Francisco Álvares

Francisco Álvares was a priest who was a member of the Portuguese embassy delegation to Ethiopia at the beginning of the 16th century and wrote the first travelogue that introduced this country to Europe in detail. He is considered to have been born in Coimbra around 1465. Date of death is uncertain; He is thought to have died in Rome between 1536 and 1541.

Ethiopia journey

Álvares worked as a priest and alms official at the court of King Manuel I. In 1515, he took part in the embassy sent to Ethiopia, which Europeans referred to as "the land of John the Priest". The first attempt failed; Duarte Galvão, the head of the delegation, died on the way and was replaced by Dom Rodrigo de Lima. The delegation was able to reach Massava on the Red Sea coast only in April 1520.

Álvares spent the next six years at the court of Emperor Lebna Değerl and in different parts of the country. During this time, he met the Portuguese traveler Pêro da Covilhã, who lived there. In Aksum, he visited the Virgin Zion, considered the oldest church in the country, and described it in detail; This structure was destroyed a few years later during Ahmed Gran's campaigns. He was also the first person in Europe to describe in detail the rock-carved churches in Lalibela.

Return and his work

The delegation set out in 1526 and returned to Lisbon in 1527. Joining Dom Martinho de Portugal's delegation to Rome in 1533, Álvares met Lebna Değerl with Pope Gregory VII. He personally delivered the letter he wrote to Clemens. The book in which he collected his observations was published in an abbreviated form in Lisbon in 1540 under the name "Verdadeira Informação das Terras do Preste João das Índias".

The work includes Ethiopia's administrative order, social structure, church traditions and ancient structures; The work was also translated into English in the 19th century and continues to be used as one of the primary sources for Ethiopian history.