Bartolomeo Marchionni (late 15th to early 16th century) was a Florentine

merchant A merchant is a person who trades in commodities produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Historically, a merchant is anyone who is involved in business or trade. Merchants have operated for as long as indust ...

established in

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

during the

Age of Discovery The Age of Discovery (or the Age of Exploration), also known as the early modern period, was a period largely overlapping with the Age of Sail, approximately from the 15th century to the 17th century in European history, during which seafarin ...

. Bartolomeo Marchionni arrived circa 1468 at Lisbon as an agent to the Cambini. In a long career he became the most successful merchant and one of the richest men in Lisbon at the time. He was the chief merchant in

sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or double ...

from

Madeira ) , anthem = ( en, "Anthem of the Autonomous Region of Madeira") , song_type = Regional anthem , image_map=EU-Portugal_with_Madeira_circled.svg , map_alt=Location of Madeira , map_caption=Location of Madeira , subdivision_type=Sovereign st ...

islands and participated extensively in the voyages to Guinea, Brazil, Madeira, and would finance several voyages to India In 1500, in a joint enterprise with Dom Álvaro of Portugal and

Girolamo Sernigi Girolamo Sernigi (1453- after 1510) was an Italian merchant, originally from Florence, based in Lisbon, Portugal. Circa 1500, Florentine merchants were the most prominent foreign group active in Lisbon's economic life and played an important role i ...

, Bartolomeo Marchionni sent a ship second fleet to India that discovered Brazil under the command of

Pedro Álvares Cabral Pedro Álvares Cabral ( or ; born Pedro Álvares de Gouveia; c. 1467 or 1468 – c. 1520) was a Portuguese nobleman, military commander, navigator and explorer regarded as the European discoverer of Brazil. He was the first human in ...

. In 1501 he financed the third Portuguese ''armada'' (expedition) to India, under a joint private initiative with Portuguese Dom Álvaro of Braganza.Sanjay Subrahmanyam, "The Career and Legend of Vasco da Gama", p.182, New York: Cambridge University Press, 1997, The small four vessel fleet departed from Lisbon in 9 or 10 March 1501, under command of

João da Nova João da Nova ( gl, Xoán de Novoa, Joam de Nôvoa; es, Juan de Nova; ; born c. 1460 in Maceda, Ourense, Galicia; died July 16, 1509 in Kochi, India) was a Portuguese-Galician explorer of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans at the service of Portug ...

, having

Diogo Barbosa Duarte Barbosa (c. 14801 May 1521) was a Portuguese writer and officer from Portuguese India (between 1500 and 1516). He was a Christian pastor and scrivener in a ''feitoria'' in Kochi, and an interpreter of the local language, Malayalam. Barbosa ...

as Dom Álvaro agent. They established a '' feitoria (trading post)'' in

Cananor Kannur (), formerly known in English as Cannanore, is a city and a municipal corporation in the state of Kerala, India. It is the administrative headquarters of the Kannur district and situated north of the major port city and commercial hu ...

, leaving there a

factor Factor, a Latin word meaning "who/which acts", may refer to: Commerce * Factor (agent), a person who acts for, notably a mercantile and colonial agent * Factor (Scotland), a person or firm managing a Scottish estate * Factors of production, suc ...

. He was a friend of Americo Vespucci. He was followed by his son Pêro Paulo Marchionni, himself a shipowner. In the 1503 fleet to India under Francisco and

Afonso de Albuquerque Afonso de Albuquerque, 1st Duke of Goa (; – 16 December 1515) was a Portuguese general, admiral, and statesman. He served as viceroy of Portuguese India from 1509 to 1515, during which he expanded Portuguese influence across the Indian Ocean ...

, Giovanni da Empoli was sent as a commercial agent of the firms Gualterroti and Frescobaldi and also Bartolomeo Marchionni.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marchionni, Bartolomeo Portuguese exploration in the Age of Discovery Businesspeople from Florence Economic history of Portugal Maritime history of Portugal Businesspeople from Lisbon