Amerigo Vespucci

Amerigo Vespucci (9 March 1454 – 22 February 1512) was an Italian explorer and navigator from the Republic of Florence. The continents of North and South America are named after him. Between 1497 and 1504, he took part in at least two major voyages during the Age of Discovery: one for Spain from 1499 to 1500, and another for Portugal from 1501 to 1502. Two booklets published under his name in 1503 and 1505 gave vivid accounts of these journeys and others. Although historians still argue over who actually wrote them and how accurate they are, these publications became extremely popular across Europe. They played a key role in spreading news of the discoveries and boosting Vespucci’s reputation as an explorer and navigator.

Vespucci claimed that in 1501 he realized Brazil was part of a fourth continent unknown to Europeans, which he called the "New World" (Mundus Novus). This claim led the cartographer Martin Waldseemüller to honor Vespucci in 1507 by using the Latinized form "America" on a map of the New World. Other mapmakers followed this practice, and the name "America" became fixed on maps of the newly found lands. It is not known whether Vespucci ever learned of this honor.

In 1505, a royal decree made him a subject of Castile. In 1508, he was appointed piloto mayor (master navigator) for Spain’s Casa de Contratación (House of Trade) in Seville, a position he held until his death in 1512.

Vespucci was born on 9 March 1454 in Florence, a wealthy Italian city-state and a center of Renaissance art and learning. He was the third son of Nastagio Vespucci, a Florentine notary for the Money-Changers Guild, and Lisa di Giovanni Mini. The family lived in the District of Santa Lucia d'Ognissanti alongside other Vespucci relatives. Earlier generations had funded a family chapel in the Ognissanti church, and the nearby Hospital of San Giovanni di Dio was founded by Simone di Piero Vespucci in 1380. Vespucci’s immediate family was not especially wealthy but had strong political connections. His grandfather, also named Amerigo Vespucci, served 36 years as chancellor of the Florentine government, the Signoria. Nastagio also served in the Signoria and other guild offices. More importantly, the Vespuccis had good relations with Lorenzo de' Medici, the powerful de facto ruler of Florence.

Amerigo’s older brothers, Antonio and Girolamo, were sent to the University of Pisa. Antonio became a notary like their father, while Girolamo joined the Church and the Knights Hospitaller in Rhodes. Amerigo’s path was less certain. Instead of attending university, he stayed in Florence and was tutored by his uncle, Giorgio Antonio Vespucci, a Dominican friar at the monastery of San Marco. His uncle was one of the most celebrated humanist scholars in Florence at the time, and he gave Amerigo a broad education in literature, philosophy, rhetoric, and Latin. He also introduced him to geography and astronomy, subjects that later proved essential. Amerigo’s writings show he was familiar with the works of the classical Greek cosmographers Ptolemy and Strabo, as well as the more recent work of Florentine astronomer Paolo dal Pozzo Toscanelli.

In 1478, another uncle, Guido Antonio Vespucci, led a Florentine diplomatic mission to Paris and invited Amerigo to join him. Amerigo’s exact role is unclear, but he likely served as an attaché or private secretary. The journey took them through Bologna, Milan, and Lyon. Their goal in Paris was to get French support for Florence’s war with Naples. King Louis XI was noncommittal, and the mission returned to Florence in 1481 with little to show.

After returning from Paris, Amerigo worked for a time with his father and continued his scientific studies. When his father died in 1482, Amerigo began working for Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de' Medici, head of a junior branch of the Medici family. Though Amerigo was twelve years older, they had been schoolmates under Giorgio Antonio Vespucci. Amerigo started as a household manager and gradually took on more responsibilities, handling various business dealings for the family both in Florence and abroad. He kept up his interest in geography, at one point buying an expensive map made by master cartographer Gabriel de Vallseca.

In 1488, Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco became unhappy with his business agent in Seville, Tomasso Capponi. He sent Vespucci to investigate and assess a suggested replacement, the Florentine merchant Gianotto Berardi. Vespucci’s findings have been lost, but Capponi returned to Florence around that time, and Berardi took over the Medici business in Seville. Besides managing Medici’s trade, Berardi also ran his own businesses in African slavery and ship chandlery.

By 1492, Vespucci had settled permanently in Seville. It is unclear why he left Florence. He continued some business for his Medici patrons but became increasingly involved in Berardi’s other activities, especially his support of Christopher Columbus’s voyages. Berardi invested half a million maravedis in Columbus’s first voyage and won a potentially lucrative contract to supply Columbus’s large second fleet. Profits, however, proved hard to come by. In 1495, Berardi signed a contract with the crown to send twelve resupply ships to Hispaniola, but he died unexpectedly soon after.