A Special Collections Exhibition
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Medieval Foundations |
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Portuguese
chart of West Africa, c. 1520
The
Portuguese spent a large part of the fifteenth century slowly working their way
down the west coast of Africa, until by the end of the century they had rounded
the Cape of Good Hope. It seems certain that they compiled many portolan charts
to show this progress, but only two such Portuguese charts now remain from the
fifteenth century, many others having presumably perished in the Lisbon
earthquake of 17 55.
This chart, dating from some time before 1520, is an extraordinarily rare
example of such Portuguese work. The detail shows how intensively the new
territory was named and so claimed, establishing Portuguese rule in this area
for many centuries.
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The University of Texas at Arlington Libraries
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