Why America and not Colombia? Who is America named after? Who called America America Why America is called that.
Why is America called America? Don't rush to answer. There are several versions. It is possible that the one you know is not the most truthful. Consider all available today.
America was named after Amerigo Vespucci?
Truly life is not fair. America was discovered by Christopher Columbus, but not named Columbia, but America in honor of the man who made no effort to discover it. But this is only if the most popular version that America got its name in honor of Amerigo Vespucci is correct.
Who is this Amerigo Vespucci? He was born on March 9, 1454 in Florence, perhaps the most advanced city in Italy at that time. Florence was the birthplace of the Renaissance, the center of science and creativity. Florentine banks and trading houses created a network of commercial institutions throughout Europe. Amerigo was the third son of wealthy entrepreneur Sir Nastagio Vespucci. He received his name in honor of his grandfather. In general, the name Amerigo is of ancient Germanic origin. It came to Italy in the early Middle Ages and originally sounded like Emmerich, literally "ruling over the world." The best Slavic analogue of Emmerich is the name Miroslav.
Amerigo was brought up at the Dominican monastery of San Marco, but, as an adult, he decided not to bother himself with a university education, as his older brothers did, but went to work in the trading house of the Medici family. One of the branches of the Medici house was in Cadiz, the Spanish city from where Christopher Columbus set off on his famous voyage. The management of the branch was under suspicion of theft, so that in 1492, at the same time that the small flotilla of Columbus set off to meet the discoveries of new lands, Amerigo arrived in Cadiz as an inspector. In 1495, he was entrusted with the business of his compatriot Gianotto Berardi, who had entered into an agreement with the Castilian crown to sell 12 ships to sail across the ocean.
The expedition explored the northern coast of South America, discovered several islands and Lake Maracaibo. In general, not bad results for studying geography, but from a commercial point of view - a complete failure. They got some pearls, some gold, and to patch up holes in the budget, they busied themselves with capturing Indians to sell them into slavery. The matter was complicated by a conflict with Christopher Columbus, who met the Ojeda expedition with obvious hostility.
Participation in the voyage of Ojeda is only the most famous episode in the research biography of the Florentine. Judging by his own letters, he took part in four overseas travels. A total of six such letters have survived. Four of them were published in 1507 in Latin as an appendix to the world map of the German geographer Martin Waldseemüller. They told in detail about the discoveries, but, most importantly, they reported that the discovered lands were not Asia, but the hitherto unknown New World.
Later researchers were usually jealous of the fact that the name Amerigo was extended to the discoveries made by Columbus, therefore they argued that Vespucci exaggerated his role in the letters, that the first two letters were not written by him at all, but were compiled on the basis of spy reports houses of the Medici, or that they contained information stolen from the Spanish pilot Juan de la Cosa, a member of the same Ojeda expedition. Maybe the researchers are right about something. But let's look at why the published letters played such an outstanding role.
Did Christopher Columbus know that he was not in Asia? Probably yes! In his epistolaries, he refrained from mentioning the Asian shores and called the lands he had discovered simply new discovered lands. But Columbus' messages were not for the general public. In Spain, they were not going to hide the fact that discoveries were made. But they were in no hurry to talk about them in detail. After all, this information was part of commercial and government interests. 16 years after the discoveries of Columbus, in Europe there was a clear lack of information about the lands in the west.
The letters of Amerigo Vespucci for the first time vividly described the New World and were accepted by many as a revelation. Among the admirers of the Florentine was the professional geographer Waldseemüller. There is nothing strange in this. Moreover, after the publication of the letter, they were highly appreciated by the Spanish king Ferdinand. In 1508, he appointed Vespucci as the chief navigator of Spain with a good salary, and he even poured out an order of coins to open a nautical school.
It is believed that the name America appears on the Waldseemüller map for the first time. “Another fourth of the world was discovered by Americus Vesputius,” wrote Waldseemüller. “And I don’t understand why anyone should justifiably forbid it to be called American, sort of like Americus Land or America, from its discoverer Americus, a man of insight.” Well, Waldseemuller obviously got excited, calling Vespucci the discoverer. But, in any case, it becomes clear where the legs grow from. Amerigo Vespucci made the first detailed description, came to the conclusion that the new continent was not Asia, and as a result got his name on the map.
Everything seems simple and clear, if not for skeptics. They argue that Waldseemüller's words are misunderstood. He did not name America after Amerigo at all, but made an attempt to explain why it is called that. The name America, they say, predates Waldseemüller's map. Is that really true? Let's look at their versions of the appearance of this name.
How did an Italian give the Welsh name to America?
John Cabot in America. Picture from a book from a hundred years ago
Many British and Canadians believe that the name America comes from the name of Richard America, sheriff of the English city of Bristol. This version appeared in 1911 thanks to the Bristol local historian Alfred Hadd. He found in the Bristol Chronicle a curious entry under the year 1497: "On the day of Saint John the Baptist the land of America was found."
At the end of the 15th century, Bristol was one of the most commercially active ports in the northern seas of Europe. Bristol merchants, fishermen and pirates sailed to the Baltic Sea, to the shores of Norway and Iceland. In 1496, the fifty-ton ship Matthew left Bristol Harbor to the west. His targets were Japan and China. The ship was caught in a storm and was forced to return. The next year, the Matthew sailed west again. This time successfully. On June 24, 1497, the team landed on the opposite coast of the Atlantic Ocean. It is believed that this was the coast of the Canadian peninsula of Nova Scotia or the island of Newfoundland. The English expedition was led by the Italian Giovanni Cabotto, or John Cabot.
About the date and place of birth of John Cabot is known about as much as about his compatriot Christopher Columbus. That is almost nothing. The conditional year of birth is 1450. Some researchers believe that Cabot saw the light in Venice, others - that in Genoa, and others - that in the Kingdom of Naples. Cabot himself considered himself a citizen of the Republic of Genoa. In 1490, he went bankrupt and fled from Genoa to Spanish Valencia, where he contracted to build a port. Apparently, he was still the same builder, because the port was never built.
John was greatly impressed by the news that Columbus's 1492 expedition had reached unknown lands in the west. However, why unknown? Cabot, like most of his contemporaries, believed that Columbus had reached Asia. He immediately drew up his own project for sailing through the northern seas. The meaning of Cabot's idea was that the farther north, the parallels are shorter. Consequently, the northern route to the west was shorter and more economical than the southern one. In theory, the Genoese was supposed to submit his project for consideration to the monarchs of Spain and Portugal. Alfred Hudd writes about this, but there is no clear information about Cabot's requests.
In 1495, John Cabot and his family moved to London, where, with the support of the bankers of Florence, he received a royal patent allowing navigation across the Atlantic Ocean. The expedition was financed by private entrepreneurs - Italian and Bristol merchants. This is where Cabot was supposed to meet Sheriff Richard America. Americ came from Wales and belonged to the Welsh aristocratic family of Ap-Merayk. Actually, America is an English-language distortion of a Welsh surname. In our country, the position of sheriff is usually associated with American films, where the sheriff is a local police officer. In England, the sheriff was the representative of the king, who was responsible for finances and was in charge of collecting taxes. As a rule, he did not disdain his own entrepreneurial career, since working under the royal roof is always more pleasant than on his own. Some researchers report that Richard America was the owner of "Matthew". They have no evidence, but such a turn of affairs is quite possible. In any case, the sheriff had to take part in the preparation of the expedition.
I must say that, like all Italians of the Renaissance, John Cabot was a vain and extravagant man. As a doctor, he invited a barber to the ship, to whom he promised that he would name some island after him. It seems that he made such promises not only to him. It is not surprising if the land he discovered on June 24, 1497, as a result, received the name of the Bristol sheriff.
Unfortunately, there is not much information about the voyage of John Cabot across the ocean. It appears to have been a commercial failure. However, upon his return, Cabot received a warm welcome from the king. As a reward, he was given a lump sum of £10 and another £20 as an annual pension. To be clear, £5 at the time was considered a normal yearly wage for a laborer. Just ridiculous money when compared to how much Christopher Columbus and his descendants received. In 1498, Cabot again applied for a sailing patent and received it again. But the expedition of 1498 ended tragically for him. Neither he nor his companions returned.
The Bristol Chronicle was completed in 1506, and even if the entry under 1497 was made at the close of writing, it is older than Waldseemüller's map by about a year. Therefore, the version of the local historian Alfred Hadd looks like a solid objection to the supporters of the traditional version of Amerigo Vespucci.
By the way, another curious fact is connected with the swimming of John Cabot. From the end of the 16th century, in European literature, the Indians of North America began to be called redskins. This may seem strange, given that the skin of the Indians is not at all red, neither Christopher Columbus nor Amerigo Vespucci reported anything about this. The reason was the work of the English travel historian Richard Haklat. He used information from the expedition of Cabot, who visited Newfoundland, inhabited by Indians from the Beothuk tribe. It was the custom of the Beothuk to paint their skin with ocher, so that they appeared red-skinned. So the British created a nickname for all Indians. Probably the same thing could happen with the name America.
Scandinavian roots of the name America?
Christopher Columbus and his companions were not the first Europeans to enter the Americas. Thanks to the records of Scandinavian folklore and archeological finds of the last century, we know that the first Europeans in America were the Scandinavian Vikings. In 982, an Icelander of Norwegian origin, Erik Raudi, discovered Greenland, where two Scandinavian colonies appeared. Around the year 1000, his son Leif reached neighboring America. The Greenlanders twice made attempts to colonize the North American coast, but did not succeed in this due to clashes with the locals.
In the 15th century, the Greenlandic settlement was finally abandoned. About the mysterious disappearance of the Greenland Vikings. For some time, the memory of the Vikings in America was erased. However, we have preserved the names that the Vikings gave to the American shores they discovered - Vinland, Helluland and Markland. In the thirties of the XX century, Scandinavian scientists tried to attribute the name America to their ancestors. They argued that in the translation from the ancient Scandinavian languages, Omerike means something like "far beyond" or "Eric's property." And of course they found explanations for how this name could get on the Waldseemüller map and in the Bristol Chronicle. The Scandinavian peoples had strong ties with Germany and England.
The Scandinavian hypothesis is good in that it reconciles the first two versions to some extent, but it is bad because the word "Omerike" is first found in the texts of those who put it forward, that is, in the 20th century.
Did Columbus really give the name to America?
In Latin America, a popular version is that the name America came to Europe from Indian languages. It was first expressed by the French geologist Jules Marcoux, who lived in the 19th century. He discovered on the territory of modern Nicaragua a mountain called America. The Mesquito Indians reported that this was the name of one of the tribes that previously lived near the mountain. Marco decided that while exploring the Caribbean, Christopher Columbus might have heard the name and given it to the Central American mainland.
The version is interesting, because it recognizes the primacy of Christopher over Amerigo. Christopher discovered and Christopher gave the name. Let not in honor of himself, but he used a local word. The problem with this version is that in none of the sources we have Columbus ever used the name America.
Text: Dmitry Samokhvalov
Illustrations courtesy of wikimedia
If you have something to add on the topic, feel free to comment.
If you ask the question, after whom America is named, many will answer without hesitation - Amerigo Vespucci. But is it really so? Who actually discovered the "New World"? Historians have been looking for answers to these questions for a long time. Let's figure out who named it and who first discovered it?
historical injustice
It is very difficult to answer who America is named after. Indeed, for many centuries, some of the facts were hidden, and some documents were lost. However, very often in print media you can find articles that talk about historical injustice. According to many, the discoverer of the new continent was However, his name was never immortalized, and America was named after another traveler.
But at the same time, experts say that Columbus did not discover the New World. And there is no injustice. The purpose of the expeditions of Christopher Columbus was the search for the West Indies. For this discovery, he received a laurel branch. The traveler was looking for new trade routes so that ships could not sail past Asia, which was restless at that time. So why Columbus? He didn't call America America. And this is a fact.
Amerigo Vespucci
After Columbus, there were still a lot of travelers who sought to discover new lands. Amerigo Vespucci followed him. He traveled frequently along the eastern and northern coasts of the new continent. It is worth noting that the maps of Christopher Columbus practically did not change anything in the maps of Magellan. As for the documents, they made it possible to form an accurate picture of America as a new continent.
It is worth noting that the travelers were good friends. Amerigo Vespucci often helped Columbus equip expeditions. According to contemporaries, this man was smart, kind, honest and talented. Thanks to him, not only notes about new lands were created, but also about their flora and fauna, the starry sky, and the customs of the local population. Many believe that some facts have been slightly exaggerated.
What traveler is America named after?
Amerigo Vespucci never aspired to take the place of a friend. He did not claim the laurels of Christopher Columbus. After the new continent was named, the sons of the discoverer did not even make claims to Amerigo. At one time, Vespucci proposed to call the discovered continent "New World". However, it was not his fault that Martin Waldseemülle from Lorraine, a cartographer, announced Amerigo as the discoverer of the fourth. This man was one of the best specialists of that time. It was to him that Vespucci handed over his works and all the materials. This fact influenced the choice of the final name for the continent. As a result, the "New World" became America.
After 30 years, this name became official and generally recognized. It was indicated even in the maps of Mercator and extended to the lands located in the north. But this is only one version of who America was named after. There are other versions of the story.
Another version
So who is America named after? There are several versions. The latter is even documented. Together with the expeditions of Vespucci and Columbus, another navigator, Giovanni Caboto, a native of Barcelona, set off several times to the shores of the new continent. His travels were financed by the patron Ricardo Américo. Cabot's expedition sailed to the shores of Labrador. The team of this traveler set foot on the lands of the new continent earlier than Amerigo Vespucci. Cabot is the first navigator who made an accurate map of the coast of North America: from Nova Scotia to Newfoundland.
Experts suggest that the new lands were named after the philanthropist Ricardo Americo. In addition, there are official marks in the Bristol calendar, which date back to 1497. The documents indicate that merchants from Barcelona found new lands that arrived there on the ship "Matthew". This event took place on June 24 - the day of St. John the Baptist.
Or maybe everything was different?
Some historians believe that America was discovered long before the voyages of Columbus, Vespucci and Cabot. The first mention of new lands, in their opinion, is subsidized by the 4th century BC. The Greeks and Romans have been here. There are myths among the Aztecs, which speak of bearded white gods who arrived from the east. However, apart from the legends, nothing remains.
There is also a version that the Vikings were the first to set foot on the lands of America, and this happened about 500 years before the travels of Columbus. As proof of this, documents are cited that speak of several settlements that were left in Greenland.
Finally
Now you know who America is named after. There is evidence that Vespucci changed his nicknames and began to call himself after the new continent. All these versions are proven and have the right to exist. It follows that no one offended Christopher Columbus. After all, America was discovered before him.
Not at all in honor of the Italian merchant, navigator and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci. America is named after Richard America, a Welsh merchant from Bristol.
Americus financed the second transatlantic expedition of John Cabot - the English name for the Italian navigator Giovanni Caboto - whose voyages in 1497 and 1498 provided the groundwork for subsequent British claims to Canada. In 1484, Cabot moved from Genoa to London and received permission from Henry VII himself to search for unexplored lands of the West.
In May 1497, on his small ship, the Matthew, Cabot reached the shores of Labrador, becoming the first officially registered European to set foot on American soil - two years earlier than Vespucci.
Cabot mapped the coast of North America from Nova Scotia to Newfoundland.
Being the main sponsor of the expedition, Richard America, of course, expected that the newly discovered lands would be named after him. The Bristol calendar has an entry for that year:
"... on the day of St. John the Baptist was found in the land of America by merchants from Bristol, who arrived on a ship from Bristol with the name "Matthew".
The recording seems to make it clear how things really were.
And although the author's manuscript of the calendar has not been preserved, there are a number of other documents of that time, where it is mentioned more than once. This is the first time in history that the word "America" has been used as the name of a new continent.
The earliest extant map using the same name is Martin Waldsmuller's 1507 large world map. However, it only applies to South America. In his notes, Waldsmuller suggests that "America" most likely comes from the Latin version of the name Amerigo Vespucci. It was Vespucci who discovered South America and mapped its coastline in 1500-1502.
It turns out that Waldsmuller did not know for sure and was simply trying to somehow explain the word that he met on other maps - including on the Cabot map. The only place where the term "America" was known and actively used was Bristol, a city that Waldsmuller, who lived in France, hardly ever visited. Moreover, in his world map of 1513, he already replaces the word "America" with "Terra Incognita" (Unknown Country (lat.)).
Amerigo Vespucci has never been to North America. All early maps of this country and trade with it were English. Moreover, Vespucci himself never used the name "America" for his discovery.
By the way, there are good reasons for this. New countries and continents have never been named after someone by the name of a person - only by his last name (Tasmania, Van Diemen's Land or the Cook Islands).
If an Italian explorer had consciously decided to name America after himself, it would have become the "Land of Vespucci" (or "Vespuccia").
You can find out more about this, as well as about many other things, on my telegram channel with selections of selected articles:
Not at all NOT in honor of the Italian merchant, navigator and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci. America is named after Richard America, a Welsh merchant from Bristol.
Americus financed the second transatlantic expedition of John Cabot - the English name for the Italian navigator Giovanni Caboto - whose voyages in 1497 and 1498 provided the groundwork for subsequent English claims to Canada. In 1484, Cabot moved from Genoa to London and received permission from Henry VII himself to search for unexplored lands of the West.
In May 1497, on his small ship, the Matthew, Cabot reached the shores of Labrador, becoming the first officially registered European to set foot on American soil - two years earlier than Vespucci.
Cabot mapped the coast of North America from Nova Scotia to Newfoundland.
Being the main sponsor of the expedition, Richard America, of course, expected that the newly discovered lands would be named after him. In the Bristol calendar we read the entry for that year:
"... on the day of St. John the Baptist was found in the land of America by merchants from Bristol who arrived on a ship from Bristol named "Matthew".
It seems to us that the record makes it clear how everything really happened.
And although the author's manuscript of the calendar has not been preserved, there are a number of other documents of that time, where it is mentioned more than once. This is the first time in history that the word "America" has been used as the name of a new continent.
The earliest extant map using the same name is Martin Waldsmuller's 1507 large world map. However, it only applies to South America. In his notes, Waldsmuller suggests that "America" most likely comes from the Latin version of the name Amerigo Vespucci. It was Vespucci who discovered South America and mapped its coastline in 1500-1502.
It turns out that Waldsmuller did not know for sure and was simply trying to somehow explain the word that he met on other maps - including on the Cabot map. The only place where the term "America" was known and actively used was Bristol, a city that Waldsmuller, who lived in France, hardly ever visited. Moreover, in his world map of 1513, he already replaces the word "America" with " Terra Incognita"(Unknown country (lat.)).
Amerigo Vespucci has never been to North America. All early maps of this country and trade with it were English. Moreover, Vespucci himself never used the name "America" for his discovery.
By the way, there are good reasons for this. New countries and continents have never been named after someone by the name of a person - only by his last name (Tasmania, Van Diemen's Land or the Cook Islands).
If an Italian explorer had consciously decided to name America after himself, it would have become the "Land of Vespucci" (or "Vespuccia").
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