12. Brion, Masque of Italy, p. 83; and Hibbert, Biography, pp. 36–48.
13. Hibbert, Biography, pp. 36–40.
14. Brion, Masque of Italy, p. 83. See also Mas Latric, Commerce et expeditions militaire Collection des Documents inedits, vol. 3 (Paris: 1880).
15. Hutton, Venice and Venetia, pp. 30–41. Electa (authors Eugenia Bianchi, Nadia Righi, and Maria Cristina Terzaghi) has produced a beautifully illustrated guide, Piazza San Marco and Museums, from which I have extensively quoted. 63 shows the world map in the map room of the Doges’ Palace. See descriptions in Hibbert, Biography, pp. 57–58.
16. Brion, Masque of Italy, with a different translation, p. 84; Norwich, Venice See also Peter Lauritzen, Venice (New York 1978), p. 87.
17. F. M. Rogers, The Travels of an Infante, Dom Pedro of Portugal (Cambridge, Mass.: arvard University Press, 1961), pp. 45–48, 325.
18. Hall, Empires of the Monsoon, pp. 88, 124.
19. Hutton, Venice and Venetia, pp. 261, 127. (Vittore Pisano). Olschki, p. 101.
20. Olschki, “Asiatic Exoticism,” p. 105, n. 69.
21. Origo, “Domestic Enemy.”
(Subsidiary Notes for Chapter 7)
a) Pisanello’s Drawings in Venice and Florence 1419–1438
Antonio di Bartolomeo Pisano, (later known as Pisanello), was born probably in Verona before 1395. He was painting murals in the Doges’ Palace before 1419 in association with or in succession to Gentile de Fabriano. In 1432 he was painting in Rome at Saint John Lateran, and between 1432 and 1438 he painted in Florence. He also painted in Mantua for the Gonzagas, in Ferrara for the Este family, and for the Catholic Church in Verona. He made medals for the Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund of Luxembourg and for the Byzantine emperor John VIII Palaeologus (who attended the Council of Florence in 1438). Pisanello is noted for the power of his sketches from real life. He was one of the greatest exponents of drawing of all time—in the view of some experts almost of the caliber of Leonardo da Vinci. Many consider the quality of his drawings exceeds that of his paintings.
b) The Mongolian General
The Louvre keeps a box of comments for each of Pisanello’s sketches. I have read the comments of various experts who have attempted an explanation of where and when Pisanello saw the Mongolian general or whether he saw another sketch or portrait from which he copied. The various opinions are collated and refuted one by one by “D” in a five-page opinion entitled “Pisanello: Quatre têtes d’hommes coiffés d’un bonnet, de profile ou de trois quarts,” which includes a bibliography of the twelve experts. I assume D was an expert working at the Louvre; his or her opinion is on our website. As may be seen, D does not consider that the Mongol general was part of the entourage of the Byzantine or Holy Roman Emperor and is unable to offer a solution as to where Pisanello saw him. D also advances an opinion on the second Mongol, whom, as he rightly says, has a retroussé nose.
c) Pisanello’s Mandarin Hat
On the 1434 website’s extended notes (chap. 7) is a portrait of a wealthy Chinese in a hat (Bulletin of the Metropolitan Museum of Art 15 (Jan. 1920), as reported in JSTOR). He wears a typical mandarin hat—black with flaps at the side and front (the front flap can only be clearly seen by viewing the original). These hats are very distinctive, shown in many Chinese paintings of the Ming dynasty and reproduced on the PBS documentary 1421. They were not worn by any other peoples than Chinese, as far as I am aware. So despite the retroussé nose, in my opinion the figure beneath the Mongol general can only be a mandarin.
d) Pisanello’s Dragon-Carrying Ship
This dragon has three claws. In China in the Ming dynasty, five-clawed dragons were for the emperor’s use; the imperial family and courtiers were granted four claws or fewer. This drawing, therefore, accords with a dragon ornament owned by a Chinese courtier.
e) Pisanello’s Drawing of “Macchina idraulica” (Deganhart 147)
As far as I am aware, this is the first European drawing of a piston pump—preceding Taccola and Leonardo. In the 1430s the piston pump was unknown in Europe but had been in use in China for two hundred years. Pisanello’s drawing also shows a bucket pump called in Italy tartari.
f) Pisanello’s Drawings of Guns with Triple Barrels (Deganhart 139)
Triple-barreled guns were unknown in Italy when Pisanello made this sketch but were in use in China (see chap. 19).
Pisanello’s Decorated Gun Barrels (140)
These accord with Francesco di Giorgio’s, drawn two decades later.
Pisanello’s Portrait of a Wounded Soldier (133)
This is a Mongol.
Pisanello’s Painting of the Mongol General
Note his rich silk clothes—mere “Archers” would not have worn these.
Other Pisanello Drawings, Not Yet Analyzed by the Author
Water Buffaloes: Louvre, inv 2409
Tartar pallet pump and water wheels: Louvre, 2284, 2285
Cold Desert Camels: Louvre, inv 2476
Ship with Carved Hull: Louvre, inv 2282 to 2288
Chapter 8: Paolo Toscanelli’s Florence
1. I strongly suspect that Brunelleschi and Toscanelli also met the Chinese ambassador and Chinese mathematicians and astronomers in Zhu Di’s reign between 1408 and 1413. Chinese records show Zhu Di’s emissaries did travel to Rome and Florence in that period, but I have been unable to find any Italian records in support or to give corroborative evidence. Papal records at this time were in a complete mess because of the schism. The Vatican library has no record of Eugenius IV records while in exile in Florence and Ferrara. I have been unable to find records of the Avignon papacy and have not searched records of the Spanish pope. My guess is that if the records eventually turn up, they will be among those of the Council of Constance (1415–1418), when the triple papacy came to an end and Martin V became sole pope.
Brunelleschi could have obtained his knowledge of spherical trigonometry from the Arabs and of reversible hoists and pinhole cameras from the Romans—but all this and articulated barges and “Chinese” methods of improving mortar at the same time?
2. I have read many books on the Renaissance, as may be expected. Some are brilliantly written. My favorites, from which I have quoted extensively, are: Plumb, The Horizon Book of the Renaissance (see pp. 14–19 for Italy after the fall of Rome); Hibbert, Rise and Fall (see pp. 32–39 for economic growth and emergence of the Medici’s); Hollingsworth, Patronage (see pp. 48–55 for Cosimo de’ Medici’s patronage of Renaissance scholars and in particular the San Lorenzo sacristy); Bruckner, Renaissance Florence (see pp. 1–6 for Florence’s economic development, notably the River Arno, pp. 42–43 for the role of slaves in economic development; and pp. 216–18 for early communication among social groups); Carmichael, Plague and the Poor (see pp. 122–26 for control of the plague by means of printed edicts); and Jardine, Worldly Goods (for spreading Renaissance ideas). The next two paragraphs are summaries and extensive quotes from these authors. Their descriptions are extraordinarily vivid and so revealing that in my view it would be a waste of everyone’s time for me to try and improve on them.
3. Plumb, Horizon Book of the Renaissance, jacket copy.
4. This paragraph is a summary of Plumb’s magnificent book, with many direct quotes. Plumb, it seems to me, has brilliantly highlighted the reasons for divisions of Europe after the fall of Rome. Horizon Book of the Renaissance.
5. Bernard Berenson, Essays in the Study of Sienese Painting.
6. Leonard Olschki, “Asiatic Exoticism.”
7. Ibid., p. 105
8. Hibbert, Rise and Fall; Plumb, Horizon Book of the Renaissance; Hollingsworth, Patronage; Bruckner, Renaissance Florence.
9. Origo, Merchant of Prato.
10. Rise and Fall; and Hibbert, Hollingsworth, Patronage.
11. Timothy J. McGee, “Dinner Music for the Florentine Signoria, 1350–1450, Speculum, 74, no. 1 (Jan. 1999): 95, Viewable on JSTOR.
12. Rise and Fall; and Hibbert, Hollingsworth, Patronage, pp. 48–55.
/>
13. Hollingsworth, Patronage, p. 50.
14. Brown, “Laetentur Caeli.”
15. Beck, “Leona Battista Alberti.” Toscanelli cometary observations also in G. Celoria, Sulle osservazioni de comete Fatte da Paulo dal Pozzi Toscanelli (Milan: 1921).
Chapter 9: Toscanelli Meets the Chinese Ambassador
1. Markham, Journals of Christopher Columbus
The overwhelming majority of historians consider the letters to Canon Martins and Christopher Columbus to be genuine. In 1905 the French historian Henri Vignaud made an attempt to say that they were forged but as far as I know, no other scholar has supported Vignaud. Recent studies described in chapter 12 show that Toscanelli’s writing on his cometary observations is the same as the letters. Moreover, every statement in Toscanelli’s letters can be substantiated—for the reasons in chapter 11. If Toscanelli’s letters were forgeries, then Waldseemüller’s “Green Globe,” and map of 1507 would be as well. A host of academics down the centuries and across Europe would have to be party to the forgery. The middle part of Toscanelli’s letter to Canon Martins has been found by Harrisse in the Biblioteca Colombina in Seville. This is a copy made by Columbus himself of the letter from Toscanelli to Canon Martins.
2. Johnson, The Papacy, pp. 18, 100–3, 106, 115–19, 125.
3. G Lorenzetti, Venice and Its Lagoon, pp. 623–58, (map at 660): Palaces 15, 32, 35, 40, 42, 43, 66, and 84 (numbers as shown on map).
4. Same as note 1
5. These words were frequently interchangeable in medieval Europe.
6. See detailed notes for chapter 13 that summarise the cooperation between Toscanelli, Alberti, Nicholas of Cusa, and Regiomontanus. For Uzielli, See Zinner, Regiomontanus, p. 59.
7. Ibid.
8. Mr A. G. Self and F. H. H. Guillemard
See notes 6 to 12 for chapter 10
9. I have seen Schöner’s 1520 globe in the basement of the German Historical Museum, Nuremberg, courtesy of the curator. It is not on public display, unlike Behaim’s 1492 globe, also in that museum.
Chapter 10: Columbus’s and Magellan’s World Maps
1. Vignaud, Toscanelli and Columbus, pp. 322, 323.
2. Ibid.
3. “In the time of Eugenius.”
4. Zinner, Regiomontanus, reporting Uzielli, p. 59.
5. Pigafetta, Magellan’s Voyage, p. 58; and Pigafetta and Miller, Straits of Magellan.
6. Pigafetta, and 1421, pp. 169–77. ii—Magellan / King of Spain Contract March 22nd, 158—“Magellan’s terrifying circumnavigation of the globe—Over the edge of the world” Bergreen, Harper Perennial, New York, 2004, p. 34.
7. Pigafetta, Magellan’s Voyage, p. 56.
8. Ibid., p. 49; Guillemard, Ferdinand Magellan, p. 189; and Bergreen, Over the Edge, p. 32: “[Magellan] intended to go by Cape St. Mary which we call Rio de la Plata, and from thence to follow the coast until he hit the Strait.”
9. Pigafetta and Miller, Straits of Magellan; Griffin, Portsmouth, 1884, p. 7; and Menzles, 1421, 169–177.
10. Galvão, Tratado; and Antonio Cordeyro, Historia Insula (Lisbon: 1717), quoted in H. Harrisse, The Discovery of North America, (1892), p. 51.
11. Pigafetta, Magellan’s Voyage, pp. 49, 50, 57; Menzies, 1421, pp. 169–177; and Guillemard, Ferdinand Magellan, p. 189.
12. Guillemard, Ferdinand Magellan, p. 191. I am indebted to Mr. A. G. Self for introducing me to Guillemard’s book.
13. “Hunc in midu terre iam quadri partite conuscitet; sunt tres prime partes continentes quarta est insula cu omni quaque mare circudata cinspiciat,” Martin Waldseemüller, Cosmographiae introductio.
14. Orejon et al., Pleitos Columbinos, 8 vols. and Schoenrich, Legacy of Columbus.
15. I am indebted to Greg Coelho, who brought this to my attention on March 20, 2003. Original agreements, April 17 and 30, 1492. The decree confirming the favors is in the Archivo General de Indias, Seville. Confirmation came in the capitulations of Burgos, April 23 and 30, 1497.
16. Menzles, 1421, pp. 425–427; and Fernández-Armesto, Columbus, p. 75.
17. The Times Atlas of World Exploration, p. 41. Available on www.1434.tv.
18. Fernández-Armesto, Columbus, p. 76.
19. Marcel Destombes, Une carle interessant des Études Colombiennes conservé a Modena (1952), and Davies, “Behaim, Martellus.” See also Ao Vietor, “A Pre-Columbian Map of the World c. 1489,” Imago Mundi 18: p. 458.
20. Correspondence between Dr. Aurelio Aghemo and Marcella Menzies. In summer 2006 on www.1434.tv.
21. Zinner, Regiomontanus.
22. Schöner’s 1520 globe is in the German National Museum, Nuremberg, where it may be viewed courtesy of the curator. It is not on public display. The Behaim globe of 1492 (which does not show the Americas) is on public display there.
23. J. J. O’Connor and E. F. Robertson, “Johann Muller Regiomontanus,” website, google “Johann Muller Regiomontanus.”
24. In 1656 Emperor Ferdinand III of Austria purchased the Library of George Fugger, which included Schöner’s library. The emperor gave the collection to the Hofbibliothek in Vienna, where it remains. The collection contains a chart of stars only visible in the Southern Hemisphere, published before Magellan’s circumnavigation.
25. Zinner, Regiomontanus, pp. 109–39, 211–37, 242–44. Lost works in trade list pp. 115–17.
Zinner (Regiomontanus) Folio 2, Leipzig 1938, pp. 89–103.
26. Guillemard, Ferdinand Magellan.
27. Pinzón was really the organizer of Columbus’s 1492 expedition. See Bedini, Columbus Encyclopedia, vol. 2. S. V. “Arias Perez Pinzón.” The History Co-operative. Seville Pinzón’s eldest son testified that in 1492 a friend of his father, employed in the Vatican Library, had given him a copy of a document showing that Japan could be reached by sailing westward across the Atlantic. Impressed, Pinzón showed Columbus the Vatican document and persuaded Columbus to visit the Catholic sovreigns once again. This time he was successful in obtaining their backing.
Chapter 11: The World Maps of Johannes Schöner, Martin Waldseemüller, and Admiral Zheng He
1. This shows the Americas as Waldseemueller drew them on a flat piece of paper which he copied from a globe.
2. At this stage I had no evidence Waldseemüller had copied from a globe, although my experiments had shown he must have done.
3. The exhibition was to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the publication of Waldseemüller’s 1507 map. Please see the 1434 website, www.1434.tv, for a reproduction of Waldseemüller’s world map and for Dr. Ronsin’s description in French of how Waldseemüller obtained it.
Chapter 12: Toscanelli’s New Astronomy
1. The Catholic Encyclopedia, S. V. “China: Foreign Relations,” http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03663b.htm. See also 1434 website, www.1434.tv.
2. Tai Peng Wang, “Zheng He’s Delegation.”
3. Ibid.
4. Ibid. See also Zheng Xing Lang, Zhongxi Jiaotong Chiliao Huibian (Collected historical sources of the history between China and the West), vol. 1, chap. 6, pp. 331 et seq.)
5. Pinturicchio painting can be seen on the 1434 website, www.1434.tv. Age of the Renaissance. Borgia Apartments of the Palazzi Pontifici, in the Vatican.
6. Tai Peng Wang, (V) “Zheng He’s Delegation.”
7. Tai Peng Wang, “Zheng He, Wang Dayvan.” Tai produces evidence that Yuan navigators had mastered astronavigation sufficiently to cross oceans. See Gong Zhen, Xiyang Banguo Zhi (Notes on barbarian countries in the western seas) (Beijing: Zhounghua bookshop, ). See also Xi Fei Long, Yank Xi, Tang Xiren, eds. Zhongguo Jishu Shi, Jiaotong Cluan (The history of Chinese science and technology), vol. on Transportation (Beijing: Science Publisher, 2004), pp. 395–96; and W. Scot Morton and Charlton M. Lewis, China: Its History and Culture (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2005), p. 128.
8. Jane Jervis, “Toscanelli’s Cometary Observations: Some New Evidence” Annali Del Instituto e Museo Di Storia Della Scienza Di Firenze II (1997).
9. Right Ascension
—its significance, a Chinese method not Arabic nor Babylonian method of celestial coordinates.
10. Gadol, Leon Battista Alberti: p. 196. See Zinner, Regiomontanus, p. 58.
Chapter 13: The Florentine Mathematicians: Toscanelli, Alberti, Nicholas of Cusa, and Regiomontanus
1. Zinner, Regiomontanus, pp. 29, 41, 52–59, 64–65.
2. Ibid., pp. 44, 48, 71, 73–78, 83, 104, 214–515; The S. V. “Suggest.”
3. Compare with Regiomontanus, “De Triangulis,” in Zinner, Regiomontonus. p. 55–60.
4. Zinner, Regiomontenus, pp. 44, 48, 71–73, 78, 83, 104, 214–515.
5. Zinner, Regiomontanus, p. 125; and The Catholic Encyclopedia, S. V. “Nicholas of Cusa.”
6. Ernst Zinner. I have extensively quoted from his majestic work, Regiomontanus. Where Zinner’s opinion differs from other experts, I have used Zinner’s. My only disagreement with Zinner is with his opinion of which precedent Regiomontanus relied upon for his ephemeris tables. Zinner did not know of Guo Shoujing’s work; if he had he, in my view, would have come to the inevitable conclusion that Regiomontanus followed Guo Shoujing.
Regiomontanus’s principal works mentioned in chapter 13 are discussed in Zinner as follows: almanacs: pp. 8–12, 21–37, 40, 85, 104–9, 112–25, 141–49, 153; calendars: pp. 42, 50, 112–42 (see also e-mails between Bodleian Library at Oxford University and author, on www.1434.tv); compass: pp. 16–20; De tranigulis: pp. 51–65; ephemeris tables: pp. 108–28, (see also e-mails between Bodleian Library at Oxford University and author, on www.1434.tv); Epitome of Ptolomy: pp. 2, 29, 41–52, 59; instruments: pp. 135–36, 180–84; maps: pp. 113–16, 148; obliquity of ecliptic: pp. 23, 25, 38, 48, 53–69. See also Johannes Regiomontanus Calendar Printed in Venice of Aug. 1482, on 1434 website University of Glasgow, 1999.
7. Zinner, Regiomontanus, pp. 1–30, 32, 36–56, 76–78.
8. Ibid., pp. 24, 36, 58–60, 72–77.
9. Ibid., pp. 117–25.
1434 Page 30