Francisco Alvarez, a Portuguese traveller, born in Coimbra, died after 1540. He was chaplain of King Emanuel, and in 1515 accompanied his embassy to the negus or emperor of Abvssinia, then known to the Portuguese as Prester John. Going first to India, they wvere delayed by various causes, among which was the death of the original ambassador, Duarte Galvam, and the substitution of Don Rodrigo de Lima, a soldier quite unfit for the charge. Landing at Massowah April 6, 1520, their journey through the interior was beset with many difficulties and dangers; but at last, on Oct. 20, they were received at the temporary court of the negus, an encampment in Shoa. Alvarez made himself acceptable to all parties, especially to the Abyssinian priesthood, who respected his religions character, and to the negus, who conceived such an admiration for him that he appointed him ambassador to the Vatican - a mission which Alvarez could only discharge many years afterward, in 1533. The embassy left the Abyssinian court at the beginning of 1521, with a view of returning to Portugal; but a quarrel which broke out among the company, and which called for the interference of the negus, led to their remaining in Abyssinia till 1526, when Alvarez returned to Lisbon, where he was received with great distinction by John III., King Emanuel having died in 1521. The king prompted him to compile an account of his observations during his six years' stay in Abyssinia; and he accordingly prepared an itinerary in five books, which was published in Lisbon in 1540, under the title Verdadeira Informacao do Preste Joao das Indias. Only a few copies were printed, and it soon became very rare.

A mutilated copy was obtained by Ramusio, in whose collection will be found "The Journey in Ethiopia of Francisco Alvarez.1'