Contradictions of Conquest: Zurara's Chronicle of Guinea, African Sovereignty, and the Justifications for Portuguese Colonialism

This paper examines the work of Portuguese royal chronicler Gomes Eanes de Zurara (c.1410–c.1474), with a particular focus on his Crónica dos Feitos da Conquista de Guiné (1453), also known as the Crónica de Guiné (Chronicle of Guinea). Written under the patronage of King Afonso V of Portugal (1432–1481), this chronicle documents the maritime endeavors of Infante Henrique (1394–1460), or ‘Prince Henry the Navigator’, in the Atlantic islands, the Canaries, and along the North African coast, reaching as far as Black societies in Senegambia between 1418 and 1448. Examining the African-European encounters depicted in the chronicle, this paper explores the broader tensions embedded in the justifications for Portuguese colonialism in Senegambia, particularly the paradox between the denial of Black African sovereignty based on religious difference and the simultaneous recognition of their military prominence. These contradictions manifest in Zurara’s simultaneous acknowledgment of African agency and military resistance, even as he seeks to justify their subjugation through religious and ideological frameworks. By analyzing these conflicting discourses, this study highlights how Zurara’s chronicle navigates the ideological complexities of early African-European encounters in the 15th century. More than a celebratory narrative of European expansion, Zurara’s chronicle attempts to reconcile the realities of Black African sovereignty and military power – which ultimately compelled the Portuguese to abandon direct conquest in favor of commercial engagement – within a framework of Christian supremacy and European dominion over African societies.