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Abstract
A mythical figure, the Priest John represents for Westerners a powerful Christian sovereign, both king and priest, reigning beyond the territories which were accessible to them. This figure seems to have been formed, from various elements, in the Latin East, in contact with Eastern Christians. This article is a synthetic status quaestionis which answers three questions formulated in a single one: “How to approach the Priest in his kingdom, by which ways does his figure reach the medieval West, which territory and what hopes does he end up finding?”. This figure arouses a double hope: a military alliance likely to reinforce the Crusader princes in their operations against Islam; an example of harmony between the two temporal and spiritual powers, well appreciated in the delicate management of the relationship between Priesthood and Empire. This last hope is mingled with an intervention by Ignatius of Loyola who turns the legend into a program of action, into an agenda.