author
Gomes Eannes de Zurara
1409–1473
A leading chronicler of 15th-century Portugal, he recorded the ambitions, voyages, and courtly ideals of the early Age of Discovery. His work remains one of the key narrative sources for Prince Henry the Navigator and the expansion of Portuguese power overseas.
2 Audiobooks
The Chronicle of the Discovery and Conquest of Guinea. Vol. I
by Gomes Eannes de Zurara
The Chronicle of the Discovery and Conquest of Guinea. Vol. II
by Gomes Eannes de Zurara
About the author
Working in the orbit of the Portuguese royal court, he became one of the kingdom's principal official chroniclers after Fernão Lopes. He also served as keeper of the royal library and later as chief keeper of the Torre do Tombo, placing him close to the records and political world he described.
He is best known for chronicles tied to the reign of Afonso V and to Prince Henry the Navigator, especially Chronicle of the Discovery and Conquest of Guinea. That work is an important source for the early Portuguese voyages along the West African coast and for the mindset that surrounded those expeditions.
Modern readers value his writing both for the history it preserves and for what it reveals about the values of his time. His prose celebrates royal and noble achievement, and today it is read alongside critical discussion of empire, conquest, and the beginnings of the Atlantic slave trade.