José Sapateiro

José Sapateiro born in

Lamego Lamego (; ) is a city and municipality in the Viseu District, in the Norte Region, Portugal, Norte Region of the Douro Subregion, Douro in northern Portugal. Located on the shores of the Balsemão River, the municipality has a population of 26,691 ...

Kingdom of Portugal The Kingdom of Portugal was a Portuguese monarchy, monarchy in the western Iberian Peninsula and the predecessor of the modern Portuguese Republic. Existing to various extents between 1139 and 1910, it was also known as the Kingdom of Portugal a ...

, was a Portuguese traveler of the fifteenth century. After a sojourn in

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

, he returned 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 ...

to present a report to King

João II John II (; ; 3 May 1455 – 25 October 1495), called the Perfect Prince (), was King of Portugal from 1481 until his death in 1495, and also for a brief time in 1477. He is known for reestablishing the power of the Portuguese monarchy, reinvigor ...

Ormuz The Kingdom of Ormus (also known as Hormoz or Hormuz; ; ) was located in the eastern side of the Persian Gulf and extended as far as Bahrain in the west at its zenith. The Kingdom was established in the 11th century initially as a dependency of ...

, the emporium of the East-Indian spice trade. He thereupon, by the king's orders, set out in company with the experienced linguist, Abraham of Beja in search of the roving explorer

Pêro da Covilhã Pêro da Covilhã (; c. 1460 – after 1526), sometimes written Pero de Covilhã, was a Portuguese diplomat and explorer. He was a native of Covilhã in Beira, Portugal, Beira. In his early life he had gone to Crown of Castile, Castile and e ...

, in order to interview the latter in the king's behalf as to the results of his travels. After obtaining valuable information regarding the

discovery of the sea route to India The Portuguese discovery of the sea route to India was the first recorded trip directly from Europe to the Indian subcontinent, via the Cape of Good Hope. Under the command of the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama, it was undertaken during the ...

from Covilhã, who had previously gathered it from Arabian and Indian pilots, José was sent home by caravan to

Aleppo Aleppo is a city in Syria, which serves as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Governorates of Syria, governorate of Syria. With an estimated population of 2,098,000 residents it is Syria's largest city by urban area, and ...

. Both José and Abraham, his fellow-traveler, thus rendered eminent pioneer service in the cause of Portuguese discovery. ---- {{DEFAULTSORT:Sapateiro, Jose Year of death unknown People from Lamego 15th-century Portuguese explorers 15th-century births Explorers of Asia