Mateus (ambassador)
Ethiopian ambassador who carried a piece of the True Cross to Portugal.
Mateus, also known as Matthew the Armenian, was an Ethiopian ambassador dispatched by regent queen Eleni of Ethiopia to seek a coalition against growing Muslim influence. He carried a piece of the True Cross and a letter to king Manuel I of Portugal, and his mission ultimately led to a Portuguese embassy to Ethiopia.
Quick Facts
- Died
- May, 1520
- Origin
- Armenian
- Dispatched by
- Regent queen Eleni of Ethiopia
- Arrived in goa
- December 1512
- Arrived in lisbon
- February 1514
- Traveled with
- Wife
- brother-in-law
- and servants
Facts from the source article.
Mateus embassy to Portugal
Mateus was sent by regent queen Eleni after two Portuguese envoys, including priest João Gomes and João Sanches, arrived in Ethiopia in 1508 seeking Pêro da Covilhã. Those envoys, sent by Tristão da Cunha in 1506, had failed to cross Malindi and returned to Socotra, from where Afonso de Albuquerque landed them in Filuk; they reached Shewa but were killed or disappeared on the return. Mateus, of Armenian origin, carried a pious letter from Eleni to king Manuel I and a piece of the True Cross, traveling with his wife, brother-in-law, and servants.
After being robbed in Zaila and detained in Bijapur, he arrived at Dabul and was received in Goa in December 1512 with great honour by governor Afonso de Albuquerque as a long-sought envoy of Prester John. King Manuel announced his arrival to Pope Leo X in 1513. Despite distrust from some of Albuquerque's rivals, who tried to prove him an impostor or Muslim spy, Mateus was sent to Cananor and then to Portugal, arriving in Lisbon in February 1514.
His reports, the queen's letter, and the cross piece were admired by the king. While Mateus was in Portugal, Albuquerque advanced toward Aden, and the desire to make Massawa a Portuguese base may have been influenced by Mateus' reports.
Return to Ethiopia with Portuguese embassy
In 1515, King Manuel of Portugal responded to Mateus by organizing an embassy to accompany him to Ethiopia. The mission was led by the elderly Duarte Galvão and included Father Francisco Álvares, carrying lavish gifts for the Ethiopian ruler. The group left Lisbon for Goa on April 7, 1515, traveling with the newly appointed governor, Lopo Soares de Albergaria. From Goa, a fleet set out for the Red Sea in February 1517, joined by the Italian explorer Andrea Corsali.
Corsali recorded in letters that they paused near Socotra and moved on to Aden. However, due to poor weather and Albergaria’s refusal to push ahead, they only reached as far as the Dahlak Archipelago. Attempts to continue to Massawa were delayed, and after weeks of stalling, Duarte Galvão died at Kamaran, ending the mission. Álvares and Mateus had to wait until Soares was replaced by Diogo Lopes de Sequeira, who successfully dispatched the embassy under Dom Rodrigo de Lima.
The party finally arrived at Massawa on April 9, 1520, and made it to the court of Emperor Lebna Dengel. There, Álvares became friends with several Europeans already in the emperor’s favor, including Pêro da Covilhã and Nicolao Branceleon. The group stayed in Ethiopia for six years, returning to Lisbon in either 1526 or 1527.
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