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A monk in 14th-century Italy wrote about the Americas https://www.economist.com/the-americas/2021/09/25/a-monk-in-14th-century-italy-wrote-about-the-america
by cschmidt 5y ago
A monk in 14th-century Italy wrote about the Americas
https://www.economist.com/the-americas/2021/09/25/a-monk-in-14th-century-italy-wrote-about-the-americas
There was an interesting recent Economist story about that. There is a 14th century Italian monk that did write about Newfoundland based on the oral testimony of “sailors who frequent the seas of Denmark and Norway”. It is possible Columbus was aware of this.
- CRConrad 5y agoDiscussed here a few weeks ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28648793 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28648793
- chestertn 5y agoColombus was trying to find India and he explored the area trying to find proof that he indeed found India. Furthermore, Colombus brought an interpreter with him, Luis de Torres: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_de_Torres https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_de_Torres "Their task was to explore the country, contact its ruler, and gather information about the Asian emperor described by Marco Polo as the "Great Khan". " There is a lot of effort put today to downplay the importance of what happened. I understand that it makes sense politically. But the fact remains that what happened in 1492, for good or bad, changed the world forever.
- bebop 5y agoThere is a possibility that this was known much earlier than the 14th century. St. Brendan may have been speaking about the americas as early as 500 AD. Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brendan https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brendan Interesting read: https://www.amazon.com/Brendan-Voyage-Sailing-America-Exploration/dp/0375755241 https://www.amazon.com/Brendan-Voyage-Sailing-America-Explor...