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Niccolò Da Conti - Account of his voyages

Niccolò Da Conti - Account of his voyages: Encyclopedia II - Niccolò Da Conti - Account of his voyages

Throughout his travels, he had abandoned Christianity for Islam, and he was requested by Pope Eugenius IV, as a penance, to relate his travels to the papal secretary Poggio Bracciolini. Poggio's recording of Niccolò's account, made in 1439, constitute one of the best accounts of the East by a 15th century traveler. They were included in the Book IV of his "DeVarietate Fortunae" (The Vicissitudes of Fortune). Niccolò Da Conti's travels, which first circulated in manuscript form, are said to have profoundly influenced the European geo ...

Niccolò Da Conti: Encyclopedia II - Niccolò Da Conti - Account of his voyages

Niccolò Da Conti - Account of his voyages

Niccolò Da Conti's travels, which first circulated in manuscript form, are said to have profoundly influenced the European geographical understanding of the areas around the Indian Ocean during the middle of the 15th century. They were the first accounts to detail the Sunda Islands and Spice Islands since the accounts of Marco Polo. His accounts probably encouraged the European travels of exploration of the end of the century.

He also influenced 15th century cartography, as can be seen on the Genoese Map (1447-1457), and in the work of the mapmaker Fra Mauro, whose influential Fra Mauro map (1457) offered one of the clearest depiction of the Old World. In these two maps, many new location names, and several verbatim descriptions, were taken directly from Da Conti's account. The "trustworthy source" whom Fra Mauro quoted in writing in his map about the travels of a "junk from India" (lit. "Zoncho de India"), beyond the Cape of Good Hope into the Atlantic Ocean around 1420, confirming that it was possible to sail around Africa through the south, is thought to have been Niccolo Da Conti himself.

In his descriptions of Eastern Asia, Niccolo Da Conti matter-of-factly describes huge junks of about 2,000 tons, more than four times the size of 16th century Western galleons:

They make ships larger than ours, about 2,000 tons in size, with five sails and as many masts. The lower part is made of three decks, so as to better resist storms, which occur frequently. These ships are separated into several compartments, so that if one is touched during a storm, the others remain intact."

Niccolò Da Conti's book was used by several explorers and travels writers, such as Ludovico di Varthema (1510), and Antonio Pigafetta, who traveled around the world with Magellan's expedition.