Flavio Gioia or Gioja, also known as Ioannes Gira Amalphensis (; 1300 – ?) is reputed to have been an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

mariner, inventor, and supposedly a marine pilot. He has traditionally been credited with developing the sailor's

compass A compass is a device that shows the cardinal directions used for navigation and geographic orientation. It commonly consists of a magnetized needle or other element, such as a compass card or compass rose, which can pivot to align itself with No ...

, but this has been debated. However, he is credited with perfecting it by suspending its needle over a wind rose design with north designed by a

fleur-de-lys The ''fleur-de-lis'', also spelled ''fleur-de-lys'' (plural ''fleurs-de-lis'' or ''fleurs-de-lys''), is a common heraldic charge in the (stylized) shape of a lily (in French, and mean and respectively). Most notably, the ''fleur-de-lis'' ...

, and enclosing it in a box with a glass cover. He was also said to have introduced such design, which pointed North, to defend against

Charles of Anjou Charles I (early 1226/12277 January 1285), commonly called Charles of Anjou or Charles d'Anjou, was King of Sicily from 1266 to 1285. He was a member of the royal Capetian dynasty and the founder of the House of Anjou-Sicily. Between 1246 a ...

, the French king of

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

. Although the surname "Gioia" is true, the name "Flavio" has been demonstrated to be a translation error. His real name was probably Giovanni; and his birthplace has been found to be

Positano Positano ( ; in Neapolitan language, Neapolitan: () is a village and ''comune'' on the Amalfi Coast (Province of Salerno), in Campania, Italy, mainly in an enclave in the hills leading down to the coast. History The first evidence of a settle ...

, in the

Amalfi Coast The Amalfi Coast ( or ) is a stretch of coastline in southern Italy overlooking the Tyrrhenian Sea and the Gulf of Salerno. It is located south of the Sorrentine Peninsula and north of the Cilentan Coast. Attracting international tourists o ...

. It is also likely that Flavio Gioja did not exist at all. In the middle of the XVth century historian Flavio Biondo wrote that compass had been invented in Amalfi. In 1511, wrote: "In Amalfi, Campania, the use of the magnet was invented, according to Flavio". But later due to a misplaced comma this was narrated as "the use of the magnet was invented by Flavio, it is said". The

lunar crater Lunar craters are impact craters on Earth's Moon. The Moon's surface has many craters, all of which were formed by impacts. The International Astronomical Union currently recognizes 9,137 craters, of which 1,675 have been dated. History The wo ...

Gioja is named after him.

References

13th-century births 14th-century deaths Italian sailors 14th-century Italian inventors People from Amalfi European people whose existence is disputed {{Italy-bio-stub