Antonio Tenreiro

Itinerário de António Tenreiro que da Índia veio por terra a este Reino , in Peregrinação by Fernão Mendes Pinto , 1762

António Tenreiro (* before 1523 in Coimbra , Portugal , † between 1560 and 1565 in Portugal) was a Portuguese courier ( messenger ) and explorer. With his only book describing his arduous journey from Persia to Portugal, he left behind a unique work of Portuguese travel literature .

His journey, the experiences there and the book can definitely be compared with those of Fernão Mendes Pinto and Marco Polo , even if the duration and region of the world were different.

In addition to the explorer Pêro da Covilhã , he was one of the most important explorers from Portugal who traveled by land.

Life

Much of Tenreiro's life is no longer known today. What is known is that he was a soldier in the Estado da Índia for many years . Then he came to Hormuz , where he received a letter from the city commander Dom Cristovão de Mendoça on behalf of the then Governor General for India, Dom Duarte de Meneses , which he was supposed to bring from Persia to the Portuguese king. In 1523 he was first entrusted to a delegation headed by Baltasar Pessoa, who was on the way to Ismail I , Shah of Persia (called the Sufi ). Before that, Tenreiro had been able to take part in negotiations between Governor General de Meneses and the King of Hormuz as a member of the delegation.

After a trip that took him and the delegation through Persia, he came to the court of Shah Ismael. There he stayed and was present on the day of the death of the Shah or witnessed his death. After leaving the delegation, he traveled alone through the Middle East, got to the regions of Persia, Armenia , Palestine , the Ottoman Empire , Egypt , Syria , was attacked by Turks for economic reasons and shipped to Cairo . He was even sentenced to death, but the sentence was not carried out and he was released and went back to Hormuz. He worked in Hormuz for about five years before setting out on October 1, 1528 to bring the above-mentioned letter to Portugal. He finally reached Lisbon via Cyprus , Italy and Spain on May 22, 1529 and presented the letter to King Dom João III in a private audience . .

Before that, he had survived an assassination attempt on himself. He withdrew from the public with a pension of 30,000 reais and from then on lived as a privateer . About thirty years after the end of his journey, he began to write the book describing his work as a courier and his journey. In total, he was on the road for about six years (1523–1529). Tenreiro was fluent in Persian, Arabic, and Turkish. He later belonged to the order of the Knights of Christ .

attack

An attack was carried out on Tenreiro, as Diogo de Couto reported. He was hit with 18 knife stabs on the Rossio , Lisbon's main square. He survived, but suffered the consequences of the injuries until his death. It was about the letter from the king whose arrival they wanted to prevent. To this day - despite extensive research that was commissioned by the Krone itself at the time - there has been no client or none has been found. However, today's scientists assume with a very high degree of certainty that the client was the son of a high official in Hormuz, since the letter reported about his father's corruption.

Stations of the journey

During his long stay in the Middle East and his later trip to Portugal, he wandered through various cities, towns, mountains and waters, some of which are still of international importance today. He was mainly in Hormuz (Iran), Halep ( Aleppo ) - Syria, Basra ( Iraq ), Tripoli ( Lebanon ), Shiraz ( Iran ), Isfahan (Iran), Kum ( Qom ) - Iran, Baalbeck (Lebanon), Damascus (Syria), Ramallah (Palestine), Gaza (Palestine), Cairo (Egypt), Najaf (Iraq), Hama (Syria), Alexandria (Egypt), Tabriz (Iran), Şanlıurfa (Edessa) - Turkey , Lara (today district from Antalya ), Turkey, El-Arzajeh (Palestine). These were the most important Middle Eastern cities that he visited. He was also on the Caspian Sea , on the Nile , on Mount Ararat , where Noah's ark is said to have landed, stood at the tombs of Saint Lazarus (El-Arzajeh) and the biblical figure Aaron (Mount Hor, Jordan ) and the caliph Ali in Najaf. On his trip to Portugal, he mainly visited the cities of Famagusta (Cyprus), Ferrara (Italy), Genoa (Italy), Toledo (Spain) and Valencia (Spain).

Content of the letter

The content of the letter mainly included problems with corrupt officials, problems with principalities on the Malabar Coast , difficulties between the Governor General Nuno da Cunha and the Sultan of Mombasa, and the threat of a huge Turkish fleet that threatened Portuguese sovereignty in India .

book

The book appeared twice - the first edition while still alive - in Coimbra in 1560 and 1565 and became a bestseller of travel literature in Portugal at the time. He dedicated the book to the young King Dom Sebastião . He always kept his reports neutral, factual and even somewhat narrative. His work was influenced by Marco Polo.

personality

Tenreiro reports openly and without prejudice or fair about Islam. He himself is described as curious and interested in many things, as well as a deeply religious person.

reception

It was mentioned in the Decadas da Índia by João de Barros , as well as in the works of the historians Francisco de Andrade and Fernão Lopes de Castanheda , 1552. The book was also published in German in the 20th century. It is considered to be the oldest report by a Portuguese on trips to the Middle East and the Orient. His trip was of great importance in world history, as it allowed a new and different view of the Orient and was considered a role model for many other European explorers of the centuries to come.

source

• Antonio Tenreiro: As a letter courier through Persia: overland from India to Portugal 1523 - 1529. Edition Erdmann, Stuttgart / Vienna 2002, ISBN 3-522-60039-8 .