Godefroy Loyer in West Africa
Aug 7th, 2017 by bachmann
This book provides an early and valuable account of West Africa’s “Gold Coast” before it was completely transfigured by slavery and colonialism. Godefroy Loyer (1660-1715), a French missionary, was one of the earliest Europeans to explore and settle in this region. He gained a deep understanding of the language, culture, politics and economy of the Kingdom of Issini, which is in modern day Ghana.
According to Loyer, who visited the Kingdom of Issini in 1701,
“we meet with kingdoms whose monarchs are peasants, towns that are built of nothing but reeds, sailing vessels formed out of a single tree: —where we meet with nations who live without care, speak without rule, transact business without writing, and walk about without clothes :—people, who live partly in the water like fish, and partly in the holes of the earth like worms, which they resemble in nakedness and insensibility.”
Osei Kofi Tutu took the throne of the Ashanti Empire in 1701. Under Tutu, the Ashanti conquered other neighboring states making his realm the most powerful African empire along the coastline. The Ashanti were willing trading partners with the British, Dutch, and Danes. By this time, the most valuable commodity for export was no longer gold, but slaves. The Ashanti were willing to trade slaves for commodities, especially muskets, to secure their seat of power in the region.
- Description:
- Loyer, Godefroy. Relation du voyage du royaume d’Issyny, Côte d’Or, païs de Guinée, en Afrique :la description du païs, les inclinations, les moeurs, & la religion des habitans : avec ce qui s’y est passé de plus remarquable dans l’établissement que les François y ont fait. A Paris, A. Seneuze, 1714.
- Persistent Link:
- http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL:10996778
- Repository:
- Widener Library
- Institution:
- Harvard University