author
Gomes Eannes de Zurara
1409–1473
A key chronicler of Portugal’s early Atlantic expansion, he wrote some of the main surviving accounts of Prince Henry the Navigator and the first Portuguese voyages along the West African coast. His work is still read today for what it reveals about both exploration and the ideas that shaped it.
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
Gomes Eanes de Zurara was a 15th-century Portuguese chronicler, generally dated to around 1410–1474. He is best known as an official royal historian in Portugal and as the successor to Fernão Lopes, another major medieval Portuguese chronicler.
He wrote during the period now called the Age of Discovery, and his most famous work is Crónica dos Feitos da Guiné (Chronicle of the Deeds of Guinea). That book is one of the main early sources for Portuguese expeditions along the West African coast and for the career of Prince Henry the Navigator. He also wrote about the capture of Ceuta and other royal and military events tied to Portuguese expansion.
Zurara matters not only because he preserved important historical detail, but also because his writing shows the courtly values and political aims of his time. Modern readers often approach his work with both interest and caution: it is a rich source for early exploration history, but it was also written to praise Portuguese rulers and justify their actions.