Roteiro (from Portuguese ''rota'', route) is the name given to a handbook for the use of maritime pilots and sailors. The Portuguese term is cognate and approximate synonym of the English rutter. ''Roteiro'' is applied generally to maritime literature in use from the 16th to the 19th centuries, and specifically to nautical route descriptions compiled by and for sailors and pilots. The Portuguese word 'roteiro' is also a cognate of the French ', and Spanish ', all derived ultimately from Late Latin ''rupta'' (sc. ''via''), a “broken” path, as in English ''path-breaking''. Over time, the ''roteiros'', especially oceanic ''roteiros'', evolved to include ethnographic, astronomical, trigonometrical and other data useful for blue water navigation.See Giurgevich
Roteiros portugueses dos séculos XV e XVI
(Manuscritos) (RUTTER Technical note n. 7). Well-known roteiros are: * O Livro de , ca. 1525. * Simão de Oliveira, ''Arte de navegar'', 1606. * Manuel de Figueiredo, ''Roteiro e navegação das Indias Occidentais, Ilhas, Antilhas do Mar Oceano Occidental...'' (1609) * Aleixo da Mota’
roteiro of the 1600s
describing the route from India along the African coast. * The 166
''Roteiro da India Oriental''
by Antonio de Maris Carneiro, which describes the coastline from

Sofala Sofala, at present known as Nova Sofala, used to be the chief seaport of the Mwenemutapa Kingdom, whose capital was at Mount Fura. It is located on the Sofala Bank in Sofala Province of Mozambique. It was founded by Somali merchants. This name ...

Mombasa Mombasa ( ; ) is a coastal city in southeastern Kenya along the Indian Ocean. It was the first capital of the British East Africa, before Nairobi was elevated to capital city status. It now serves as the capital of Mombasa County. The town is ...

, noting harbours and sandbars,

Cape Finisterre Cape Finisterre (, also ; gl, Cabo Fisterra, italic=no ; es, Cabo Finisterre, italic=no ) is a rock-bound peninsula on the west coast of Galicia, Spain. In Roman times it was believed to be an end of the known world. The name Finisterre, like ...

and the

Strait of Gibraltar The Strait of Gibraltar ( ar, مضيق جبل طارق, Maḍīq Jabal Ṭāriq; es, Estrecho de Gibraltar, Archaism, Archaic: Pillars of Hercules), also known as the Straits of Gibraltar, is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. * The 182
''Roteiro da costa do Maranhaõ ePará''
by António Gregório de Freitas, covering the coastline of

Maranhão Maranhão () is a state in Brazil. Located in the country's Northeast Region, it has a population of about 7 million and an area of . Clockwise from north, it borders on the Atlantic Ocean for 2,243 km and the states of Piauí, Tocantins and ...

and

Pará Pará is a state of Brazil, located in northern Brazil and traversed by the lower Amazon River. It borders the Brazilian states of Amapá, Maranhão, Tocantins, Mato Grosso, Amazonas and Roraima. To the northwest are the borders of Guyana a ...

External links

A Sea of Books
repository of open access early modern rutters.
RUTTER Project digital library

References

{{reflist Maritime history of Portugal Navigation Portuguese language Portuguese literature Portuguese Renaissance Technical books Travel guide books