The Thornton expedition was a 1608 Tuscan expedition under Captain Robert Thornton, an Englishman, sent by Ferdinando I of

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of 3,660,834 inhabitants as of 2025. The capital city is Florence. Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, artistic legacy, and its in ...

. It was done in order to explore

northern Brazil The North Region of Brazil ( ) is the largest region of Brazil, accounting for 45.27% of the national territory. It has the second-lowest population of any region in the country, and accounts for a minor percentage of the national GDP. The regio ...

and the Amazon River and prepare for the establishment of a settlement in northern coastal South America, which would serve as a base to export Brazilian wood to

Renaissance Italy The Italian Renaissance ( ) was a period in History of Italy, Italian history between the 14th and 16th centuries. The period is known for the initial development of the broader Renaissance culture that spread across Western Europe and marked t ...

. The area that Thornton considered as a possible site of a Tuscan colony now lies in modern

French Guiana French Guiana, or Guyane in French, is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France located on the northern coast of South America in the Guianas and the West Indies. Bordered by Suriname to the west ...

, near

Cayenne Cayenne (; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and capital city of French Guiana, an overseas region and Overseas department, department of France located in South America. The city stands on a former island at the mouth of the Caye ...

, which would be colonised by France in 1630. The expedition was the only attempt by an Italian state to colonise the Americas. The Amazon region had been previously visited by numerous European explorers and traders over the course of the preceding century. Robert Harcourt sailed for Guiana in 1608, establishing an English base on the Oyapock River which lasted a few years. William Davies, a surgeon on the Thornton expedition noted that they expected to find the Amazon by sailing south from the West Indies until "...you shall see the Sea change to a ruddie colour, the water shall grow fresh, by these signes you may run boldly your course ." Sailing from

Livorno Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of the Tuscany region of Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 152,916 residents as of 2025. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn ...

in September 1608, Thornton returned to the same port in the end of June 1609, reportedly completing the voyage without losing a man. John Temple Leader
''Life of Sir Robert Dudley, Earl of Warwick and Duke of Northumberland : Illustrated with letters and documents from original sources, collected by the author, and hitherto inedited'' (1895)
/ref> He brought back with him to Tuscany five or six natives, most of whom died of

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by Variola virus (often called Smallpox virus), which belongs to the genus '' Orthopoxvirus''. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (W ...

. Only one lived on at the Medici court for several years, and learned to speak Tuscan. The natives often talked about the richness and fertility of their native land, speaking of a country rich in silver and gold. Thornton himself corroborated these reports, and asserted that the country was rich in rosewood, wild sugar canes, white pepper, balsam, cotton and many other kinds of merchandise which would form an abundant commerce for the Tuscans. However, once back in Tuscany, Thornton found that Ferdinando I had died, and that his successor Cosimo II was uninterested in the establishment of a colony. Thornton was ready to sail back to the area between the

Orinoco The Orinoco () is one of the longest rivers in South America at . Its drainage basin, sometimes known as the Orinoquia, covers approximately 1 million km2, with 65% of it in Venezuela and 35% in Colombia. It is the List of rivers by discharge, f ...

and Amazon rivers in the summer of 1609 with Italian settlers from

and

Lucca Città di Lucca ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the Serchio River, in a fertile plain near the Ligurian Sea. The city has a population of about 89,000, while its Province of Lucca, province has a population of 383,9 ...

, but the project was scrapped.Ridolfi, R. ''Pensieri medicei di colonizzare il Brasile'', in «Il Veltro», Roma, luglio-agosto 1962, p. 12

References

Bibliography

* Franzina, Emilio. ''Storia dell'emigrazione italiana''. Donzelli Editore. Roma, 2002 {{ISBN, 88-7989-719-5 * Ridolfi, R. ''Pensieri medicei di colonizzare il Brasile'', in «Il Veltro» (luglio-agosto 1962). Roma, 1962 * Sanfilippo, Matteo. ''Gli Italiani in Brasile''. Edizioni Sette Citta'. Viterbo, 2008 1608 in the Grand Duchy of Tuscany Exploration of South America Settlement schemes in South America South American expeditions 1608 in South America

See also

References

Bibliography