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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-US" lang="EN-US">Dear Luís
and ISHMap members,</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-US" lang="EN-US">I waited
some time for comments before writing my own notes. Apparently there is a considerable
delay from the moment a message is sent to its distribution. According to the
ISHMap site, the discussion is no longer “moderated”. But is that really the case? </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-US" lang="EN-US">Now for the
subject under discussion. First of all I want to warmly welcome and thank the
comments of Luis Robles on my article in <i>Terrae Incognitae</i>. Indeed the question
he raised is relevant for my argument about the construction of Juan de la Cosa
planisphere. I knew about Petrus Martyr <i>Decades </i>but had not paid enough
attention to the details about the observation of the Pole Star (my poor Latin
is one the reasons to blame). Going through the details of the text it seems clear
that some crude latitude information collected before 1500, as described by
Petrus Martyr, may explain the placement of the Equator on the chart. This is
an important detail that fits perfectly into the puzzle: when we combine, on
the same representation, the approximately correct latitudinal position of the
northern coast of South America with the exaggerate latitude of Cuba (as
determined by Columbus), we get an oversized Caribbean Sea. The process is
explained in detail in the article.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-US" lang="EN-US">Now for the
details. In 1500 the declination of the Pole Star was about 86 ½ degrees, which
means that it was some 3 ½ degrees from the celestial pole. The correction to
apply to its height above the horizon, in order to determine latitude, depended
on the orientation of <i>Ursa Minoris</i> in the sky, which varied along the
night. Such correction was given by a very a simple rule, named the <i>Regimento
do Norte</i> (Regiment of the North), created by the Portuguese in the 15th
century. However the Pole Star could only be used to determine latitude in the northern
hemisphere. Furthermore, and being a relatively faint star, it was only visible
when its height above the horizon was larger than about eight degrees, owing to
refraction. Knowing that the Spanish pilots were not still capable of using the
Sun to determine latitude, the possibility of astronomical observations having
been made near the equator was never seriously considered by the historians (I
included).</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-US" lang="EN-US">However
some crude latitudinal information in the Amazon region can indeed be obtained
from the simple fact that the Pole Star has just appeared or disappeared below
the horizon. Two parts of Luis’s table are particularly interesting: the one
about Pinzón losing the sight of the Pole Star when sailing southwest from the
Island of Santiago (which might mean that they arrived to the coast of Brazil
in the southern hemisphere); and the other, about going northward along the
coast and sighting the Pole Star again. Definitely I believe that this
information is a good explanation for the relatively correct latitudinal
placement of the equator in the planisphere of Juan de la Cosa. Thank you
again, Luis!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-US" lang="EN-US">Now for the
last question: “Could the accurate latitude value of Veragua, obtained in 1516,
be one of the reasons why the anonymous 1519 planisphere shows lower absolute
errors in latitude than earlier works?” Yes, it could well be that the whole
region was displaced southward in the chart, based on observations of latitude
made in the Veragua region. However the Kunstmann IV planisphere of c.1519 has
some problems of reliability and I wouldn’t put much weight on such possibility
without confirmation from other sources. The problem is that many links are
missing!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-US" lang="EN-US">Thoughts?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-US" lang="EN-US"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-US" lang="EN-US">Joaquim Alves Gaspar</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-US" lang="EN-US">CIUHCT - University of Lisbon<br></span></p>
<br><div><hr id="stopSpelling">Date: Fri, 1 May 2015 21:23:07 -0700<br>From: luis.a.robles.macias@gmail.com<br>To: ISHM@lazarus.elte.hu<br>Subject: Re: [ISHMap-List] Terrae Incognitae 47.1 (April 2015) Online - comment on The Representation of the West Indies in Early Iberian Cartography<br><br><div dir="ltr">Dear all,<div><br></div><div>It was a pleasure to read Joaquim Gaspar's <a href="http://www.maneyonline.com/doi/abs/10.1179/0082288415Z.00000000041?ai=16h&ui=1xs&af=T" target="_blank">article </a>in the latest issue of <i>Terrae Incognitae</i>. I liked how he numerically quantified a phenomenon that had so far been described only qualitatively: the evolution of Caribbean latitudes in early 16th-century Spanish and Portuguese maps.</div><div><br></div><div><span style="font-size:12.8px;">I had a comment though on one statement found in page 21: "As for the southern part of the region, no historical source mentions the determination of latitudes by astronomical methods along the northern coast of South America, although the position of the equator relative to the mainland is approximately correct, more so on the Cantino planisphere than on the Juan de la Cosa planisphere." I think there exists at least one such source, and I communicated it to the author by private e-mail. We both then agreed that it would be good to share the discussion with the ISHM list in case somebody else finds it useful and/or wants to chime in with additional information.</span><br></div><div><span style="font-size:12.8px;"><br></span></div><div><span style="font-size:12.8px;">The source I am referring to is the </span><i style="font-size:12.8px;">De orbe novo</i><span style="font-size:12.8px;"> by chronicler Pietro Martyr d'Anghiera, better known in English as the <i>Decades of the New World</i>. </span><span style="font-size:12.8px;"></span><span style="font-size:12.8px;">The first <i>Decade </i>was officially published in Seville in 1511 (it had previously been pirated by several Italian printers), and seven more followed until Martyr's death in 1526. They narrate the early Spanish expeditions to the Indies mostly based on reports from explorers.<br><br></span></div><div><span style="font-size:12.8px;">Martyr, an Italian humanist, often discusses recent geographical discoveries under the light of classical cosmography. He pays particular attention to astronomical data reported from the newly found lands, like relative lengths of day and night or the height of the Polar Star, which help pinpoint latitudes. In the first <i>Decade </i>he mentions eight observations of the Pole Star by Spanish explorers, which are detailed in the table at the end of this email. Three of them are of particular importance to Gaspar's article as they relate to the position of the equator and are prior to La Cosa's planisphere of 1500.<br><br></span></div><div><span style="font-size:12.8px;">In a few cases Martyr reports precise latitude values based on the north star: 36º for Seville, 32º for Madeira, 5º at a point of Columbus's third voyage and again 5º in Paria. </span><span style="font-size:12.8px;"><span style="font-size:12.8px;">As </span></span><span style="font-size:12.8px;"><span style="font-size:12.8px;"><span style="font-size:12.8px;"><span style="font-size:12.8px;">the Spaniards got closer to the equator</span></span>, however, the method of
determining latitude by measuring the position of the Pole Star (and those near it) reached its practical
limit. This happened in Peralonso Niño's expedition of 1499 to South America, which Martyr says got so close to the equator that "the stars the mark the north pole disappeared" and so "it was not possible to calculate precisely the polar degrees" In another trip that took place almost simultaneously, led by Vicente Yáñez Pinzón, </span></span><span style="font-size:12.8px;">Martyr reports the two locations at which the Pole Star was observed to disappear and then appear again. This allows us to know that Pinzón's expedition entered the southern hemisphere after having sailed around 300 leagues southwest from Santiago, one of the Cape Verde islands, and after exploring the northern coast of today's Brazil, crossed back into the northern hemisphere at a place slightly to the north of a region they called Marina tombal or Mariatambal. They described that region as a place where "several swift rivers (...) came together (...) and flowed into the sea. A number of islands dotted this sea, which are described as remarkable for their fertility and numerous population"; most likely the mouths of the Amazon.<br><br></span></div><div><span style="font-size:12.8px;">Both Niño and Pinzón sailed back to Spain in time for their information to be incorporated into the map that Juan de la Cosa drew in 1500. Actually Pinzón is the only explorer mentioned in it by name. The equator on this map crosses the South American coast slightly to the north of the mouth of two rivers, each of which mouths is dotted with islands (see image below); very consistent therefore with the place at which Martyr reports Pinzón's men again sighted the Pole Star. It would be interesting to discuss the other data point reported by Pinzón via Martyr for the equator, 300 leagues SW of Santiago, but this email would then become too long.<br><br><img alt="Imágenes integradas 1" src="https://cid:ii_14d127559d668036" height="314" width="409"><br><br></span></div><div><span style="font-size:12.8px;">In conclusion, the first <i>Decade </i>of Martyr's <i>De orbe novo</i> supports the idea that latitudes were indeed astronomically determined by early Spanish explorers of America. In particular, the position of the equator was ascertained based on the visibility of the Pole Star. It is also interesting to note that Martyr never mentions the other 16th-century astronomical method for latitude, based on the position of the Sun. This suggests that Spaniards did not master or trust that particular method, which however had the advantage of working well in the southern hemisphere. Martyr mentions one southern latitude in the first <i>Decade </i>(7ºS for the westernmost extremity of South America) but does not say how the value was arrived at.<br><br></span></div><div><span style="font-size:12.8px;">In the second <i>Decade</i>, first published in 1516, Martyr affirms that later on the Spaniards made several determinations of latitude up until the foundation of Santa María la Antigua del Darién, in 1510. He gives only one numerical data: 8ºN for Veragua, a region that corresponds roughly to today's Costa Rica, which lies between parallels 8ºN and 11ºN. My question for Joaquim is: Could this quite accurate value be one of the reasons why the anonymous 1519 planisphere shows lower absolute errors in latitude than earlier works? <br><br><br></span></div><div><span style="font-size:12.8px;">Best regards,<br></span></div><div><span style="font-size:12.8px;">Luis Robles<br><br></span></div><div><span style="font-size:12.8px;"> </span>
<table style="border-collapse:collapse;border:medium none;" border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" height="969" width="982">
<tbody><tr>
<td style="width:58.85pt;border:1pt solid windowtext;padding:0cm 5.4pt;text-align:center;" valign="top" width="78">
<span lang="EN-US">Decade, chapter</span><br>
</td>
<td style="width:141.55pt;border-width:1pt 1pt 1pt medium;border-style:solid solid solid none;border-color:windowtext windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color;padding:0cm 5.4pt;text-align:center;" valign="top" width="189">
<span lang="EN-US">Expedition, date</span><br>
</td>
<td style="width:252.95pt;border-width:1pt 1pt 1pt medium;border-style:solid solid solid none;border-color:windowtext windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color;padding:0cm 5.4pt;text-align:center;" valign="top" width="337">
<span lang="EN-US">Mentions of latitude</span><br><span lang="EN-US">(English text taken from the <a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/12425" target="_blank">1912 edition by MacNutt</a>; Latin text from the <a href="http://archive.org/details/deorbenouopetrim00angh" target="_blank">1530 edition</a>)</span><br>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width:58.85pt;border-width:medium 1pt 1pt;border-style:none solid solid;border-color:-moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext;padding:0cm 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="78">
<span lang="EN-US">I, 2<br></span><br>
</td>
<td style="width:141.55pt;border-width:medium 1pt 1pt medium;border-style:none solid solid none;border-color:-moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color;padding:0cm 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="189">
<span lang="EN-US">Exploration of the Cannibal islands by Melchior, ca. 1494</span><br>
</td>
<td style="width:252.95pt;border-width:medium 1pt 1pt medium;border-style:none solid solid none;border-color:-moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color;padding:0cm 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="337">
<span lang="EN-US">“on this voyage the Spaniards never reached the equator,
for they constantly beheld on the horizon the polar star, which served them
as guide”</span><br>
<span lang="EN-US">In Latin: “ipsi vero aequinoctialem nunquam tetigere,
quandoquidem arcticum polum semper habuere ducem: & ab horizonte semper
eleuatum.”</span><br></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width:58.85pt;border-width:medium 1pt 1pt;border-style:none solid solid;border-color:-moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext;padding:0cm 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="78">
<span lang="EN-US">I, 6</span><br>
</td>
<td style="width:141.55pt;border-width:medium 1pt 1pt medium;border-style:none solid solid none;border-color:-moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color;padding:0cm 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="189">
<span lang="EN-US">Columbus’s third voyage, 1498</span><br>
</td>
<td style="width:252.95pt;border-width:medium 1pt 1pt medium;border-style:none solid solid none;border-color:-moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color;padding:0cm 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="337">
<span lang="EN-US">“at Seville, according to the mariners' report, the north
star rises to the 36th degree”</span><br>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width:58.85pt;border-width:medium 1pt 1pt;border-style:none solid solid;border-color:-moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext;padding:0cm 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="78">
<span lang="EN-US">idem</span><br>
</td>
<td style="width:141.55pt;border-width:medium 1pt 1pt medium;border-style:none solid solid none;border-color:-moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color;padding:0cm 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="189">
<span lang="EN-US">idem</span><br>
</td>
<td style="width:252.95pt;border-width:medium 1pt 1pt medium;border-style:none solid solid none;border-color:-moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color;padding:0cm 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="337">
<span lang="EN-US">“at Madeira it [the north star] is in the 32d [degree]”</span><br>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width:58.85pt;border-width:medium 1pt 1pt;border-style:none solid solid;border-color:-moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext;padding:0cm 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="78">
<span lang="EN-US">idem</span><br>
</td>
<td style="width:141.55pt;border-width:medium 1pt 1pt medium;border-style:none solid solid none;border-color:-moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color;padding:0cm 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="189">
<span lang="EN-US">idem</span><br>
</td>
<td style="width:252.95pt;border-width:medium 1pt 1pt medium;border-style:none solid solid none;border-color:-moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color;padding:0cm 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="337">
<span lang="EN-US">“the Admiral quickly left the [Cape Verde] archipelago
behind, and sailed 480 miles towards the west-south-west. (...) The pole star
was then at an elevation of five degrees”</span><br>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width:58.85pt;border-width:medium 1pt 1pt;border-style:none solid solid;border-color:-moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext;padding:0cm 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="78">
<span lang="EN-US">idem</span><br>
</td>
<td style="width:141.55pt;border-width:medium 1pt 1pt medium;border-style:none solid solid none;border-color:-moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color;padding:0cm 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="189">
<span lang="EN-US">idem</span><br>
</td>
<td style="width:252.95pt;border-width:medium 1pt 1pt medium;border-style:none solid solid none;border-color:-moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color;padding:0cm 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="337">
<span lang="EN-US">“The Admiral declares that in the whole of that region the
day constantly equals the night. The north star is elevated as in Paria to
five degrees<span> </span>above the horizon, and
all the coasts of that newly discovered country are on the same parallel.”</span><br>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width:58.85pt;border-width:medium 1pt 1pt;border-style:none solid solid;border-color:-moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext;padding:0cm 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="78">
<span lang="EN-US">I, 8</span><br>
</td>
<td style="width:141.55pt;border-width:medium 1pt 1pt medium;border-style:none solid solid none;border-color:-moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color;padding:0cm 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="189">
<span lang="EN-US">Peralonso Niño’s exploration of South America's north coast, 1499/1500</span><br>
</td>
<td style="width:252.95pt;border-width:medium 1pt 1pt medium;border-style:none solid solid none;border-color:-moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color;padding:0cm 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="337">
<span lang="EN-US">“Each evening the stars which mark the north pole
disappeared, so near is that region to the equator; but it was not possible
to calculate precisely the polar degrees”</span><br>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width:58.85pt;border-width:medium 1pt 1pt;border-style:none solid solid;border-color:-moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext;padding:0cm 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="78">
<span lang="EN-US">I, 9</span><br>
</td>
<td style="width:141.55pt;border-width:medium 1pt 1pt medium;border-style:none solid solid none;border-color:-moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color;padding:0cm 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="189">
<span lang="EN-US">Vicente Yáñez Pinzón’s exploration of </span><span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US">South America's north coast</span>,
1499-1500</span><br>
</td>
<td style="width:252.95pt;border-width:medium 1pt 1pt medium;border-style:none solid solid none;border-color:-moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color;padding:0cm 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="337">
<span lang="EN-US">[from the island of Santiago] “they sailed before the
south-west wind for about three hundred leagues, after which they lost sight
of the north star”</span><br></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width:58.85pt;border-width:medium 1pt 1pt;border-style:none solid solid;border-color:-moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext;padding:0cm 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="78">
<span lang="EN-US">idem</span><br>
</td>
<td style="width:141.55pt;border-width:medium 1pt 1pt medium;border-style:none solid solid none;border-color:-moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color;padding:0cm 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="189">
<span lang="EN-US">idem</span><br>
</td>
<td style="width:252.95pt;border-width:medium 1pt 1pt medium;border-style:none solid solid none;border-color:-moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color;padding:0cm 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="337">
<span lang="EN-US">“The natives call that entire region Mariatambal. (...)
Continuing their march, directly north, but always following the windings of
the coast, the Spaniards again sighted the polar star.”</span><br>
<span></span><br>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
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<span lang="EN-US">II, 7</span><br>
</td>
<td style="width:141.55pt;border-width:medium 1pt 1pt medium;border-style:none solid solid none;border-color:-moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color;padding:0cm 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="189">
<span lang="EN-US">Vicente Yáñez Pinzón’s exploration of northern Brazil,
1499-1500 (kind of flash-back by Martyr)<br></span><br>
</td>
<td style="width:252.95pt;border-width:medium 1pt 1pt medium;border-style:none solid solid none;border-color:-moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color;padding:0cm 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="337">
<span lang="EN-US">“he reached the extreme point of the continent (...) this
point in the New World lies within the seventh degree”</span><br>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
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<span lang="EN-US">II, 10</span><br>
</td>
<td style="width:141.55pt;border-width:medium 1pt 1pt medium;border-style:none solid solid none;border-color:-moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color;padding:0cm 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="189">
<span lang="EN-US">not specified</span><br>
</td>
<td style="width:252.95pt;border-width:medium 1pt 1pt medium;border-style:none solid solid none;border-color:-moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color;padding:0cm 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="337">
<span lang="EN-US">“The Spaniards made different calculations up to the time
when they were established at Darien”</span><br>
<span lang="EN-US">In Latin the meaning is clearer: “Habent ergo Castellani
variā graduū eleuationem, donec ad Darienem statuta earum terrarū sedem
primariā veniatur."</span><br>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
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<span lang="EN-US">idem</span><br>
</td>
<td style="width:141.55pt;border-width:medium 1pt 1pt medium;border-style:none solid solid none;border-color:-moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color;padding:0cm 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="189">
<span lang="EN-US">idem</span><br>
</td>
<td style="width:252.95pt;border-width:medium 1pt 1pt medium;border-style:none solid solid none;border-color:-moz-use-text-color windowtext windowtext -moz-use-text-color;padding:0cm 5.4pt;" valign="top" width="337">
<span lang="EN-US">“they abandoned Veragua, where the north star stood eight
degrees above the horizon”</span><br>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
</div><div><span style="font-size:12.8px;"><br></span></div><div class="ecxgmail_extra"><br></div></div>
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