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The Welcome to a history of Europe, Guy Battles, the Portuguese Voyages of Discovery and the Battle of Dew Part 2 To medieval Europe, the Far East was a realm of great mysteries and marvels.

Maps of the era depicted the region as the Garden of Eden, the paradise from where humanity itself originated. The Garden of Eden

had been closed off since the fall, and shown on medieval maps as guarded by sword-wielding

angels, a wool flame or wilderness, writhing with snakes. Likewise, the Far East had been

blocked off to Christendom since the rise of Islam in the

7th century. Trade networks between East and West continued through the centuries, but

since Westerners were unable to travel into the South and East Asia, knowledge of the region

was lost to them, and replaced by tales of mysterious tribes and fabulous monsters. Somewhere east they believed

was a great Christian kingdom, led by a mighty ruler known as Presta John. If only he could

be contacted, he could be an invaluable ally against their Muslim enemies. Another great mystery was the origin of the various eastern spices, such as pepper, which the Europeans were so fond of, but had to pay exorbitant prices for.

The first-rial information about the Far East reached medieval Europe during the period of the Mongol dominance of Central Asia in the 13th century.

In 1271, the famous Phoenician merchant traveller Marco Polo set out for China, where he became a trusted envoy of the great Mongol leader Kublai Khan.

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