Page 340 - Lanzarotto Malocello from Italy to the Canary Islands

340 from Italy to the Canary Islands

interest as soon as they arrived in Majorca, where they expected to sell
some merchandise.
In the spring of the year of the Fall of Acre, the two sailors from Genoa
(probably along with two other partners, Giacomo and Antonio Argilofi,
and several traders), sailed from Genoa towards the Indies with two gal-
leys provided by Tedisio Doria, the Allegranza and the Sant’Antonio, in
order to find a westward sea route that would lead from Europe to Asia.
In order to govern the two ships, the crew was made up of as many as
300 sailors. The galleys were supplied with water, food, and all that was
needed for a long voyage, and loaded with trading goods.

Ugolino Vivaldi and his brother Vadino were in command of the expe-
dition, which had been organized in conjunction with Tedisio Doria (who
belonged to a Ligurian noble ancient, powerful, and glorious family as any
royal dynasty) and with the support of the Ghibelline part of Genoa. It was
May 1291, and their purpose was going to India “by way of the Ocean Sea
and bringing back useful things”.
The Vivaldi brothers belonged to two important families of old and
rough navigators and traders.
The maritime expedition was prepared with great diligence, with a
wealth of equipment and supplies. Especially due to the length and des-
tination of its trip, it aroused the deepest interest in the City of Genoa,
although it was well accustomed to derring-do by land and sea.
After all, Italians and the Genoese in particular possessed the ultimate
maritime knowledge at the time and were kings of the seas and instructors
to the world for over five hundred years.
The navigational charts of the Middle Ages were the work of the Geno-
ese, who also had advanced astronomical and mathematical knowledge for
the times and made use of technical tools unknown to other nations.
The Vivaldi brothers set out to reach the Indies directly by coming out
of the Strait of Gibraltar, then called the Strait of Ceuta, thus abandoning
the usual ways that led to Persia, Tartary or India by means of long, slow,
and dangerous caravans starting out from one of the harbours of Egypt,
Syria, or the Black Sea.
This was revolutionary for the trading system of the Italian maritime
republics of the 13 century; furthermore, it involved the solution of very
th
important preliminary issues, including the circumnavigation of Africa,
which was commonly considered not only bold, but impossible.