Freiburger historische Bestände - digital

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A. Ziegler1 would have us look upon him as the
" intellectual" discoverer of the continent. Ghillany
(p. 63) thinks it not impossible that he may be the actual
discoverer of the strait called Magellan, whilst the Rev.
Mytton Maury,2 after a very superficial study of the
authorities, assures us that " taking all the evidence into
consideration it would seem that the facts in the case not
simply allow, but compel us, to regard Martin Behaim as
the original discoverer of the strait." One of the last to
support the claims made in that respect on behalf of
Behaim is U. Griffoni,3 but his arguments were speedily
refuted by Prof. Carlo Errara of Turin and Prof. Gustavo
Uzielli of Florence.4

Weighing carefully the available evidence bearing
upon the relations between Behaim, Columbus and
Magellan, and the discovery of the New World, I feel
justified in the following conclusions :

1. Behaim most certainly did not discover, or ever
claim to have discovered, the New World, nor did he
exercise any influence upon the projects of Columbus,
whom he had very few opportunities of knowing, but, to
judge from his globe, he shared the erroneous opinions of
the famous navigator as to the small breadth of the
Atlantic Ocean.

2. Behaim may have joined Fernao Dulmo and Joao
Affonso do Estreito in the scheme for an expedition
proposed for 1487, but if this expedition ever started it
seems to have yielded no results, as no reference whatever
is made to it in the legends covering Behaim's globe.

3. There exists no evidence whatever that Behaim,
between the years 1494 and 1507 joined any of the
Portuguese expeditions which visited the west coast of
South America.

4. If Magellan had a chart showing a strait connecting
the Atlantic and the Mar del Sur, it cannot have
been the work of Behaim, at whose death the coast was
known only to the Rio de Cananea, 750 miles to the north
of the estuary of the La Plata, which was first mistaken for
such a strait.

XII. A VISIT TO NUREMBERG, 1490-93.

Object of the Visit.

In the spring of 1490 Martin Behaim left his island home
on a visit to his native town of Nuremberg, where he
arrived in the summer of the same year. After an absence
of seven years he may well have desired to revisit the scenes

1 A. Ziegler,' M. Behaim der geistige Entdecker Amerika's ' (Dresden,
1859).

1 Mytton Maury, ' On Martin Behaim's Globe,' read March 19,
1872 (Journal American Geographical Society of New York, IV., 1874,
pp. 432-452).

3 'Revista Maritima,' 1901, October.

* • Rev. geografica Italians,' 1902, pp. 382 and 457.

of his youth and to see his relatives, but the immediate
object of his journey was of a business nature. His
mother having died in 1487, the time had arrived for a
distribution of her estate among the heirs.

During his long stay at Nuremberg, Martin was the
guest of his cousin Michael, the son of his uncle Leonhard,
and Senior Familiae, who lived in the Zistelgasse.5

Business Transactions.

Legal steps in connection with the realization of the
estate and its distribution appear to have been taken
without loss of time, for on August 9, 1490, the legatees
appeared before the court charged with testamentary
business. Three brothers, Martin, Stephen and Michael,
and the sister, Ursula, the wife of Ulrich Futterer,
appeared personally, whilst Wolfrath, who was absent at
Lyon, was represented by attorney.6 On this occasion
the distribution of the personal effects of the parents,
including pearls and jewellery, was effected.

On the Wednesday after Ladyday, 1491 (March 30),
Martin, on receipt of 800 gulden, surrendered his share in
his father's house in the market-square.

On May 2, 1491, Ortolf Stromayr or Stromer purchased
a house " unter der Vesten" (below the castle) which
Martin's father had inherited in 1435, and which stood
next to a house inhabited from 1427 to 1502 by the father
of Albrecht Diirer, the famous artist. Stromayr paid
1050 gulden for this house, and Martin's share—210
gulden—was paid to him forthwith.

On August 5, 1491, the feuds of the family outside
Nuremberg were dealt with. They included estates at
Riickersdorf (near Lauf on the Pegnitz) and Kurssendorf
(now Kurzenbach, to the south of Onolzbach or Ansbach),
and a farm, Katenbach, near this town. As Behaim
intended to live abroad he accepted 83 gulden in lieu of
his claims to these feuds. Finally, on August 17 he was
paid 126 gulden as his share of a house " unter den
Flaischbanken "—the Flesher's row — which had been
sold to Endres Flock. Martin's share from the sale of
his mother's real estate thus amounted to 1219 gulden
Rhenish or about £600, and if we add to this his share of
the personal estate, a report current in Fayal that he
returned from this visit to Germany with " great riches "
had some foundation in fact.7

But whilst Martin's legal proceedings in connection
with his heirship were no doubt of a pleasant nature, he

5 Now known as Diirer Strasse. Leonhard's house still exists and
bears the number 4.

6 Copies of the documents referring to these testamentary proceedings
are to be found in Dr. G. W. K. Lochner's ' Selecta Archivalia Norim-
bergensis,' a MS. in the town library. Dr. S. Giinther has published
extracts from them. I have since examined the originals, and am able in
a few instances to correct and even to supplement the information given
by Dr. S. Giinther. Dr. Lochner was born in 1798. He was the
keeper of the town archives, 1865-82, when he died (' Mitt, des Vereins
f. d. Geschichte d. Stadt N.,' V., 1854).

7 Fructuoso, lib. IV., c. 3, § 33.

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