Gaspar da Cruz

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Title of his famous book

Frei Gaspar da Cruz (* 1520 in Évora ; † February 5, 1570 in Setúbal ) was a Portuguese Dominican . He served as a missionary in Asia and was the author of the first printed European book on China.

Life

After joining the Dominican Order, he went to Asia as a missionary in 1548 . There he founded Dominican monasteries, for example in Goa and Malacca . He is considered the first Christian missionary in Cambodia , and worked on Hormuz and in China . Da Cruz probably returned to Portugal in 1564 , where he presumably lived in the Alentejo and wrote his famous book. In 1569 he devoted himself to fighting the plague , which he himself succumbed to in 1570 .

His book

His book Tractado em que se cõtam muito por estẽso as cousas da China, cõ suas particularidades, e assi do reyno dormuz gained importance . In today's Portuguese it says: Tratado em que se contam muito por extenso as coisas da China com suas particularidades e assim no reino de Ormuz ( German : treatise that tells in great detail the things about China with its peculiarities and also that of the kingdom in Hormuz ), and is now usually shortened as Tratado das coisas da China (Portuguese) or A Treatise of China ( English ).

It was published in 1569 (other sources 1570) by André de Burgos in Évora. The work is considered to be the first book about China printed in Europe and the first serious European publication on China since Marco Polo's travelogues in the 13th century. It is also quoted outside of scientific contexts and is occasionally reprinted.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ www.bosconet.aust.com , accessed on June 29, 2013
  2. ↑ Person encyclopedia Quem é Quem - Portugueses Célebres . 1st edition, Temas & Debates, Lisbon 2009 ISBN 978-989-644-047-3 , page 247
  3. ↑ entry in the Pathfinder , the online encyclopedia of Porto Editora , accessed on June 29, 2013
  4. ↑ www.livroscotovia.pt , accessed June 29, 2013
  5. ↑ www.almedina.net , accessed on June 29, 2013
  6. ↑ www.fcsh.unl.pt , accessed on June 29, 2013
  7. ↑ www.berkshirepublishing.com (PDF; 318 kB), accessed on June 29, 2013
  8. ↑ www.livroscotovia.pt , accessed June 29, 2013
personal data
SURNAME Cruz, Gaspar there
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Cruz, Frei Gaspar da (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Portuguese Dominican and missionary
DATE OF BIRTH 1520
PLACE OF BIRTH Évora , Portugal
DATE OF DEATH February 5, 1570
Place of death Setubal