Amerigo Vespucci: "New World Open

Amerigo Vespucci (1451-1512), navigator. By origin, Florentian. He was in the service of Spanish, and then Portuguese governments. During the swims, 1499-1504 visited the northern part of South America and called it with a new light. By the name of Amerigo Vespucci, the new continent received the name of America, although he was discovered by Columbus in 1492nd.

First he was a financier

His name has been many centuries on all world maps

Regarding whether the test is worthwhile that the new light is named in his honor, historians argue to this day.

The future navigator was the third son in the family of the state notary of the Republic of Florence Anastasio (Nastadzhio) Vespucci. On March 9, 1454, he was born - in this matter, the old good encyclopedic dictionary, it seems to be mistaken. Amerigo received excellent education and education from his scientist Uncle Georgio Antonio Vespucci, the Dominican monk of St. Mark's Cathedral, who taught his Latin, and showed great successes in physics, nautical astronomy and geography. All this allowed Amerigo Vespucci in 1470 to enroll in the University of Pisa.

The elder brother Amerigo - Antonio - became scientists at the University of Pisa. Middle - Jeronimo - became a trader in Syria. Amerigo also went on the trading and financial line. After graduating from the university, he moved to Paris and entered the office of his uncle Gwido, where until 1480 he worked as a secretary. Then, who perfectly owns perfect at the time, Luke Pacheti system, Florence returned to Florence and entered the service in the Banker House Medici. In 1490, he went to Spanish Seville, where he entered the service in the rich trading house of Florentine Danoto Berardy. Since this house supplied Christopher Columbus with money for his second trip 1493, it can be assumed that Amerigo Vespucci knew the Spanish admiral at least from that time. In 1497-1498, Vespucci collaborated with Columbus in the preparation of his third expedition. Shortly before the death of Columbus recommended him to his son as an honest and reliable person.

Vespucci swimming

Monument to the great navigator in Florence

A specialist in the historical geography of J. Baker writes about Vespucci: "Some consider it an outstanding researcher, others - a solid meat trade in the profession and insignificance in all other respects. According to Vespucci himself, he made four travels - in 1497, 1499, 1501 and 1503. The newest and generally more reasonable analysis of this issue leads to the conclusion that the first and fourth travel was fictional. The result of this imaginary first ... The journey was as if the opening of the Mexican coast near Campeche's bay, as well as the eastern coast of North America. "

The Russian writer Rudolf Konstantinovich Balandin convinced that the insignificance in all, except for trade, Vespucci was not at all. He was considered an experienced feed and cartographer, knew navigation; In recent years of life, after the secondary move to Spain, he was the position of the main pilot of Castile - he checked the knowledge of ship Kormchih, controlled the compilation of cards, was the secret reports to the government on new geographical discoveries. At the same time, the question was whether amerigo visited the "southern continent", as at first called South America, in 1497, before Columbus, remains open. After all, this fact is not confirmed by any documents. But at the same time, Vespucci did not apply to the laurels of the discoverer and did not try to approve his priority.

It is quite reliably to say that in 1499, Amerigo Vespucci made a swim under the leadership of Admiral Alonso de Obia. In May, the expedition in which Vespucci held the position of skipper, sailed from El Puerto de Santa Maria and headed for the shores of Suriname. The route was noted on the map received from Columbus. The purpose of the expedition was a detailed survey of the coastline. Then Vespucci first stepped on the land of America. In the campaigns of 1501 and 1503, already at the Portuguese service, Amerigo Vespucci occupied, rather, the position of cardograph and navigator, although he commanded one of the small ships. As part of his second real expedition, which was led by Admiral Gonzalo Coelho, Vespucci rose to Brazilian Highlands and passed into the continent of 250 miles. It was this raid that the Italian was convinced that a new mainland was opened. In the same expedition, Vespucci gave the name of the Rio de Janeiro Bay, which was opened on January 1, 1502.

New look like opening

The first meeting with the residents of the mainland

In the times of Vespucci in Europe, there was a glorification of reports of new lands and nations. People well understood the greatness of the negative acts, their great importance for the future. In the printing houses promptly printed messages about travel west. Already six months after the return of Christopher Columbus, from his first expedition to the shores of America, the monk Pietro Angiera called him the "New World opener". Two years later, in the next work, he repeated the expression "New Light". However, while it was only a brilliant foresight. Scientific arguments in evidence that a new part of the world is open was destined to give American Vespucci.

The first such publication in 1503 appeared in Italy and France. It was a small brochure called Mundus Novus ("New Light"). In the preface it was said that she was translated from Italian to Latin, "so that everyone formed people knew how many wonderful discoveries were committed these days, how many unknown worlds were discovered and what they were rich." The book has enjoyed great success. She was written was vividly interesting, truthfully. In her, in the form of letters Alberico Veszzzisio reported on swimming in the summer of 1501 on behalf of the Portuguese king through the stormy Atlantic to the shores of the unknown land. She was not called Asia with all conviction, but new light.

Later a collection appeared, including the stories of different authors about the swimming of Columbus, Vasco da Gama and some other travelers. The compiler of the collection came up with an infidel name, intriguing readers: "New light and new countries, open Alberico Veszzzizio from Florence." Thousands of readers of the book could decide that the new light, and new countries are open to America (Alberico), although it did not follow this from the text. But the title is remembered better than any paragraphs or heads of the book. In addition, the descriptions belonging to Peru Amerigo were taken alive and convincingly, which undoubtedly strengthened his authority as a discoverer.

The navigator wrote that the areas opened by him on behalf of the Portuguese king could be called with confidence with the new light - and justified his opinion: "None of our ancestors had the slightest idea of \u200b\u200bthe countries we saw, and that they are in them ; Our knowledge has surpassed the knowledge of the ancestors. Most of them believed that the south of the equator is not the mainland, but only the boundless ocean, which they called the Atlantic; And even those who considered it possible to have the mainland here, for various reasons the opinions adhered to that he could not be inhabit. Now my swimming has proven that such a look is incorrect and sharply contradicts reality, for the south of the equator I discovered the mainland, where some valleys are much thickened by people and animals than in our Europe, Asia and Africa; In addition, there is a more pleasant and mild climate than in other familiar parts of the world. "

According to the Austrian writer Stephen Tsweig: "These stingy, but the full confidence of the line make a mundus novus with a memorable document of mankind ... Columbus before his death hour was blindly confident that, landing on the islands of Guanahani and Cuba, stepped by the land of India, and this With a delusion, he essentially narrowed for his contemporaries universe; And only Veszpucci, refuting the assumption that the new mainland is India, and confidently claims that this is a new world, gives other, valid and dynamic scales of the universe. "

Larring Cartogrant Martin Waldzemueller in his book published in 1507, first proposed to name the new continent of America (Amerigo) in honor of Vespucci. Published in Germany called "On the Antarctic Belt" "New Light ..." Vespucci was equipped with a new mainland card while still with very fantastic contours and the inscription "America". A sonorous new word began to be eagerly applied to other cards. The spontaneously extended an opinion on the America as a recorder of the new light, and among experts, the image of the proceeding began to spread his name to the whole continent. But he was unlikely to be so. Up to his death, followed by February 22, 1512 in Seville, Veszpucci never claimed to the Lavra Columbus, whose sons were also presented any claims to him.