Mateus (ambassador)

Mateus (Portuguese for Matthew), also known as Matthew the Armenian (died May, 1520), was an Ethiopian ambassador sent by regent queen Eleni of Ethiopia to king Manuel I of Portugal and to the Pope in Rome, in search of a coalition to help on the increasing threat that Ethiopia faced from the growing Muslim influence in the region. Mateus arrived at Goa in 1512, and traveled to Portugal in 1514, from where he returned with a Portuguese embassy, along with Francisco Álvares. The Portuguese only understood the nature of his mission after they arrived in Ethiopia in 1520, shortly after Mateus' death, a fact that complicated their mission to the new Ethiopian Emperor.^[1]

^ Beckingham and Huntingford, translators, Prester John, p.307; paraphrasing the account of Gaspar Correia. Apparently Francisco Álvares never learned this, for in his narrative he repeats without explanation Lebna Dengel's claim that Mattheus lacked the authority to represent him (e.g., p. 283).

[1] Beckingham and Huntingford, translators, Prester John, p.307; paraphrasing the account of Gaspar Correia. Apparently Francisco Álvares never learned this, for in his narrative he repeats without explanation Lebna Dengel's claim that Mattheus lacked the authority to represent him (e.g., p. 283).

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