Jeffrey G. Butch
History 392.01
Dr. Tirado
October 25, 1996

Amerigo Vespucci

Who was Amerigo Vespucci? This is a question I asked myself as I was researching the man credited with the discovery of the new world. Much information has been written about Christopher Columbus and very little about Amerigo Vespucci. To understand who Amerigo Vespucci was is to look at his life and times in that time period. This paper is an attempt to look at his history and try to get a better understanding of his life in the “Age of Discovery”. To have a understanding of Vespucci is to remember that to the day of his death, Columbus persisted in claiming he was in parts of Asia. This is part of the old world mentality and shows that Columbus never fully comprehended the achievements of his voyages. Two continents are named after Amerigo Vespucci. A great achievement for a man who many feel is a charlatan of geography. Did he discover America or was this honor bestowed on the wrong man?

“In the middle ages, Europe knew less about the earth than did some of the ancients, for the commercial decline of Rome brought about the contraction of geographical knowledge.” [Pohl 6]. During this time period, men began to disregard authority and learned to rely directly on their own investigations. This is the seed that brought about men like Columbus and Vespucci. The period of the Renaissance is the fertile ground that brought about changes in the world of inquiry and scientific achievement in Europe. “This new spirit of inquiry received its chief impetus from the invention of the printing press whose importance outweighed even the greatest political event of the time.”[Pohl 9]. Printing led to the overthrow of authority and allowed the men of the period to come into immediate contact with each other and stimulated intellectual dialogue. It is by no accident that Florence produced a man like Amerigo Vespucci. The cultural environment of Florence and the availability of printed books with many opportunities led Amerigo Vespucci to the sea and to complete the voyages Columbus failed to complete in the discovery of the mainland now know as the America’s.

Amerigo Vespucci was born on March 9, 1454, the first year of the new age of printed material. He was the third son of Ser Natasagio Vespucci and was named for his grandfather. “The Vespucci family was considered one of the most cultured and respected aristocratic families of Florence.”[Pohl 14]. Amerigo was influenced by his uncle, Giorgio Vespucci a scholar and collector of manuscripts. His uncle taught him the physical sciences which included the teachings of Aristotle and Ptolemy. This included astronomy, cosmography and geography which will mold Amerigo into a well rounded person of the times. Amerigo acquired a love for Vergil, Dante, and Petrarch under the watchful eye of his uncle and became very skillful in mathematics and Latin. This education would also spark the investigation and inquiry into the voyages of Columbus in his search for the spice trade to the west. Amerigo’s father wanted his son to enter the commercial life of the mercantile career that was a custom for a son in those days. based on his aptitude and educational training, Amerigo had the qualities to become the next Vespucci to advance family business. “Fifteenth-Century intellectuals were more disposed to respect learning of the past than to pursue independent research.” [Pohl 18]. In this century, Cosmography which was a theoretical science that included physics and astronomy and Geography the practical science became an interest to Amerigo. His interest in these sciences was to prove very beneficial to him at some later point in his life. The greatest known scholar at that time on these two sciences was a man by the name of Paolo dal Pozzo Toscanelli. He was the most advanced person in cosmography and geography in Florence and also influenced Christopher Columbus in his search for the Orient. Although there is no proof of Vespucci and Toscanelli ever meeting, it is assumed that they probably met and were acquainted. Even if they never met, there is a chance that Amerigo was informed of Toscanelli works by his uncle which would have sparked his interest in a his idea of reaching Asia by sailing west. Being from an aristocratic and wealthy family, the Vespucci family had important contacts with the royal family of Spain. They had a long friendship with Spanish royalty. This will become important later in the voyages of Amerigo Vespucci.

“In 1482, Ser Natasagio Vespucci died and so did Toscanelli which led Amerigo to become the chief money-earner for his family.” [Pohl 27]. Trained in business, Amerigo handled all the financial affairs of the family. Being trained in the affairs of business, Amerigo was given the duties of manager of the Medici family fortune. This was to take up his time for sixteen years of his life. Amerigo was an agent for the Medici family and had the responsibility of buying, selling, and procuring safe goods. It was during this period that he accumulated wealth that allowed him to indulge in his hobby of collecting maps and books that eventually helped him in his voyages to the west. His duties for the Medici family eventually took Amerigo to Spain. Spain was considered a land of great opportunities for business and foreign merchants. They were welcomed there by the recently married King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. With the recent problems Spain has been having, Queen Isabella established the Royal Constabulary to establish law and order to the Country. She supported the Holy Office (Official name for the Inquisition) and their reasons for persecuting the heretics in Spain. Spain was overrun with Moors and she was determined to drive out all those unbelieving people not of the Christian faith. This existed in Spain due to the lack of intellectual culture that existed in Florence. Jews were the target of the Holy Office and since this barbaric act of exterminating people not of the Christian faith was draining Spain of merchants, there existed opportunities for merchants of all nationalities in the country. Fearing French domination of Europe, Italy looked to Spain for her salvation and to Spain Amerigo Vespucci went as a merchant, Italian and Florentine.

In 1492, Amerigo Vespucci was in Barcelona Spain. As a merchant for the Medici family, Amerigo established many contacts. In Spain he was in the middle of the Columbus voyages. These contacts led to his prominence in the ship outfitting business. He lived among mariners and was finally in an atmosphere that allowed him to discuss his love of cosmography and geography. Amerigo’s love of maps was finally appreciated. Although an expert in business affairs, Amerigo was finally in the environment that opened up his intellectual curiosity to the voyages of finding a direct sea route to the west. “In 1493, Amerigo heard mariners talking about the most famous voyages that ever taken place, the voyage of Bartolomeu Dias to the Cape of Good Hope.” [Pohl 37]. Discussion of voyages of great mariners were always being discussed and this of course sparked an interest to Amerigo Vespucci. He heard of the voyage of Columbus that departed with three ships sailing westward from Palos to locate India and the spice trade. Months after he arrived in Seville, Amerigo heard sailors talking about Columbus finding the route to India. The success of the Columbus voyage made the world seem smaller than most people ever dreamed at that time. This voyage made geography a political issue for Spain and Portugal and almost brought both countries to war over this trip by Columbus. Based on his business contacts, it is very likely that some of Amerigo Vespucci’s customers invested money in the second voyage of Christopher Columbus.

Columbus and Vespucci were different types of people. Amerigo Vespucci was considered a modern man from the Renaissance period of scientific inquiry that allowed men to independently question events of the times. These men took nothing for granted. They had the thirst for knowledge and had to be shown the reasons in scientific methods for all facts. Columbus on the other hand was a man from the old world and not having the advantages of the Renaissance period believed without question the reasons given for events in his time. Columbus believed in tradition and faith of his world while Vespucci had the modern mentality of the Renaissance period.

With the third voyage of Columbus and the route to Asia having not yet been discovered, Amerigo Vespucci felt it was time for another type of explorer. His intellectual inquisition of finding what Columbus failed to find now became in the forefront of his mind. He wanted to be the first to reach India directly from sea by going west. Having the training and background as a business leader and his love for cosmography, geography and mathematics gave him all the needed ingredients to become a successful mariner in search of the direct route to Asia. “In may of 1499, he sailed with Alonso de Hojeda as a astronomer because of his knowledge of cosmography and as a merchant.” [Pohl 49]. On his first voyage, Amerigo Vespucci sighted land that was to be called Brazil. This was the first European view of the coast of Brazil. He sailed thirty-seven hundred miles in twenty-four days and was impressed by the fragrance and beauty of the land. He also sailed up the Amazon River and noted that the water close to the shore of Brazil was less salty then other sea water. On this particular voyage, he made many astronomical observations that brought out the scholar in him. His business sense now became subordinate to his intellectual abilities that brought out the pure inquisitiveness always in his mind and heart. Amerigo Vespucci was a scientific scholar awaiting to be awakened. This finally happened and he became a true mariner aching for new discoveries. The driving force in his new personality was to add to man’s understanding of the world he inhabited. This was the driving force behind his exploration of the new land to the west. “His passion for geography and astronomy became an all-absorbing passion for him.” [Pohl 56].” The Juan de la Cosa World Chart, 1500 is the first map, now known, made after 1492, which pictures discoveries on the western side of the Atlantic.” [Pohl 60].

During his trip with Alonso de Hojeda, he derived a valid astronomical method in determining longitude. Previous to this mariners used dead reckoning in their navigation at sea. He brought a fresh mind to the determination of longitude and used his scientific mind in the determination of longitude. By his methods, it is reasonable to say that the distances between longitude could be determined within two degrees. Amerigo’s method of determining longitude became the standard for approximately three hundred years. Being an astronomer, his longitudinal problem remains one of the human genius of that time period.

Upon his return to Spain, Amerigo wrote a letter to Lorenzo di Pier Francesco de’Medici. In this letter he describes his trip and the beautiful things he saw such as animals, flowers, fragrances, trees and the stars he saw in the skies of the areas of his voyage. He wrote about the grayish and brownish color of the natives he saw on the different islands. He described the various a very large anaconda which he describes as a serpent. It was so large that his men became frightened and returned to the ship. His sailing up the coast let him see numerous numbers of different people with different languages. Having been tired of the voyage and longing for home, Amerigo Vespucci and his crew returned home. He loaded up his ship with inhabitants as slaves and took them back to Spain. On his return home, Vespucci was saddened that Portugal had sailed around Africa and beat Spain in the race to India. There has always competition between Spain and Portugal in the navigation and exploration of the seas. After his return to Spain in 1500, Amerigo Vespucci was about to embark on another journey. He changed flags from sailing for the Spain to sailing for Portugal. The Spanish king was concerned more with land acquisition then pure exploration of uncharted lands. This seems to have embarrassed him so he refused the offer of three ships from the Spanish King and was given a Portuguese commission to sail with three ships under the flag of Portugal. There is no clear indication of why he declined the Spanish Kings offer, but it is quite possible that with his merchant contacts, the Portugal connection was made by some of those long established merchant contacts of friends he met years earlier. Even though he was sailing for Portugal, he was honor bound not to reveal any Spanish secrets. Being an honorable man, Spain would trust him in his service to Portugal.

In seamanship, Portugal excelled among the people of the Mediterranean. Their ship were faster, stronger and built better than those of Spain. He was given three ships with complete control over the voyages. “Amerigo Vespucci was the first explorer in the service of Portugal to cross the ocean to the southwest.” [Pohl 104] This voyage for Portugal would make Amerigo Vespucci famous for he made a geographical discovery that would set him apart for other explorers of his time. He discovered a new continent that was not in Asia or India. This was done with his accurate perception of the circumference of the world. “He became aware of the inconsistencies between accepted notions of geography and the facts as he observed them. He had discovered a new continent in the only way it was possible by extensive exploration with well founded deductions of the circumference of the earth.” [Pohl 138] Vespucci revolutionized geography and stated there was another ocean to cross which Columbus never dreamed and larger than the one in which Columbus navigated. His discovery smashed the theory of one ocean covering the earth.

The real importance of Amerigo Vespucci lies in his ability to map out the longitudinal degrees of the earth. This where his great importance lies in the history of the world explorers. His ability to use the intellect of the times to figure out how to navigate in the oceans is just as important if not more than his discovery of a new continent. Some would argue this point but from my research, Amerigo Vespucci was truly the founder of modern navigation that brought civilization out of the dark ages to the modern era. He was truly a man of his times.

Works Cited

Cohen, Jonathen. “The Naming of America: Vespucci’s Good Name”. Encounters 7:16-20

Pohl, Frederick, J. “America Vespucci”, Pilot Major. New York: Octagon Books, INc., 1966

Arciniegas, German. Amerigo and the New World: The life and Times Of Amerigo Vespucci. Knopf, NY, 1955

Lester, C. Edwards. The life and Voyages of Americus Vespucius, New York: New Amsterdam Publoishing, 1903.

Wills, Garry.Forward. Letters From A New World. Ed. Luciano Formisano, New York, Marsilo Publishers, 1992