zài dāng shí de '
ōu zhōu liú chuán zhe yī gè chuán shuō，
zài yáo yuǎn de dōng fāng yòu yī gè jī dū jiào wáng guó，
qí jūn zhù chēng wéi PresterJohn；
yīn cǐ xǔ duō '
ōu zhōu tàn xiǎn duì zhēng xiāng chū fā xún zhǎo zhè gè chuán shuō zhōng de guó jiā。 1490
nián zuǒ yòu，
yī gè pú táo yá tàn xiǎn jiā PedrodeCovilham
dǐ dá liǎo '
āi sài '
é bǐ yà，
bìng rèn wéi zhè jiù shì nà chuán shuō zhōng de jī dū jiào guó jiā。
1507
nián，
yī gè jiào mǎ xiū de yà měi ní yà rén bèi '
āi sài '
é bǐ yà huáng dì pài dào pú táo yá bìng qǐng qiú pú táo yá guó wáng de chū bīng yǐ duì kàng mù sī lín。 1520
nián yī gè pú táo yá jiàn duì，
qí zhōng dā zài yòu mǎ xiū，
jìn rù liǎo hóng hǎi dá chéng liǎo zhè gè rèn wù；
qí zhōng yī gè cóng jiàn duì lái de shǐ zhě tuán bìng bài fǎng liǎo huáng dì LebnaDengel。
shǐ zhě tuán zài '
āi sài '
é bǐ yà dài liǎo 6
nián，
qí zhōng yī gè shǐ zhě FranciscoAlvarez
shén fù，
xiě liǎo yī gè zhì jīn zuì zǎo yòu guān zhè gè guó jiā de xiáng xì jì lù。
1528
nián dào 1540
nián，
yóu AhmadibnIbrihimal-Ghazi
lǐng dǎo de mù sī lín jūn duì qīn rǎo liǎo zhěng gè guó jiā，
huáng dì zài dù yào qiú pú táo yá de xié zhù。 1541
nián 2
yuè yóu ChristovãodaGama
shuài lǐng de pú táo yá jiàn duì yóu yìn dù dǐ dá， 7
yuè daGama
shuài lǐng liǎo 400
míng huǒ qiāng bīng jìn rù liǎo nèi lù，
yī kāi shǐ tā men yǔ dāng shí jūn duì hé zuò chéng gōng de duì kàng liǎo dí jūn，
dàn zài 1542
nián 8
yuè dǎ liǎo bài zhàng，
zhǐ huī guān bèi fú bìng bèi chǔjué；
bù guò Ahmad
zài 1543
nián 2
yuè yě bèi shā，
mù sī lín shì lì yě bèi zhú chū。
zhī hòu，
huáng dì hé pú táo yá rén de bù hé kāi shǐ fú xiàn，
tā men yào qiú huáng dì guī yǐ luó mǎ，
dàn bèi jù jué。
Towards the close of the 15th century the Portuguese missions into Ethiopia began. A belief had long prevailed in Europe of the existence of a Christian kingdom in the far east, whose monarch was known as Prester John, and various expeditions had been sent in quest of it. Among others engaged in this search was Pêro da Covilhã, who arrived in Ethiopia in 1490, and, believing that he had at length reached the far-famed kingdom, presented to the nəgusä nägäst of the country, a letter from his master the king of Portugal, addressed to Prester John.
Pêro da Covilhã remained in the country, but in 1507 an Armenian named Matthew was sent by the Emperor to the king of Portugal to request his aid against the Muslims. In 1520 a Portuguese fleet, with Matthew on board, entered the Red Sea in compliance with this request, and an embassy from the fleet visited the Emperor, Lebna Dengel, and remained in Ethiopia for about six years. One of this embassy was Father Francisco Álvares, who wrote one of the earliest and not the least interesting account of the country.