Luis del Mármol Carvajal

[2] Whether his mother was some sort of slave or personal servant of his father, "given" or "bought" after the conquest of Granada, in 1492, cannot be confirmed, but she was probably of Greek descent.

[2] He was ransomed by an unidentified religious order in 1554, but he stayed in Africa to explore and study the continent, even travelling to Egypt and Ethiopia.

[2] In 1571, he settled near the city of Vélez-Málaga and began his work on the African continent, named Descripción general de África.

[2] In 1579, he was supposed to be appointed the Spanish ambassador to Morocco, but King Philip II of Spain chose someone of lesser merits because, unlike Mármol, he was of illustrious birth.

[2] Luis del Mármol y Carvajal's history is a very valuable reference for it covers a period longer by a further 50 years, than that of the other Andalusian chronicler, the diplomat and author of Description of Africa,[3] known as Joannes Leo Africanus, or al-Hasan ibn Muhammad al-Wazzan al-Fasi, (ar: حسن ابن محمد الوزان الفاسي) (c. 1494 – c.