Master thesis | Classics and Ancient Civilizations (MA)
open access
This thesis examines how Amerigo Vespucci, in his Mundus Novus, resorts to classical knowledge and ideology in order to approach the New World and place it in a conceptual framework. Firstly, it is...Show moreThis thesis examines how Amerigo Vespucci, in his Mundus Novus, resorts to classical knowledge and ideology in order to approach the New World and place it in a conceptual framework. Firstly, it is analysed how Vespucci by means of classical reception in the design and attitude of his letter, aims to meet the taste of his humanist patron Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco. This is done in chapter one. Secondly, it is examined how Vespucci used the frameworks of classical cosmology, geography and natural sciences in order to describe and introduce his new discoveries. The ideas of Ptolemy, Herodotus, Pliny, Vergil and Lucretius, among others, are reviewed. This is done in the following chapter. Furthermore, it should be noted that the framing of the ""other"" and its communication to a wider audience, as in Vespucci's Mundus Novus, go hand in hand with a sense of European hierarchal superiority towards America. Therefore, in addition, both chapters analyse how the classical reception in Vespucci's frameworks may reflect on a world in which colonisation by European powers began to take shape as a result of transatlantic voyages and explorations.Show less
