The popularity of the letters was due to Vespucci’s insistence that the newly discovered lands were a new continent… These letters were so widely read that as a consequence Vespucci emerged as a major figure in sixteenth-century exploration and discovery, and for more than a generation his claims overshadowed the achievements of Columbus. [1]
In 1506, German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller published the letters under the name, The Cosmography. The book included a world map with the New World named “America.” This was because he was convinced Vespucci was the one who discovered it. Waldseemüller wrote:
I do not see why anyone would rightly forbid calling it (after the discoverer Americus [sic]...) [2]
Eventually, Waldseemüller and his colleagues accumulated more information from learning about the Spanish and Portuguese discoveries. They revised the earlier misconceptions including the fact “that the lands discovered by Columbus and those reported by Vespucci were the same.” [3] Unfortunately, Waldseemüller erroneously called Columbus a “Spaniard” and though he removed the name “America” (from other geographical works he later published), the name “America” stuck and replaced the name of the Indies.
How was the relationship between Columbus and Vespucci?
Columbus made a total of four voyages. He was the first European to reach and discover Central America, South America and the Caribbean. He reached the continent first (in 1498), one year before Vespucci did. However, Vespucci claimed in his letters he was there a year before Columbus. Primary source Bartolome de las Casas believed Vespucci was in bad faith, lying, “usurping the glory and honor due to Columbus alone… and deliberately sought to steal the admiral’s glory.” He complained that the New World was unfairly named after Vespucci, that it should have been after Columbus instead. [4] Nevertheless, there was never animosity between Columbus and Vespucci. The claim of reaching the continent a year before Columbus by Vespucci was one of a few errors in the text that eventually got fixed. As for the renaming of the continent, that was out of the control of Columbus since he died as Waldseemüller was about to use the name “America” in his work.
It is important to understand that Vespucci’s initial voyage to the continent was not one he made by himself as the leading explorer. He was there as part of the crew, probably serving as an astronomical observer. Instead, the expedition was led by Alonso de Ojeda in 1499 to 1500 who reached the continent because he had seen Columbus’ map. [5]
What is the letter Columbus is giving to Vespucci in the image above?
As mentioned before, Columbus knew Vespucci. He even mentions him in two private short letters Columbus wrote to his son Diego in 1506, before he died.
ChatGTP vs History:
For some strange reason ChatGTP says that in the first letter “Columbus complains that Vespucci had risen in royal favor while he (Columbus) had been neglected,” and “Columbus feels Vespucci advanced because of politics and luck, not achievement.” In the second letter, according to the chat, Columbus says that Vespucci “Tried to take credit for discoveries that were not his… Was now being treated as an authority on navigation… Columbus also warns Diego not to trust Vespucci fully and implies that Vespucci benefited from Columbus’s downfall.”
None of the above is true. In fact, it is pure fantasy.
In the real first letter Columbus wrote, he described Vespucci as a very good man, always looking to please him and do anything that he could to help. Columbus even laments for Vespucci by saying, “Fortune has been against him like it has been for many others: his efforts have not benefited him as much as reason demands.” [6] Vespucci personally carried that letter to Columbus’ son, Diego as we can see in the image of this post. As for the second letter, Columbus says he was writing the letter with Vespucci by his side.
What was Vespucci's contribution to history?
Vespucci was the first person to realize the Indies was a different continent and not part of Asia. Vespucci called it the fourth part of the world; the other three being Europe, Africa and Asia. He wrote:
… for in those southern parts I have found a continent more densely peopled and abounding in animals than our Europe or Asia or Africa. Mundus Novus, p. 1.
… it is evident that we sailed over a fourth part of the world… Mundus Novus, p. 11.
Vespucci’s enthusiasts use this as their defense for the New World being “correctly” named America and not Columbia or Columbus. But if we were going to follow Waldseemüller’s logic, it should have been named after their discoverer.
Life sometimes is not fair. Regardless, many places are still named after Columbus, including capitals, cities, towns, companies, islands, etc., and even a country.
Ironically, the greatest accomplishment by Amerigo Vespucci is the realization that Columbus’ discoveries were one of the greatest events in history! The New World is now in the maps because of Columbus.
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Footnotes:
1. The Christopher Columbus Encyclopedia. Vol. I, p.18.
2. Ibid p.19.
3. Ibid p. 21.
4. History of the Indies by Las Casas, Book One, Ch. 163, pp. 61-62.
5. Ibid.
6. Colección de los Viajes y Descubrimientos by Martín Fernández de Navarrette, p. 351. Translation into English made by me.
Sources:
1. The First Four Voyages of Amerigo Vespucci. Translated by Stradanus. London. 1893.
2. Mundus Novus by Amerigo Vespucci - Letter to Lorenzo Pietro Di Medici. Translated by George Tyler Northup. Princeton University Press. 1916.
3. America, Naming of, pp. 18-21. The Christopher Columbus Encyclopedia. Volume I. Simon & Schuster. 1992.
4. Colección de los Viajes y Descubrimientos que Hicieron por Mar los Españoles Desde Fines del Siglo XV by Martín Fernández de Navarrette. Tomo I. 1825.
#amerigovespucci #mundusnovus #america #diegocolumbus #chatgtp #martinwaldseemüller #columbus
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