Posted on 09/19/2014 7:48:44 PM PDT by Fractal Trader
In 1491, German cartographer Henricus Martellus created a map of the world that would help Christopher Columbus navigate the Atlantic.
Today, the map holds secrets about what Europeans in the 15th Century knew about geography. But unfortunately much of its historic text has faded.
But now a team of researchers in the US is using a technique called multispectral imaging to uncover the hidden information that Columbus had at his fingertips. In 1491, cartographer Henricus Martellus created a map of the world that would help Christopher Columbus navigate the Atlantic. Today, it holds secrets into what 15th Century Europeans knew about geography
In 1491, cartographer Henricus Martellus created a map of the world that would help Christopher Columbus navigate the Atlantic. Today, it holds secrets into what 15th Century Europeans knew about geography
The Martellus map depicts the Earth's surface from the Atlantic in the west to Japan in the east and is surrounded with descriptions in Latin of various regions and civilisations.
For instance, a text box over northern Asia describes the 'Balor' people who 'live without wine or wheat and get their nutrients from deer meat'. But much of the other text is illegible.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
ping
Look on the coast of California it says,
“Here there be Liberals!”.
The Martellus Map: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/Henricus_Martellus_Germanus_%28Wirkungsjahre_1480-1496%29.jpg
No wonder he thought it would be a short trip.
Drink Ovaltine.
I believe the idea that Columbus thought there was a westward route to India is an urban legend. The idea that the world was round and approximately how large it was, predates Columbus. He just thought there was going to be unknown land out there (and there was). And he had a mix of gospel and pecuniary motives.
Even yet, surely he would have expected to be at China before being at India.
Wasn’t a really good map as Columbus missed North America and South America!
But Africa hangs of the edge of the world ...
More detail:
Uncovering Hidden Text on a 500-Year-Old Map That Guided Columbus--Wired
“I believe the idea that Columbus thought there was a westward route to India is an urban legend.”
It was his stated purpose when seeking funding for the trip.
Also, to enhance his discovery as fulfilling the terms of his financing, he named the local he found Indios (Indians).
He got off the boat, looked around and only saw dark-skinned people. Hence he assumed he missed China and hit India.
He might not have been beyond bending the facts a bit. Because of differences in how star observations correlated with the ship clock, men already had reason to believe a round world larger than what we know as the Old World.
I could be wrong, but I believe that Columbus severely underestimated the size of the earth. I think that fact is why the experts of the time rejected his idea—he thought that Asia was 3-4000 miles west of Europe. They knew, or at least had a good idea of the true size of the earth. There is no way he could have sailed the 12,000 miles to China.
No living European of his time had seen a Chinese/Indian. He knew from Marco Polo’s book that Chinese had straight black hair and very little body hair. They spoke a language that no one in Europe understood and all kinds of exotic flora and fauna. When he landed in the Caribbean he found everything he expected to find—except the great civilizations.
But somehow the royalty listened to this guy and not the experts.
The Greek scholar Eratosthenes accurately calculated the circumference and by corollary that the Earth was round in the third century BC...
Columbus studied the writings of Eratosthenes, and one reason he was looking for a way West is because the Muzzies had cut off access to the Silk Road, and had made it very risky for Christian Europeans to avoid robbery, pillage and murder at their hands going West to East by land...
“I could be wrong, but I believe that Columbus severely underestimated the size of the earth. I think that fact is why the experts of the time rejected his idea—”
Yes. Wiki has a short but good writeup.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Columbus#Nautical_considerations
The Crusades came 400 years prior and apparently didn’t take care of that problem... yet, somehow what became of that issue? Trade seems to have been okay once the American colonies got under way.
“But somehow the royalty listened to this guy and not the experts.”
He was turned down by royalty in multiple countries multiple times based on the advice of their experts. After years of pleading, King Ferdinand agreed to funding but it was not provided by the King directly but as part of a debt relief package.
Until the MOSLEMS were defeated, no trans-Atlantic voyage would have taken place. At that time.
Imagine, if you will, Ali Mohammad Columbus.
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