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Pedro or Pêro da Covilhã ((:ˈpeɾu dɐ kuviˈʎɐ̃); c. 1460 – after 1526) was a Portuguese diplomat and explorer. He was a native of Covilhã in Beira. In his early life he had gone to Castile and entered the service of Don Juan de Guzmán, brother of Enrique de Guzmán, 2nd Duke of Medina Sidonia. Later, when war broke out between Castile and Portugal, he returned to his own country, and attached himself, first as a groom, then as a squire, to Afonso V of Portugal and his successor John II of Portugal. == Mission to the East == King John II put him in charge of diverse private missions, and finally, to use his knowledge of different languages, ordered him and Afonso de Paiva to undertake a mission of exploration in the Near East and the adjoining regions of Asia and Africa, with the special assignment to learn where cinnamon and other spices could be found, as well as of discovering the land of legendary Prester John, by overland routes.〔James Bruce, ''Travels to Discover the Source of the Nile'' (1805 edition), vol. 3, p. 135〕 Bartolomeu Dias, at the same time, went out to by sea find the Prester's country, as well as the termination of the African continent and the ocean route to India. The expedition started at Santarém, on 7 May 1487. Covilhã and Paiva were provided with a letter of credence for all the countries of the world and with a map for navigating, taken from the map of the world and compiled by Bishop Diogo, and doctors Rodrigo and Moisés. The first two of these were prominent members of the commission which advised the Portuguese government to reject the proposals of Christopher Columbus. The explorers started from Santarém and travelled by Barcelona to Naples, where their bills of exchange were paid by the sons of Cosimo de' Medici; from there they went to Rhodes, where they stayed with two other Portuguese, and so to Alexandria and Cairo, where they posed as merchants. In company with Arabs from Fez and Tlemcen, they now went by way of El-Tor to Suakin and Aden, where, as it was now the monsoon, they parted. Covilhã proceeded to India and Paiva to Ethiopia. They agreed to meet again in Cairo. Covilhã thus arrived at Cannanore and Calicut, from where he retraced his steps to Goa and Hormuz, the Red Sea and Cairo, making an excursion on his way down the East African coast to Sofala. At Cairo he heard of Paiva's death, and met with two Portuguese Jews: Rabbi Abraham of Beja, and Joseph, a shoe-maker of Lamego who had been sent by King John with letters for Covilhã and Paiva. By Joseph of Lamego, Covilhã replied with an account of his Indian and African journeys, and of his observations on the cinnamon, pepper and clove trade at Calicut, together with advice as to the ocean way to India. He recommended that the Portuguese should sail south along the coast of Africa and the seas of Guinea. The first objective in the eastern ocean, he added, was Madagascar; from this island one can reach Calicut. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Pêro da Covilhã」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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