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Francisco Álvares ( – 1536–1541) was a Portuguese
missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...
and
explorer Exploration is the process of exploring, an activity which has some Expectation (epistemic), expectation of Discovery (observation), discovery. Organised exploration is largely a human activity, but exploratory activity is common to most organis ...
. In 1515 he traveled to Ethiopia as part of the Portuguese embassy to emperor Lebna Dengel accompanied by returning Ethiopian ambassador Matheus. The embassy arrived only in 1520 to
Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...
where he joined long sought Portuguese envoy Pêro da Covilhã. There he remained six years, returning to Lisbon in 1526-27 having written a report entitled ''Verdadeira Informação das Terras do Preste João das Índias'' ("A True Relation of the Lands of
Prester John Prester John () was a mythical Christian patriarch, presbyter, and king. Stories popular in Europe in the 12th to the 17th centuries told of a Church of the East, Nestorian patriarch and king who was said to rule over a Christian state, Christian ...
of the Indies").


1515 embassy to Ethiopia

Francisco Álvares was a chaplain-priest and almoner to King
Manuel I of Portugal Manuel I (; 31 May 146913 December 1521), known as the Fortunate (), was King of Portugal from 1495 to 1521. A member of the House of Aviz, Manuel was Duke of Beja and Viseu prior to succeeding his cousin, John II of Portugal, as monarch. Manu ...
. He was sent in 1515 as part of the Portuguese embassy to the nəgusä nägäst (
Emperor of Ethiopia The emperor of Ethiopia (, "King of Kings"), also known as the Atse (, "emperor"), was the hereditary monarchy, hereditary ruler of the Ethiopian Empire, from at least the 13th century until the abolition of the monarchy in 1975. The emperor w ...
), accompanied by the Ethiopian ambassador Matheus. Their first attempt to reach the port of
Massawa Massawa or Mitsiwa ( ) is a port city in the Northern Red Sea Region, Northern Red Sea region of Eritrea, located on the Red Sea at the northern end of the Gulf of Zula beside the Dahlak Archipelago. It has been a historically important port for ...
failed due to the actions of Lopo Soares de Albergaria, governor of
Portuguese India The State of India, also known as the Portuguese State of India or Portuguese India, was a state of the Portuguese Empire founded seven years after the discovery of the sea route to the Indian subcontinent by Vasco da Gama, a subject of the ...
, which got no closer than the Dahlak Archipelago and was aborted with the death of the Portuguese ambassador, old Duarte Galvão at Kamaran. Álvares and Mattheus were forced to wait until the arrival of Soares' replacement, Diogo Lopes de Sequeira, who successfully sent the embassy on, with Dom Rodrigo de Lima replacing Duarte Galvão. The party at last reached Massawa on April 9, 1520, and reached the court of Lebna Dengel where he befriended several Europeans who had gained the favor of the Emperor, which included Pêro da Covilhã and Nicolao Branceleon. Father Álvares remained six years in Ethiopia, returning to
Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...
in either 1526 or 1527. In 1533 he was allowed to accompany Dom Martinho de Portugal to
Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
on an embassy to
Pope Clement VII Pope Clement VII (; ; born Giulio di Giuliano de' Medici; 26 May 1478 – 25 September 1534) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 November 1523 to his death on 25 September 1534. Deemed "the most unfortunate o ...
, to whom Father Álvares delivered the letter Lebna Dengel had written to the Pope. The precise date of Francisco Álvares death, like that of his birth, is unknown, but according to the ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' Eleventh Edition, it was later than 1540, in which year an account of his travels were published at Lisbon. In the introduction of their mid 20th century translation of Álvares' work, C.F. Beckingham and
G.W.B. Huntingford George Wynn Brereton Huntingford (19 November 1901 – 19 February 1978) was an English linguist, anthropologist and historian. He lectured in East African languages and cultures at SOAS, University of London from 1950 until 1966.
furnish evidence that points to Álvares' death in
Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
, and admit that he may have died before his work was published.


Álvares' writings

In 1540, Luís Rodrigues published a version of Álvares account in a one volume folio, entitled ''Verdadeira Informação das Terras do Preste João das Indias'' ("A True Relation of the Lands of
Prester John Prester John () was a mythical Christian patriarch, presbyter, and king. Stories popular in Europe in the 12th to the 17th centuries told of a Church of the East, Nestorian patriarch and king who was said to rule over a Christian state, Christian ...
of the Indies"). C.F. Beckingham and G.W.B. Huntingford cite evidence, based in part on the earlier work of Professor Roberto Almagia, showing that Rodrigues's publication is only a part of Álvares's entire account. Another version of what Álvares wrote was included in an anthology of travel narratives, ''Navigationi et Viaggi'' (1550) assembled and published by Giovanni Battista Ramusio. Almagia also identified three manuscripts in the
Vatican Library The Vatican Apostolic Library (, ), more commonly known as the Vatican Library or informally as the Vat, is the library of the Holy See, located in Vatican City, and is the city-state's national library. It was formally established in 1475, alth ...
which contain versions of excerpts from the original manuscript. Francisco Álvares' work has been translated into English at least twice. The first time was the work of Henry Stanley, 3rd Baron Stanley of Alderley, for the
Hakluyt Society The Hakluyt Society is a text publication society, founded in 1846 and based in London, England, which publishes scholarly editions of primary records of historic voyages, travels and other geographical material. In addition to its publishin ...
in 1881. This translation was revised and augmented with notes by C. F. Beckingham and G. W. B. Huntingford, ''The Prester John of the Indies'' (Cambridge: Hakluyt Society, 1961). The author of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article was critical of Álvares' information, believing it should "be received with caution, as the author is prone to exaggerate, and does not confine himself to what came within his own observation." Beckingham and Huntingford, however, have a higher opinion of Álvares' testimony, stating that not only is it "incomparably more detailed than any earlier account of Ethiopia that has survived; it is also a very important source for Ethiopian history, for it was written just before the country was devastated by the ..invasions of the second quarter of the sixteenth century." He provides the first recorded and detailed descriptions of
Axum Axum, also spelled Aksum (), is a town in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia with a population of 66,900 residents (as of 2015). It is the site of the historic capital of the Aksumite Empire. Axum is located in the Central Zone of the Tigray Re ...
and Lalibela. They continue: :"He is sometimes wrong, but very rarely silly or incredible. He made a few mistakes; he may well have made others that we cannot detect because he is our sole authority; when he tried to describe buildings his command of language was usually inadequate; he is often confused and obscure, though this may be as much his printer's fault as his own; his prose is frequently difficult to read and painful to translate; but he seems to us to be free from the dishonesty of the traveller who tries to exaggerate his own knowledge, importance, or courage".C. F. Beckingham and G. W. B. Huntingford, ''Prester John'', p. 13


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alvares, Francisco 1460s births 1540s deaths 15th-century Portuguese people 16th-century Portuguese explorers Portuguese explorers of Africa Foreign relations of Portugal People from Coimbra Portuguese Renaissance writers Portuguese Roman Catholic missionaries Portuguese travel writers