Dom Pedro Mascarenhas (1480 – 16 June 1555) was a Portuguese explorer and colonial administrator. He was the first European to discover the island of

Diego Garcia Diego Garcia is an island of the British Indian Ocean Territory, a disputed overseas territory of the United Kingdom. It is a militarised atoll just south of the equator in the central Indian Ocean, and the largest of the 60 small islands of ...

in the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by ...

in 1512. He also encountered the

island of

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label= Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It ...

in 1512, although he may not have been the first Portuguese explorer to do so; earlier expeditions by

Diogo Dias Diogo Dias, also known as Diogo Gomes, was a 15th-century Portuguese explorer. He was the brother of Bartolomeu Dias and discovered some of the Cape Verde islands together with António Noli. Serving with da Gama In 1497 on the first Portugue ...

and

Afonso de Albuquerque Afonso de Albuquerque, 1st Duke of Goa (; – 16 December 1515) was a Portuguese general, admiral, and statesman. He served as viceroy of Portuguese India from 1509 to 1515, during which he expanded Portuguese influence across the Indian Ocean ...

along with

Diogo Fernandes Pereira Diogo Fernandes Pereira, sometimes called simply Diogo Fernandes, was a Portuguese 16th-century navigator, originally from Setúbal, Portugal. Diogo Fernandes was the first known European captain to visit the island of Socotra in 1503 and the d ...

may have encountered the islands. In 1528 explorer Diogo Rodrigues (after whom the island of

Rodrigues Rodrigues (french: Île Rodrigues, link=yes ; Creole: ) is a autonomous outer island of the Republic of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean, about east of Mauritius. It is part of the Mascarene Islands, which include Mauritius and Réunion. R ...

is named) named the islands of

Réunion Réunion (; french: La Réunion, ; previously ''Île Bourbon''; rcf, label= Reunionese Creole, La Rényon) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas department and region of France. It is located approximately east of the island o ...

, and

the Mascarene Islands, after the name of Mascareh as. He was ambassador from Portugal to the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...

,http://www.uc.pt/fluc/eclassicos/publicacoes/ficheiros/humanitas52/12_Pinho.pdf where he appealed to

Pope Paul III Pope Paul III ( la, Paulus III; it, Paolo III; 29 February 1468 – 10 November 1549), born Alessandro Farnese, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 October 1534 to his death in November 1549. He came to ...

for the coming of the first

jesuits , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders = ...

for the Portuguese missions in India, at request of King John III and Diogo de Gouveia. His mission ended on 15 March 1540, when he travelled back to Portugal together with

Francis Xavier Francis Xavier (born Francisco de Jasso y Azpilicueta; Latin: ''Franciscus Xaverius''; Basque: ''Frantzisko Xabierkoa''; French: ''François Xavier''; Spanish: ''Francisco Javier''; Portuguese: ''Francisco Xavier''; 7 April 15063 December ...

. After this, he served in the Portuguese court and took a special role in the education and household of Prince John, the son of John III of Portugal. He was also involved by the King in the Portuguese withdrawal from Moroccan fortresses in 1549. In 1554, King John III forced him for the post of viceroy of India. Mascarenhas tried to resist, arguing with his age but the King forced him to accept the post. He was

viceroy A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the French word ''roy'', meaning " ...

at Goa, capital of the Portuguese possessions in

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

, from 1554 until his death in 1555, in Goa. He was succeeded as viceroy by

Francisco Barreto Francisco Barreto (occasionally Francisco de Barreto, 1520 – 9 July 1573) was a Portuguese soldier and explorer. An officer in Morocco during his early life, Barreto sailed to Portuguese India and was eventually appointed viceroy of the colony ...

. While viceroy of

Portuguese India The State of India ( pt, Estado da Índia), also referred as the Portuguese State of India (''Estado Português da Índia'', EPI) or simply Portuguese India (), was a state of the Portuguese Empire founded six years after the discovery of a s ...

, at the direction of the King of Portugal he sent Fr. James Dias and Fr. Gonçalo Rodrigues to

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

in order to determine whether Emperor

Galawdewos Galawdewos ( gez, ገላውዴዎስ, 1521/1522 – 23 March 1559) also known as Mar Gelawdewos ( amh, ማር ገላውዴዎስ), was Emperor of Ethiopia from 3 September 1540 until his death in 1559, and a member of the Solomonic dynasty. His t ...

would be receptive to receiving a Patriarch anointed by the

Roman Catholic church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. Balthasar Tellez, ''The Travels of the Jesuits in Ethiopia'', 1710 (LaVergue: Kessinger, 2010), pp. 133f

Bibliography

O Vice-Reinado de D. Afonso de Noronha (1550-1554): Perspectivas Políticas da Ásia Portuguesa em meados de Quinhentos

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mascarenhas, Pedro 1470 births 1555 deaths Portuguese explorers Explorers of Asia Viceroys of Portuguese India 16th-century explorers Portuguese colonial governors and administrators 16th-century Portuguese people Maritime history of Portugal 15th-century Portuguese people Ambassadors of Portugal to the Holy See