Lopo Homem (c. 1497 - c. 1572) was a 16th-century Portuguese cartographer and cosmographer based in Lisbon and best known for his work on the Miller Atlas.[1][2]

Lopo Homem
An aged-yellow map showing Africa, Asia, and Europe, which look largely like maps today, and South America, which appears more west than today. The map has a number of names written in red and faded black; examples include "Galia" in "Europa" and "Barbaria" in "Africa." There are also a number of flags across the landmasses.
1554 Lopo Homem world map
Bornc. 1497
Diedc. 1572
NationalityPortuguese
OccupationCartographer
Years active1520 - c. 1555

Biography

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"Terra Brasilis", Miller Atlas, 1519, French National Library.

Homem is estimated to have been born c. 1497, possibly into a noble family.[3][1] He is known to have spent time in Azamor between 1520 and 1522 and in Lisbon in 1565.[2][3] Beginning in 1517, he served as the crown's official cartographer and was given exclusive rights to "constructing and correcting... nautical compasses."[2][4] If anyone else attempted to calibrate a ship, they were required to pay Homem, the Master of Nautical Instruments, 20 cruzados.[5][6][7] These rights and titles were renewed in 1524 by King João III of Portugal.[5] In 1524, Homem was involved in preliminary negotiations on behalf of the Portuguese crown as an expert witness at the Conferences of Badajoz-Elvas, which aimed to settle a dispute with Castile for the Molucca Islands.[2] For this, he was given a pension of 1200 reais.[1][8] A letter written by Lopo Homem alluding to the board quarrels over the claims of the two kings on exploration rights remains in the Torre do Tombo.[citation needed]

Homem's earliest known work is a world map, which was discovered in London in 1930.[citation needed] His best-known work is the Miller Atlas, dated 1519, which is thought to be a joint work with Pedro Reinel, Reinel's son Jorge, and António de Holanda. There is, however, some disagreement in the academic community, with others arguing that Homem and de Holanda were the only two who worked on it.[9][10] The Miller Atlas consists of eight maps over six sheets painted on both sides.[11] It was created using information both from Homem's imagination and from known land masses dating back to Ptolemy.[11][1] Because of its "luxurious" work and detail, it is thought that King Manuel I of Portugal commissioned it as a state gift for Francis I of France.[12][5] Homem and the Reineles were the only known cartographers in Lisbon at this time, allowing them to entirely corner the market.[2] In the mid-16th century, Homem criticized inaccurate maps, both for "damag[ing] the geopolitical interests of the Crown... [which] could cause significant territorial losses" and for increasing the probability of shipwrecks and sailor deaths.[13]

In 1531, Lopo Homem was given a lifetime pension of 20,000 reais.[2]

Works

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Homem's known works, dated between 1557 and 1578, include 11 or 12 charts and 12 atlases; 7 of the atlases were of Europe and the Mediterranean Sea and 5 were of the world.[9] These include:

Family

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He had at least 4 sons: Diogo and André, both cartographers; Thomas; and António.[29][9][1][30]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g Alegria, Maria Fernanda; Daveau, Suzanne; Garcia, João Carlos; Relaño, Francesc (2007). "Portuguese Cartography in the Renaissance". In Woodward, David (ed.). Cartography in the European Renaissance (Volume 3, Part 1). University of Chicago Press. pp. 975–1068.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Destombes, Marcel (1955). "The Chart of Magellan". Imago Mundi. 12: 65–88. doi:10.1080/03085695508592091. JSTOR 1150099. Retrieved 2022-03-24.
  3. ^ a b "Lopo Homem". Museo Galileo. n.d. Retrieved 2022-03-24.
  4. ^ E.H. (1930). "An Undescribed Map of Lopo Homem, 1519". The Geographical Journal. 76 (2): 159–160. doi:10.2307/1783981. JSTOR 1783981. Retrieved 2022-03-24.
  5. ^ a b c d "Reinel, Homem and Teixeira Albernaz: the families that made the Portuguese the best cartographers in the world" (in Portuguese). Observador. 2019-04-13. Retrieved 2022-03-24.
  6. ^ Stimson, Alan. The Mariner's Astrolabe: A Survey of Known, Surviving Sea Astrolabes. p. 582.
  7. ^ Chalmers, William D. On the Origin of the Species homo touristicus: The Evolution of Travel from Greek Spas to Space Tourism. p. 47.
  8. ^ Suaresz, Thomas. Early Mapping of Southeast Asia: The Epic Story of Seafarers, Adventurers, and Cartographers Who First Mapped the Regions between China and India.
  9. ^ a b c "THE REINEL AND HOMEM FAMILIES OF CARTOGRAPHERS THE HISTORY RE-ASSESSED AND THEIR CHARTS QUESTIONED". Cartography Unchained. n.d. Retrieved 2022-03-24.
  10. ^ Destombes, Marcel (1937). "Lopo Homem's Atlas of 1519". The Geographical Journal. 90 (5): 460–464. doi:10.2307/1787974. JSTOR 1787974. Retrieved 2022-03-24.
  11. ^ a b c d "Nautical Atlas of the World, Folio 5 Recto, Southwestern Atlantic Ocean with Brazil". Library of Congress. n.d. Retrieved 2022-03-24.
  12. ^ Thomaz, Luís Filipe F. R. (n.d.). "Atlas Miller: Cartographic secrets and the Magellan expedition". M. Moleiro. Retrieved 2022-03-24.
  13. ^ Sánchez, Antonio (2018). "Charts for an empire. A global trading zone in early modern Portuguese nautical cartography". Centaurus. 60 (3): 173–188. doi:10.1111/1600-0498.12198. S2CID 189984455. Retrieved 2022-03-24.
  14. ^ Lopo Homem, [Atlas nautique du Monde, dit atlas Miller: hémisphère portugais et page de titre], 1519.[1]
  15. ^ Raphael Eduardo de Azaveda Basta, Esmeraldo de Situ Orbis, por Duarte Pacheco Pereira, Lisboa, Impresa Nacional, 1892, p.7; W.G.L. Randles, Geography, Cartography and Nautical Science in the Renaissance: The Impact of the Great Discoveries, London, Routledge, Variorum Collected Studies, 2022, pp.63-64; Robert J. King, “The Depiction of the Ocean on the 1519 World Map of Lopo Homem”, The Globe, no.92, 2022, pp.13-25.
  16. ^ Hacke, Daniela; Musselwhite, Paul. Empire of the Senses: Sensory Practices of Colonialism in Early America. p. 146.
  17. ^ a b Eliana, Gola. A joia: história e design.
  18. ^ "Nautical Atlas of the World, Folio 4 Recto, Magnus Sinus and Folio 4 Verso, China Sea with the Moluccas". Library of Congress. n.d. Retrieved 2022-03-24.
  19. ^ "Nautical Atlas of the World, Folio 3 Recto, Northern Indian Ocean with Arabia and India and Folio 3 Verso, Southern Indian Ocean with Insulindia on the Left, and Madagascar on the Right". Library of Congress. n.d. Retrieved 2022-03-24.
  20. ^ "Nautical Atlas of the World, Circular World Map of the Portuguese Hemisphere and Title Page". Library of Congress. n.d. Retrieved 2022-03-24.
  21. ^ "Atlas nautique du Monde, dit atlas Miller". Bibliothèque nationale de France. n.d. Retrieved 2022-03-24.
  22. ^ "Nautical Atlas of the World, Folio 6 Verso, The Mediterranean Sea". Library of Congress. n.d. Retrieved 2022-03-24.
  23. ^ "Nautical Atlas of the World, Folio 2 Recto, Northeastern Atlantic Ocean and Northern Europe and Folio 2 Verso, Central Atlantic Ocean with the Azores". Library of Congress. n.d. Retrieved 2022-03-24.
  24. ^ "Nautical Atlas of the World, Folio 6 Recto, North Atlantic Ocean". Library of Congress. n.d. Retrieved 2022-03-24.
  25. ^ E.H. (1936). "Review: History of Cartography: Review". The Geographical Journal. 87 (2): 150–153. doi:10.2307/1786154. JSTOR 1786154. Retrieved 2022-03-24.
  26. ^ "Maps and Plans". National Library of Portugal. n.d. Retrieved 2022-03-24.
  27. ^ "Planisphere (facsimile)". Museo Galileo. n.d. Retrieved 2022-03-24.
  28. ^ "Maps in History" (PDF). The Brussels Map Circle. 2017. Retrieved 2022-03-24.
  29. ^ de Faria Costa, José Francisco; da Cruz Coelho, Maria Helena (eds.). A Universidade de Coimbra: o tangível e o intangível: o tangível e o intangível. p. 319.
  30. ^ Borudon, Léon. André Homem, cartographe portugais en France (1560-1586). p. 9.