Editing Prester John (section)

== End of the legend and cultural legacy ==
Seventeenth-century academics like German [[Orientalism|orientalist]] [[Hiob Ludolf]] demonstrated that there was no actual native connection between Prester John and the Ethiopian monarchs,{{sfn|Ludolf|1684}} and search for the fabled king gradually ceased. But the legend had affected several hundred years of European and world history, directly and indirectly, by encouraging Europe's explorers, missionaries, scholars, and treasure hunters.

The prospect of finding Prester John had long since vanished, but the tales continued to inspire through the 20th century. [[William Shakespeare]]'s 1600 play ''[[Much Ado About Nothing]]'' contains an early modern reference to the legendary king,<ref>Shakespeare, William (1600). ''Much Ado About Nothing'', act II, scene 1, line 225. '...bring you the length of Prester John’s foot...'</ref> as does [[Tirso de Molina]]'s ''[[El Burlador de Sevilla]]''.<ref>de Molina, Tirso (1630). ''El Burlador de Sevilla y convidado de piedra'', jornada II.</ref> In 1910, Scottish novelist and politician [[John Buchan]] used the legend in his sixth book, ''[[Prester John (novel)|Prester John]]'', to supplement a plot about a [[Zulu people|Zulu]] uprising in South Africa. This book is an archetypal example of the early 20th-century [[adventure novel]], and proved very popular in its day.

Throughout the rest of the century, Prester John appeared sporadically in [[pulp magazine|pulp fiction]] and [[comics]]. For example, [[Marvel Comics]] has featured "[[Prester John (comics)|Prester John]]" in issues of ''[[Fantastic Four]]'' and ''[[Thor (Marvel Comics)|Thor]]''. He was a significant supporting character in several issues of the [[DC Comics]] fantasy series ''[[Arak (comics)|Arak: Son of Thunder]]''. [[Charles Williams (UK writer)|Charles Williams]], a member of the 20th-century literary group the [[Inklings]], made Prester John a messianic protector of the Holy Grail in his 1930 novel ''War in Heaven''. Prester John and his kingdom feature in two works by [[Umberto Eco]]. The first is the 2000 novel ''[[Baudolino]]'', in which the titular protagonist enlists his friends to write the ''Letter of Prester John'' for his adoptive father [[Frederick Barbarossa]], but it is stolen before they can send it out. The second is in ''[[Serendipities]]: Language and Lunacy'' (1998) on the chapter 'The Force of Falsity' where Eco pronounces that the letter from Prester John "... served as an alibi for the expansion of the Christian world..."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Eco |first=Umberto |url=http://cup.columbia.edu/book/serendipities/9780231111348 |title=Serendipities: Language and Lunacy |date=October 1998 |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=978-0-231-50014-2 |translator-last=Weaver |translator-first=William}}</ref>

In July 1986 issues, [[Avram Davidson]] published both a nonfiction essay, "Postscript on Prester John" in [[Asimov's Science Fiction]] (part of his "Adventures in Unhistory" series, and later republished in his 1993 book of that title<ref>{{cite book |last=Davidson |first=Avram |author-link=Avram Davidson |date=1993 |title=Adventures in Unhistory: Conjectures on the Factual Foundations of Several Ancient Legends |location=Philadelphia |publisher=Owlswick Press |isbn=978-0913896334}}</ref>), and a fantasy short story featuring Prester John's realm secretly still ruled by his descendant, "The King Across the Mountains" in [[Amazing Stories]] (later republished in ''[[The Adventures of Doctor Eszterhazy]]'', 1990<ref>{{cite book |last=Davidson |first=Avram |author-link=Avram Davidson |date=1990 |title=[[The Adventures of Doctor Eszterhazy]] |location=Philadelphia |publisher=Owlswick Press |isbn=978-0913896280}}</ref>).