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2021-02-08T13:31:02Z

Legacy

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{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}}
{{short description|Portuguese explorer and diplomat}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Pêro da Covilhã
| image = Pêro da Covilhã - Padrão dos Descobrimentos.png
| caption = Effigy of Pêro da Covilhã in the [[Padrão dos Descobrimentos|Monument of the Discoveries]], in [[Lisbon]], [[Portugal]]
| birth_name =
| birth_date = c. 1460
| birth_place = [[Covilhã]], [[Kingdom of Portugal]]
| death_date = After 1526
| death_place = [[Ethiopia]]
| nationality = [[Portuguese People|Portuguese]]
| citizenship =
| occupation = Explorer, spy, diplomat
| known_for = Explorations in the Near East and the adjoining regions of Asia and Africa.
| signature =
}}
'''Pedro''', or '''Pêro da Covilhã''' or ({{IPA-pt|ˈpeɾu dɐ kuviˈʎɐ̃}}; c. 1460 – after 1526), sometimes written: Pero de Covilhăo, was a [[Portugal|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 entered the service of Don Juan de Guzmán, brother of [[Enrique de Guzmán, 2nd Duke of Medina Sidonia]]. Later, when [[War of the Castilian Succession|war broke out]] between Castile and Portugal, he returned to his own country, and attached himself, first as a groom, then as a squire, to [[Afonso V of Portugal]] and his successor [[John II of Portugal]]. In 1487, his overland expedition made its way to India, exploring trade opportunities with the Indians and Arabs, and winding up finally in Ethiopia. His detailed report was eagerly read in Lisbon, as Portugal became the world's best informed center for global geography and trade routes.<ref>L.S. Stavrianos, ''The World since 1500: a Global history'' (1966) pp 92-93</ref>

== Mission to the East ==
[[File:Caminho maritimo para a India.png|thumb|upright=1.3|
{{legend-line|2px solid green |Joint overland route to [[Aden]], 1487}}
{{legend-line|2px solid orange|Covilhã's voyage to [[India]], 1489}}
{{legend-line|2px solid blue |[[Afonso de Paiva|Paiva]]'s voyage to [[Ethiopia]], 1490}}
{{legend-line|2px solid black |[[Vasco da Gama|Da Gama]]'s expedition to India, 1497}}]]
Covilhã was an adventurer of low birth but an adept swordsman and loyal servant to the Portuguese Crown. His fluency in Arabic and Castilian allowed him to perform undercover operations in Spain as well as undertaking secret negotiations in Morocco on behalf of King [[John II of Portugal]].<ref name="Crowley2015">{{cite book|last = Crowley|first = Roger|date = 2015|title = Conquerors: How Portugal Forged the First Global Empire|location = New York|publisher = [[Random House]]|page = 17|isbn = 9780812994001}}</ref> These successful exploits prodded the King to send him and [[Afonso de Paiva]] to undertake a mission of exploration in the Near East and the adjoining regions of Asia and Africa, with the special assignment to learn where [[cinnamon]] and other spices could be found, as well as of discovering the land of legendary [[Prester John]], by overland routes.<ref name="Newitt2004">{{cite book|last = Newitt|first = M.|date = 2004|title = A history of Portuguese overseas expansion, 1400–1668|location = London|publisher = [[Routledge]]|page = 50|isbn = 9781134553044}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last = Bruce|first = J.|date = 1790|title = Travels to discover the source of the Nile|location = London|publisher = G. G. J. and J. Robinson|page = 135|oclc = 777936365}}</ref> [[Bartolomeu Dias]], at the same time, went out to by sea find the Prester's country, as well as the termination of the African continent and the ocean route to India.

The expedition started at [[Santarém, Portugal|Santarém]], on May 7, 1487. Covilhã and Paiva were briefed by the Bishop of Tangiers and two Jewish mathematicians, Rodrigo and Moisés, who were prominent members of the commission which advised the Portuguese government to reject the proposals of [[Christopher Columbus]]. The explorers were presented with a navigational map of the Middle East and Indian Ocean, likely drawn from the cartographical work of [[Fra Mauro]]. From Santarém they travelled by [[Barcelona]] to [[Naples]], where their bills of exchange were paid by the sons of [[Cosimo de' Medici]]; from there they went to [[Rhodes]], where they acquired a stock of honey to enable themselves off in the Arab world as merchants. Afterwards, they sailed to [[Alexandria]]. <ref name="Crowley2015">{{cite book|last = Crowley|first = Roger|date = 2015|title = Conquerors: How Portugal Forged the First Global Empire|location = New York|publisher = [[Random House]]|page = 17|isbn = 9780812994001}}</ref>

Following a fever that struck both men, the two explorers took a boat down the Nile to [[Cairo]] and later a caravan across the desert to the ports of [[El-Tor]] and [[Suakin]]. They sailed across the Red Sea to [[Aden]] where, as it was now the [[monsoon]], they parted. Covilhã proceeded to [[India]] and Paiva to [[Ethiopia]]. They agreed to meet again in Cairo at a later date.

Covilhã caught a trading [[dhow]] across the Indian Ocean to [[Calicut]], the hub of the spice trade. By 1488, he was in [[Goa]] and later sailed north to [[Ormuz]] at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, another hub of the Indian Ocean. This reconnaissance allowed Covilhã to collect and record information about sailing routes, winds, currents, ports and politics. From Ormuz, he sailed down the east coast of Africa and eventually to [[Sofala]], the farthest point of Arab navigation in the southern Indian Ocean. At Sofala, Covilhã investigated the feasibility of rounding Africa by sea and how best to navigate its east coast. By 1491, he had returned to Cairo, having successfully scouted the major trade routes of the Indian Ocean. <ref name="foo">Crowley, Roger (2015). Conquerors: How Portugal Forged the First Global Empire. New York: Random House. p. 24</ref>

Back in Cairo he learnt that Paiva had died, somewhere on the way to Ethiopia. Meanwhile, King [[John II of Portugal]] had sent two Portuguese Jews: Rabbi Abraham of Beja and [[José Sapateiro]], a shoe-maker of [[Lamego]] with letters for Covilhã and Paiva outlining further instructions. The King ordered that both men return to Lisbon but not before that "had seen and found out about the great King [[Prester John]]". Through José Sapateiro, Covilhã replied with an account of his Indian and African journeys, and of his observations on the [[cinnamon]], [[black pepper]] and [[clove]] trade at Calicut, together with advice as to the ocean way to India. He recommended that the Portuguese should sail south along the coast of Africa and the seas of Guinea. The first objective in the eastern ocean, he added, was Madagascar; from this island one could reach Calicut.

==Ethiopia==
With this information José returned to Portugal, while Covilhã, with Abraham of Beja, again visited [[Aden]] and [[Ormuz]]. At the latter he left the rabbi; and visited [[Jeddah]], the principal port of Arabia, and penetrated (as he told [[Francisco Álvares]] many years later) even to [[Mecca]] and [[Medina]]. Finally, via [[Mount Sinai]], [[El-Tor]] and across the [[Red Sea]], he reached [[Zeila]], where he struck inland to the court of Prester John ([[Ethiopia]]).

Here he was honorably received by the [[Emperor of Ethiopia|Emperor]] [[Eskender]]; lands and lordships were bestowed upon him, but Eskander refused to grant him permission to leave, and his successors evaded granting Covilhã permission. According to [[James Bruce]], Covilhã maintained a correspondence with the king in Portugal, describing Ethiopia as "very populous, full of cities both powerful and rich".<ref>Bruce, ''Travels'', vol. 3, p. 135</ref>

In 1507, he was joined by João Gomes, a priest sent by [[Tristão da Cunha]], who had reached Ethiopia by way of [[Socotra]]. When the Portuguese embassy under Rodrigo de Lima, which included [[Mateus (Ethiopia)|Ethiopian ambassador Mateus]] and missionary [[Francisco Álvares]], entered Ethiopia in 1520, Covilhã wept with joy at the sight of his fellow-countrymen. It was then forty years since he had left Portugal, and over thirty since he had been a prisoner of state in Ethiopia. Álvares, who professed to know him well, and to have heard the story of his life, both in confession and out of it, praises his power of vivid description as if things were present before him, and his extraordinary knowledge of all the spoken languages of Christians, Muslims and Gentiles. His services as an interpreter were valuable to Rodrigo de Lima's embassy.
Covilhã was well treated, but was not allowed to leave the country until his death.<ref>Andreu Martínez d'Alòs-Moner, "Conquistadores, Mercenaries, and Missionaries: The Failed Portuguese Dominion of the Red Sea", ''Northeast African Studies'', Vol. 12, No. 1 (2012), p. 1-28.</ref>

== Legacy ==
Covilhã's extensive travels in the medieval world saw him visit the modern day states of [[Spain]], [[Morocco]], [[Italy]], [[Greece]], [[Egypt]], [[Sudan]], [[Yemen]], [[Saudi Arabia]], [[India]], [[Mozambique]], [[Iran]], [[Eritrea]] and [[Ethiopia]].
These journeys, together with the maritime achievements of [[Bartolomeu Dias]], were instrumental in paving the way for subsequent Portuguese expeditions, most significantly the [[Portuguese discovery of the sea route to India]] by [[Vasco da Gama]] in 1497.

Covilhã's arrival in Ethiopia also marked the beginning of Portuguese-Ethiopian relations which culminated in the formal invitation for the Portuguese to interfere directly in the affairs of [[Abyssinia]] in the [[Ethiopian–Adal war]] of 1541. The sustained Portuguese presence in Ethiopia also led to the influx of [[Jesuit]] missionaries into the country although their success at converting the population to [[Catholicism]] was mixed. From their base in the city of [[Fremona]], the Jesuits were able to convert the Ethiopian Emperors [[Za Dengel]] and [[Susenyos I]] to the faith in the 17th century but this resulted in a series of devastating rebellions and revolts against Catholic rule. Following the abdication of [[Susenyos I]] in favor of his son [[Fasilides]] in 1631, the Jesuits were expelled from the country resulting in several centuries of little to no contact between Ethiopia and Europe.

==References==
{{reflist}}
*{{EB1911 |wstitle=Covilham, Pero |volume=7 |pages=344–345}}

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20050310052520/http://www.vidaslusofonas.pt/pero_da_covilha_2.htm A biography in the ''Vidas Lusofonas'' series, in English]

==Further reading==
* Francisco Alvarez, "Chapter CIV: How Pero de Covilham, a Portuguese, is in the country of the Prester, and how came here, and why he was sent", ''The Prester John of the Indies'' (Cambridge, [[Hakluyt Society]], 1961), pp. 369–376.

{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Covilha, Pero da}}
[[Category:1460s births]]
[[Category:16th-century deaths]]
[[Category:Explorers of Africa]]
[[Category:Ambassadors of Portugal to Ethiopia]]
[[Category:Portuguese explorers]]
[[Category:15th-century explorers]]
[[Category:16th-century explorers]]
[[Category:Interpreters]]
[[Category:Portuguese people imprisoned abroad]]
[[Category:Portuguese expatriates in Ethiopia]]
[[Category:Maritime history of Portugal]]
[[Category:History of Kerala]]
[[Category:Explorers of Asia]]
[[Category:People from Covilhã]]

Pêro da Covilhã - Revision history

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