Narrative of the Portuguese Embassy to Abyssinia During Years 1520 1527

The "Narrative of the Portuguese Embassy to Abyssinia during the Years 1520-1527" by Francisco Álvares is a firsthand historical account detailing the diplomatic mission led by Dom Rodrigo de Lima to the court of the Ethiopian Emperor Lebna Dengel. Álvares, a Portuguese missionary who accompanied the embassy, provides a vivid and detailed description of the journey, offering insights into the cultural, political, and social landscape of Abyssinia (modern-day Ethiopia) during the early 16th century. His narrative captures the challenges and triumphs of the diplomatic endeavor, as well as the encounters with local customs, religious practices, and the Ethiopian court. Álvares's observations offer valuable historical perspectives on the interactions between Portuguese explorers and African societies, contributing to our understanding of cross-cultural exchanges and diplomatic relations in the early modern period. This narrative remains a significant historical document for scholars studying the history of European exploration and African civilizations.

The publications of the Hakluyt Society (founded in 1846) made available edited (and sometimes translated) early accounts of exploration. The first series, which ran from 1847 to 1899, consists of 100 books containing published or previously unpublished works by authors from Christopher Columbus to Sir Francis Drake, and covering voyages to the New World, to China and Japan, to Russia and to Africa and India. This volume contains an English translation of a description of Ethiopia written by Francisco Alvarez (c.1465–c.1540) during the six years he spent as a missionary with the Portuguese embassy to the Emperor of Ethiopia. Alverez describes Orthodox Christian monasteries and churches, compares the Orthodox and Catholic rites, and provides the first known descriptions of the ancient city of Axum in this, the earliest surviving Western description of Ethiopia, first published in English in 1881.