The Embassy of Sir Thomas Roe to the Court of the Great Mogul 23.2.4

23.2.4

archives of the Society, in which it is stated that Corsi was a Florentine, born in 1575; that he entered the Order in the year 1593, and six years later was sent from Portugal to India, where he lived ordinarily in the household of the Great Mogul; that he bore a high character, and had a talent for mission work; and that he died at his post on August 1st, 1635. References to him occur also in Father Cordara's history of the Order (Pt. VI, tom. i, p. 59), and in the similar work by Father Jouvancy (Pt. v, tom. ii, lib. xviii, p. 468). His tomb is still to be seen in the chapel of the Roman Catholic cemetery at Agra. The relations between Roe and Corsi were very amicable; and Terry's account of him, though tinged with professional jealousy, is favourable on the whole. It runs as follows (p. 444):— "Francisco Corsi .... a Florentine by birth, aged about fifty years, who (if he were indeed what he seemed to be) was a man of a severe life, yet of a fair and an affable disposition; he lived at that Court as an Agent for the Portuguese, and had not only free access unto that King, but also encouragement and help, by gifts, which he sometimes bestowed on him."