Caveri card

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Caveri map, 1505

The Caveri Map , also known as the Caverio or Canerio Map , was drawn by Nicolo de Caveri between 1503 and 1505, with 1505 being mostly assumed to be the year of completion. The different names are due to the lack of clarity regarding the exact name of the map maker. The notation Caveri is used in this article .

History of origin

Details of the origin of the map are not known. It is believed that it was drawn either in Lisbon - as another copy of Portuguese maps - or in Genoa - based on existing Italian maps such as the Cantino Planisphere . The latter is supported by the fact that Cantino's map had arrived in Italy from 1502. It may be good to see the Caveri card as evidence of the thesis of a knowledge transfer from Portuguese-Spanish know-how to the Italian commercial republics and further into the German-speaking area. The circumstances of the origin in the Iberian region and the interests in northern Italy speak for the first part of the thesis. In favor of the second part, the knowledge of the Portuguese-Spanish discoveries could not be obtained without further ado, which can be cited for an indirect transfer - i.e. detour - via Italy. The Caveri map then actually comes into consideration as an important source of Waldseemüller's map .

The representation of the southern part of the east coast of North America is remarkable. According to one opinion, striking similarities between the coastline shown and today's maps from Florida up to the Delaware River or Hudson River can be found, even if this seems impossible. This would mean that the dating of the map to 1505 at the latest would contradict other historical sources. The prevailing opinion was that the first Europeans to sight or set foot on this coast were Juan Ponce de León (1512 or 1513), Giovanni da Verrazzano (1523), Lucas Vázquez de Ayllón (between 1520 and 1524) and Esteban Gómez (1525).

Three things are possible:

  1. the dating of the map wrong - namely set too early,
  2. there were earlier journeys along the east coast of North America that cannot be proven or passed on by other means
  3. it is a fantasy drawing that happens to come close to the actual situation.

If one takes into account that some Spanish seafarers strayed off course on the voyage to the New World , at some point stumbled upon the North American mainland while traveling west and were able to report about it afterwards, the combination of the latter two approaches can at least lead to a certain idea of ​​one Coastline, as it is already shown in Cantino's map.

description

The card is rectangular, measures 225 × 115 cm, was drawn by hand on parchment and is colored. The coloration appears less intense than, for example, with the Cantino Planisphere ; however, a red coloring of the Red Sea was not waived.

There is a signature on the back that reads " Nicolay de Caveri Januensis" or something similar.

Cartographic details

Greenland is hit relatively well. The representation of the coast of the area, which is now safely identified as Newfoundland , is not clearly assigned to the " Indian " areas, but is located southwest of Greenland. It is classified with large green trees. The representation corresponds to that of the Cantino planisphere

In the southeast of Florida you will find the Antilles , according to the legend, " The Antilles of the King of Castile ", with Hispaniola and Isabela ( Cuba ). In the west there is a gulf (later: Gulf of Mexico ) with numerous islands. According to other sources, this area had not yet been discovered by the Spanish at that time. The Yucatán coastline already resembles the shape we know today, but seems to be intended as a separate island. Most of this area is not found in the Cantino Planisphere, which is a few years older .

The drawing of South America is probably based largely on the results of the Amerigo Vespucci and Fernando de Noronhas expeditions between 1502 and 1504. The interior of Brazil is represented by hills, green trees and red parrots, reminiscent of the Cantino map.

The coast of Africa is described with great precision (a giraffe, a lion and an elephant characterize the inner workings of this continent). The legends relating to Calcutta and Cochin describe trade with the ports of India. Nevertheless, the shape of the Red Sea is drawn less precisely than in the Cantino Planisphere .

To the history of the card

The map was first described in 1890 and published two years later. It is currently in the Bibliothèque Nationale de France in Paris .

literature

  • John L Allen (Ed.): A continent defined (North American Exploration; Vol. 2). University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, Neb. 1997, ISBN 0-8032-1023-X , pp. 198-199.
  • William Henry Babcock: Legendary Islands of the Atlantic. A Study in Medieval Geography . Books for Libraries, Plainview, NY 1975, ISBN 0-8369-6963-4 , p. 146 (reprint of New York 1922 edition).
  • Jerry Brotton: Trading Territories. Mapping the Early Modern World . Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY 1998, ISBN 0-8014-3499-8 , p. 76.
  • Dennis Reinhartz, Gerald D Saxon (Eds.): Mapping and Empire. Soldier-Engineers on the Southwestern Frontier . University of Texas Press, Austin, Tx. 2005, ISBN 0-292-70659-6 , p. 4.
  • Martin Reyes Vayssade (ed.): Cartografía histórica del encuentro de dos mundos . Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Geografía e Informática, México 1992, ISBN 84-7819-044-9 , pp. 66-67, 70.
  • Eviatar Zerubavel : Terra Cognita . Transaction Publ., New Brunswick, NJ 2003, ISBN 0-7658-0987-7 , p. 98.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Carlos Sanz in Mapas antiguos del mundo , Madrid 1961