Filippo Pigafetta (1533–1604) was an Italian mathematician and explorer. Territorii Vicentini descriptionem map 1608

Pigafetta's ''Relatione del reame del Congo'' (A Report of the Kingdom of Congo and of the Surrounding Countries) 1591 was translated into

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

(as ''Regnum Congo''), French,

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and

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. In it Pigafetta explains that he was ordered by Pope Sixtus V to transcribe the account of Duarte Lopez, a Portuguese trader who had spent twelve years in the Congo. Lopez had hoped that the pope would give him support in his mission to the Congolese, but this was not forthcoming: he returned to Africa, and was not heard from again. Lopez's narrative gives a detailed account of his voyage on his uncle's ship, and the history and geography of the kingdom of Congo and its six administrative regions under the rule of its king (named by Lopez 'Don Alvarez'). The account demonstrates the extent of Portuguese exploration across West Africa in the sixteenth century, of which later explorers were unaware. In 1608 Pigafetta published an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

version of the ''

Theatrum Orbis Terrarum ''Theatrum Orbis Terrarum'' (, "Theatre of the Orb of the World") is considered to be the first true modern atlas. Written by Abraham Ortelius, strongly encouraged by Gillis Hooftman and originally printed on 20 May 1570 in Antwerp, it consist ...

'' of

Abraham Ortelius Abraham Ortelius (; also Ortels, Orthellius, Wortels; 4 or 14 April 152728 June 1598) was a Brabantian cartographer, geographer, and cosmographer, conventionally recognized as the creator of the first modern atlas, the ''Theatrum Orbis Terraru ...

Legacy

Pigafetta's ''Regnum Congo'' plays an important role in H. P. Lovecraft's short story "

The Picture in the House "The Picture in the House" is a short story written by H. P. Lovecraft. It was written on December 12, 1920, and first published in the July issue of ''The National Amateur''

".The Picture in the House
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Works

Pigafetta, Filippo – Discorso d'intorno all'historia della aguglia et alla ragione del muoverla, 1586 – BEIC 13280511

* (tr.) ''Le mechaniche'' by

Guidobaldo del Monte Guidobaldo del Monte (11 January 1545 – 6 January 1607, var. Guidobaldi or Guido Baldi), Marquis del Monte, was an Italian mathematician, philosopher and astronomer of the 16th century. Biography Del Monte was born in Pesaro. His father, ...

. 1581. * * ''Discorso di M. Filippo Pigafetta d'intorno all'historia della aguglia, et alla ragione del muouerla'', 1586 * (tr.) ''Trattato Brieve dello Schierare in Ordinanza gli Eserciti et dell'apparecchiamento della guerra'' by

Leo VI the Wise Leo VI, called the Wise ( gr, Λέων ὁ Σοφός, Léōn ho Sophós, 19 September 866 – 11 May 912), was Byzantine Emperor from 886 to 912. The second ruler of the Macedonian dynasty (although his parentage is unclear), he was very well r ...

, 1586. * ''Relatione del Reame di Congo et delle circonvicine contrade tratta dalli scritti & ragionamenti di Odoardo Lopez Portoghese'', 1591. ** Translated by

Abraham Hartwell Abraham Hartwell, the younger (1553/4–1606), was an English translator and antiquary, and Member of Parliament. Another Abraham Hartwell of the period was also an author, publishing ''Regina Literata'' in 1564, and the two have in the past bee ...

as ''A report of the kingdome of Congo, a region of Africa : And of the countries that border rounde about the same. 1. Wherein is also shewed, that the two zones torrida & frigida, are not onely habitable, but inhabited, and very temperate, contrary to the opinion of the old philosophers. 2. That the blacke colour which is in the skinnes of the Ethiopians and Negroes &c. proceedeth not from the sunne. 3. And that the Riuer Nilus springeth not out of the mountains of the Moone, as hath been heretofore beleeued: together with the true cause of the rising and increasing thereof. 4. Besides the description of diuers plants, fishes and beastes, that are found in those countries. Drawen out of the writinges and discourses of Odoardo Lopez a Portingall, by Philippo Pigafetta'', 1597. * (tr.) ''Compendio dal Theatro del Mondo'' by

. 1612. Translated from the

''.

References

People from Vicenza 1533 births 1604 deaths 16th-century Italian mathematicians Italian geographers Italian explorers Latin–Italian translators {{geographer-stub