Note 203 — Chapter XV · THE ITALIANS IN AFRICA

Leo Africanus, who wrote the most important work on Africa in the 16th century, was born at Granada in southern Spain in 1494, just after the capture of that place by the Spaniards. His family migrated to Morocco, and “Hassan ibn Muhammad al Wizaz,” surnamed “Al-Fasi,” was educated mainly at Fas or Fez: whence his nickname. He travelled throughout North Africa and crossed the Desert to the Niger; visited Guinea, Mandingoland, the Niger Bend, Agades, Hausaland and Lake Chad, Egypt, and the Nile. Captured by Italian pirates he was sold as a slave and presented to Pope Leo X, who converted him, christened him, pensioned him, and encouraged him to give to the world his valuable geographical and historical information.