Born in Lisbon, Portugal. In his youth he is said to have worked in the royal secretariat.
He joined the Society of Jesus and sailed to Goa in India, where he reportedly met Francis Xavier before his voyage to Japan, and the Japanese Anjirō.
Now a priest, he landed at Yokoseura in Hizen (Nagasaki), learned Japanese and began missionary work in Kyushu.
He entered Kyoto to preach but was temporarily driven out by the fighting there.
He met Oda Nobunaga at the building site of Nijō castle and was allowed to preach in Kyoto. He met Nobunaga many more times and left detailed descriptions of his character and manner.
On Jesuit orders he began writing his History of Japan, a record of the mission—now an invaluable source on Sengoku Japan.
He compiled a treatise comparing Japanese and European customs, covering everyday differences in food, dress and more.
Toyotomi Hideyoshi issued the edict expelling missionaries, who carried on quietly in Kyushu and elsewhere; Fróis recorded this too.
After accompanying an embassy linked to the return of the Tenshō envoys, he went to Macau.
Back in Nagasaki, he recorded the execution of twenty-six Christians (the Twenty-Six Martyrs), and died in Nagasaki soon afterwards.
Francis XavierOda NobunagaToyotomi Hideyoshi
Ryuzoji TakanobuUesugi KenshinŌtomo SōrinKikkawa MotoharuKobayakawa TakakageAsakura YoshikageShimazu YoshihisaŌmura Sumitada
People of the Sengoku/Azuchi-Momoyama period ・ People by period
Based on facts found in textbooks and biographies. Uncertain points are marked as such.