Latest / The History of Portugal: The Small Nation That Built a Global Empire — Fexingo History / Pêro da Covilhã: The Spy Who Found Prester John
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- Lucas: So, Luna, we've talked a lot about Portugal's maritime empire — the caravels, the feitorias, the battles. But there's one thread that runs through the early years of exploration that we haven't really pulled on: the search for Prester John. Luna: The legendary Christian king somewhere in Africa or Asia, right? Lucas: Exactly. For centuries, Europeans believed a powerful Christian ruler existed east of the Islamic world, someone who could be an ally against the Muslims. By the time of Prince Henry the Navigator, Prester John had become a kind of obsession. And King João II — John the Second — took it very seriously. Luna: So what did he do? Lucas: In 1487, he launched a dual mission. One, a fleet under Bartolomeu Dias that would round the southern tip of Africa. And two, a pair of agents traveling overland through the Mediterranean and the Middle East, tasked with finding Prester John and also gathering intelligence on the spice trade. Those two agents were Pêro da Covilhã and Afonso de Paiva. Luna: Spies, essentially. Lucas: Yes. They spoke Arabic, they were resourceful, and they set out from Santarém disguised as merchants. They went via Barcelona, Naples, Rhodes, and then to Alexandria in Egypt. From there, they joined a caravan to Cairo. In Cairo, they split up — Afonso de Paiva headed toward Ethiopia, while Covilhã traveled to Aden and then to India. Luna: That's a huge journey. What did Covilhã find in India? Lucas: He visited the Malabar Coast — Calicut, Cannanore, Goa — and he took detailed notes on the spice trade: prices, routes, the types of ships, the political landscape. He even sent reports back to Portugal via Jewish merchants. Meanwhile, he heard that Afonso de Paiva had died somewhere in Ethiopia, so Covilhã decided to go there himself to complete the mission. Luna: So he goes to Ethiopia voluntarily? That's risky. Lucas: Extremely. He arrived at the court of the Negus — the Emperor of Ethiopia — around 1490. He was well received, but when he tried to leave, the emperor refused. The Negus wanted to keep him as an advisor, and also feared he would reveal Ethiopian weaknesses to the Portuguese. So Covilhã spent the rest of his life there, over thirty years. Luna: Wow. So he never came back? Lucas: He never returned to Portugal. But he did manage to send letters. One of those letters reached King Manuel I in 1493, describing the route to India and confirming that Ethiopia was indeed a powerful Christian kingdom. That information was crucial for Vasco da Gama's voyage in 1497. Luna: And for us listening — you know, this show is made possible by listeners who support us. If you've been stepping into history with us episode by episode, from Portugal's early forays to the spice routes and beyond, consider buying us a coffee. It's buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Every little bit helps keep the show ad-free and allows us to dig into stories like Covilhã's. And now back to his remarkable journey. Lucas: Right. So Covilhã settled in Ethiopia, married an Ethiopian woman, and became a trusted figure in the imperial court. He wrote a detailed account of his travels, which later reached Portuguese envoys who came to Ethiopia in the 1520s. His information helped shape Portuguese policy toward the Indian Ocean. Luna: Did the Portuguese ever establish a formal alliance with Ethiopia? Lucas: They did, eventually. In the 1540s, the Ethiopian emperor Gelawdewos requested Portuguese military aid against the Adal Sultanate. The Portuguese sent a small force under Cristóvão da Gama, son of Vasco da Gama, who helped defeat the armies of Ahmad ibn Ibrahim. But that's a story for another episode. Luna: So Covilhã's mission, while he personally didn't return, set the stage for that alliance. Lucas: Exactly. He was a pioneer of overland exploration, and his reports gave Portugal the confidence to push into the Indian Ocean. The myth of Prester John was debunked — it wasn't a single king but the Ethiopian Empire — but the search itself drove the Age of Discovery forward. Luna: It's fascinating how legend and reality intertwined. Lucas: And Covilhã himself is a testament to that. He started as a spy, ended as a courtier in a foreign land, and his legacy is written across the early history of Portugal's empire. Not bad for a man from Covilhã, a small town in the mountains. Luna: A hidden figure who shaped history.