Antonio de Noli (born 1415 or possibly 1419) was a 15th-century Genoese nobleman and navigator, and the first governor of the earliest European overseas colony in Subsaharan Africa. He discovered some of the

Cape Verde , national_anthem = () , official_languages = Portuguese , national_languages = Cape Verdean Creole , capital = Praia , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , demonym ...

islands on behalf of

Henry the Navigator ''Dom'' Henrique of Portugal, Duke of Viseu (4 March 1394 – 13 November 1460), better known as Prince Henry the Navigator ( pt, Infante Dom Henrique, o Navegador), was a central figure in the early days of the Portuguese Empire and in the 15t ...

and he was made first Governor of Cape Verde by King

Afonso V Afonso V () (15 January 1432 – 28 August 1481), known by the sobriquet the African (), was King of Portugal from 1438 until his death in 1481, with a brief interruption in 1477. His sobriquet refers to his military conquests in Northern Afric ...

. In most history or geographic books, including ancient chronicles, or encyclopedias, he is referred as ''Antonio de Noli'', as well as in official information by the Government of Cape Verde or in Cape Verde history articles or references. In

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, he is known also as ''Antonio da Noli'' or sometimes referred as ''Antoniotto Usodimare''.

Biography

Antonio de Noli was born to a patrician family in

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...

, Italy, as referred in ancient sources of the epoch; e.g. Portuguese king's historian

João de Barros João de Barros () (1496 – 20 October 1570), called the ''Portuguese Livy'', is one of the first great Portuguese historians, most famous for his '' Décadas da Ásia'' ("Decades of Asia"), a history of the Portuguese in India, Asia, and southe ...

stated already in 1552 that Antonio Noli was born in Genoa, and "of noble blood". Modern historians and researches also specify Antonio Noli as ''Genovese'' or ''Genoese'', e.g. Dumoriez (1762), Thomas (1860), Hamilton (1975), Diffie and Winius (1977), Irwin and Wilson (1999). It has also been put forward that Antonio de Noli would have instead born in Noli (

Savona Savona (; lij, Sann-a ) is a seaport and ''comune'' in the west part of the northern Italy, Italian region of Liguria, capital of the Province of Savona, in the Riviera di Ponente on the Mediterranean Sea. Savona used to be one of the chie ...

)

. After he was exiled from Genoa amid political disputes compromising main families Fregoso and Adorno, Antonio de Noli (Navy captain, and cartography expert) sailed to

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of th ...

in command of a small expedition of three vessels and with his brother Bartholomew (a Genoa lawyer) and nephew Raphael. In Portugal, de Noli became engaged in Ultramar explorations by

. From 1462 to 1496, he founded and then was Captain of Ribeira Grande (modern-day

Cidade Velha Cidade Velha (Portuguese for "old city", also: ''Santiago de Cabo Verde'') is a citySantiago Island. The de Noli family is believed to have its ancient roots in "the small city and Castle of Noli". By the 14th century, there were two main branches of the Noli family in Northern Italy sharing a pre-medieval origin in the ancient territory of Noli (Savona province). One branch was established in

Liguria Liguria (; lij, Ligûria ; french: Ligurie) is a Regions of Italy, region of north-western Italy; its Capital city, capital is Genoa. Its territory is crossed by the Alps and the Apennine Mountains, Apennines Mountain chain, mountain range and is ...

, and the other in

Novara Novara (, Novarese: ) is the capital city of the province of Novara in the Piedmont region in northwest Italy, to the west of Milan. With 101,916 inhabitants (on 1 January 2021), it is the second most populous city in Piedmont after Turin. It i ...

Piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

, where the Noli ("famiglia di signore") inhabited the Castle of Cameriano by the beginning of the 15th century. It is also recorded that members of the Noli family established in Genoa participated in government already by the 13th century, i.e. as "Consigliere della Signoria" in 1261. In 1382, Giacomo de Noli, ancestor of Captain Antonio de Noli, was appointed one member of the Twelve-Elderly Council of Genoa ("XII-Anziani del Comune") under the lead of Duke Nicolas de Guarco. When Nicolas de Guarco took over the rule of Genoa after the Fregoso, in 1378, he had "appointed in positions of trust the noblemen which have been neglected in the previous administrations", and thus also appointed the

Fieschi The Fieschi were a noble merchant family from Genoa, Italy, from whom descend the Fieschi Ravaschieri Princes of Belmonte. Of ancient origin, they took their name from the progenitor ''Ugo Fliscus'', descendants of the counts of Lavagna. The fam ...

. The participation of the de Noli in the Guarco's ruling of Genoa in alliance with the Fieschi would have, years afterwards, dramatic consequences for Antonio de Noli and his brother Bartholomew. Those prior political associations of the de Noli in Genoa provide a helpful background in explaining both their forced departure to exile in Portugal in 1447, and also the circumstances around the later repatriation of their descendants some decades after, first in Cesena and finally anew in homeland Genoa.

Discoveries

Old history records attribute Antonio de Noli the discovery of Cape Verde Islands, supposedly "the ancient Hesperides of Pliny and Ptolemy". This according to a ''carta regia'' (royal letter) of 19 September 1462. It is uncertain which of the Cape Verde Islands were discovered by Antonio de Noli. Some of the islands are mentioned in a letter of donation dated 3 December 1460; the rest in the above-mentioned from 19 September 1462. Noli has claim to discovering the first set of islands, while the second were possibly found by

Diogo Gomes Diogo Gomes () was a Portuguese navigator, explorer and writer. Diogo Gomes was a servant and explorer of Portuguese prince Henry the Navigator. His memoirs were dictated late in his life to Martin Behaim. They are an invaluable (if sometimes in ...

. However, the events in question are poorly recorded in documents from the time, a reasonable alternative would be that some or all of these second set of islands were discovered by

Diogo Dias Diogo Dias, also known as Diogo Gomes, was a 15th-century Portuguese explorer. He was the brother of Bartolomeu Dias and discovered some of the Cape Verde islands together with António Noli. Serving with da Gama In 1497 on the first Portugue ...

Diogo Afonso Diogo Afonso ( fl. 15th century) was a Portuguese explorer. Biography He took part in several explorations in the northwest and west coast of Africa which were made by Prince Henry. In 1444, he commanded a ship which had other explorers includi ...

and Alvise Cadamosto. The official royal letter of 29 October 1462 states that it was Diogo Afonso, the king's scribe, who had discovered the other (last) seven islands that were mentioned in the royal letter of 19 September 1462. This letter of 19 September 1462 grants all the islands of Cape Verde to Dom Fernando and the other seven islands are designated but the discoverer is not named. In this letter, Antonio de Noli's name is given as the discoverer of the first five islands, being also the first time he is mentioned by name as the discoverer. The letter of 3 December 1460 was a royal grant to Infante Ferdinand the Saint Prince after the demise of his brother Henry the Navigator in 1460.

Descendants

Governor Antonio de Noli had one daughter (Dona Branca de Aguiar, who married the Portuguese nobleman Dom Jorge Correia de Sousa, ''fidalgo da casa real'') and one son, who is mentioned to have accompanied him during the early exploration years in mainland Africa. During the occupation of Cape Verde Islands by Castile (a main base of modern

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

) during the Portuguese-Castilian war of 1475–1479, the Italian Antonio de Noli remained governor in spite of his titles had been given to him by the Portuguese. In the aftermath of the

Treaty of Alcáçovas The Treaty of Alcáçovas (also known as Treaty or Peace of Alcáçovas-Toledo) was signed on 4 September 1479 between the Catholic Monarchs of Castile and Aragon on one side and Afonso V and his son, Prince John of Portugal, on the other side ...

in 1479 and the reestablishment of Portuguese rule, the governorship of the Islands went instead to Noli's daughter Branca and her Portuguese spouse. Thereafter, no records of the whereabouts on Antonio Noli – including his demise or location of his son and descendants, or his fortune (as well as in the case of his Genoa brother Bartholomew or nephew Raphael) – have been found in Portugal, Cape Verde, or Spain. In 1497, the Noli were still banned from returning to Italy via Genoa for political reasons. In 2008, several manuscripts indicating the presence of the de Noli family in Cesena by the end of 1400 and not earlier, was found at the Biblioteca Malatestiana in

Cesena Cesena (; rgn, Cisêna) is a city and '' comune'' in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy, served by Autostrada A14, and located near the Apennine Mountains, about from the Adriatic Sea. The total population is 97,137. History Cesena was ...

, Italy. Among the Malatestiana Library manuscripts, two separate documents depicting the coat of arms of the Noli family were also found. In one of these manuscripts, "Famiglia Noli ''oriunda''" was written under the Noli coat of arms. The reference to "oriunda" in this context means "not from Cesena", thus "coming from an outer territory". The first entry of the de Noli in the Cesena manuscripts refers to "Simone ''de Antonio Noli'' Biondi", which indicates, according to naming praxis at the time, that Antonio Noli was his father. Later, and with the name Simone ''de Noli'' Biondi, he is mentioned in another manuscript as a member of the Cesena Council (''Consiglio di Cesena'') in 1505. The same position was held in later years by two other de Noli descendants, Antonio Noli of ''Tregga rotta'' in 1552 and ''Antonio de Noli'' Biondi in 1556. This Antonio de Noli ceased to be a member of the Cesena Council in 1558 and afterwards the family de Noli was reported in a Malatestiana manuscript as "extinct" in Cesena. However, a few years later, descendants of an Antonio de Noli appeared again, living in Northern Genoa (Valleregia, Serra Ricco). The first register of the de Noli in the Family book of Valleregia Parish of the period took place in 1586. The entries show the names of Antonio de Noli, Bartholomew, Simone, Raphael, and others known names used already in the previous generation of navigator Antonio de Noli and his descendants. The descendants of the de Noli family established anew in the hamlet of Noli in Northern Genoa (''La frazione di Noli al comune di Serra Ricco''). Like most of the de Noli families with Ligurian ancestry, the coat of arms of the family of Antonio de Noli and his descendants carries the red and white colours of the ancient cities of Noli and Genoa.

Legacy

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, an Italian destroyer was named ''Antonio da Noli''. It sank after striking a mine off the coast of

Corsica Corsica ( , Upper , Southern ; it, Corsica; ; french: Corse ; lij, Còrsega; sc, Còssiga) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 18 regions of France. It is the fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of ...

on 9 September 1943, the day after the Italian surrender to the Allies (see Navigatori class destroyer).

References and notes

"Antonio de Noli and the Beginning of the New World Discoveries" (2013), Ed. Prof.

Marcello Ferrada de Noli Marcello Ferrada de Noli (born 25 July 1943) is a Swedish professor emeritus''Dagens Nyheter'', Stockholm, published 17 July 2008 a biographical article authored by DN journalist Per Mortensen, on occasion of De Noli's 65th birthday. In a descripti ...

, Libertarian Books Europe, ISBN 978-91-981615-0-2

"Cape Verde" at worldstatesmen.org

"Events of 1943" at comandosupremo.com

"De Noli, The Italian Bond", Prof M. Ferrada de Noli {{DEFAULTSORT:Noli, Antonio 1410s births 1490s deaths Italian explorers 15th-century explorers of Africa 15th-century Genoese people Maritime history of Portugal Colonial heads of Cape Verde