Jaume Ferrer (,
fl. 1346) was a
Majorcan
Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest island in the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain and located in the Mediterranean.
The capital of the island, Palma, is also the capital of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. The Balea ...
sailor and explorer. He sailed from
Majorca to find the legendary "River of Gold" on 10 August 1346, but the outcome of his quest and his fate are unknown. He is memorialized in his native city of
Palma, Majorca
Palma (; ; also known as ''Palma de Mallorca'', officially between 1983–88, 2006–08, and 2012–16) is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands in Spain. It is situated on the south coast of Mallorca ...
.
Expedition
![Jacme ferrer](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d5/Jacme_ferrer.jpg)
Very little is known about Jaume Ferrer except that he was a Majorcan captain who set out in a
galley in 1346 and sailed down the
West African
West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations geoscheme for Africa#Western Africa, United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, ...
coast in an attempt to reach the legendary "River of Gold". The results of this expedition, including whether Ferrer survived the journey, are unknown. Some recent research tentatively identifies Jaume Ferrer as "Giacomino Ferrar di Casa Maveri", a second generation
Genoese immigrant in
Majorca.
Virtually the only information for his expedition is the depiction and note given in the ''
Catalan Atlas'' of 1375, attributed to the Majorcan cartographer
Abraham Cresques (correct patronymic: Cresques Abraham). In the bottom-left corner of the map, there is a brightly painted
Aragonese-flagged vessel and a note indicating merely that "Jacme Ferrer" set out in an ''uxer'' on 10 August 1346 to search for the "''Riu de l'Or''" (River of Gold). An ''uxer'' is a single-mast,
square-rigged
Square rig is a generic type of sail and rigging arrangement in which the primary driving sails are carried on horizontal spars which are perpendicular, or square, to the keel of the vessel and to the masts. These spars are called ''yards'' and ...
and oar-powered cargo galley, with rounded
stern and low
prow
The bow () is the forward part of the hull of a ship or boat, the point that is usually most forward when the vessel is underway. The aft end of the boat is the stern.
Prow may be used as a synonym for bow or it may mean the forward-most part ...
, commonly used to freight horses.
The geographic position of the ship (below the
Canary Islands) suggests Ferrer probably sailed past
Cape Bojador
Cape Bojador ( ar, رأس بوجادور, trans. ''Rā's Būjādūr''; ber, ⴱⵓⵊⴷⵓⵔ, ''Bujdur''; Spanish and pt, Cabo Bojador; french: Cap Boujdour) is a headland on the west coast of Western Sahara, at 26° 07' 37"N, 14° 29' 57"W ...
, at that time the ''
non plus ultra
''Plus ultra'' (, , en, "Further beyond") is a Latin phrase and the national motto of Spain. A reversal of the original phrase ''non plus ultra'' ("Nothing further beyond"), said to have been inscribed as a warning on the Pillars of Herc ...
'' of navigation, beyond which European ships dared not sail. If Ferrer survived and returned, then his feat preceded, by nearly a whole century, the famous successful passage of that cape by the Portuguese explorer
Gil Eanes
Gil Eanes (or Eannes, in the old Portuguese spelling; ) was a 15th-century Portuguese navigator and explorer.
Biography
Gil Eanes was born in Lagos in 1395. Little is known about his personal life prior to his role in the Portuguese Age of Dis ...
in 1434.
There is a sliver of additional information found in a note in the secret archives of the
Republic of Genoa
The Republic of Genoa ( lij, Repúbrica de Zêna ; it, Repubblica di Genova; la, Res Publica Ianuensis) was a medieval and early modern maritime republic from the 11th century to 1797 in Liguria on the northwestern Italian coast. During the La ...
(uncovered in 1802), which refers to the expedition, noting that "Joannis Ferne", a
Catalan
Catalan may refer to:
Catalonia
From, or related to Catalonia:
* Catalan language, a Romance language
* Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia
Places
* 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...
, left "the city of the Majorcans" in a
galleass
Galleasses were military ships developed from large merchant galleys, and intended to combine galley speed with the sea-worthiness and artillery of a galleon. While perhaps never quite matching up to their full expectations, galleasses neverthel ...
on 10 July 1346 but the vessel was never heard of again, that he went searching for the ''Riu Auri'' ('River of Gold') because he heard that it was a collection point for "''aurum de paiola''" (perhaps "gold nuggets", but 'Paiola' has also been interpreted not as 'nugget', but as the name of a river island depicted in the 1367 Pizzigani map) that the people on the shores were all engaged in gold collection and that the river was wide and deep enough for the largest ships.
The "River of Gold", frequently spoken of by
trans-Saharan trade
Trans-Saharan trade requires travel across the Sahara between sub-Saharan Africa and North Africa. While existing from prehistoric times, the peak of trade extended from the 8th century until the early 17th century.
The Sahara once had a very d ...
rs, was a reference to the
Senegal River that flowed into the heart of the gold-producing
Mali Empire. The Genoese note refers to it also by the alternative name of ''Vedamel'' – almost certainly a derivation from
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...
, probably ''Wad al-mal'' ('river of treasure') or possibly, by transcription error, ''Wad al-Nill'' ('river of
Nile
The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered the longest ...
– the Senegal was also long known as the 'Western Nile').
[The "River of Wealth" interpretation of Vedamel can be found in J.G.H. "'Histoire du commerce entre le Legant et l'Europe' in 1831, ''Antologia; giornale di scienze, lettere e arti'', Vol. 3 (Aug.]
p.27
R.H. Major (p.113) proposes the "Western Nile" interpretation. ''Vedamel'' might also be the origin of ''Budomel'', used by early Portuguese explorers in the 15th century to refer to a
Wolof
Wolof or Wollof may refer to:
* Wolof people, an ethnic group found in Senegal, Gambia, and Mauritania
* Wolof language, a language spoken in Senegal, Gambia, and Mauritania
* The Wolof or Jolof Empire, a medieval West African successor of the Mal ...
statelet on the
Grande Côte, south to the Senegal River.
Memorials
![Jaume Ferrer, Palma de Mallorca - panoramio](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c0/Jaume_Ferrer%2C_Palma_de_Mallorca_-_panoramio.jpg)
Despite the sparse information, Jaume Ferrer is memorialized in his native city of
Palma, in
Majorca, by a street name, a statue in the ''Plaça de les Drassanes'' and a relief in the town hall. The statue is a reproduction of one commissioned by the city hall and sculpted by Jacint Mateu around 1843, but replaced in 1914 by a copy with some modifications by Joan Grauches. The original is in the old Consolat de Mar building in Palma. The Atlas's ship is reproduced on a monumental
sundial on the city's maritime promenade.
See also
*
List of people who disappeared mysteriously at sea
Throughout history, people have mysteriously disappeared at sea, many on voyages aboard floating vessels or traveling via aircraft. The following is a list of known individuals who have mysteriously vanished in open waters, and whose whereabouts r ...
*
Río de Oro
Río de Oro (Spanish for "Gold River"; , ''wādī-að-ðahab'', often transliterated as ''Oued Edhahab'') was, with Saguia el-Hamra, one of the two territories that formed the Spanish province of Spanish Sahara after 1969; it had been taken as ...
, a former Spanish province in northwest Africa
References
Sources
*
* Betz, R.L. (2007) ''The Mapping of Africa: a cartobibliography of printed maps of the African continent to 1700'', Hes & de Graaf
*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferrer, Jaume
14th-century explorers
14th-century people from the Kingdom of Aragon
Explorers of Africa
Lost explorers
Missing person cases in Africa
People lost at sea
Spanish explorers