Part 1 (1/2)

The Letters of Ao Vespucci and Bartolome de las Casas and Christopher Colued voyage of Ao Vespucci in 1497-98 ritten for that worthy's own countryners who lived at a distance from the Peninsula When, after some years, the story reached Spain in print, men were still alive ould have knohether any such voyage had ever beenthem was the able and impartial historian Las Casas, who considered that the story was false, and disproved it from internal evidence The authority of Las Casas is alone conclusive Modern investigators, such as Robertson, Munoz, Navarrete, Hu, and D'Avezac examined the question, and they all came to the same conclusion as Las Casas

The matter appeared to be finally settled until 1865 In that year M

F de Varnhagen, Baron of Porto Seguro in Brazil, published a book at Lima,[1] where he was accredited as Brazilian Minister, with the object of rehabilitating the Florentine's character for honesty, by arguing that the story of the alleged voyage in 1497-98 orthy of credit This makes it desirable that the whole question should once en at least deserves the thanks of all students of the history of A published, in an accessible form, both the Latin and the Italian texts of the letters of Vespucci

It has been decided by the Council of the Hakluyt Society to supply a volu translations of the letters of Vespucci, of the chapters in which they are discussed in the history of Las Casas, and other original docu to the subject Readers will thus be enabled to forments on this vexed question; while the Introduction will furnish them with the events of the life of Vespucci, and with a review of the arguen's theory, as well as of those which ainst it

A Life of Vespucci was published by an enthusiastic fellow-countryman named Bandini, in 1745,[2] who collected all there is to be known respecting his family and early life at Florence, and reprinted his authentic letters Canovai was another biographer, and a still waryrist[3]

There are three spurious letters attributed to Vespucci, but they are now so universally held to be forgeries, that they need not occupy our tio was the third son of a notary at Florence, naio (Anastasio) Vespucci, by Lisabetta Mini, and that he was born on March 9th, 1451[5] He was thus four years younger than Coluio Antonio Vespucci, a Doht hio to his father, in Latin, has been preserved, dated on October 18th, 1476, at Mugello, near Trebbio, whither he had been sent in consequence of an epide at Florence In the same year the elder brother, Antonio, was sent to the University of Pisa He was a scholar and an author His eldest son, Bartoloy at Pisa, and left a son His second son, Giovanni, eventually joined his uncle Ao in Spain, and became a pilot The other brother, Geronimo, went as a merchant to Syria, where he lost all he had made after nine years of labour This is stated in a letter to Aht to Italy by a priest nao Vespucci embraced a mercantile life at Florence,[6] and was eventually taken into the great commercial house of the Medici, the head of which was Lorenzo Piero Francesco di Medici, who succeeded his father, Lorenzo the Magnificent, in 1492 The house had transactions in Spain, and required experienced agents at Cadiz Ae, and Donato Niccolini were selected for this duty, and took up their residence at Cadiz and Seville in 1492 In December 1495, an Italian merchant, named Juanoto Berardi, died at Seville, and Vespucci was employed to wind up his affairs This Berardi had contracted, on April 9th, 1495, to supply the Government with twelve vessels of 900 tons each for the Indies[7] He handed over the first four in the same April, four more in June, and the rest in September, but unluckily the four last recked before delivery[8] On the 10th of April 1495, the Spanish Government broke faith with Coluation was allowed to the Indies, on condition that the shi+ps sailed froeards the State Goes that e of this concession It is likely enough that sorossly improbable that any discoveries of importance were ainst the infraction of his rights, and the order of April 10th, 1495, was cancelled on June 2nd, 1497

During this period Vespucci was engaged at Cadiz as a provision contractor A record is preserved of his having received 10,000 maravedis from Treasurer Pinelo on January 12th, 1496, for payes; and we learn from Munoz that other entries[9] prove that Vespucci continued his business of provision merchant at least until May 1498 He contracted for one, if not for two, of the expeditions of Columbus A very civil and plausible man was this beef contractor, and the Ad very respectable (_hombre muy de bien_)

In 1499, the very respectable contractor, as approaching the age of fifty, detero to sea His own reasons for this coe were that he had already seen and known various changes of fortune in business; that a ht at one time be at the top of the well and at another be fallen and subject to losses; and that it had become evident to him that a merchant's life was one of continual labour, with the chance of failure and ruin It was rather late in life to make these discoveries, and it may fairly be suspected that there was soe of life which he concealed under these generalities

The expedition in which Vespucci sailed was organised and fitted out by Alonzo de Hojeda in 1499 Colu discovered the island of Trinidad and the mainland of South Ao in the end of August In October he sent five shi+ps to Spain with the news of the discovery, a chart of the new coast-line and islands, and a report containing mention of the existence of pearls These precious documents fell into the hands of Bishop Fonseca, who showed theested that his _protege_ should equip an expedition to reap all the advantages to be derived froranted hi loth, but he was in want of funds, and only succeeded in fitting out four vessels by pro shares of the expected profits to persons in Seville and Cadiz ould advance money Vespucci seee Las Casas supposes that he was taken on board as a merchant who had contributed to the expenses, and also possibly on account of his theoretical knowledge of cosraphy, of which he doubtless made the most

As there is no doubt that Vespucci wrote the faather so his classical knowledge, though it was a ht that Pliny was the contemporary of Mecaenas,[10] and that the sculptor Policletus was a painter[11] On the other hand he quotes Petrarch, and gives a correct reference to a passage in Dante's _Inferno_[12] He was inaccurate in his narratives and regardless of the truth, as was ably shown by Las Casas,[13] while he habitually assued to his superiors; and pretended to knowledge and influence which he could never have possessed[14] Though externally civil and obliging, he harboured jealousy and hatred in his heart,[15]

and was disloyal towards the men under whom he served[16] Of his natural ability there can be no doubt He wrote well, and some of his stories are capitally told[17] He must have been a plausible talker, so that, by such men as Fonseca and Peter Martyr, the theoretical pretender was taken at the value he put upon hiator[18]

He was certainly not a practical navigator, much less a pilot, as the term was understood in those days Hojeda, in his evidence, said that he took with hio Vespuche, and other pilots” In this sentence the ”other pilots” must be intended to be coupled with Juan de la Cosa, not with ”Morigo Vespuche” A o to sea for the first ti would be absurd now, but it would be much raduated and adjusted instruments, the facilities for calculations, and the appliances of all kinds hich the ator is supplied, the business of the sea may be learnt more quickly than in fored ator because he had read a book on astronoes In the fifteenth century the instruhest kind, and much more depended on the skill and intuitive instincts of the seaman hi training and many years of experience Vespucci has the assurance to talk of his astrolabe and quadrant and sea chart, and to write disparagingly of the trained pilots of whos make it clear to any seaman that the Florentine contractor wasof Sacrobosco or some other work _De Sphaera_, which enabled hi of cli diameters of fixed stars Hojeda certainly did not shi+p a pilot when he took Ao Vespucci on board, but a very clever and very plausible landsman with a keen eye to his own interests

Alonzo de Hojeda left Cadiz, with four vessels, on May 20th, 1499

Endeavouring to steer by the chart of Columbus, he made a landfall at some distance to the south of Paria, off theto the northward, he cao, and visited the island of Margarita He then proceeded along the coast of the continent, visited Curacoa, which he called the ”Isla de los Gigantes”, and cae built on piles, which was named Venezuela, or Little Venice His most western point was the province of Cuquibacoa and the Cabo de la Vela His discovery consisted of 200 leagues of coast to the west of Paria Along this coast Hojeda obtained gold and pearls He had an encounter with the natives, in which one Spaniard was killed and about twenty wounded, the place being named ”Puerto Flechado” He refitted in a harbour where the people were friendly, and which Ao considered to be the best harbour in the world Las Casas believed this to have been Cariaco, near cu the coast Hojeda proceeded to Espanola, where he behaved in the outrageoustwo months and seventeen days, fro so off 200 natives as slaves Hojeda returned to Cadiz in February 1500 In the same year Juan de la Cosa, the pilot of the expedition, compiled his famous map of the world, on which he delineated this new coast-line from Paria to Cabo de la Vela, the extreme point of continental land that was known up to that ti the Boca del Drago, Margarita, the ”Isla de los Gigantes”, the Lake of Venezuela (or Little Venice), and the Cabo de la Vela The map of Juan de la Cosa is important e come to the consideration of the statements in the letters of Vespucci

The Florentine, on his return froe, took up his residence at Seville Here, according to his own account, he received ahie was a countryman of his own, named Giuliano di Bartolomeo di Giocondo, and Vespucci would have us believe that the King attached iuese service The Visconde de Santarem has searched the archives in the Torre do Touese docu with the name of Vespucci This absence of all official allusion to him points to the conclusion that he never held any important position as pilot or couese expedition of discovery along the coast of Brazil, which sailed on March 10th, 1501, and returned on Septe March or April (1503) he addressed a letter to the head of the ed, Lorenzo Piero Francesco di Medici, giving his account of the voyage On May 10th, 1503, he sailed fro on June 28th, 1504

In the following Septe an account of his alleged four voyages The original Italian version was sent to a nificent Lord, who is supposed to have been Piero Soderini, Gonfaloniere of Florence in 1504; and a French translation was sent to Rene, Duke of Lorraine Soon afterwards Vespucci left the Portuguese service and returned to Spain

In February 1505, the Admiral, Christopher Columbus, was laid up with an illness at Seville, while his brother and his son Diego were at court Vespucci, having returned to Spain froreat discoverer, and the Admiral entrusted him with a letter to his son ”The bearer of this letter”, wrote Coluation He always showed a desire to please me, and he is a very respectable man Fortune has been adverse to him, as to many others His labours have not been so profitable to hiht have been expected He leaves me with the desire to do me service, if it should be in his power” Vespucci had evidently been couese service had been a failure, and had brought him no profit He went on to the court of Ferdinand, and soon obtained e letters of naturalisation on the 24th of April 1505[23]; but there is no record of his ever having been of any service to the Adratiate himself with e of discovery with Vicente Yanez Pinzon, and in 1506 and 1507 he was engaged in purchasing provisions for the voyage; but the idea of despatching this expedition was abandoned in 1508[24]

It has been supposed, from a sentence in a letter froos on December 23rd, 1506, that Vespucci accoe of discovery to the Indies during that year[25] ”The two shi+ps have arrived froe of discovery under Juan Biscaino and Alo Fiorentino” But Vianelo must have been misinformed There are docuust 1506 It is highly probable that the voluble Florentine retailed the story of Juan de la Cosa's voyage in such a way as to give Vianelo the impression that the narrator took part in it hie, as we find it in the letter of the Venetian Ambassador, is quite in Vespucci's o Vespucci received the appointment of Chief Pilot (_Piloto Mayor_) of Spain, with a salary of 75,000 maravedis a year[26] The ”Real titulo”, or co document He is ordered to prepare an authoritative chart, called a ”Padron General”, on which all discoveries are to be shown, and whence the charts for all shi+ps are to be copied; and he is also to examine all pilots in the use of the astrolabe and quadrant, and to give instruction in his house at Seville Vespucci was able to give theoretical instruction in cosh a man who first went to sea when he was nearly fifty, and who had only es, could not be an experienced pilot With such experts as Juan de la Cosa, Juan Diaz de Solis, Vicente Pinzon, and others, available, it was indeed a strange selection But Ferdinand and Fonseca were notorious for their bad appointments Columbus was sent hoh places, for which they were more or less unfit, were entrusted to Ovando, Bobadilla, Pedrarias, and Vespucci

Vespucci held the appointment of Chief Pilot until the 22nd of February 1512, when he died at Seville, aged 61 He had married a Spaniard named Maria Cerezo, but left no children Hisreceived a pension of 10,000 maravedis,[27] to be paid out of the salary of her husband's successor,[28] Juan Diaz de Solis Vespucci left his papers to his nephew Giovanni, son of his brother Antonio, who received the appointment of a royal pilot, with a salary of 20,000 maravedis, on May 22nd, 1512[29]

He went as chief pilot in the expedition of Pedrarias Davila in 1514; and is mentioned as a royal pilot in 1515 and 1516 In 1524 he was a member of the Badajoz Commission, but was dismissed in March 1525

This is all that is known of the life of Ao Vespucci, beyond what is contained in his own letters, which ill now proceed to consider in detail

Of the two letters of Vespucci that have been preserved, the earliest ritten from Lisbon in March or April 1503, and was addressed to Lorenzo Piero Francesco di Medici The original Italian text is lost, but it was translated into Latin by ”Jocundus Interpreter”, who is supposed to have been the saht the invitation to Vespucci to coe of discovery sent froed that he took part He alludes to a previous letter in which he had fully described ”the new countries”, and continues: ”it is lawful to call it a neorld, because none of these countries were known to our ancestors, and to all who hear about them they will be entirely new” He does not mention the nalory of the discovery for himself ”_I_ have found a continent in that southern part more populous and more full of animals than our Europe or Asia or Africa”[31] Moreover, the safety of the shi+ps, their navigation across the ocean, their escape from perils, were all due to this wonderful beef contractor, if we are to believe his own account ”If raphy was known, no one, not the leader of our navigation, would have knohere ere after running five hundred leagues” He goes on to tell us that his ”knowledge of the ht by it, were more worth than all the pilots in the world”[32]