Mapping the world: the cartography of André Homem (1559) and the practice of maps mundi in the 16th century

• Grant number: 22/04311-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Master's degree
• Start date: October 01, 2022
• End date: February 28, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - History - Modern and Contemporary History
• Principal Investigator: Denise Aparecida Soares de Moura
• Grantee: Aline dos Santos Franco de Camargo
• Supervisor: Luis Jorge Rodrigues Semedo de Matos
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Humanas e Sociais (FCHS). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Franca. Franca , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal
• Associated to the scholarship: 21/04050-9 - Mapping the world: André Homem's cartography (1559) and the world map practice in the 16th century, BP.MS

Abstract

This project is part of the Master's research in progress on the map of 1559, by André Homem, seeking to understand its performance in the European expansionist context of the 16th century. After about ten months of reading and interpreting two types of sources proposed in the initial project - letters transcribed and published by Léon Bourdon (1972) and the world map of 1559 in comparison with other maps of the period, which proved to be relevant - two questions that led to the purpose of the project in question. At first, it is necessary to investigate the missing correspondence from the embassy of João Pereira Dantas in France, located at the Biblioteca Nacional da Ajuda and at the Arquivo Nacional da Torre do Tombo, in order to understand the geopolitical conjuncture in which the Portuguese cartographer was inserted. Given the complexity of the 1559 chart, in order to proceed with its interpretation, but also the set of techniques used by cartographers in the period in question, it is necessary to obtain foundations on the History of modern Nautical Science, which is scarce in Brazil. With the opportunity offered by Professor Luís Jorge Rodrigues Semedo de Matos to participate in classes in the Nautical History course, the possibility of fulfilling the objectives of this project with rigor and excellence is expanded. (AU)