Page 424 - Lanzarotto Malocello from Italy to the Canary Islands

424 from Italy to the Canary Islands

azzarotto Malocello’s undertaking, which he carried out in the
first years of the 14th century, is part of a push of Genoese, Portu-
guese, and Andalusian sailors and tradesmen to reach the sources
of silks, spices, perfumes, pearls, and gold in the East. To this aim, these
men circumnavigated the African continent, whose Southern extension was
not yet known. That undertaking follows by a few years the unlucky attempt
made by the Vivaldi brothers, also hailing from Genoa, who had set out
onto the African route with their galleys, too light for Atlantic sailing.
Lazzarotto Malocello’s almost twenty-year-long stop-over on the island
of Lanzarote, which has taken its name from him, testifies to his attempt to
conquer the first of the Canary Islands that one encounters coming from
the Iberian Peninsula, in order to transform it into a foothold and a basis
for potential subsequent explorations along the coast of Africa. That at-
tempt also represents the upshot of the discovery and exploitation of the
northeastern trade wind, which blows regularly from the African coast and
facilitates sailing for ships coming from the southern parts of the Iberian
peninsula. This discovery is testified by the subsequent regular and safe
navigation by both Nicoloso da Recco and Christopher Columbus. Laz-
zarotto and Nicoloso’s voyages to the Canaries constitute an important
antecedent for the transatlantic navigation of Christopher Columbus, a
“genius of the ocean” and the greatest navigator of all times.

Dott. Alessandro Pellegrini
Journalist and writer