Bento de Góis

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Statue of Bento de Goes in his home town of Vila Franca, Azores
Statue of Bento de Goes in his home town of Vila Franca, Azores

Bento de Góis (1562, Vila Franca do Campo, Azores, Portugal - 11 April 1607, Suzhou (Gansu), China), was a Portuguese Jesuit Brother, Missionary and explorer.

[edit] Biography

Góis went to India as a soldier in the Portuguese army. In Goa he entered the Society of Jesus as a lay brother (in 1584), offering himself to work for the Mughal Mission. As such, in 1595, he accompanied Jerome Xavier and Manuel Pinheiro to Lahore. For the third time Emperor Akbar had requested that Jesuits be sent to his court. Goes returned to Goa in 1601.

Góis is however best remembered for his long exploratory journey through Central Asia, under the garb of an Armenian merchant, in search of the Kingdom of Cathay. Generated by accounts made by Marco Polo, reports were then circulating in Europe of the existence of a Christian kingdom in the midst of Muslim nations. After 4,000 miles and three years he found no Christian community but ended his journey at the Great Wall of China in 1605 proving that Cathay of Marco Polo was the China of Matteo Ricci. It is likely that the existence of Buddhist monastic communities in China led Marco Polo to believe he had seen Christian monks.[1] Góis travelled the Silk Road but couldn't reach Peking. Seriously sick and alone in a town near the Great Wall of China he sent a note to Matteo Ricci in Peking who promptly sent a servant to his rescue. The latter found Góis already at the point of death.

[edit] Bibliography

  • WESSELS, Early Jesuit Travellers in Central Asia, The Hague, 1924, pp. 1-42.
  • BERNARD, H., Le frère Bento de Goes chez les musulmans de la Haute-Asie, Tientsin, 1934.
  • BISHOP, G.: In Search of Cathay, Anand, 1998.
  • CRONIN, V.: The Wise Man From the West, Harvill Press, 2003