book, “Orientalism” [11].

The goal of the letter was to construct the idea of Barbarossa’s ideal, harmonious Christian world. It may also have had the purpose of inspiring Christians to unite against enemies, because it creates the belief of a distant, powerful, potential ally laying in Prester John’s Kingdom. [12]

By: Cameron Mihell

[1] Byfield, Ted, ed, A Glorious Disaster, Vol. 7. 12 vols, The Christians: Their First Two Thousand Years (Christian History Project, 2003), chapter 4.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Ibid.

[4] Ibid.

[5] Ibid.

[6] Ibid.

[7] Ibid.

[8] Brewer, Keagan, Prester John: the legend and its sources (Farnham, Surrey, England: Ashgate, 2015) page 12.

[9] Ibid.

[10] Rosenberg, Matt. “Prester John.” ThoughtCo. Accessed January 10, 2018. https://www.thoughtco.com/prester-john-1435023.

[11] Said, Edward W, Orientalism, (Pantheon Books, 1978) page 63.

[12] Brewer, Keagan. Prester John: the legend and its sources. (Farnham, Surrey, England: Ashgate, 2015), page 12.