We all know that the discoverer of Americais Christopher Columbus, but then why was she named Amerigo Vespucci? A brief biography of this famous explorer and explorer will help us clarify the essence of the matter. And although Columbus was the first to visit the American continent, Vespucci was the one who told the whole world that the newly discovered lands were the mainland.
Amerigo Vespucci is the birthplace of Florence, whereHe was born on March 9, 1454. His father, who worked as a notary, took care of his son to receive a proper education. Little Amerigo studied at home and basically comprehended the humanities. He also studied Latin, geography and nautical astronomy under the guidance of his uncle. In his youth he entered the University of Pisa, and from 1478 began to work. Amerigo Vespucci, whose brief biography is by no means composed solely of voyages and discoveries, at first served as secretary of his other uncle, who served as ambassador of Florence in Paris. Later, the famous navigator worked for a long time in the financial sector.
In 1490He moves to Spain and continues to work. Here he is engaged in the preparation of sea expeditions, at the same time studying everything that concerns ships, and also masters navigation. In 1492 he transferred to the naval service directly in Spain. Over the next few years, continues to prepare for sea voyages, but this time equips expeditions of Christopher Columbus himself, with whom, by the way, they were friends.
In 1499Amerigo Vespucci himself joins the expedition of navigator Alonso Ojeda to the South Atlantic. What he discovered during this journey, read on. Vespucci personally finances the equipment of two ships, which he will later command, and set sail as a navigator. In the summer of the same year, the expedition, consisting of three ships, approached the northern coast of South America, after which Amerigo Vespucci sent its ships to the south-east direction. July 2, he was able to detect the delta of the Amazon. The researcher penetrated 100 km inland, using boats, and then returned and continued to sail to the southeast.
Then Amerigo Vespucci investigated about 1200km of the northern coast of the continent, after which he sent his vessels in the opposite direction and by August, Alons Ojeda's ship reached the approximately 66th west longitude meridian. Together, mariners continued to follow in a westerly direction and plotted more than 1,500 km of the coast of South America. They also discovered several peninsulas, islands, bays and lagoons. In the fall, Vespucci and Ojeda split again, after which the first continued to explore the coast of the mainland, sailing 300 km to the south-west. He returned to Europe in June 1500.
In 1501The navigator Amerigo Vespucci was invited by the King of Portugal to serve as an astronomer, navigator, and historian. In the same year, another expedition was organized, led by Goncalo Coelho. Three ships left Europe in mid-August and headed for the east coast of South America.
Then the mariners continued southward,repeating the route of the Spaniard Bortolomé Roldan, who sailed here in 1500. On January 1, 1502, they opened the bay of Rio de Janeiro (now Guanabara) and, intending to find out its length, sailed 2000 km along the coast, but could not find its edge . It was decided to turn the ship back, besides, one of the three ships of the expedition became unusable, as a result of which the travelers burned it. The first ship arrived in Portugal in June of the same year, and Vespucci and Coelho, who were on the second ship, returned only in September.
About a year later Portugal was organizedA new expedition, in which Amerigo Vespucci also took part. A brief biography of the navigator must contain a description of this trip. Gon экспala Coelho was again appointed as the leader of the expedition, but this time six ships were loaded. In August 1503, the sailors discovered Ascension Island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, near which one ship subsequently sank, and three disappeared altogether in an unknown direction. The remaining ships went to South America and stopped at the Bay of All Saints, where, on the orders of Vespucci, a group of researchers landed on the shore, penetrating 250 km into the interior of the continent.
Здесь путешественники задержались на целых пять months. In this place they built a fleet, after which, leaving 24 sailors on the mainland, the expedition headed in the opposite direction. Also on the ship was a batch of logs of valuable sandalwood, found on the newly discovered lands. In June 1504, the navigators returned to Spain. On this journey Amerigo Vespucci ended.
Знаменитый путешественник исследовал достаточно the length of the coast of South America, to suggest that this land is exactly the continent. In a sense, it was Amerigo Vespucci who discovered America. In a letter he sent to Florence in 1503, he outlined a detailed description of the lands he had discovered, suggesting that they most likely had nothing to do with the Asian continent, as they were heading quite far south. At the same time, he reports that these territories are inhabited, and also proposes to designate the newly opened continent with the New World.
In 1507cartographer Martin Waldzemüller was asked to name the newly discovered mainland America - the name of the famous explorer Amerigo Vespucci. From that moment on, this name appears on all maps and atlases. Although the navigator visited only South America, North is also named after Amerigo Vespucci. What did he really discover? You can learn more about this from his letters and diaries; it remains only to add that he himself was not inclined to talk much about his role in the discovery of the continent and in no way contributed to naming him after himself.
In 1505Vespucci re-enters the service of the King of Spain, and not without the help of Christopher Columbus. He took the citizenship of Castile and in 1508 he was appointed chief helmsman of the kingdom. He occupies this position over the next few years, taking part in equipping new expeditions and wishing to set sail. But Amerigo Vespucci could not carry out his plans. The brief biography of this man ends on February 22, 1512 — that day he died in Seville, where he lived during the last years.
