Ruy Gonzáles de Clavijo

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Ruy González de Clavijo (? - April 2, 1412), Spanish traveler and writer.

Clavijo was the ambassador of Henry III of Castile to the court of Timur, founder and ruler of the Timurid Empire. He kept detailed notes of the cities and countries through which he passed. They were published in Spanish in 1582 (Embajada a Tamor Lán) and in English in 1859 (Narrative of the Embassy of Ruy Gonzalez de Clavijo to the Court of Timour at Samarcand AD 1403-6). Clavijo sailed from Cadiz, then through the Mediterranean, passing Majorca, Sicily and Rhodes to Constantinople. Using modern names for the countries through which he passed, Clavijo passed along the Black Sea coast of Turkey to Trabzon and then overland through Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iran and Turkmenistan to Uzbekistan. He visited Tehran, Persia in 1404.

[edit] External links

• Excerpt, from González de Clavijo, Embassy to Tamerlane 1403-1406, trans. Guy le Strange (New York and London, 1928).
• Map and full online text of Narrative of the Embassy of Ruy Gonzalez de Clavijo to the Court of Timour at Samarcand AD 1403-6 (London, 1859)
• "Vida y hazañas del Gran Tamorlán, con la descripción de las tierras de su imperio y señorío", by Ruy González de Clavijo (modern Spanish)