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Biography of Fernao Mendes PintoName: Fernao Mendes PintoBirth Date: 1509 Death Date: July 8, 1583 Place of Birth: Montemor-o-Velho, Portugal Nationality: Portuguese Gender: Male Occupations: adventurer Fernao Mendes Pinto The first European to visit Japan was Portuguese adventurer Fernao Mendes Pinto (1509-1583), unjustly called the "Prince of Liars" because his book about his travels was so widely disbelieved by his contemporaries.Fernao Mendes Pinto was born in the Portuguese town of Montemor-o-Velho not far from the ancient university city of Coimbra. At the age of ten or twelve he was taken to Lisbon by an uncle and placed in the household of a rich noblewoman. He stayed there a year and a half until "something happened that placed me in such great jeopardy that I was forced to leave the house at a moment's notice and flee for my life." We do not know what had happened. Mendes Pinto fled to the Alfama section of Lisbon where he caught a ship bound for southern Portugal. Fifteen miles from their destination it was captured by French pirates. Mendes Pinto was eventually …showed first 150 words…
…showed last 150 words…of the Catholic Church1556: Akbar the Great crowned emperor of Mogul Empire1564: William Shakespeare born1574: War erupted between French Catholics and Protestant Huguenots1580: Sir Francis Drake sailed around the Globe Further Reading Mendes Pinto's Peregrinaçao was first published in 1614. Since then, there have been many versions in many languages. All previous versions in English have now been superseded by a new translation: Rebecca D. Catz, trans. and ed. The Travels of Mendes Pinto (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1989). Catz includes a long introductory essay that discusses Mendes Pinto's life and the question of the accuracy of his reports. Excerpts from an earlier edition of the book can be found in Charles David Ley, Portuguese Voyages, 1498-1663 (London: Everyman's Library, 1947; reprinted, 1965).A previous book, Maurice Collis, The Grand Peregrination: Life and Adventures of F.M. Pinto (London: 1949), is also full of exciting tales and makes an interesting contrast to Catz. |