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New World Propaganda: Pigafetta's Journal, World Maps, And New European Ideologies, 1525-1556, Megan Sympson

HIST 4800 Early America in the Atlantic World (Herndon)

Once Europeans discovered the New World, cartographers of the time began to map the Americas based on either their own experiences or accounts of others who visited the new land. These maps did not simply serve as navigational tools, but also were used as decorative objects containing elements of propaganda intended to shape opinions of the New World in the Old. In this paper, I examine Antonio Pigafetta’s journal, documenting the voyage of Magellen in 1519-22, and the world maps created after his journal was published. Six world maps by Diogo Ribeiro, Jean Rotz, Guillaume Brouscon, Sebastian Cabot, Pierre Desceliers, …