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

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

). Born in

Córdoba Córdoba most commonly refers to: * Córdoba, Spain, a major city in southern Spain and formerly the imperial capital of Islamic Spain * Córdoba, Argentina, the second largest city in Argentina and the capital of Córdoba Province Córdoba or Cord ...

, to a branch of the noble

house of Guzmán The House of Guzmán (''Casa de Guzmán'') is an old and noble Spanish family that emerged in Kingdom of Castile, Castile in the 12th century and became one of the most prominent dynasties of the Spanish kingdom until the 18th century. The origin ...

,He dedicated his manuscript to Don Fernando de Guzmán, Chief Commander of the

Order of Calatrava The Order of Calatrava (, ) was one of the Spanish military orders, four Spanish military orders and the first Military order (society), military order founded in Kingdom of Castile, Castile, but the second to receive papal approval. The papal bu ...

, "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 ( "case or chest for books or papers"; Old French: ''escrin'' "box or case") is a sacred space dedicated to a specific deity, ancestor worship, ancestor, hero, martyr, saint, Daemon (mythology), daemon, or similar figure of respect, wh ...

, and rendered diplomatic services for

Juan II of Castile John II of Castile (; 6 March 1405 – 20 July 1454) was King of Castile and León from 1406 to 1454. He succeeded his older sister, Maria of Castile, Queen of Aragon, as Prince of Asturias in 1405. Regency John was the son of King Henry ...

. He visited the Moroccan coast, southern

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, the

Holy Land The term "Holy Land" is used to collectively denote areas of the Southern Levant that hold great significance in the Abrahamic religions, primarily because of their association with people and events featured in the Bible. It is traditionall ...

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

Rhodes Rhodes (; ) is the largest of the Dodecanese islands of Greece and is their historical capital; it is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, ninth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Administratively, the island forms a separ ...

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

, Tenedos,

Trebizond Trabzon, historically known as Trebizond, is a city on the Black Sea coast of northeastern Turkey and the capital of Trabzon Province. The city was founded in 756 BC as "Trapezous" by colonists from Miletus. It was added into the Achaemenid Em ...

Caffa Feodosia (, ''Feodosiia, Teodosiia''; , ''Feodosiya''), also called in English Theodosia (from ), is a city on the Crimean coast of the Black Sea. Feodosia serves as the administrative center of Feodosia Municipality, one of the regions into ...

, and

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

. He also visited the

Sinai Peninsula The Sinai Peninsula, or simply Sinai ( ; ; ; ), 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 land bridge between Asia and Afri ...

, 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 is the geographical southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Australian mainland, which is part of Oceania. Southeast Asia is ...

. Before returning to Spain, Tafur crossed

central Europe Central Europe is a geographical region of Europe between Eastern Europe, Eastern, Southern Europe, Southern, Western Europe, Western and Northern Europe, Northern Europe. Central Europe is known for its cultural diversity; however, countries in ...

and

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. Born 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 Marcos Jiménez de la Espada (1831–1898) was a Spanish Zoology, zoologist, Herpetology, herpetologist, explorer and writer, born in Cartagena, Spain, although he spent most of his life in Madrid, where he died. He is known for participating i ...

. 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 ba ...

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. Th ...

family, the same family to which

Saint Dominic Saint Dominic, (; 8 August 1170 – 6 August 1221), also known as Dominic de Guzmán (), was a Castilians, Castilian Catholic priest and the founder of the Dominican Order. He is the patron saint of astronomers and natural scientists, and he a ...

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. The origin of their name was disputed already in antiquity and could go back either to the god Zeus or to the artist Zeuxis. Constructed between 100 and 200, the Bat ...

, the

Hagia Sophia Hagia Sophia (; ; ; ; ), officially the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque (; ), is a mosque and former Church (building), church serving as a major cultural and historical site in Istanbul, Turkey. The last of three church buildings to be successively ...

, 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 Rome, ancient Roman obelisks in Rome, together with a number of more modern obelisks; there was also until 2005 an King ...

. 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 with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking membe ...

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 1410s births 1484 deaths People from the Crown of Castile 15th-century Castilian writers Spanish explorers 15th-century travel writers Spanish travel writers People from Córdoba, Spain

See also

Notes

Further reading

External links