PIGAFETTa ’s VOYAGE kOUNb THE WORLfii
bhat the queftion could no otherwifebe fettled than by the mouths of cannon ; Charles V. however, computed that it Would be preferable he Ihould accept the oiler madehim by John III*, of Portugal of one hundred and fifty thoufand piftoles in lieu of allCairn ; and he confequently ceded his pretenfions. It is moreover clear that thefe iflands,placed by Pigafetta between the one hundred and fixtieth and one hundred andfeventieth degree weft of the line of demarcation, are in reality fituate beyond onehundred and eighty degrees weft of that line, and that they of couffe, by the bull of‘Alexander VI., belonged to PortugaL Putting out of queftion their exaft pofition,the King of Spain, fatisfied that Portugal ufurped a property inherent in himfelf,and already difpofed to grant a fquadron of caravellas * to Eftefano Gomez for avoyage of difcovery, confided the command of it to Magellan , who, in order toremove all obftacles, entrufted one of the veffels to the pilotage of the fame Gomez,a confidence which he foon had reafon to repent.
XVI. While this matter was in agitation at the court of Madrid, Antonio Piga-fetta, a gentleman of Vicenfea, was at Rome, whither all Italians of genius, or whofought to make their fortunes repaired, efpecially in the brilliant asra of Leo X. HeWas of a tolerably noble family, originally from Tufcany, and probably was thefon of that Matteo Pigafetta, a doftor and knight, who at feveral epochs was employedln the miniftry of the affairs of his country f. Alike anxious for fame and fortune,he felt inclined to feek both in diftant countries, and even in the new world recentlydifcovered by Colon and Americo Vefpucci, and in which a number of Italians hadalready acquired wealth and renown. lie went to Spain in the fuite of SignorVrancefi Chiericuto, his fellow citizen, who was deputed from Rome as orator orembaflador to Charles V. in order thence to commence his travels. Every thingfucceeded with him to the full extent of his wifhes; and in the epiftle in which hededicates his work will be feen the manner in which he obtained per'miffion from theEmperor to accompany the fquadron of Magellan .
XVII. Pigafetta certainly was not very well informed, notwithftanding the affertion°f Marzari, a Vicentine hiftorian, “ that he was famous throughout Europe for hisfldll in philofophy, in the mathematics, and aftrology |;” but he had ftudied geography
a term given by the Portuguefe, at this time, to veflels which carried on the trade withtinutive of caravan. The fpices and fiifes of India , as before has been noticed, were
j Catavella was a
, anC ^ IS a tbminutive °f caravan. The fpiiftneily conveyed by camels, over-land, from Samarcand, the Gulf of Baffora, or the Red Sea . ForCUnt y’s fake the merchants travelled in large bodies, denominated caravans : as therefore the wordWSS a PP^ ie ^ t0 the nlicmhlage which brought Indian commodities to the hands of Europeans ,•nips employed on a fimilar objeft, appropriately received the dillin'&ion Garavellas. Eng. Tr .
T Angel Gabrieli de Sta. Maria, Biblioteca c Storia de’ ferittori Vicentini, vol. iv. p. i.—-I haveobt ^ ^° me enquiries at Vicenza refpedling the per fon and family of opr traveller, but have been able toa ! n , Em little information. In a manufeript entitled Genealogica Storia delle famiglie nobile Vi-tj ‘ ' n, > V °1 ii. it is faid he was the fon of Domitio qm. Antonio and Bartolomea Maroftica ; andj ) . at “ e "’as eleCled Jurifconfultiis in 147c, which ill accords with the Gavallero Antonio, unlefs indeedRn . er Was the Jurifconfulttis. For what regards the Cavaliero Antonio, there are only two lines ofk.. e P lta ph placed in the church of the nuns of St. Dominic by the Cavaliero Capra, who inheritedPhilip Pigafet ta; “ Phiiippus Pigafeta—Terigrinandi cupidus, et Antonii gentiiis fni cq.qui primus teffarum o'rbem circumiit, glorite fcmuhis, abdkiflimas regiones adivit,” etc. Hisbis f" '"bble at Vicenza in the fireet Della-Lxma ; it is of Gothic architecture,' and was built by
en T ,n 1481 ; but on his return he caufed the portal to be ornamented by a feftoon of rofes, andelorl l ^ u,£on the following words it • k’cst • ros£ • sans • EiriNE ; having no doubt in View thet j c ? le bad acquired by his circumnavigation, and the fufferings he had undergone. I owe thefe par-- a,s to the Condes Francefi di Thieni, and Francefi di San Giovanni, to whom I feel it equally a dutya p eafure thus publicly to acknowledge rfiy obligation. Fk. Tr.
+ otoria di Vicenza, al’ anno 148a.
0I " X1, q Q and
cm.te of“terofil;b°ufe i s (HO
and