Christopher de Haro

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Christopher de Haro (in Portuguese, Cristóvão de Haro) was a Lisbon-based merchant of Flemish origin who provided financial backing to Ferdinand Magellan's 1519 voyage, the first circumnavigation around the world.

His brother Jacob de Haro was the head of a commercial firm based in Antwerp. Christopher de Haro, as a representative of this firm, had been based in Lisbon and then joined Magellan in Spain.[1]

Christopher de Haro bore a grudge against the Portuguese king, Manuel I, which led him to provide one-quarter of the cost of Magellan's expedition, who sailed on behalf of Spain. Three-quarters of the cost was defrayed by Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor.

Maximilianus of Transylvania (Maximilianus Transylvanus) was married to Frances, daughter of Jacob de Haro, and was thus well-positioned to write the first account of Magellan's voyage, which was published in 1523. Transylvanus had observed that Haro had assisted Magellan and Ruy Faleiro considerably in presenting their proposals before the Spanish royal counselors.[2]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^  Francisco Leite de Faria, "Primeiras relações impressas sobre a viagem de Fernão de Magalhães," in A Viagem de Fernão de Magalhães e a Questão das Molucas. Actas do II Colóquio Luso-Espanhol de História Ultramarina (Lisboa: Junta de Investigações Científicas do Ultramar, 1975)
  2. ^  Tim Joyner, Magellan (Camden, Maine: International Marine, 1992), 82.
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