Kochi king gifted it to Portugal
An elephant was shipped to Portugal from the Raja of Cochin, Unni Rama Koyil, in 1512, and it was gifted by King Manuel I of Portugal to Pope Leo X (1514-1521) at his coronation. This fascinating story appears in the book, Pope’s Elephant (2000) by Silvio A. Bedini. The white elephant, called Hanno (c. 1510 – 1516), came to Rome with the Portuguese ambassador Tristão da Cunha and became the pet of the Pope. It died two years later from complications of treatment for constipation with a gold-enriched laxative. Italians called the elephant, Annone.
Cunha was nominated as the first viceroy of Portuguese India in 1504, but could not take up this post owing to temporary blindness. Afonso de Albuquerque, later viceroy, was his cousin. Cunha's son Nuno da Cunha was the 9th Governor of Portuguese India in 1529.
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| Hanno, sketch by Raphael |
In 1502, a new expedition under the command of Vasco da Gama arrived at Cochin, and the friendship was renewed. After securing the throne for the Raja of Cochin, the Portuguese got permission to build Fort Emmanuel at Fort Kochi, named after the king of Portugal. Surrounding the Portuguese factory, to protect it from any further attacks from Calicut, the foundations of a timber fort was laid on 27 September 1503- the first fort erected by the Portuguese in India.
Leo's rise as Pope
Bedini's fascinating glimpse at a forgotten sidenote to history gives us an elephant's-back view of early modern Europe and the inner workings of the Vatican at the height of its influence. A Vatican scholar and the author of numerous books, Bedini is Historian Emeritus at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., where he has worked for many years as Deputy Director of the National Museum of History and as Keeper of the Rare Books. While engaged in research in the Vatican museum and archives, he heard that once upon a time an elephant lived at the Vatican. Casual remarks, strange coincidences and a lot of research yielded the exotic story.
The book also gives curious details of the election of Cardinal Giovani De’ Medici, son of Lorenzo the Magnificent of Florence, the de facto ruler of Tuscany, as Pope, Leo the Tenth, at the young age of 37. His father prevailed on his relative Pope Innocent VIII to name him Cardinal of Santa Maria in Domnica on 9 March 1489 when he was age 13, (1) although he was not allowed to wear the insignia or share in the deliberations of the college until three years later. He was the last non-priest to be elected Pope. (2)
Born into the prominent political and banking Medici family of Florence, Giovanni was the second son of Lorenzo, ruler of the Florentine Republic. His father was worried about his character early on and wrote a letter to Giovanni to warn him to avoid vice and luxury at the beginning of his ecclesiastical career. Giovanni was elevated to the cardinalate in 1489. Following the death of Pope Julius II, Giovanni was elected Pope after securing the backing of the younger members of the Sacred College.
In 1517, the Pope led a costly war that succeeded in securing his nephew Lorenzo di Piero de' Medici as Duke of Urbino but reduced papal finances. In Protestant circles, Pope Leo is associated with granting indulgences for those who donated to reconstruct St. Peter's Basilica, a practice that was soon challenged by Martin Luther's 95 Theses. Pope rejected the Protestant Reformation, and his Papal bull of 1520, Exsurge Domine, condemned Luther's stance, rendering ongoing communication difficult. Pope Leo's death came just 10 months after he had excommunicated Luther.
Hanno's journey
According to the book, King Manuel had either received Hanno as a gift from the Raja of Cochin or had asked Afonso de Albuquerque, his viceroy in India, to purchase him. At that time, in Portugal, King Manuel was basking in the glory of the victorious explorations to the East, including that of Vasco da Gama, to Kozhikode. He dented the Islamic monopoly of the spice trade and religious conversions to Islam. As the riches flowed in from Malabar to Portugal, the Pope communicated in a letter on January 18, 1514, to Manuel acknowledging that ''the Portuguese motive for conquest was not ambition, nor the acquisition of territory and extension of his lands, but the sincere desire to propagate the Law and the knowledge of the faith in those regions.''
Hanno arrived by ship from Lisbon to Rome, aged about four years. The huge, luxurious embassy of 140 persons made its way through Alicante and Majorca, arriving on the outskirts of Rome in February. They walked the streets of Rome on March 12, 1514, in an extravagant procession of exotic wildlife and wealth of the Indies, with many dressed in "Indian style". Apart from Hanno, the procession featured 42 other beasts, including two leopards, a panther, some parrots, turkeys and rare Indian horses. Hanno carried a platform of silver on its back, shaped like a castle containing a safe with royal gifts, including vests embroidered with pearls and gems, and coins of gold minted for the occasion. The Pope received the procession in the Castel Sant'Angelo. The elephant knelt down thrice in reverence and then, following a wave of his Indian mahout, used its trunk to suck water from a bucket and sprayed it over the crowd and the Cardinals.
In 1514, Rome was the centre of the Christian world and the home and workshop of Raphael, Leonardo, and Michelangelo. Pope Leo X was a pleasure-loving pontiff whose court was infamous for its excess, frivolity and impropriety. Hanno became a star in processions and festivals, and the subject of countless paintings, sculptures and fountains.
Raphael, the great artist, designed a memorial fresco, but it does not survive. The Pope himself composed the epitaph:
Under this great hill, I lie buried
A mighty elephant which the King Manuel
Having conquered the Orient
Sent as a captive to Pope Leo X.
At which the Roman people marvelled,
A beast not seen for a long time,
And in my brutish breast, they perceived human feelings.
Fate envied me my residence in the blessed Latium
And had not the patience to let me serve my master a full three years.
But I wish, oh gods, that the time which Nature would have assigned to me,
and Destiny stole away,
You will add to the life of the great Leo.
He lived seven years
He died of angina
He measured twelve palms in height.
Giovanni Battista Branconio dell'Aquila
Privy chamberlain to the pope
And provost of the custody of the elephant,
Has erected this in 1516, the 8th of June,
In the fourth year of the pontificate of Leo X.
That which Nature has stolen away
Raphael of Urbino with his art has restored.
Italian playwright and blackmailer Pietro Aretino wrote a satirical pamphlet, The Last Will and Testament of the Elephant Hanno. It mocked the political and religious figures of Rome at the time, including the Pope. The successful pamphlet established him as a famous satirist, ultimately known as "the Scourge of Princes". Hanno's story is told at length in Bedini's book. According to American historian Robert Greene, it earned Aretino a post in the papal service.
By 29 April 1515, the Portuguese had depleted their funds, but they sought a bull signed by the pope, who sent back rich gifts to King Manuel. The king responded with a ship full of spices and, later, an Indian rhinoceros sent to him from the Sultan Muzaffar Shah II of Gujarat. The boat that transported it was wrecked off Genoa on early February 1516, and the rhinoceros was portrayed by Albrecht Dürer in his very famous Rhinoceros woodcuts in June 1516, after sketches of it travelled to Nuremberg.
The elephant stories of Portugal don't end here-In 1551, King João III of Portugal gave Archduke Maximilian an unusual wedding present: an elephant named Solomon or Suleiman. This elephant's journey from Lisbon to Vienna was witnessed and remarked upon by scholars, historians, and ordinary people. Out of this incident, Nobel-winner José Saramago has spun a novel, The Elephant's Journey.
Solomon and his keeper, Subhro, begin in dismal conditions, forgotten in a corner of the palace grounds. When it occurs to the king and queen that an elephant would be an appropriate wedding gift, everyone rushes to get them ready: Subhro is given two new suits of clothes and Solomon a long overdue scrub. They cross the border into Spain at Castelo Rodrigo and meet the Archduke at Valladolid.
Accompanied by the Archduke, his new wife, the royal guard, Soloman and Subhro cross a continent riven by the Reformation and civil wars. They make their way through the storied cities of northern Italy: Genoa, Piacenza, Mantua, Verona, Venice, and Trento, where the Council of Trent is in session. They brave the Alps and the terrifying Isarco and Brenner Passes; they sail from Rosas across the Mediterranean Sea and later up the Inn River. At last, they make their grand entry into the imperial city. The mahout's name, Subhro makes it clear that it was an Indian elephant.
1. Williams, George L. (1998). Papal Genealogy: The Families and Descendants of the Popes. McFarland Inc.
According to the book, King Manuel had either received Hanno as a gift from the Raja of Cochin or had asked Afonso de Albuquerque, his viceroy in India, to purchase him. At that time, in Portugal, King Manuel was basking in the glory of the victorious explorations to the East, including that of Vasco da Gama, to Kozhikode. He dented the Islamic monopoly of the spice trade and religious conversions to Islam. As the riches flowed in from Malabar to Portugal, the Pope communicated in a letter on January 18, 1514, to Manuel acknowledging that ''the Portuguese motive for conquest was not ambition, nor the acquisition of territory and extension of his lands, but the sincere desire to propagate the Law and the knowledge of the faith in those regions.''
The zeal of the Pope to convert Hindus in Kerala made Manuel happy, and he sent a delegation with magnificent Gifts to Rome 'on a mission of obedience', as was the tradition. Thus, the journey of the Kochi elephant began. The chief delegates accompanied the elephant with his caparisons and paraphernalia packed in trunks.
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| Hanno and his mahout, 1575, Angers museum |
Hanno arrived by ship from Lisbon to Rome, aged about four years. The huge, luxurious embassy of 140 persons made its way through Alicante and Majorca, arriving on the outskirts of Rome in February. They walked the streets of Rome on March 12, 1514, in an extravagant procession of exotic wildlife and wealth of the Indies, with many dressed in "Indian style". Apart from Hanno, the procession featured 42 other beasts, including two leopards, a panther, some parrots, turkeys and rare Indian horses. Hanno carried a platform of silver on its back, shaped like a castle containing a safe with royal gifts, including vests embroidered with pearls and gems, and coins of gold minted for the occasion. The Pope received the procession in the Castel Sant'Angelo. The elephant knelt down thrice in reverence and then, following a wave of his Indian mahout, used its trunk to suck water from a bucket and sprayed it over the crowd and the Cardinals.
Hanno was kept initially in an enclosure in the Belvedere courtyard, then moved to a specially constructed building between St. Peter's Basilica and the Apostolic Palace, near the Borgo Sant'Angelo, a road in the rione of Borgo.
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| Raphael's portrait of Leo |
In 1514, Rome was the centre of the Christian world and the home and workshop of Raphael, Leonardo, and Michelangelo. Pope Leo X was a pleasure-loving pontiff whose court was infamous for its excess, frivolity and impropriety. Hanno became a star in processions and festivals, and the subject of countless paintings, sculptures and fountains.
Hanno in history
Hanno's arrival was commemorated in poetry and art. Italian nobleman Pasquale Malaspina wrote:
In the Belvedere before the great Pastor
Was conducted the trained elephant
Dancing with such grace and such love
That hardly better would a man have danced:
And then with its trunk such a great noise
It made, that the entire place deafened:
And stretching itself on the ground to kneel
It then straightened up in reverence to the Pope,
And to his entourage.
Hanno became a darling of Renaissance Europe. Two years after, he fell ill suddenly, was given a purgative, and died on 8 June 1516, with the pope at his side. Hanno was interred in the Cortile del Belvedere at the age of seven.
In the Belvedere before the great Pastor
Was conducted the trained elephant
Dancing with such grace and such love
That hardly better would a man have danced:
And then with its trunk such a great noise
It made, that the entire place deafened:
And stretching itself on the ground to kneel
It then straightened up in reverence to the Pope,
And to his entourage.
Hanno became a darling of Renaissance Europe. Two years after, he fell ill suddenly, was given a purgative, and died on 8 June 1516, with the pope at his side. Hanno was interred in the Cortile del Belvedere at the age of seven.
Raphael, the great artist, designed a memorial fresco, but it does not survive. The Pope himself composed the epitaph:
Under this great hill, I lie buried
A mighty elephant which the King Manuel
Having conquered the Orient
Sent as a captive to Pope Leo X.
At which the Roman people marvelled,
A beast not seen for a long time,
And in my brutish breast, they perceived human feelings.
Fate envied me my residence in the blessed Latium
And had not the patience to let me serve my master a full three years.
But I wish, oh gods, that the time which Nature would have assigned to me,
and Destiny stole away,
You will add to the life of the great Leo.
He lived seven years
He died of angina
He measured twelve palms in height.
Giovanni Battista Branconio dell'Aquila
Privy chamberlain to the pope
And provost of the custody of the elephant,
Has erected this in 1516, the 8th of June,
In the fourth year of the pontificate of Leo X.
That which Nature has stolen away
Raphael of Urbino with his art has restored.
Italian playwright and blackmailer Pietro Aretino wrote a satirical pamphlet, The Last Will and Testament of the Elephant Hanno. It mocked the political and religious figures of Rome at the time, including the Pope. The successful pamphlet established him as a famous satirist, ultimately known as "the Scourge of Princes". Hanno's story is told at length in Bedini's book. According to American historian Robert Greene, it earned Aretino a post in the papal service.
Four sketches of Hanno, done in life with red chalk, survive in the collection of the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford.
Solomon and his keeper, Subhro, begin in dismal conditions, forgotten in a corner of the palace grounds. When it occurs to the king and queen that an elephant would be an appropriate wedding gift, everyone rushes to get them ready: Subhro is given two new suits of clothes and Solomon a long overdue scrub. They cross the border into Spain at Castelo Rodrigo and meet the Archduke at Valladolid.
Accompanied by the Archduke, his new wife, the royal guard, Soloman and Subhro cross a continent riven by the Reformation and civil wars. They make their way through the storied cities of northern Italy: Genoa, Piacenza, Mantua, Verona, Venice, and Trento, where the Council of Trent is in session. They brave the Alps and the terrifying Isarco and Brenner Passes; they sail from Rosas across the Mediterranean Sea and later up the Inn River. At last, they make their grand entry into the imperial city. The mahout's name, Subhro makes it clear that it was an Indian elephant.
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2. Löffler, Klemens (1910). "Pope Leo X". In Herbermann, Charles (ed.). Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 9. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
© Ramachandran
