Alvise Cadamosto

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Alvise Cadamosto (* ≤ 1432 in Venice ; † July 16, 1483 ), also called Ca 'da Mosto or Da Mosto , was a Venetian long-distance trader and explorer in the service of the Portuguese Infante Henry the Navigator from 1454 to 1463/64 . He left a report on his two sea voyages to Cape Verde , Senegal and Geba . After his return to Venice he rose to the command of a merchant fleet.

Origin, training as a long-distance trader, trips to the Mediterranean and Flanders

Cadamosto was born the son of the aristocratic long-distance merchant Giovanni Da Mosto and entered his father's business. As a merchant and navigator, Cadamosto traveled the Mediterranean and the Atlantic from Alexandria to Flanders . So he took part, as it was common in the course of the usual business training, 1442 to 1448 in companies of Andrea Barbarigo , in the context of which he drove with his cousin Andrea da Mosto on the Barberia galleys to Tunis in 1445 and to Crete in 1446 . In 1451 he appeared as a crossbowman on the Alexandria galleys, in 1452/53 on the way to Flanders. The former ship convoy was led by Alvise Contarini , the latter by Stefano Trevisan . From August 8, 1454, under the command of Marco Zen, he again traveled west with the Flanders galleys, his brother Antonio was also on board. With these trips he gained experience in the ship convoys ( mudue ) typical of Venice , with which the goods, protected by large and well-manned ships, safely reached and from Alexandria, Constantinople , Tunis and Flanders.

The fleet had to interrupt its voyage on its journey to Flanders on the Portuguese coast near Cape São Vicente due to a strong storm. Two envoys from Heinrich the Navigator made Alvise Cadamosto, an experienced navigator and businessman, an offer to enter the service of Heinrich. Cadamosto decided to accept the offer to leave the fleet and stay in Portugal.

First expedition in Portuguese service with Antoniotto Usodimare (1455)

With a caravel of 45 tons he left on March 22, 1455 on his first voyage in the service of the Portuguese. Via Madeira (March 27), the Canary Islands, where he entered Gomera and Hierro , and Cabo Branco , he reached the mouth of the Senegal River. At Cabo Branco he met Wolof , whom he called zilofi . He went ashore south of Senegal and stayed in the land of Budomel . Still on a southern course, he met two Portuguese caravels, which were commanded by the Genoese Antoniotto Usodimare , who was also in the service of Henry, and a Portuguese nobleman. The Italians decided to join forces and rounded the Cap Vert . There they met the two Serer realms of Soloum and Sine, in Cadamosto's words the sereri and barbarzini . But the attempt to establish contact failed, and an interpreter was killed on the beach. When the fleet tried to go up Senegal, it was attacked from boats. The attack was repulsed, but the sailors refused to continue the river trip. Therefore, the ships returned to Portugal.

Second voyage of discovery with Antoniotto Usodimare (1456)

The following year Heinrich commissioned Cadamosto and Usodimare to continue exploring the Gambia, for which he made three ships available to them. At the beginning of March 1456 the fleet left the port of Lagos . She passed the Canaries again. On a south-westerly course, the ships got caught in a storm, a coincidence that after three days led to the discovery of several of the Cape Verde islands , namely the two eastern Boa Vista (Cape Verde) and Maio as well as the main island of Santiago . After a short stay on land on Boa Vista and Santiago at the end of April / beginning of May, the fleet continued its voyage to the Gambia River, which this time the fleet traveled approx. 100 km upwards; he succeeded in establishing trade relations with the residents. They buried a sailor on Dog Island. Back on the Atlantic, after having circumnavigated Cap Roxo , he advanced to the Gêba Delta. The Italians were warmly received by the ruler Batimansa ( Batimaussa ). After they had traded there, they sailed further south to Cap Roxo and as far as the Geba Delta in what is now Guinea-Bissau . Since an understanding with the locals and thus a further exploration of the area was no longer possible, the Italians broke off the trip and returned to Portugal.

Return to Venice (1463 or 1464), marriage, promotion to naval commander

After his return Cadamosto spent another seven years in Portugal, which he left on February 1, 1463 (which possibly corresponded to more veneto the year 1464). On that day he returned to Venice, took part in the city's political life and ran his family's business. In 1466 he married Elisabetta Venier, but the marriage remained childless. In 1481 he commanded the Alexandria galleys. This was his last voyage.

Travel report

Cadamosto was the only one of the sailors sailing in the service of Henry the Navigator who wrote down reports of his voyages. However, this may not have happened until after his return to Venice. This is supported by the fact that one map series from 1460 does not mention Cape Verde, while they appear in another map series from 1466. These reports from 1464 and 1465 also contain the first European description of the known constellation of the southern latitudes, the Southern Cross . In it he described his observations on the geography, flora and fauna, the culture and population as well as on trade goods and soil products of the areas he explored, but also reported on a trip to the West African coast made by Pedro de Sintra . He reported on distances, natural products and trading strategies, but also on social and political practices.

His reports were first published in 1507 by Fracanzano da Montalboddo , possibly with the collaboration of Alessandro Zorzi, in the anthology Paesi novamente retrovati (Vicenza).

Alvise Cadamosto's maps and manuscript have not survived; there are two copies in the Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana in Venice. The older of the two copies is likely from the second half of the 15th century, the other from around 1520 (It., Cl. VI, 454 or Coll. 10701 and It., Cl. VI, 208 or Coll. 5881).

In 1508 the printer Georg Stuchs in Nuremberg published both an Early New High German and a Middle Low German translation of this postal incunable . Translator of the Middle Low German edition under the title Nye vnbekande lande Unde eine nye Werldt found in korter prior tyd was Henning van Ghetelen .

literature

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ He himself states that he was about 22 years old in 1454, in any case he was at least 18 years old in December 1450 (Ankenbauer, p. 80).
  2. ↑ Ankenbauer, p. 80 f.
  3. ↑ Ankenbauer, p. 84.
  4. ↑ Ankenbauer, p. 86.
  5. ↑ Ankenbauer, p. 81 f.
  6. ↑ The question of editing is unresolved, as Ankenbauer notes (p. 52), who, however, prefers Fracanzano da Montalboddo.
personal data
SURNAME Cadamosto, Alvise
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Cá da Mosto; Da Mosto; Luigi; Luys Aloise
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian navigator and explorer
DATE OF BIRTH around 1432
PLACE OF BIRTH Venice
DATE OF DEATH July 16, 1483
Place of death Venice