Baudolino

by Umberto Eco

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Constantinople, 1204. During the sack of the city, Baudolino rescues the Byzantine historian Niketas Choniates and begins telling him the story of his life. A gifted liar from northern Italy, Baudolino was adopted by Frederick Barbarossa and educated within the political and intellectual world of the emperor’s court.

His inventions repeatedly influence real events, including the legend of Prester John and the emperor’s ambitions in Italy and the eastern Mediterranean. A journey in search of the imagined priest-king carries Baudolino and his companions beyond familiar geography into a world shaped by medieval travel writing, religious myth and the difficulty of separating history from persuasive fabrication.