Pedro Tafur

Who was Pedro Tafur?

Pedro Tafur was a Spanish traveler and writer. Born in Córdoba, to a branch of the noble house of Guzmán, Tafur traveled across three continents during the years 1436 to 1439. During the voyage, he participated in various battles, visited shrines, and rendered diplomatic services for Juan II of Castile. He visited the Moroccan coast, southern France, the Holy Land, Egypt, Rhodes, Cyprus, Tenedos, Trebizond, and Constantinople. He also visited the Sinai Peninsula, where he met Niccolò Da Conti, who shared with Tafur information about southeastern Asia. Before returning to Spain, Tafur crossed central Europe and Italy.

Between 1453 and 1454, to judge from interior evidence in the single surviving manuscript, he wrote a book called Andanças e viajes de Pero Tafur por diversas partes del mundo avidos. It is one of the few books written by a Spanish traveler during the medieval period. Tafur dedicated his book to a member of the Guzmán family, the same family to which Saint Dominic belonged. He thus provides biographical information regarding this saint.