Antão Gonçalves
Antão Gonçalves was a 15th century Portuguese explorer and slave trader . He was the first European to buy Africans as slaves from African slave traders.
In 1441, Gonçalves was sent by Henry the Navigator to explore the West African coast in an expedition under the command of Nuno Tristãos . Since Gonçalves was considerably younger than Tristão, his duty was less research than hunting the Mediterranean monk seals that populate West Africa. After filling his little ship with seal skins, he decided, on his own initiative, to buy some Africans to return to Portugal. With nine of his crew members bought Gonçalves a Azenegue - Berber and black tribesmen , who had worked as a slave for the Berbers.
At this point Tristão had arrived at the same place and the two teams joined together to buy ten slaves, one of them an Azenegue chief , on a new shopping trip . Tristão then continued south to continue his research, while Gonçalves returned to Portugal.
He went back on board another expedition in 1442; he took the Azenegue chief, whom he had bought the year before, with him, hoping to exchange him for some of the black slaves of the Azenegues. He received ten slaves, some gold dust and a large number of ostrich eggs . In the end, however, this expedition contributed nothing to the story of the discovery, Gonçalves had not even sailed as far as the Río de Oro .
literature
- Gomes Eanes de Zurara: Crónica dos feitos notáveis que se passaram na conquista da Guiné por mandado do Infante D. Henrique . Volume 1, Lisboa 1978.
- Gomes Eanes de Zurara: Chronique de Guinée (1453) . Traduite & annotée by Léon Bourdon. Paris 1994.
See also
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Gonçalves, Antão |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Portuguese explorer and slave trader |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 14th century or 15th century |
| DATE OF DEATH | 15th century |