Pedro Tafur (or Pero Tafur) (c. 1410 – c. 1484) was a traveller, historian and writer from Castile (modern day

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

). Born in Córdoba, to a branch of the noble house of Guzmán,He dedicated his manuscript to Don Fernando de Guzmán, Chief Commander of the

Order of Calatrava The Order of Calatrava ( es, Orden de Calatrava, pt, Ordem de Calatrava) was one of the four Spanish military orders and the first military order founded in Castile, but the second to receive papal approval. The papal bull confirming the Orde ...

, "being of your house and lineage,". Tafur traveled across three continents during the years 1436 to 1439. During the voyage, he participated in various battles, visited

shrines A shrine ( la, scrinium "case or chest for books or papers"; Old French: ''escrin'' "box or case") is a sacred or holy sacred space, space dedicated to a specific deity, ancestor worship, ancestor, hero, martyr, saint, Daemon (mythology), daem ...

, and rendered diplomatic services for

Juan II of Castile John II of Castile ( es, link=no, Juan; 6 March 1405 – 20 July 1454) was King of Castile, King of Kingdom of Castile, Castile and Kingdom of León, León from 1406 to 1454. He succeeded his older sister, Maria of Castile, Queen of Aragon, as ...

. He visited the Moroccan coast, southern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, the

Holy Land The Holy Land; Arabic: or is an area roughly located between the Mediterranean Sea and the Eastern Bank of the Jordan River, traditionally synonymous both with the biblical Land of Israel and with the region of Palestine. The term "Holy ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...

Rhodes Rhodes (; el, Ρόδος , translit=Ródos ) is the largest and the historical capital of the Dodecanese islands of Greece. Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the S ...

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ...

, Tenedos, Trebizond,

Caffa uk, Феодосія, Теодосія crh, Kefe , official_name = () , settlement_type= , image_skyline = THEODOSIA 01.jpg , imagesize = 250px , image_caption = Genoese fortress of Caffa , image_shield = Fe ...

, and

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

. He also visited the

Sinai Peninsula The Sinai Peninsula, or simply Sinai (now usually ) (, , cop, Ⲥⲓⲛⲁ), is a peninsula in Egypt, and the only part of the country located in Asia. It is between the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Red Sea to the south, and is a ...

, where he met

Niccolò Da Conti Niccolò is an Italian male given name, derived from the Greek Nikolaos meaning "Victor of people" or "People's champion". There are several male variations of the name: Nicolò, Niccolò, Nicolas, and Nicola. The female equivalent is Nicole. The f ...

, who shared with Tafur information about

southeastern Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainland ...

. Before returning to Spain, Tafur crossed

central Europe Central Europe is an area of Europe between Western Europe and Eastern Europe, based on a common historical, social and cultural identity. The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) between Catholicism and Protestantism significantly shaped the a ...

and

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. Between 1453 and 1454, to judge from interior evidence in the single surviving manuscript, he wrote a book called ''Andanças e viajes de Pero Tafur por diversas partes del mundo avidos'' (''Avid Adventures and Travels of Pero Tafur to Various Parts of the World''). But it didn't appear in print until 1874, when it was published by Marcos Jiménez de la Espada. This work is one of the few books written by a Spanish traveler during the medieval period (that of

Ruy González de Clavijo Ruy González de Clavijo (died 2 April 1412) was a Castilian traveler and writer. In 1403-05 Clavijo was the ambassador of Henry III of Castile to the court of Timur, founder and ruler of the Timurid Empire. A diary of the journey, perhaps based ...

is another example). Tafur dedicates his book to a member of the

Guzmán Guzmán or de Guzmán ( or ) is a Spanish surname. The Portuguese language equivalent is Gusmão. Origins The surname is of toponymic origin, ''de Guzmán'' ("of Guzmán"), deriving from the village of Guzmán ( es) in the region of Burgos. T ...

family, the same family to which

Saint Dominic Saint Dominic ( es, Santo Domingo; 8 August 1170 – 6 August 1221), also known as Dominic de Guzmán (), was a Castilian Catholic priest, mystic, the founder of the Dominican Order and is the patron saint of astronomers and natural scienti ...

belonged. He thus provides biographical information regarding this saint. He also provides valuable details concerning the

Baths of Zeuxippus The Baths of Zeuxippus were popular public baths in the city of Constantinople. They took their name because they were built on a site previously occupied by a temple of Zeus,Gilles, P. p. 70 on the earlier Greek Acropolis in Byzantion. Constructe ...

, the

Hagia Sophia Hagia Sophia ( 'Holy Wisdom'; ; ; ), officially the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque ( tr, Ayasofya-i Kebir Cami-i Şerifi), is a mosque and major cultural and historical site in Istanbul, Turkey. The cathedral was originally built as a Greek Ortho ...

, the Holy doors in Rome, and the

obelisks in Rome The city of Rome harbours thirteen ancient obelisks, the most in the world. There are eight ancient Egyptian and five ancient Roman obelisks in Rome, together with a number of more modern obelisks; there was also until 2005 an ancient Ethiopia ...

. Having returned to Spain in 1439, some time before 1452 Tafur married Doña Juana de Horozco. A son appears to have predeceased his father, but three daughters are mentioned in Doña Juana's will. He played a prominent role in local affairs: he and his son both held office as

aldermen An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members the ...

in 1479.

Notes

External links

* *
Online text of Tafur’s travels
*

an
''Pero Tafur: Travels and Adventures 1435-1439''
*

* ttp://www.ucm.es/BUCM/revistas/fll/02122952/articulos/DICE8787110297A.PDF ''Las memorias de Pedro Tafur'', Franco Meregalli* ttp://www.difusioncultural.uam.mx/revista/mayo2005/rodilla.html ''Espacios sagrados y espacios míticos La retórica del viaje en las Andanças de Pero Tafur'', María José Rodilla {{DEFAULTSORT:Tafur, Pedro 1410 births 1484 deaths 15th-century Castilians 15th-century Spanish writers Spanish explorers 15th-century travel writers Spanish travel writers People from Córdoba, Spain

See also

Notes

Further reading

External links