Person

Gonçalo da Silveira

1526–1561 · 16th century

Gonçalo da Silveira was a Portuguese Jesuit missionary who in 1560–1561 travelled to the court of the Mwene Mutapa in present-day Zimbabwe and baptised the king and members of his family. Muslim traders at the court persuaded the king that the missionary was a spy and sorcerer, and Silveira was strangled in March 1561. His death was later used to justify the Portuguese expedition of Francisco Barreto.

Gonçalo da Silveira
Image: Author : Adrien Melaer · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

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Mutapa EmpireImpact, Summary

See also

Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Gonçalo da Silveira. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/goncalo-da-silveira
MLA
“Gonçalo da Silveira.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/goncalo-da-silveira. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Gonçalo da Silveira.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/goncalo-da-silveira.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Gonçalo da Silveira’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/goncalo-da-silveira (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻