here is another interesting charactere ...In lin with Ponce de Leon
Leo Africanus - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
from the french version of wikipedia:
Leo Africanus - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Joannes Leo Africanus (in spanish ) León el Africano, (c. 1494 – c. 1554?) (or al-Hasan ibn Muhammad al-Wazzan al-Fasi, Arabic:حسن ابن محمد الوزان الفاسي) was a Moorish diplomat and author who is best known for his book Descrittione dell’Africa (Description of Africa) describing the geography of North Africa.
Hassan al-Wazzan was born about 1488 in Granada in Muslim Andalusia . After taking the city in 1492 by Catholic Monarchs , Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon , his family fled to Morocco in the city of Fez
In 1518, back from the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca, the ship on which he is attacked, and he was taken prisoner by the "Sicilian sea." It is actually captured by a knight of the Order of St. John, Pedro di Bobadilla. Probably because it has few mistakes to be forgiven, it actually present to Pope Leo X , who adopted as son, catechizing and baptizing the fact under his own name, John Leo. It then becomes Jean-Léon de Medici , known as "Leo Africanus". While in Italy , he learned Italian and Latin, and teaches Arabic at Bologna . Upon request of the pope, he wrote his famous Cosmographia of Affrica , published in Venice under the title Description of Africa . This reference book, which carefully avoids giving military information, is the only source of information on life, manners, and customs in Africa the xvi th century. It is especially through this book that Timbuktu is a mythical city in the European imagination, and it is the inspiration for Rene Caillie party to its discovery. It is also the Bible of all diplomats and explorers interested in Africa.
There is no reliable information on the date and place of death of Leo Africanus.
There is no reliable information on the date and place of death of Leo Africanus.
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