ABSTRACT
At the end of the fourteenth century the conquests of the great Mongol leader Tamerlane (d. 1405) threatened the West and made travels in Central Asia more precarious. An early fifteenth-century visitor there was the Castilian noble Ruy Gonzales de Clavijo, who was sent on an embassy to Tamerlane’s court by Henry III of Castile. Although the king had already exchanged ambassadors and presents with Tamerlane, no account of the embassies or travels
survives. Clavijo’s account of his embassy is rather dry and factual, but this is a feature which enhances the information he supplied. Embarking at Puerto de Santa María (near Cadiz) on a vessel captained by a member of the Genoese family of the Centurione, Clavijo set off with his companions in May 1403. He began to write up his experiences from the day on which he embarked.
