Home › Martin Waldseemller

Martin Waldseemller

Martin Waldseemller

Martin Waldseemller seen by Gaston Save (painting of the nineteenth century)

Nickname (s)	(H) ilacomilus, Hylacomylus
Birth	1470 Fribourg
Deaths	16 March 1520 (50 years) Saint-Die-des-Vosges
Country of residence	Duchy of Lorraine
Occupation (s)	Member of the clergy ecclesiastical canon
Activity (s) Home (s)	Cartographer

Martin Waldseemller ( 1470 , 16 March 1520 ) said Ilacomilus, or Hilacomilus Hylacomylus, is a German cartographer of the Renaissance.

Life

He was born in Radolfszell near Lake Constance in Germany in 1470 and spent his childhood on Lake Constance. He was introduced to the printing press in the workshop of his uncle moved to Basel.

The registry of the University of Fribourg note the presence of "Martinus Walzenmller" on 7 December 1490 , but in contrast there is no indication that he was educated in this university. However, it is evident that studying theology and it is dedicated to the study of geography and cartography.

Entered into orders, he finds himself integrated Vosges Gymnasium (Gymnasium Vosagense) of Saint-Die-des-Vosges as a cartographer.

Invention of America

Details Waldseemller Map with marked AMERICA

It publishes 25 April 1507 in Introductio Cosmographiae (Full title: Introduction to cosmography with some elements of geometry and astronomy needed to understand this science, and the four voyages of Amerigo Vespucci and the reproduction of world in both spherical projection surface, including regions that Ptolemy knew and were only discovered recently ...) a card known as the Waldseemller Map , which he uses for the first time the word America fired the first name of Amerigo Vespucci to designate the southern part of mainland U.S. , rather than the name of Columbus. Historians have wondered why he made that choice and it just seems that Vespucci's travels at the time enjoyed greater notoriety .

From 1514 he became canon of the Church of Saint-Die in Saint-Die-des-Vosges, where he died on 16 March 1520 ("1519": old style, that of the Annunciation, in force in Lorraine At that time, source: Departmental Archives of the Vosges G 384, Exhibit 2).