Pierre-Olivier Malherbe

Pierre-Olivier Malherbe was born with Vitré (Ille-et-Vilaine) in 1569 and probably died in Spain towards 1616. It is regarded as the first traveller to have carried out the round the world tour by terrestrial way.

The trader

Resulting from a family of traders in veils, it embarks with Saint-Malo in 1581 bound for the Spain to learn the family trade at one from his uncles. In this second half of the 16th century, Sanlúcar de Barrameda (Andalusia, mouth of the Guadalquivir), is an important Breton counter , not far from Seville. He hispanise his name as Pedro Lopez Malahierva, learns the Spanish and works during ten years in the shop of “Breton fabrics and low-with-L' needle”. During this Spanish stay, he would have become engineer after studies at the university of Valladolid. Wishing to embark for the Mexico, it gets an order of mission in the name of Pedro Lopez Malahierva (News-Spain being prohibited the abroads), near the university of Salamanque.

The traveller

In 1592, it embarks for the Americas and as soon as arrived, it goes to Mexico City where it meets the Mendoza viceroy. Continuing the dream of the conquistadores, he discovers a money mine and takes a associate to exploit it. But the company encounters problems and Malherbe must flee towards Panama, then the Peru and the Bolivia, in particular the mining city of Potosí, famous for its money ore mountain, the Cerro Rico . It takes again the sea then and goes down until the Ground from Fire, passing by the Magellan Strait.

The voyage continues until the Filipino , and it arrives in China. With Canton, it takes again its name of Pierre-Olivier Malherbe and manages to be introduced into the medium of notable Chinese, allured by the accounts of its adventures, and its experiment of the techniques. Its reputation arrives to the emperor who grants his protection to him, which enables him to travel in all the Indo-China then the Malaysia.

In India, it meets the Grand Moghol Akbar of which he becomes the friend. Akbar, which reigns since 1556, is at the same time a conqueror who knew to increase and manage his empire and a believer in the search of a syncretism. Malherbe remains three years in India and voyage according to its practice. It would have explored the sources of the Gange, would have gone to the Tibet, in Ouzbékistan and would have visited Kabul and Samarkand. With died of the emperor in 1605, it takes again the road in direction of the Perse where it is accommodated by the Shah who allows him to visit his territory. He proposes to him to marry the girl of king d' Ormuz, but Malherbe decides to return in France. Traversing the Arabia, the Mésopotamie the Syria, it arrives to Alexandrette where it embarks on a Marseilles boat, in 1609.

Last years

Of return in its country, after a seventeen years tour, it meets on several occasions the king of France Henri IV, with which it tell its adventures, and especially its geographer Pierre Bergeron (1585 - 1638), who consigns in writing the account of his peregrinations. After the death of the king (1610), it turns over to Spain for a new commercial business. It would have died there towards 1616, although rumors claim that it would have set out again in Mexico.

Pierre-Olivier Malherbe did not leave writings, its history is known by the retranscription of the geographer of the court Pierre Bergeron, and of the traces in the Spanish files.

Others

The college of Châteaubourg, to ten kilometers in the west of Glazed, bears the name of Pierre-Olivier Malherbe .

Sources and bibliography

Jean-Wolf April, Thousand Breton, biographical dictionary , Editions Doors Broad, Rennes, 2002,
Jacques Marseilles and Renaud Thomazo (directors of collection), Newspaper of Brittany , Larousse Editions, Paris, 2001,
Bernard and Jacqueline Nail, Country of Glazed. Remarkable men and women , Editions Doors broad, Rennes, 2004,

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