1290-1354

French Missionary

A Dominican missionary to India, Jordanus of Séverac was the first European to visit that region since Giovanni da Montecorvino (1246-1328) landed on the subcontinent some 30 years before. He produced an account of his experiences in the East,Mirabilia descripta, (Description of marvels), which discusses Armenia, Persia, and India, as well as lands Jordanus himself had not actually visited. He was the first writer to identify Prester John as the emperor of Ethiopia, thus adding a key aspect to a legend that fascinated Europe—and drove much of Europeans' exploration efforts—from the twelfth to the fifteenth centuries.

It appears that Jordanus spent the early part of his career serving as a Dominican missionary in Persia; then in 1320 or 1321, he and a group of four others set out by boat for China. They intended to join...