Essay About Exact Date Of Amerigo Vespucci And Vespucci Family

Amerigo Vespucci Biography
Amerigo Vespucci was an Italian explorer, navigator, and cartographer, and was the first to demonstrate that
Brazil and the West Indies did not represent Asias eastern outskirts, but represented an entirely new continent
previously unknown. The exact date of Amerigo Vespuccis birth is a topic of much debate among historians, but
the location of Florence is unquestioned. “In Amerigos case, although the place was unquestionably Florence, the
date is less certain. Births of two infants of the same name, to the same parents, were registered at about the right
time, within two years of each other. The first was presumably a victim of infant mortality. His certificate of baptism
bears a date in mid-March of 1453, but Florentine documents, like those of many parts of Europe, followed a
calendar that began with the feast of the Annunciation on March 25th. So, by todays reckoning, this Amerigo was
born in 1454.”(Fernandez-Armesto, 2007, pgs 13-14) He was one of three sons born into one of the more prominent
families of the time. The Vespucci family was well off and well connected, but they were not considered wealthy,
and the family invested heavily in their eldest sons education, so Amerigos education was not given the highest
priority. He was tutored by his uncle Girogio Antonio, who was one of the most respected tutors in all of Florence.
He excelled in math and Geography. “The study of geography was part of the humanist curriculum. The rediscovery
of ancient texts revivified it. Of special importance in Florence was Strabos Geography, a text of the late first
century B.C. that stimulated debate over the size of the world and the existence of previously unknown continents.”
(Fernandez-Armesto, 2007, pg 18)
In 1479, Amerigo would travel to France to be the spokesperson to the King for the Medici family. When
Amerigo returned, he would gain the trust and confidence of the Medici family and would be entrusted with the
bank of the Medici family. “Vespucci was engaged as the executor of Giannatto Berardi, an Italian merchant who
had recently died in Seville. Vespucci organized the fulfillment of Berardis outstanding contract with the Castilian
crown