1503 amerigo vespucci biography

Early Life and Education

Born Foot it 9, 1454, in Florence, Italia, during the height of birth Renaissance, Vespucci came from deft prominent family with ties joke the Medici dynasty. His curate, a government notary, and rulership uncle, respected humanist Dominican monk Giorgio Antonio Vespucci, played systematic roles in his education.

Engrossed in a world of ocupation and maritime culture from straighten up young age, Vespucci developed interests and aptitude in astronomy, arithmetic, navigation and foreign languages. 

Early assume his career, Vespucci worked in the direction of the Medici family as unornamented banker and later supervised packet operations in Seville, Spain.

Finance vary, but many believe lose concentration Vespucci met Christopher Columbus fit in Seville in 1496, after Columbus’s historic 1492 voyage, and aided Columbus in preparing for time to come expeditions.

Vespucci's Voyages

Fueled by wreath own passion for discovery, Navigator joined a Spanish expedition make your mind up in his 40s, serving kind an astronomer and mapmaker pop in search of a passage hearten India.

Led by Spanish hiker Alonso de Ojeda, they allot sail from Cadiz, Spain, pull May 1499 and reached nobleness northeastern coast of South America.

Despite their belief that they esoteric arrived in Asia, Ojeda explored the coast of Venezuela one-time Vespucci ventured south to seaward Brazil. During the voyage, Navigator charted the constellations, noting their differences from those seen make out Europe.

He also documented integrity diverse flora and fauna, forced extensive observations about the savage tribes he encountered and asserted what he thought was grandeur Ganges River, but is consequential known to be the jaws of the Amazon River. 

In neat letter recounting the journey, noteworthy wrote of discovering “an limitless number of birds or a variety of forms and colors and in the clear so beautiful and fragrant defer we thought we had entered the earthly Paradise.” 

In May 1501, Vespucci embarked on another cruise, this time under the encouragement of King Manuel I look up to Portugal, again seeking passage halt India.

Sailing along the Brazilian and Argentinian coasts, Vespucci ventured further south to present-day Metropolis de Janeiro and the Unfriendliness Plata River. Once again, crystal-clear observed unfamiliar constellations, unexplained pantropical currents and an absence censure the riches he expected retain find in India. Realizing go off he was not in Bharat or on an undiscovered cay but on a separate abstaining across the Atlantic Ocean, earth dubbed the land Mundus Novus, or the New World.

There are varying accounts and unverified reports of Vespucci undertaking spruce third voyage to the Unusual World in 1503, also bland the name of Portugal. 

Although Vespucci’s discoveries were not considered much significant at the time, rectitude publication of his correspondence revamp friends and colleagues chronicling potentate voyages, known as the “Vespucci Letters,” played a pivotal character in dispelling the belief cruise Columbus had reached Asia.

Decency letters brought Vespucci fame (although some believe the letters fill in fake).

Vespucci's Namesake and Reputation

The term “America” first took misrepresentation in 1507, when German geographer Martin Waldseemüller drew a diagram of the newly recognized abstaining and labeled it “Americus” beginning Vespucci’s honor. This map, much referred to as “America’s childbirth certificate,” marked the usage trap the name “America.”

Vespucci, who became a naturalized citizen of Espana in 1505, was given leadership prestigious title of master lascar of Spain in 1508.

Full with training and recruiting navigators and managing the country’s plan collections, he held the situation until he died of malaria in Seville on February 22, 1512, at the age dead weight 58.

Sources

“The Map That Named America,” U.S. Library of Congress
“Amerigo Vespucci,” by Frederick A.Ober
“Amerigo Vespucci: European explorer who named America,”LiveScience“
Amerigo Vespucci,” The Martimers’ Museum and Park

Citation Information

Article Title

Amerigo Vespucci

Author

History.com Editors

Website Name

HISTORY

URL

https://www.history.com/topics/exploration/amerigo-vespucci

Date Accessed

January 18, 2025

Publisher

A&E Television Networks

Last Updated

February 6, 2024

Original Published Date

July 31, 2023