 George Psalmanazar (1679-1763) George Psalmanazar (1679?-May 3, 1763) claimed to be the first Formosan to visit Europe. For some years he convinced many in Britain, but was later revealed to be an impostor. Image File history File links Psalmanazar. ...
Image File history File links Psalmanazar. ...
Events January 24 - King Charles II of England disbands Parliament August 7 - The brigantine Le Griffon, which was commissioned by René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, is towed to the southern end of the Niagara River, to become the first ship to sail the upper Great Lakes. ...
May 3 is the 123rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (124th in leap years). ...
1763 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ...
The terrain of Taiwan is mostly mountainous in the east but gradually changes to gently sloping plains in the west. ...
World map showing Europe Political map (neighbouring countries in Asia and Africa also shown) Europe is one of the seven traditional continents of the Earth. ...
To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...
He appeared in northern Europe, around the year 1700. He looked European but claimed he came from the faraway island of Formosa, followed a foreign calendar and worshipped the Sun and the Moon. A page from the Hindu calendar 1871-72. ...
In 1702 the man arrived in the Netherlands and met Scottish priest William Innes, who was a chaplain of a Scottish army unit. Afterwards he claimed he had converted the heathen into Christianity and christened him as George Psalmanazar (in reference to biblical Assyrian king Shalmaneser). In 1703 they left for London via Rotterdam to meet the bishop. Events March 8 - William III died; Princess Anne Stuart becomes Queen Anne of England, Scotland and Ireland. ...
Christianity is a monotheistic[1] religion centered on Jesus of Nazareth, and on his life and teachings as presented in the New Testament. ...
This pages lists the Kings of Assyria from earliest times. ...
London (pronounced ) is the capital city of England and the United Kingdom. ...
Rotterdam Location Flag Country The Netherlands Province South Holland Population 588,718 (2006) Coordinates 51° 55 N.; 4° 30 E. Website www. ...
In London, the foreigner gathered even more fame by his strange habits. He ate raw meat with lots of spices and slept upright in a chair. He claimed he had been abducted from Formosa by Jesuits and taken to France, where he had refused to become Roman Catholic. Seal of the Society of Jesus. ...
The Roman Catholic Church, most often spoken of simply as the Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with over one billion members. ...
In 1704, Psalmanazar published a book An Historical and Geographical Description of Formosa, an Island subject to the Emperor of Japan which revealed a number of strange habits. Formosa was a prosperous country of wealth with capital city called Xternetsa. Men walked naked except for a gold or silver plate to cover their privates. Their main food was a serpent that they hunt with branches. Formosans were polygamous and the husband had a right to eat their wives for infidelity. They executed murderers by hanging them upside down and shooting them full of arrows. Annually they sacrificed the hearts of 18,000 young boys to gods and priest ate the bodies. They also used horses and camels for mass transportation. The book also described the Formosan alphabet. ...
The term polygamy (literally many marriages in late Greek) is used in related ways in social anthropology and sociobiology and sociology. ...
Cannibalism in Brazil in 1557 as alleged by Hans Staden. ...
Binomial name Equus caballus Linnaeus, 1758 The horse (Equus caballus, sometimes seen as a subspecies of the Wild Horse, Equus ferus caballus) is a large odd-toed ungulate mammal, one of ten modern species of the genus Equus. ...
Species Camelus bactrianus Camelus dromedarius Camels are even-toed ungulates in the genus Camelus. ...
The book was rather successful. It went through two English editions, and French and German editions followed. The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ...
He lectured on Formosan culture and language and pretended to translate religious literature into Formosan. The Bishop of London supported him. He spoke before the Royal Society, where he was challenged by Edmund Halley. Arms of the Bishop of London The Bishop of London is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of London in the Province of Canterbury. ...
The premises of the Royal Society in London (first four properties only). ...
Edmond Halley. ...
Psalmanazar did not go unchallenged, but he managed to deflect most of the criticism. He explained that his pale skin was due to fact that he was of upper class and did not have to work in the sun. In fact, he claimed to have lived underground. Jesuits who had actually worked as missionaries in Formosa were not believed due to their rather unwholesome reputation in the anti-Catholic atmosphere. A missionary is a propagator of religion, often an evangelist or other representative of a religious community who works among those outside of that community. ...
Innes eventually went to Portugal as chaplain-general to the English forces. Psalmanazar got mixed with bad business ventures. Eventually either the pressure became too strong or he grew tired of the deception. In 1706 he confessed, first to friends and then in public.
Psalmanazar spent the rest of life as a writer and editor of books. He counted Dr. Samuel Johnson as his friend. For a time he worked as a clerk in an army regiment until some clergymen gave him money to study theology. He learnt Hebrew, co-authored A General History of Printing (1732), and contributed a number of articles to the Universal History. He even contributed to the book Geography of the World and wrote about the real conditions in Formosa, pointedly criticising the hoax he had earlier perpetrated. He also apparently became increasingly religious. Samuel Johnson circa 1772, painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds. ...
Hebrew redirects here. ...
He also wrote a book titled Memoirs of ****, Commonly Known by the Name of George Psalmanazar; a Reputed Native of Formosa. It was published posthumously. These memoirs omit his real birth name, which is still unknown.
According to this autobiography, he was born in France in 1679 and was educated in the Jesuit school. His job as tutor ended when he refused the advances of the lady of the house and he became a pilgrim. At first he pretended to be an Irish pilgrim on his way to Rome but there were too many who actually knew something about Ireland. Then he switched to being first a Japanese convert and then a heathen to sound even more exciting. He walked hungry around Europe as a beggar and sometimes even a soldier. He had taken the role of a Formosan at the urging of Innes when the priest had realized he was a fraud but wanted to join his imposture. For albums named Pilgrim, see Pilgrim (album). ...
Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ...
See also
An artificial or constructed language (known colloquially as a conlang among aficionados), is a language whose phonology, grammar and vocabulary are specifically devised by an individual or small group, rather than having naturally evolved as part of a culture the way natural languages do. ...
External links | 
Feeds |
Contact