:Pero da Covilhã
The Arabic-speaking Portuguese diplomat and adventurer Pero da Covilhã (c. 1450–1545) spent time in Castile in the Duke of Medina Sidonia's service before returning to Portugal at the outbreak of the War of the Castilian Succession (1475-9) to perform diplomatic missions in Castile and North Africa for Afonso V and his successor, João II.
His overland expedition to locate the mythical ‘Prester John’ (supposedly the ruler of Ethiopia), verify the possibility of sailing around Africa to the Indian Ocean and explore trading opportunities in the East lefty Portugal in May 1487. Accompanied by Afonso de Paiva, Covilhã travelled to Rhodes, disguised himself as a honey merchant, and moved on to Aden via Alexandria and Cairo. The pair parted company in Aden, with Paiva bound for Ethiopia and Covilhã for points further east. While Covilhã's travels cannot be reconstructed from the surviving sources, they took him to various parts of India's west coast and East African ports as far as Sofala before returning to Cairo, where he learned Paiva had disappeared.
Covilhã reputedly sent accounts of his travels back to Portugal — one with a Jewish shoemaker named Joseph (1489-1490) and a second with his travelling companion Rabbi Abraham (1491-1492). Given the numerous errors Vasco da Gama made on his maiden voyage to India (1497-1499), it seems highly unlikely that either reached its destination.
From Cairo, Covilhã travelled to Ethiopia, where he was honourably received but not allowed to leave. He was still there when the next Portuguese mission arrived in the country in December 1520. Fr. Francisco Alvares, a member of the delegation, wrote the account by which Covilha’s travels are known.
Links to add:
Aden
Afonso de Paiva
Alexandria
Cairo
Castile
Duke of Medina Sidonia
Ethiopia
João II
Prester John
Sofala
Vasco da Gama
War of Succession
