Citizendia
Your Ad Here

"Behaim" redirects here. For the lunar crater, see Behaim (crater). Behaim is a lunar Impact crater that is located near the eastern limb of the Moon, just to the south of the crater Ansgarius.

Martin (of) Behaim (October 6, 1459 – July 29, 1507), (or Behem, Boemia or Bohemia) was a German navigator and geographer to the King of Portugal. Events 105 BC - Battle of Arausio: The Cimbri inflict the heaviest defeat on the Roman army of Gnaeus Mallius Maximus Events 1014 - Byzantine-Bulgarian Wars: Battle of Kleidion: Byzantine emperor Basil II inflicts a decisive defeat A navigator is the person onboard a ship or aircraft responsible for its Navigation. A geographer is a Scientist whose area of study is Geography, the study of Earth 's physical environment and Human habitat

Behaim was born in Nuremberg, according to one tradition, about 1436; according to Ghillany, as late as 1459 and was supposedly of Bohemian origin. He was drawn to Portugal by participation in Flanders trade, and acquired a scientific reputation at the court of John II of Portugal. Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic (República Portuguesa is a country on the Iberian Peninsula. Flanders (Vlaanderen Flandre Flandern is a geographical region located in parts of present day Belgium, France, and the Netherlands. João II ( Portuguese, ʒuˈɐ̃ũ English: John II) ( March 3 1455 &ndash October 25 1495) the Perfect As a pupil, real or supposed, of the astronomer Regiomontanus (i. Johannes Müller von Königsberg ( June 6, 1436 &ndash July 6, 1476) known by his Latin Pseudonym Regiomontanus e. , Johann Müller of Königsberg in Franconia) he became (c. Königsberg (Karaliaučius Low German: Königsbarg; Królewiec see also other names) was until 1946 the name of Kaliningrad. Franconia (Franken is a historic region of Germany comprising the northern parts of the modern state of Bavaria and the area to its immediate west 1480) a member of a council appointed by King John for the furtherance of navigation. Navigation is the process of reading and controlling the movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another

His suggested introduction of the cross-staff into Portugal (an invention described by the Spanish Jew, Levi ben Gerson, in the 14th century) is a matter of controversy; many diverse instruments had been in use for centuries by Scandinavian, Greek, Roman, Arab, and Chinese navigators, the similarities of or differences between which are difficult to ascertain. For the plant known as the ocotillo sometimes called the Jacob's staff see Ocotillo. Levi ben Gershom ( לוי בן גרשום) better known as Gersonides or the Ralbag (1288-1344 was a famous Rabbi, philosopher Mathematician His improvements in the astrolabe were the introduction of brass instruments in place of cumbrous wooden ones; it seems likely that he helped to prepare better navigation tables than had yet been known in the Peninsula. The astrolabe is a historical Astronomical instrument used by classical astronomers, Navigators

He is thought to have accompanied Diogo Cão in his second expedition to West Africa, undertaken in 1485-86, reaching Cabo Negro in 15°40 S. Diogo Cão (in old Portuguese Cam) (diˈoɣuˈkɐ̃ũ was a Portuguese explorer and one of the most remarkable Navigators of the West Africa or Western Africa is the Westernmost Region of the African Continent. and Cabo Ledo still farther on. Behaim's position in history is unsettled; it is suggested by his detractors that instead of sharing in this great voyage of discovery, the Nuremberger only sailed to the nearer coasts of Guinea, perhaps as far as the Bight of Benin, and possibly with José Visinho the astronomer and with João Afonso de Aveiro, in 1484-86. Guinea, officially Republic of Guinea (pronounced /ˈgɪni/ République de Guinée is a country in West Africa, formerly known as French Guinea The Bight of Benin is a bight (a type of bay on the western African coast that extends eastward for about 400 miles (640 km from Cape St

However, Behaim's later history is as follows: on his return from his West African exploration to Lisbon he was knighted by King John, who afterwards employed him in various capacities; but from the time of his marriage in 1486 he usually resided at Fayal in the Azores, where his father-in-law, Jobst van Huerter, was governor of a Flemish colony. Lisbon (Lisboa liʒˈboɐ is the Capital and largest city of Portugal. Faial Island ( pron fɐi'aɫ also known in English as Fayal, is a Portuguese Island of the Central group ( Grupo Central) of The Azores ( Açores ɐˈsoɾɨʃ or) is a Portuguese Archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, about 1500 km (950  mi) from

Before Magellan?

The crown of Portugal used to buy exploration charts from all over the world, even if not accurate or from unknown/mythic regions. It is supposed that when in contact with the king John II of Portugal, Martin of Behaim could have sold a drawing about a mysterious passage in an unknown land. João II ( Portuguese, ʒuˈɐ̃ũ English: John II) ( March 3 1455 &ndash October 25 1495) the Perfect Antonio Pigafetta, an Italian writer that accompanied Magellan's trip to discover a passage to the Pacific Ocean, cites that Magellan would have a partial drawing of the channel, analising it even before they have reached the land [1]. Antonio Pigafetta (c 1491 was an Italian Scholar born in Vicenza. Pigafetta cites that Magellan would have the second half of the drawing memorized, to avoid being killed in a mutiny and the passage being "discovered" by his Spanish officers. Although historians usually do not accept Behaim's influence on the discovery, it is fact that he is cited in the original Pigafetta's diary as the author of the original drawing of the channel. This drawing was never exposed.

Magellan himself stated he knew that south of America there was a sound that led to the Southern Sea which Balboa had discovered in 1513 at the Isthmus of Panama: he, Magalhães, had seen the sound on a map by Martin Behaim. [2]

Pigafetta writes: "But Hernando knew that is was the question of a very mysterious strait by which one could sail and which he had seen described on a map in the Treasury of the King of Portugal, the map having been made by an excellent man called Martin de Boemia". [3]

Martin Behaim has been repeatedly regarded in former times as the actual discoverer of the Magalhães Straits and even the whole of America - although he might have only made a copy of an original ancient sketch of the strait. [4]

Chart of 1889 representing Behaim and both known hemispheres of 1492
Chart of 1889 representing Behaim and both known hemispheres of 1492

The Erdapfel

On a visit to his native city in 1492, he constructed his well known terrestrial globe, called "the erdapfel" (the earth apple) which is still preserved at the Nuremberg National Museum, among Albrecht Dürer's galleries. A globe is a three- Dimensional scale model of Earth ( terrestrial globe) or other spheroid celestial body such as a planet star or moon The Erdapfel (earth apple produced by Martin Behaim in 1492 is considered to be one of the first terrestrial Globes ever made (Nuremberg was the heart of the German Renaissance. ) The influence of Ptolemy is apparent, but every attempt is made to incorporate the discoveries of the later Middle Ages (Marco Polo, etc. Claudius Ptolemaeus ( Greek: Klaúdios Ptolemaîos; after 83 &ndash ca Marco Polo ( September 15 1254 – January 9 1324 at earliest but no later than June 1325 was a Venetian trader and explorer ). The antiquity of this globe and the year of its execution, on the eve of the discovery of Americas, make it not just the oldest but the most historically valuable globe extant. The Americas are the lands of the Western hemisphere or New World, consisting of the Continents of North America and South America It corresponds particularly well with Columbus's notion of the Earth; he and Behaim drew their information from the same sources. Christopher Columbus (1451 &ndash May 20 1506 was an Italian Navigator, colonizer Though less navigationally accurate than the beautiful Catalonian portolani charts of the 14th century, as a scientific work it is of enormous importance. A portolan (derived from the Latin word portus, port is an early modern European navigation chart, dating from the Thirteenth century or later

Its West Africa is incorrect, though technology at the time made such calculations difficult; the Cape Verde archipelago lies hundreds of miles out of its proper place; and the Atlantic is filled with mythological islands that were psychologically important to isolated Medieval Christendom -- Antilia of the Seven Cities of the Christian Visigoth Kings would become the Antilles. The Republic of Cape Verde ( Portuguese: Cabo Verde, 'kabu 'veɾdɨ is a Republic located on an Archipelago in the Macaronesia Japan is 1500 miles offshore where Marco Polo had left it, putting it within tempting sailing distance of the Canaries. St. Brendan's Isle contains the entire Western Hemisphere in capsule form; the Earthapple is a map of just how unknowable the future is, and the difficulties of mapping the planet. Blunders of 16° are found in the localization of places the author claims to have visited: contemporary maps, at least in regard to continental features, seldom went wrong beyond 1°, but longitude was very difficult to ascertain before the invention of accurate clocks. It is generally agreed that Behaim had no share in transatlantic discovery though his globe suggests an easy sail to the East. Though Columbus and he were apparently in Portugal at the same time, no connection between the two has been established. Christopher Columbus (1451 &ndash May 20 1506 was an Italian Navigator, colonizer He died at Lisbon in 1507. His family rescued the globe from city hall before it went the way of so many out-of-date artifacts.

References

  1. ^ *(Italian) Pigafetta, Antonio. Relazione del primo viaggio intorno al mondo, Zip Text/e-Book http://www.e-text.it/ and Liberliber.it, retrieved on: 13 June 2007
  2. ^ * The Representation on Maps of the Magalhaes Straits before Their Discovery. Richard Hennig, Imago Mundi, Vol. 5, (1948), pp. 32-37
  3. ^ * In RAMUSIO's Navigazioni e viaggi, Venice 1554, I. 392.
  4. ^ Wagenseil, Nuremberg 1682
Persondata
NAME Behaim, Martin
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Behem, Martin
SHORT DESCRIPTION German navigator and geographer to the King of Portugal
DATE OF BIRTH October 6, 1459
PLACE OF BIRTH Nuremberg
DATE OF DEATH July 29, 1507
PLACE OF DEATH Lisbon

A navigator is the person onboard a ship or aircraft responsible for its Navigation. A geographer is a Scientist whose area of study is Geography, the study of Earth 's physical environment and Human habitat Events 105 BC - Battle of Arausio: The Cimbri inflict the heaviest defeat on the Roman army of Gnaeus Mallius Maximus Events 1014 - Byzantine-Bulgarian Wars: Battle of Kleidion: Byzantine emperor Basil II inflicts a decisive defeat Lisbon (Lisboa liʒˈboɐ is the Capital and largest city of Portugal.
© 2009 citizendia.org; parts available under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License, from http://en.wikipedia.org
 Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic