We all know that America was discovered by Christopher Columbus, but then why was it named after Amerigo Vespucci? A brief biography of this famous navigator and explorer will help us to clarify the essence of the matter. And although Columbus was the first to visit the American continent, it was Vespucci who announced to the whole world that the newly discovered lands were the mainland.
Origin
The birthplace of Amerigo Vespucci is Florence, where he was born on March 9, 1454. His father, who worked as a notary, made sure that his son received a proper education. Little Amerigo studied at home and mostly comprehended the humanities. Also under the guidance of his uncle, he studied Latin, geography and nautical astronomy. In his youth he entered the University of Pisa, and from 1478 he began to work. Amerigo Vespucci, whose brief biography by no means consists of voyages and discoveries alone, at first acted as secretary to another of his uncles, who occupiedAmbassador of Florence to Paris. Later, the famous navigator worked in the financial sector for a long time.
In 1490 he moved to Spain and continued to work. Here he is preparing sea expeditions, simultaneously studying everything related to ships, and also mastering navigation. In 1492 he transferred to the naval service directly in Spain. Over the next few years, he continues to prepare sea voyages, but this time he equips the expeditions of Christopher Columbus himself, with whom, by the way, they were friends.
First Expedition (1499-1500)
In 1499 Amerigo Vespucci joined the expedition of the navigator Alonso Ojeda to the South Atlantic. What he discovered during this journey, read about it below. Vespucci personally finances the equipment of two ships, which he will later command, and sets sail as a navigator. In the summer of the same year, an expedition consisting of three ships approached the northern coast of South America, after which Amerigo Vespucci sent his ships in a southeasterly direction. On July 2, he managed to discover the Amazon Delta. The explorer penetrated 100 km inland using boats, and then returned and continued sailing to the southeast.
Then Amerigo Vespucci explored about 1200 km of the northern coast of the continent, after which he sent his ships in the opposite direction and overtook the ship of Alons Ojeda by Augustapproximately on the 66th meridian of the western longitude. Together, the sailors continued to follow in a westerly direction and mapped more than one and a half thousand kilometers of the coast of South America. They also discovered several peninsulas, islands, bays and lagoons. In autumn, Vespucci and Ojeda separated again, after which the first continued to explore the coast of the mainland, sailing 300 km in a south-westerly direction. He returned to Europe in June 1500
Second Expedition (1501–1502)
In 1501, the navigator Amerigo Vespucci was invited by the King of Portugal to serve as an astronomer, navigator, and historiographer. In the same year, another expedition was organized, led by Goncalo Coelho. The three ships left Europe in mid-August and headed for the east coast of South America.
km along the coast, but could not find its edges. It was decided to turn the ships back, in addition, one of the three ships of the expedition fell into disrepair, as a result of which the travelers burned it. The first ship arrived in Portugal in June of the same year, while Vespucci and Coelho, who were on the second ship, did not return until September.
Third Expedition (1503–1504)
About a year later, a new expedition was organized by Portugal, inwhich was also attended by Amerigo Vespucci. A short biography of the navigator must contain a description of this trip. Goncalo Coelho was again appointed leader of the expedition, but this time six ships were equipped for the voyage. In August 1503, sailors discovered Ascension Island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, near which one ship subsequently sank, and three completely disappeared in an unknown direction. The remaining ships headed for South America and stopped in the Bay of All Saints, where, on the orders of Vespucci, a group of explorers landed on the shore, penetrating 250 km deep into the continent.
Here the travelers stayed for five whole months. In this place they built a fleet, after which, leaving 24 sailors on the mainland, the expedition set off on the return journey. Also, a batch of logs made of valuable sandalwood, found on newly discovered lands, was loaded onto the ship. In June 1504, the sailors returned to Spain. This was the end of Amerigo Vespucci's travels.
How and why America was named after Amerigo Vespucci
The famous traveler explored a sufficiently large length of the coast of South America to suggest that this land is precisely the continent. In a sense, it was Amerigo Vespucci who discovered America. In a letter sent by him to Florence in 1503, he set out a detailed description of the lands he discovered, suggesting that they most likely have nothing to do with the Asian mainland, since they rush quite far tosouth. At the same time, he reports that these territories are inhabited, and also proposes to designate the newly discovered continent as the New World.
In 1507, the cartographer Martin Waldseemüller proposed to name the newly discovered continent America - after the famous explorer Amerigo Vespucci. From that moment on, this name appears on all geographical maps and atlases. Although the navigator visited only South America, North America is also named after Amerigo Vespucci. What did he really discover? You can learn more about this from his letters and diaries, it remains only to add that he himself was not inclined to talk much about his role in the discovery of the continent and in no way contributed to naming it after himself.
The last years of the life of a navigator
In 1505, Vespucci again entered the service of the King of Spain, and not without the help of Christopher Columbus. He accepts the citizenship of Castile and in 1508 is appointed chief helmsman of the kingdom. He held this position for the next few years, taking part in equipping new expeditions and dreaming of setting sail. But Amerigo Vespucci was never able to carry out his plans. A brief biography of this man ends on February 22, 1512 - on this day he died in Seville, where he lived in recent years.
