This is total nonsense. The compass was in common usage for 200 years
before Columbus. In the first millennium, only one round trip from
Italy to the Middle East was possible each year. The Winter storms
and fog necessitated hauling ships for the Winter. By the late 13th
century, compasses (and charts annotated with compass courses) were so
common that trade flourished all year long. In Genoa, for example, 2
voyages per year were made compulsory by law.

Use of the compass spread to Spain and Portugal, and to Northern
Europe within a hundred years. In Portugal, Henry the Navigator
sponsored extensive exploration and colonization, as far out as the
Azores, 900 miles off shore. They also developed early celestial
navigation, primarily to map the coast of Africa to document its
colonization. (The "famous" school at Sagres appears to be a myth.)

As it turned out, Columbus was quite adept in using the compass, and
startlingly accurate in his dead reckoning (when you considered his
private logs) but he never mastered the more modern techniques. For
instance, he was unable to reliably determine the latitude of his
early discoveries.

Personally, I lean towards the theory that there were numerous
European voyages to America long before Columbus. Certainly, there
were fishing trips to the rich banks going on, and very likely there
were camps set up to dry and salt the fish and collect water. No one
would benefit from publicizing these ventures, so they continued in
secret. These trips certainly predated Columbus, perhaps by 100
years. Farley Mowat forwarded a theory that Newfoundland was
continuously colonized by Albans (from Scotland, related to the
Basque) from before Norse times, and were visited annually by European
ships.



Ed Conrad wrote:

The compass!

That was his secret..

Columbus was one of the first seafarers to realize that the compass,
invented hundreds of years before the days of King Ferdinand and Queen
Isabella, was not a child's toy, as almost everyone believed at the
time.
- much more nonsense snipped -

Jeff wrote:

This is total nonsense. The compass was in common usage for 200 years
before Columbus. In the first millennium, only one round trip from
Italy to the Middle East was possible each year. The Winter storms and
fog necessitated hauling ships for the Winter.

That, plus the poor standard of construction & maintenance
(partly due to the poor tools & materials) meant that the
vessels had to be rebuilt for every voyage.


.... By the late 13th
century, compasses (and charts annotated with compass courses) were so
common that trade flourished all year long.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portolan_chart

http://mundi.net/locus/locus_003/

http://www.princeton.edu/~his291/Portolan.html

One feature of the portolan chart not discussed so much is
that it was individualized... this was before printing, so
each chart was hand drawn... the time of a skilled
cartographer, with all the references needed, was very
valuable. One reason why mariners developed the habit of
sailing in fleets is that often only one captain would have
a chart.

Another factor is that each chart would have small coded
notes written on it by the navigator, referring to a
seperate book with entries on depth, current, weather,
landmarks on shore, bearings, etc etc. In other words, most
of the info we find on a modern chart was not on a portolan
chart, it was in the pilot's book.


Use of the compass spread to Spain and Portugal, and to Northern Europe
within a hundred years. In Portugal, Henry the Navigator sponsored
extensive exploration and colonization, as far out as the Azores, 900
miles off shore. They also developed early celestial navigation,
primarily to map the coast of Africa to document its colonization. (The
"famous" school at Sagres appears to be a myth.)

As it turned out, Columbus was quite adept in using the compass, and
startlingly accurate in his dead reckoning (when you considered his
private logs) but he never mastered the more modern techniques. For
instance, he was unable to reliably determine the latitude of his early
discoveries.


Nobody was able to reliably determine longitude with any
available technology in 1492. One thing Colombus did have,
which relatively few navigators of his era knew about, was a
table of compass deviation. It was thought by many (and
Columbus may have believed this too) that the magnetic
deviation from true north varied directly with longitude.
This actually is true for large section of earth & sea but
you have to know where the deviation begins to swing back again!

There are some accounts which credit Columus with having a
chart or map or pilot book from China, this would explain
why he kept thinking he knew where he was in the Caribbean
and also how he got financing from the monarchy of Spain.
Ferdinand and Isabella were more interested in uniting Spain
& driving out the Moors than in exploration. They had
already turned down other similar explorers and in fact
turned Columbus down, but then reconsidered. It's likely
that when they turned him down, he revealed just enough of
his secret book or chart to convince them to change their minds.


Personally, I lean towards the theory that there were numerous European
voyages to America long before Columbus.

Very possible. There are extant records of Basque whaling
voyages which made temporary bases at land that sounds a lot
like Cape Cod & Nantucket. And of course there were some
records of the Viking voyages, long disbelieved.

For some reason, everybody wants to think that previous
generations had no clue.

Fresh Breezes- Doug King

DSK wrote:
....


Nobody was able to reliably determine longitude with any available
technology in 1492. One thing Colombus did have, which relatively few
navigators of his era knew about, was a table of compass deviation. It
was thought by many (and Columbus may have believed this too) that the
magnetic deviation from true north varied directly with longitude. This
actually is true for large section of earth & sea but you have to know
where the deviation begins to swing back again!


You mean Variation (sometimes called Declination) of course. It is
sometimes called deviation, but not by most navigators, who use the
term for local affects, mainly the ship itself. Variation in the
Mediterranean is fairly small, so Columbus was one of the first
Europeans to notice a large Variation. In had been well understood in
China for a very long time.

Its also been said the Columbus was one of the first to notice the
difference between true north and the postion of Polaris, which was
about 2.5 degrees back then. I'm skeptical about that, since the
Portuguese had been very interested in documenting Latitude for 50 years.

There are some accounts which credit Columus with having a chart or map
or pilot book from China, this would explain why he kept thinking he
knew where he was in the Caribbean and also how he got financing from
the monarchy of Spain. Ferdinand and Isabella were more interested in
uniting Spain & driving out the Moors than in exploration. They had
already turned down other similar explorers and in fact turned Columbus
down, but then reconsidered. It's likely that when they turned him down,
he revealed just enough of his secret book or chart to convince them to
change their minds.

I'd say its more likely he knew about the fishing grounds to the north.



Personally, I lean towards the theory that there were numerous
European voyages to America long before Columbus.

Very possible. There are extant records of Basque whaling voyages which
made temporary bases at land that sounds a lot like Cape Cod &
Nantucket. And of course there were some records of the Viking voyages,
long disbelieved.

For some reason, everybody wants to think that previous generations had
no clue.

History is what the writers of history want it to be.

... One thing Colombus did have, which relatively few
navigators of his era knew about, was a table of compass deviation. It
was thought by many (and Columbus may have believed this too) that the
magnetic deviation from true north varied directly with longitude.
This actually is true for large section of earth & sea but you have to
know where the deviation begins to swing back again!


Jeff wrote:
You mean Variation (sometimes called Declination) of course.

Oops, you're right. I did mean variation.

.... It is
sometimes called deviation, but not by most navigators

Right, only by forgetful ones who are in a hurry & type too
fast.


.... Variation in the
Mediterranean is fairly small, so Columbus was one of the first
Europeans to notice a large Variation. In had been well understood in
China for a very long time.


I think some of the northern European navigators had noticed
variation before that, and one thing Columbus was good at
was gathering material from other places. And easterners had
also noted variation, in fact one of the things Marco Polo
remarked on was that one could tell how far along the Silk
Road one was by the difference between magnetic & celestial
north.

Chinese compasses pointed south, I don't know if they
compiled tables of variation... no reason to think they
wouldn't, really.

Its also been said the Columbus was one of the first to notice the
difference between true north and the postion of Polaris, which was
about 2.5 degrees back then. I'm skeptical about that, since the
Portuguese had been very interested in documenting Latitude for 50 years.


I don't think Columbus really was "the first" to do a lot of
the things he claimed (or is claimed for him). He was a good
researcher & synthesist, and not a bad sea captain.

..... It's likely that
when they turned him down, he revealed just enough of his secret book
or chart to convince them to change their minds.


I'd say its more likely he knew about the fishing grounds to the north.


Almost a sure thing... but that people crossed the north
Atlantic to fish was relatively common knowledge even if the
specifics weren't known to many; and it doesn't seem the
sort of thing that would sway a strong willed king & queen
who were not particularly interested in exploration & trade.

The rich trade of Asia, which had propped up Constantinople
for centuries, now *that* was worth gambling for. And there
must have been some reason to believe that Columbus would
bring back a cargo of valuable Oriental goods, silks or
spices, possibly on his first trip. Otherwise they would
have not changed their minds after telling him "No thanks."

Remember that the small cargo (8 tons of cloves IIRC) of
the 'Vittoria', Magellan's only ship to make it all the way
around, paid a handsome profit on Magellan's whole voyage &
fleet.



For some reason, everybody wants to think that previous generations
had no clue.


History is what the writers of history want it to be.

Human nature, I guess. Every day, right here, we see
examples of people trying to porve that other people are
stupider than themselves... maybe that's good in a way, if
it weren't so then actually being smart would not be so rare
& valuable!

DSK

DSK wrote:
Personally, I lean towards the theory that there were numerous European
voyages to America long before Columbus.

Very possible. There are extant records of Basque whaling
voyages which made temporary bases at land that sounds a lot
like Cape Cod & Nantucket. And of course there were some
records of the Viking voyages, long disbelieved.

For some reason, everybody wants to think that previous
generations had no clue.

SNIP

I don't know of any reputable historian who doesn't believe that
Columbus was not the first European to journey to the New World (L'Anse
aux Meadows (sp?), various charts, Lief Ereicsson, etc). But being
"first" isn't the point - he his importnat because his was the
expedition that "stuck" and resulted in a permanent European presence
in the Western Hemisphere

wrote:
DSK wrote:
Personally, I lean towards the theory that there were numerous European
voyages to America long before Columbus.
Very possible. There are extant records of Basque whaling
voyages which made temporary bases at land that sounds a lot
like Cape Cod & Nantucket. And of course there were some
records of the Viking voyages, long disbelieved.

For some reason, everybody wants to think that previous
generations had no clue.

SNIP

I don't know of any reputable historian who doesn't believe that
Columbus was not the first European to journey to the New World (L'Anse
aux Meadows (sp?), various charts, Lief Ereicsson, etc). But being
"first" isn't the point - he his importnat because his was the
expedition that "stuck" and resulted in a permanent European presence
in the Western Hemisphere

Actually, that was my point, though perhaps too subtle. There was a
permanent presence, its just that they didn't want anyone else to know
about it. The Norse exploration only lasted a few years (not counting
Greenland) and didn't amount to anything except "bragging rights."
The bigger issue is whether there were even earlier explorers, or more
lasting settlements. The Basque were supplying Europe with dried fish
for 100 years before Columbus, and all we know for sure is that it
didn't come from anywhere around Europe or Iceland. Scandinavians
would like everyone to believe that they were the only group capable
of American exploration and settlement before Columbus, but its
rather doubtful.

Certainly the Spanish explorers opened up a new era in our history.
However, its probable that English fishing boats had already learned
the Basque secret so its quite likely that there would have soon been
English fishing stations in New England even without the voyages of
Columbus. It might have taken a few years longer, but it was inevitable.

Of course, the disaster that befell the native Americans would have
happened regardless, because that was predetermined by their lack of
resistance to European diseases, but that's another discussion.

wrote:
I don't know of any reputable historian who doesn't believe that
Columbus was not the first European to journey to the New World (L'Anse
aux Meadows (sp?), various charts, Lief Ereicsson, etc). But being
"first" isn't the point - he his importnat because his was the
expedition that "stuck" and resulted in a permanent European presence
in the Western Hemisphere


Agreed. Others had been there but his voyages were the "thin
end of the wedge."

DSK