Note 358 — Chapter VIII

There seems much doubt about the story of the invention of the mariner’s compass by Flavio Gioga, an Amalfite, in A.D. 1307. The city had ceased to have any commercial importance since its sack by the Pisans in A.D. 1137 (Sismondi, i. p. 303); while, on the other hand, Hallam shows that the compass was known as early as A.D. 1100 (Mid. Ages, iii. 394); and Wachsmuth proves that it was used in Sweden in A.D. 1250 (Ersch und Grüber’s Encycl. iii. 302). The Italian bussola, from the French boussole, comes again from the Flemish Boxel (box);—hence, probably, our term of “boxing” the compass. It was most likely a northern discovery.