Note 1 — PRIMO VIAGGIO INTORNO AL MONDO

The greater part of the life of Antonio Pigafetta is shrouded in darkness. The Pigafetta family, who resided at Venice, and was formerly of Tuscan origin, dates back before him for several centuries. The Pigafetta escutcheon was white above and black below with a white transverse bar running from left to right. On the lower part were three red roses, one of them on the bar. The old family house is still standing and shows the motto Il nest rose sans espine, i.e., “No rose without a thorn,” which was probably carved in 1481, when the house was repaired, and not by Antonio Pigafetta after his return from his voyage as some assert. Antonio Pigafetta was born toward the close of the fifteenth century, but the date cannot be positively fixed, some declaring it to be 1491; but Harrisse who follows Marzari, gives the date as 1480. It is unknown who his parents were and some have asserted that he was a natural child, although this is evidently unfounded, as he was received into the military order of St. John. At an early age he probably became familiar with the sea and developed his taste for traveling. He went to Spain with the Roman ambassador Chieregato, in 1519, but in what capacity is unknown. Hearing details of Magalhães’s intended voyage he contrived to accompany him. Navarrete surmises that he is the Antonio Lombardo mentioned in the list of the captain’s servants and volunteers who sailed on the expedition, so called as his country was Lombardy. After the return of the “Victoria,” he journeyed in Spain, Portugal, and France, and returned to Italy probably in January, 1523. The relation presented by him to Cárlos I was probably a draft of his notes taken daily throughout the voyage. His Relation as we know it was undertaken at the request of the marchioness of Mantova, but its composition was arrested by an order from Clement VII to come to Rome, whither he went in December, 1523, or January, 1524, meeting Villiers l’Isle-Adam on his journey thither. He remained in the pope’s service but a short time, for in April, 1524, he was back in Venice. That same year he was granted a copyright on his Relation, which he intended to print, for twenty years. Pozzo says that he was received into the Order of St. John, October 3, 1524, but it was probably somewhat before that date. Between the dates of August, 1524, and August, 1530, his work was presented to Villiers l’Isle-Adam. Nothing further is known of him, though some say that he fought against the Turks as late as 1536, while others have placed his death in 1534 or 1535 and at Malta. In addition to his Relation Pigafetta wrote a Treatise on the art of navigation, which follows his Relation. This is not presented in the present publication, notwithstanding its importance, as being outside of the present scope. It is reproduced by Mosto. He has sometimes been confused with Marcantonio Pigafetta (a Venetian gentleman), the author of Itinerario da Vienna a Constantinopoli (London, 1585); and wrongly called Vincenzo Antonio Pigafetta, the “Vincenzo” being an error for “vicentino,” i.e., “Venetian.” See Mosto, Il primo viaggio ... di Antonio Pigafetta (Roma, 1894), pp. 13–30; Larousse’s Dictionnaire; and La grande Encyclopédie (Paris).