Andrea Corsali (1487—?) was an Italian explorer who worked in the service of
Giuliano di Lorenzo de' Medici
Giuliano di Lorenzo de' Medici KG (12 March 1479 – 17 March 1516) was an Italian nobleman, the third son of Lorenzo the Magnificent, and a ruler of Florence.
Biography
Born in Florence, he was raised with his brothers Piero and Giovanni d ...
of
Florence
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...
and
Lorenzo II de' Medici
Lorenzo di Piero de' Medici (; 12 September 1492 – 4 May 1519) was the ruler of Florence from 1516 until his death in 1519. He was also Duke of Urbino during the same period. His daughter Catherine de' Medici became Queen Consort of Fran ...
, duke of
Urbino
Urbino ( ; ; Romagnol: ''Urbìn'') is a walled city in the Marche region of Italy, south-west of Pesaro, a World Heritage Site notable for a remarkable historical legacy of independent Renaissance culture, especially under the patronage of ...
. Corsali traveled to
Asia
Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...
and the south seas aboard a Portuguese merchant vessel, sending home written accounts of the lands and peoples which he encountered along the way. Two of Corsali’s letters from the '
East Indies
The East Indies (or simply the Indies), is a term used in historical narratives of the Age of Discovery. The Indies refers to various lands in the East or the Eastern hemisphere, particularly the islands and mainlands found in and around t ...
' were published in Florence in 1518, and again in
Giovanni Battista Ramusio
Giovanni Battista Ramusio (; July 20, 1485 – July 10, 1557) was an Italian geographer and travel writer.
Born in Treviso, Italy, at that time in the Republic of Venice, Ramusio was the son of Paolo Ramusio, a magistrate of the Venetian ci ...
, ''Delle navigationi et viaggi'' (
Venice
Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...
, 1550), along with accounts by other travelers and merchants such as Giovanni da
Empoli
Empoli () is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Florence, Tuscany, Italy, about southwest of Florence, to the south of the Arno in a plain formed by the river. The plain has been usable for agriculture since Roman times. The comm ...
(1483-1518). He also noted that
Sumatra
Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...
and
Ceylon
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
(Sri Lanka) are two distinct islands (ancient geography confused them with the name of Taprobane). Corsali’s death date is unknown.
Corsali is known in Italy for having identified
New Guinea
New Guinea (; Hiri Motu
Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea).
It is a simplified version of ...
, previously unknown to the Italians, and for having hypothesized the existence of
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
, although he never disembarked there himself.
On a voyage in 1516 from Lisbon to India, Corsali was the first European to describe, locate and illustrate the constellation of five stars now known as the Southern Cross (
Crux
Crux () is a constellation of the southern sky that is centred on four bright stars in a cross-shaped asterism commonly known as the Southern Cross. It lies on the southern end of the Milky Way's visible band. The name ''Crux'' is Latin for c ...
).
References
*Andrea Corsali, Fiorentino, A watcher of the Austral skies. La Lettera dalla India, translated and edited by Sergio Sergi, National Library of Australia 2013
{{DEFAULTSORT:Corsali, Andrea
Italian explorers