Fernão de Queirós: History and Theology

Abstract

Fernão de Queirós, Conquista temporal e espiritual de Ceylão remains the most important single source for over 150 years of Sri Lankan history. Yet, although it has been plundered for its narrative content, it has received very little textual analysis. This essay examines some of the stranger and more neglected passages of this vast work in order to shed light on its author, the milieu in which he wrote, and the nature of the sources he used. We enter Queirós’ world through a close examination of his bizarre treatment of the disputation that took place in Kotte in 1543. This then opens out into a discussion of some of the broader aspects of his intellectual context and the particular dialogical positions that shaped his ethnological presentations and his interpretation of events.