Between Madrid and Ophir : Erédia, a deceiful discoverer?

Abstract

Flores reconsiders the figure of the Luso-Malay cosmographer Manuel Godinho de Erédia (c. 1558–1623) and profiles him primarily as an ‘intellectual deceiver’. The chapter reassesses Erédia's life, work and broad interests, ranging from geography, cartography, history and genealogy to natural history, fortification, shipbuilding and Biblical studies. It does so by connecting Erédia to the cultural worlds of Europe (particularly Iberia) and (South and Southeast) Asia in the early modern period. Flores further explores the challenges of political patronage in the Portuguese Estado da Índia, and the ways in which Erédia, as a trickster, tried to climb the social ladder and achieve institutional recognition in the two capital cities of Goa and Madrid. False credentials, unrealistic claims and chimerical geographic discoveries were integral parts of Erédia's imaginary self (and actual solitude).