Born at Covilha in Beira, Pero da Covilhão had, in his early years, moved to Castile, where he had for seven years been employed in the service of the duke of Medina Sidonia, in Seville. After his return to Portugal in 1474 he had attached himself to King Afonso V and fought in the war of succession for the throne of Castile (1475-79). He also escorted the king on a fruitless journey to France to seek aid from Louis XI. Under Afonso's successor João II, Covilhão served as a Portuguese spy, being sent on missions to Tlemcen and Fez, where he learnt Arabic.
In 1487, financed by a letter of credit from the Florentine banker Bartolommeo Marchioni, he was sent by João II of Portugal to investigate a northerly route to India and, as a result of the arrival of an Ethiopian ambassador, Lucas Marcos, in Portugal via Rome in 1452, the fabled land of Prester John in East Africa (at this time the land of Prester John started to be identified with Ethiopia). The location of the supposed kingdom of Prester John had already been determined by João II, who had sent Antonio de Lisboa and Pedro de Monterroyo to Jerusalem in order to contact Ethiopian pilgrims. The journey of Covilhão was contemporaneous with that of Bartolomeu Dias, who had been commissioned to reach India by sailing around Africa. From Santarem, Covilhão left Lisbon on 7 May 1487 with Afonso de Paiva. Sailing via Barcelona, Naples and Rhodes (where they disguised themselves as Moorish merchants) they passed to Alexandria, Cairo, El Tor (in Sinai), Suakin and Aden ( August 1488). From there de Paiva continued to Zeila (Somalia) and passed inland to Ethiopia in search of the land of Prester John.
Covilhão continued to Socotra and Cannanore (in India) in an Arab dhow, then to Calicut (= Kozhikode) (1489), Goa (= Panjim) and back to Hormuz (winter 1489). From there he coasted Oman and continued south along the East African coast to Mogadishu, Malindi, Mombasa, Kilwa and Sofala (in Mozambique) (early 1490). He then returned north to Aden (Oct 1490) and continued through the Red Sea to Cairo (late 1490) where he learnt that de Paiva had died.
In Cairo he encountered two Jews sent by João II, Josepe de Lamego and Rabbi Abraham de Beja, and sent a record of his discoveries back to the king with Josepe. The report contained details of the origin of eastern spices, and observations of the existence of a sea-route to the East. Travelling now with Rabbi Abraham, Covilhão visited Hormuz, then sailed to Aden, from where Abraham was despatched with notes to Portugal. Abraham left in the direction of Aleppo, but it is uncertain whether he reached Portugal. Covilhão continued to Jidda then passed inland to Mecca (which, disguised as a pilgrim, he became the first European to enter). After visiting St. Catherine's monastery in Sinai he returned to Jidda then passed to Aden, Zeila (winter 1492) and Massawa. He continued inland to Ethiopia (1493) where he was well received by Emperor Eskender, married and remained for at least 30 years.
In 1506 Afonso de Albuquerque, at that time off the East African coast, despatched João Gomes to Ethiopia with the intention of seeking an alliance between Portugal and the kingdom of Prester John. His arrival possibly prompted the despatch of the envoy Matthew to Portugal. Covilhão was eventually discovered by Francisco Alvares, who accompanied the 1520 embassy of Rodrigo de Lima. Covilhão started on a return journey to Portugal with Rodrigo in 1524 but only his son finished the journey.
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The material on this page was created by Ray Howgego, and publication was allowed by him to Discoverers Web. This page is an excerpt from a large amount of material that Ray has written, concerning voyages of discovery before 1800. He would like to have this work published, any publisher who is interested can contact him through email.