- Last Roman Emperor
The legend of the Last Roman Emperor or Last World Emperor developed in medieval Europe, as an aspect of
Christian eschatology . It predicted that in the last times, a last emperor would appear on earth. It therefore does not refer toRomulus Augustus , recognized as the last of the emperors of theWestern Roman Empire , or toConstantine XI Palaiologos , the last emperor of the East Roman (Byzantine) Empire.The legend is based on the "
Apocalypse of Pseudo-Methodius ". It was developed in the writings ofAdso , and was particularly current around the end of the fifteenth century [ [http://content.cdlib.org/xtf/view?docId=ft396nb1w0&chunk.id=d0e5389&toc.depth=1&toc.id=d0e164&brand=eschol Cultural Encounters ] ] .Christopher Columbus refers to it in his "Book of Prophecies ".References
*
Paul J. Alexander , "Byzantium and the Mirgration of Literary Works and Motifs: The Legend of the Last Roman Emperor", in: Medievalia et Humanistica NS 2, 1971, p. 47
*Paul J. Alexander, "The Medieval Legend of the Last Roman Emperor and Its Messianic Origin", Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, Vol. 41, 1978 (1978), pp. 1-15Notes
ee also
*
Tiburtine Sibyl
*Great Monarch
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