Matteo Ricci
Italian Jesuit who entered China through Macau, worked in Beijing, translated Euclid with Xu Guangqi and drew a great world map for Chinese readers.
| Lived | 1552 – 1610 |
| Known as | Jesuit missionary |
| Birthplace or main place | Macerata |
| Places on the map | Macau, Beijing |
MacerataSee the world of Matteo Ricci in the interactive map
Who ruled these places in his lifetime
| Place | At birth (map of 1500) | At death (map of 1600) |
|---|---|---|
| Macerata | Papal States | same |
| Macau | Ming Chinese Empire | same |
| Beijing | Ming Chinese Empire | same |
From the border maps nearest to each date; borders are approximate.
Events in his lifetime
| Year | Event | Where |
|---|---|---|
| 1557 | The Portuguese are allowed to settle at Macau | Macau |
| 1582 | Matteo Ricci arrives in Macau | Macau |
Battles and sites of the time
- Battle of Lepanto · 1571
- Battle of Gravelines · 1588
Further reading
Contemporaries
| Lived | Person | |
|---|---|---|
| 1543 – 1616 | Tokugawa Ieyasu | First Tokugawa shogun |
| 1547 – 1616 | Miguel de Cervantes | Writer |
| 1542 – 1605 | Akbar | Mughal emperor |
| 1533 – 1603 | Elizabeth I | Queen of England |
| 1527 – 1598 | Philip II | King of Spain |
| 1537 – 1598 | Toyotomi Hideyoshi | Unifier of Japan |
| 1545 – 1598 | Yi Sun-sin | Korean admiral |
| 1564 – 1616 | William Shakespeare | Playwright and poet |
| 1564 – 1642 | Galileo Galilei | Scientist |
| 1571 – 1629 | Shah Abbas I | Safavid shah |
Last updated 9 November 2026. Sources: border data from historical-basemaps, land and rivers from Natural Earth; texts written for Chronica Maps from standard reference works. How we make the maps.