Fernão Lopez
Encyclopedia
Fernão Lopes was the first known permanent inhabitant of the remote Island of Saint Helena
in the South Atlantic Ocean, an island that later became famous as the site of Napoleon's exile and death.
Lopes was a 16th century Portuguese
soldier in India
. He was tortured and disfigured in punishment for siding with Rasul Khan
in a rebellion against Portuguese rule in Goa
. On his way home to Portugal after these events, Lopes chose voluntary exile
on Saint Helena, where he lived in almost complete solitude for more than 30 years.
on his first voyage to Goa on the west coast of India. Shortly after his arrival, Albuquerque returned to Portugal for reinforcements, leaving Lopes behind in charge of a garrison, with orders to keep the peace and rule over the local population. When Albuquerque returned two years later, he found the garrison was no longer in Portuguese possession. Some of the men had married local women, and some, possibly including Lopes himself, had converted to Islam
. Lopes' troops also sided with the Muslim resistance against Portuguese occupation
.
Albuquerque's men regained possession of the territory and Lopes and the other Portuguese renegades were turned over to the Portuguese on condition that their lives be spared. Instead they were tortured so savagely that half of them died within three days. Lopes, as the leader of the group, received the harshest punishment. He was bound with ropes to two wooden posts, and Albuquerque's men severed his nose, ears, right arm, and left thumb (according to others, his index and middle fingers as well). His hair and beard were scraped off with clam shells. The survivors were then released, and fled to the jungle where they could hide their deformities and be left alone.
Lopes stayed in India until the death of Albuquerque in 1515, when he set sail for Portugal, allegedly as a stowaway on a Portuguese vessel bound for Lisbon. The ship stopped at Saint Helena for food and water. Saint Helena had been discovered by the Portuguese João da Nova
on 21 May 1502, and with its abundance of fresh water and fat, it became a regular port of call for Portuguese ships en route between the East Indies
and Europe
via the Cape of Good Hope
. Unwilling to face life in Portugal, Lopes asked to be left behind on the island. He was landed in company with three or four African slaves
(history does not record their fate). They were left to fend for themselves with a few supplies from the ship's stores: a barrel of biscuits, some dried meat and fish, a tinderbox
and a saucepan.
and mild, tempered by trade winds. At the time, Saint Helena's original ecosystem
was almost intact, and goats introduced by the Portuguese thrived in the island's untouched environment (no mammals or reptiles inhabited Saint Helena before introduction by explorers). The interior of Saint Helena was a thick old-growth forest of ancient gumwood
trees and other native plants that had colonized the island as many as 10 million years ago.
The following is from a contemporary account of the first ship to encounter Lopes after he had been left on Saint Helena, found in a Hakluyt Society
journal:
The cockerel that Lopes saved from the ship became his only friend on Saint Helena. During the night, it roosted above his head and during the day it followed behind him, and would come if he called to it. As time went on, Lopes began to be less and less afraid of people. When a ship would lay anchor in what would later be known as Jamestown
harbour, Lopes would greet the sailors, talking to them as they came ashore. Lopes began to be considered something of a saint
, because of his deformities and the fact that he would not leave Saint Helena for any reason. Many people thought him to be the embodiment of human suffering and alienation, and they took pity on him. The travelers who stopped at the island gave Lopes many things, including livestock and seeds. Eventually, Lopes became a gardener and a keeper of livestock, working the soil, planting fruit trees, grasses and many other forms of vegetation.
to see his family, visited King João III
and then traveled to Rome, where Pope Clement VII
absolved him of the sin of apostasy
and granted him an audience. The Pope was very impressed with Lopez, and decided to grant him a wish. Lopes had one desire, and that was to return to his home on the Island of Saint Helena. The Pope sent Lopes back to Portugal with a letter for João III, requesting that Lopes be transported back to Saint Helena. Lopes returned to the island and died there in 1545, after another 20 years of almost complete solitude.
Saint Helena
Saint Helena , named after St Helena of Constantinople, is an island of volcanic origin in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the British overseas territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha which also includes Ascension Island and the islands of Tristan da Cunha...
in the South Atlantic Ocean, an island that later became famous as the site of Napoleon's exile and death.
Lopes was a 16th century Portuguese
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
soldier in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. He was tortured and disfigured in punishment for siding with Rasul Khan
Rasul Khan
Rasul Khan was one of the finest generals of Ismael Adil Shah, the Sultan of Bijapur. In 1512, he was asked to lead an army to reconquer Goa from the Portuguese...
in a rebellion against Portuguese rule in Goa
History of Goa
Goa is a small state on the western coast of India. Though the smallest Indian state, Goa has played an influential role in Indian history. Goa was one of the major trade centers in India, thus it had always been attracting the influential dynasties, seafarers, merchants, traders, monks and...
. On his way home to Portugal after these events, Lopes chose voluntary exile
Exile
Exile means to be away from one's home , while either being explicitly refused permission to return and/or being threatened with imprisonment or death upon return...
on Saint Helena, where he lived in almost complete solitude for more than 30 years.
In Portuguese service
In 1503 Lopes, a minor nobleman and soldier, accompanied the Portuguese naval general Afonso de AlbuquerqueAfonso de Albuquerque
Afonso de Albuquerque[p][n] was a Portuguese fidalgo, or nobleman, an admiral whose military and administrative activities as second governor of Portuguese India conquered and established the Portuguese colonial empire in the Indian Ocean...
on his first voyage to Goa on the west coast of India. Shortly after his arrival, Albuquerque returned to Portugal for reinforcements, leaving Lopes behind in charge of a garrison, with orders to keep the peace and rule over the local population. When Albuquerque returned two years later, he found the garrison was no longer in Portuguese possession. Some of the men had married local women, and some, possibly including Lopes himself, had converted to Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
. Lopes' troops also sided with the Muslim resistance against Portuguese occupation
Portuguese India
The Portuguese Viceroyalty of India , later the Portuguese State of India , was the aggregate of Portugal's colonial holdings in India.The government started in 1505, six years after the discovery of a sea route to India by Vasco da Gama, with the nomination of the first Viceroy Francisco de...
.
Albuquerque's men regained possession of the territory and Lopes and the other Portuguese renegades were turned over to the Portuguese on condition that their lives be spared. Instead they were tortured so savagely that half of them died within three days. Lopes, as the leader of the group, received the harshest punishment. He was bound with ropes to two wooden posts, and Albuquerque's men severed his nose, ears, right arm, and left thumb (according to others, his index and middle fingers as well). His hair and beard were scraped off with clam shells. The survivors were then released, and fled to the jungle where they could hide their deformities and be left alone.
Lopes stayed in India until the death of Albuquerque in 1515, when he set sail for Portugal, allegedly as a stowaway on a Portuguese vessel bound for Lisbon. The ship stopped at Saint Helena for food and water. Saint Helena had been discovered by the Portuguese João da Nova
João da Nova
João da Nova , Xoán de Novoa or Joam de Nôvoa galician spellings, Juan de Nova, Spanish spelling, was a Galician explorer of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans at the service of Portugal...
on 21 May 1502, and with its abundance of fresh water and fat, it became a regular port of call for Portuguese ships en route between the East Indies
East Indies
East Indies is a term used by Europeans from the 16th century onwards to identify what is now known as Indian subcontinent or South Asia, Southeastern Asia, and the islands of Oceania, including the Malay Archipelago and the Philippines...
and Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
via the Cape of Good Hope
Cape of Good Hope
The Cape of Good Hope is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula, South Africa.There is a misconception that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Africa, because it was once believed to be the dividing point between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. In fact, the...
. Unwilling to face life in Portugal, Lopes asked to be left behind on the island. He was landed in company with three or four African slaves
African slave trade
Systems of servitude and slavery were common in many parts of Africa, as they were in much of the ancient world. In some African societies, the enslaved people were also indentured servants and fully integrated; in others, they were treated much worse...
(history does not record their fate). They were left to fend for themselves with a few supplies from the ship's stores: a barrel of biscuits, some dried meat and fish, a tinderbox
Tinderbox
A tinderbox is a small container containing flint, firesteel, and tinder , used together to help kindle a fire....
and a saucepan.
Marooned on Saint Helena
Nearly a year passed before another ship docked at Saint Helena. Lopez acclimatised himself to his new home, a 122 square kilometres (47.1 sq mi) volcanic island almost 2000 kilometres (1,242.7 mi) off the coast of Africa. The climate was tropicalTropics
The tropics is a region of the Earth surrounding the Equator. It is limited in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the northern hemisphere at approximately N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the southern hemisphere at S; these latitudes correspond to the axial tilt of the Earth...
and mild, tempered by trade winds. At the time, Saint Helena's original ecosystem
Ecosystem
An ecosystem is a biological environment consisting of all the organisms living in a particular area, as well as all the nonliving , physical components of the environment with which the organisms interact, such as air, soil, water and sunlight....
was almost intact, and goats introduced by the Portuguese thrived in the island's untouched environment (no mammals or reptiles inhabited Saint Helena before introduction by explorers). The interior of Saint Helena was a thick old-growth forest of ancient gumwood
Commidendrum robustum
The Saint Helena gumwood , although now comparatively rare, was once one of the most abundant trees of mid-elevations of the island of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean. A small tree to 7-8 m, it was cut extensively for fuel in the early years of settlement of the island by the English East...
trees and other native plants that had colonized the island as many as 10 million years ago.
Hakluyt Society
Founded in 1846, the Hakluyt Society is a registered charity based in London, England, which seeks to advance knowledge and education by the publication of scholarly editions of primary records of voyages, travels and other geographical material...
journal:
The cockerel that Lopes saved from the ship became his only friend on Saint Helena. During the night, it roosted above his head and during the day it followed behind him, and would come if he called to it. As time went on, Lopes began to be less and less afraid of people. When a ship would lay anchor in what would later be known as Jamestown
Jamestown, Saint Helena
Jamestown is the capital and historic chief settlement of the island of Saint Helena, in the South Atlantic Ocean. Located on the island's north-western coast, it is the island's port, with facilities for unloading goods delivered to the island, and the centre of the island's road and...
harbour, Lopes would greet the sailors, talking to them as they came ashore. Lopes began to be considered something of a saint
Saint
A saint is a holy person. In various religions, saints are people who are believed to have exceptional holiness.In Christian usage, "saint" refers to any believer who is "in Christ", and in whom Christ dwells, whether in heaven or in earth...
, because of his deformities and the fact that he would not leave Saint Helena for any reason. Many people thought him to be the embodiment of human suffering and alienation, and they took pity on him. The travelers who stopped at the island gave Lopes many things, including livestock and seeds. Eventually, Lopes became a gardener and a keeper of livestock, working the soil, planting fruit trees, grasses and many other forms of vegetation.
Lopes visits Portugal and Rome
After 10 years on the island, Lopez agreed to return to PortugalPortugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
to see his family, visited King João III
John III of Portugal
John III , nicknamed o Piedoso , was the fifteenth King of Portugal and the Algarves. He was the son of King Manuel I and Maria of Aragon, the third daughter of King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile...
and then traveled to Rome, where Pope Clement VII
Pope Clement VII
Clement VII , born Giulio di Giuliano de' Medici, was a cardinal from 1513 to 1523 and was Pope from 1523 to 1534.-Early life:...
absolved him of the sin of apostasy
Apostasy
Apostasy , 'a defection or revolt', from ἀπό, apo, 'away, apart', στάσις, stasis, 'stand, 'standing') is the formal disaffiliation from or abandonment or renunciation of a religion by a person. One who commits apostasy is known as an apostate. These terms have a pejorative implication in everyday...
and granted him an audience. The Pope was very impressed with Lopez, and decided to grant him a wish. Lopes had one desire, and that was to return to his home on the Island of Saint Helena. The Pope sent Lopes back to Portugal with a letter for João III, requesting that Lopes be transported back to Saint Helena. Lopes returned to the island and died there in 1545, after another 20 years of almost complete solitude.