Antoniotto Usodimare

Antoniotto Usodimare (* 1415 in Genoa ; † approx. 1461 or according to other information * 1425 ; † 1494 ) was an Italian navigator who explored the Gambia River with Alvise Cadamosto in the service of Portugal .

biography

Course of the Gambia developed by Usodimare and Cadamosto

As a merchant and member of an old Genoese patrician family, Antoniotto Usodimare left his hometown, probably for financial reasons, and came to Lisbon via Seville , where his work is documented from 1453. In some sources he is identified as Antonio da Noli , who, like him, came from Liguria and placed himself in the service of the Infante Henry the Navigator . However, this equation is controversial in specialist circles; the plurality of sources is assumed that there are two different navigators: Usodimare has therefore 1455-1456 together with the Venetian Alvise Cadamosto at two expeditions on the west coast of Africa and along the Gambia the Eastern Cape Verde and Bissagos Islands discovered , while Antonio da Noli was then assigned to the systematic development of the Cape Verde Islands 1458-1462.

The Bissagos Archipelago off the coast of Guinea (satellite image)

The most important source to prove Usodimare's person and name is the travel report Cadamostos published by Fracanzano da Montalboddo in 1507 , in which the Venetian navigator confirms that he met Usodimare on his voyage to the south and made two exploratory trips with him along the Gambia. In the background of these targeted expeditions was Portugal's interest in tapping new gold sources in this region , extracting additional raw materials such as ivory and useful plants, expanding the slave trade and establishing Christian bases to suppress Islam, which dominates all of West Africa . During the first exploration along the Gambia, Cadamosto and Usodimare lost a large part of their crews in 1455, mainly due to the resistance of the locals. In 1456 they set off on a second, more successful expedition on behalf of Heinrich the Navigator. On the way to the Gambia, a storm hit two of the eastern Cape Verde Islands ( Boa Vista and Santiago ), where, after a short exploration, they stocked up on provisions thanks to an abundance of fish and birds and then sailed on to their actual destination. They managed to drive the Gambia 97 kilometers (60 miles) up the river and to make a profitable contact with Batti Mansa , the friendly king of Baddibu . A letter from Usodimare to his clients on December 12, 1455 confirms the acquisition of gold dust, ivory, slaves, parrots and musk . The difficult climatic conditions and the renewed loss of numerous sailors due to illness finally forced Cadamosto and Usodimare to leave after two weeks.

Before returning to Portugal, they sailed south along the coast from Guinea-Bissau to a little south of Cape Mesurados (in today's Liberia ). They discovered the Bissagos Islands and the mouths of some rivers ( Rio Santa Anna , Rio San Domingo , Rio Geba and Rio Grande ).

In memory of Usodimare, the Italian Navy christened a destroyer with the name Antoniotto Usodimare during World War II . This was sunk by mistake on June 8, 1942 by the Italian submarine Alagi .

See also

• History of the Gambia
• Portuguese colonial history
• Alvise Cadamosto
• Antonio da Noli

literature

• Norbert Ankenbauer: "that i wanted to experience meer newer dyng". The language of the new in the Paesi novamente retrovati (Vicenza, 1507) and in its German translation (Nuremberg, 1508). Frank & Timme, Berlin 2010.
• Giuseppe Bucciante (Ed.): I Navigatori . Dedalo, Rome 1965.
• Rinaldo Caddeo (ed.): Le navigazioni atlantiche di Alvise da Cà da Mosto, Antoniotto Usodimare e Niccoloso da Recco . 2nd Edition. Alpes, Milan 1929.
• Alvise Da Mosto: Navegações de Luis de Cadamosto. Texto em italiano e tradução portuguesa do Dr. Giuseppe Carlo Rossi. Instituto para a Alta Cultura, Lisbon 1944.
• Sílvio Marcus de Souza Correa: A imagem do negro no relato de viagem de Alvise Cadamosto (PDF; 103 kB). In: Politeia: Hist. e Soc. Vitória da conquista . Volume 2, No. 1, 2002, pp. 99-129.
• António Henrique de Oliveira Marques : History of Portugal and the Portuguese Empire (= Kröner's pocket edition . Volume 385). Translated from the Portuguese by Michael von Killisch-Horn. Kröner, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-520-38501-5 .
• Emanuele Diotto (1983): Antonio da Noli e la scoperta delle isole del Capo Verde . In: La casana , No. 4, April-June 1983, pp. 10-15.
• Bailey W. Diffie, George D. Winius: Explorations to Guinea and the Cape Verde Islands . In: dies .: The Foundations of the Portuguese Empire 1415–1580 . Minneapolis 1977.
• Fracanzano da Montalboddo : Itinerarium Portugallensium e Lusitania in Indiam et Inde in Occidentem et Demum ad Aquilonem . Milan 1508 (new edition: The Voyages of Cadamosto . Hakluyt Society Bull., London 1937).
• Prospero Peragallo: Cenni intorno alla colonia italiana in Portogallo nei secoli XIV, XV e XVI . Stabilimento tip. Ved. Papini e Figli, Genoa 1907.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ cf. u. a. Noli
2. ↑ cf. Il globo di Behaim: Usodimare, Antoniotto o Antoniotto da Noli ( Memento of the original from November 17, 2004 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
3. ↑ cf. Antonio da Noli and sources that equate him with Antoniotto Usodimare: Sito Ufficiale della Provincia di Savona - Comuni and Noli Vacanze, Noli Hotel, Noli Residence, Noli Agenzie Immobiliari, Noli Agenzia Immobiliare, Noli Case, Noli Appartamenti, Noli Affitti, Noli Savona , Noli Promozioni Hotel, Noli Last Minute Hotel, Noli Annunci Immobiliari, Noli Immobili, Noli Locazioni, Noli Eventi, Noli Camping ( Memento of the original from November 23, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
4. ↑ cf. u. a. Emanuele Diotto: Antonio da Noli e la scoperta delle isole del Capo Verde . - arlindo-correia.org “Cadamosto escreve com certa prosápia, parecendo pura balela a afirmação de que ele eo parceiro que habenrou no mar, Antoniotto Usodimare, foram os primeiros a descobrir as ilhas do sotavento, em Cabo Verde. Sem trazer para aqui toda a discussão sobre o caso, acho mais credível que tenha sido o italiano Antonio Noli a descobri-las, juntamente com seu irmão Bartolomeo eo seu sobrinho Raffaele. " Www.millersville.edu ( Memento of the original from April 14th 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. “Henry 'the Navigator' employed Antoniotto Usodimare and Antonio da Noli to locate the Cape Verde islands”. cronologia.leonardo.it and Mario Rossetti in www.vittorelli.it: ( Memento of the original from January 10, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. "Nel 1456 troviamo altri capitani italiani, Antoniotto Usodimare e il veneziano Alvise di Ca 'da Mosto che, per conto del re di Portogallo, arrivano ed oltrepassano l'Arcipelago del Capo Verde, che sarà poi esplorato da Antonio da Noli nel 1458."  
5. ↑ cf. Fracanzano da Montalboddo (1507/1508). The relevant part of the travelogue can be found in the Italian original and in the Portuguese translation at arlindo-correia.org ; the English translation of another excerpt from the chronicle is available at www.bookrags.com .
6. ↑ cf. SM de Souza Correa (2002): ( Memento of the original from January 17, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF) pp. 103-104 
7. ^ ^{A b} Arnold Hughes and Harry A. Gailey: Historical dictionary of the Gambia Lanham, Md .: Scarecrow Press, 1999., ISBN 0-8108-3660-2
8. ↑ cf. www.trentoincina.it