This is a MapHist list message (when you hit 'reply' you're replying to the whole list) o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o + o +
Dear all, Just two short notes on the comments made by Paulo. 1. Yes, there are two distinct aspects to consider in the degree of latitude issue: the political (or planetary, like Paulo says) and the navigational. Paradoxically, they seem to be unrelated, as the pacific coexistance of the different standards in the Iberian cartography throughout the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries proves emphatically. On the other hand, I'm not aware of any serious attempt to settle the question in scientific terms. On the contrary, the experimental value of 20 Castillian leagues found by Antonio de Nebrija ca. 1510 (which is quite close to the exact value) was apparently ignored by cartographers and polititians of both sides. Of course, the distance between Europe and the Moluccas was also an important element of information, maybe the preponderant one. I'm not aware of the rationale behind the Saragossa decison but probably it was based on this last element. 2. It is true that charts were manipulated by both Spain and Portugal during the sixteenth century, most especially in the representation of South America. But I see no signs of it either in the Cantino planisphere or in Pedro Reinel's chart of ca. 1504. This applies to the depictions of Brazil (the stretch of the coast visited by Cabral, where astronomical observations were made), Newfoundland and Greenland (please see all details in the thesis). In this case, I think that the evidence given by the sources (the charts) should always prevail over our a-priori assumptions... As for the mathematical methods, they are nothing more than powerful tools that help us unveiling the meaning of those sources. Joaquim Alves Gaspar
<<winmail.dat>>
_______________________________________________ MapHist: E-mail discussion group on the history of cartography hosted by the Faculty of Geosciences, University of Utrecht. The statements and opinions expressed in this message are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the University of Utrecht. The University of Utrecht does not take any responsibility for the views of the author. List Information: http://www.maphist.nl Maphist mailing list Maphist@geo.uu.nl http://mailman.geo.uu.nl/mailman/listinfo/maphist
