When Major wrote to Brown asking him to help him with the Venetian side of the story, Brown took to the task with gusto. Indeed Major must have felt the Zens were very much among Brown’s “particular friends,” given the wealth of detailed information he provided in his copious letters: birth and death records, property titles, shipping leases and official notices of political appointments—all of which allowed Major to reconstruct the world of the Zens while working at his desk at the British Library.
THE VOYAGES of the Venetian Brothers, Nicolò and Antonio Zeno, to the Northern Seas in the XIVth Century finally appeared in 1873. With Pinkerton obviously in mind, Major stated in triumph, “The book which had been declared one of the most puzzling in the whole circle of literature will henceforth be no puzzle at all.” Zahrtmann had died twenty years earlier and Major had the stage to himself. King Victor Emmanuel II of Italy made him a knight commander of the Order of the Crown of Italy for his spirited defense of the Zens—a recognition Major was so proud of that he incorporated the insignia in his own coat of arms, with its motto Deus anchora major—God is the greatest anchor.
To mark the event, the Hakluyt Society published an elegant, dark blue morocco–bound edition of Major’s essay, with an English translation of the original narrative and up-to-date charts of the North Atlantic. Major sent an inscribed copy to Rawdon Brown, who bequeathed it to the Biblioteca Marciana—a gift that in the eyes of these two elderly Victorians with white beards no doubt represented a rightful act of restitution from a great naval power to its glorious predecessor.
Palazzo Zen as it stands today on Fondamenta Santa Caterina. The plaque honoring the Zen brothers is visible on the far right corner of the facade. (illustration credit 9.1)
* * *
1 The first secretary of the Royal Geographical Society, Alexander Maconochie.
2 Palazzo Dario at first, then Ca’ Ferro, Palazzo Businello and finally Palazzo Gussoni Grimani della Vida.
Postscript
R. H. MAJOR’S celebration was premature. His essay too was challenged and the debate over the story of the Zen brothers has never really ceased. In 1898 a punctilious schoolteacher by the name of Frederick W. Lucas made a comprehensive review of all the evidence and concluded that Nicolò the Younger had perpetrated “a contemptible literary fraud—one of the most successful and obnoxious on record.” Soon the story came under attack in Italy as well. In 1933, Andrea Da Mosto, a Venetian historian no less, announced he had found documents showing Messer Nicolò was in Venice at the time of his alleged shipwreck in Frislanda. Four years later, the Italian geographer Roberto Almagià declared in the Enciclopedia italiana that the Zen chart was “a fake” and the narrative “a figment of the author’s imagination.” However, I must add as a cautionary word that in Fascist Italy nothing was allowed to obscure the fame of the nation’s champion transatlantic navigator, Christopher Columbus. After the war, in 1949, an American geologist, William Herbert Hobbs, threw an unexpected lifeline to the Venetian navigators: he said his own study of the map, which took account of compass variation, “conclusively proves the Zens to have been honest and reliable explorers far in advance of their age.” In 1974, as I’ve already mentioned, the amateur historian Frederick Pohl claimed to have proof that Henry Sinclair and Antonio Zen colonized Nova Scotia. A decade later, Giorgio Padoan, a specialist in Renaissance studies at Ca’ Foscari University, went back into the archives to discover that Da Mosto’s conclusions of 1933 were wrong: Messer Nicolò was not in Venice at the time of the landing in Frislanda after all. Furthermore, he claimed that his philological study of the text had enabled him to recognize the parts in the narrative that were clearly medieval, and therefore could be ascribed to Messer Nicolò or to Antonio, and those that had been added by Nicolò the Younger. Padoan knew how to separate the wheat from the chaff, as R. H. Major would have said. But by the time his essay was published, in 1988, the debate had long been relegated to the fringes of geographical discourse, and few people read it.
Today the vast majority of geographers and historians generally assume the story is apocryphal, especially in northern European countries, where the mere mention of the Zen brothers can still provoke an irritated twitching of the brow. To me the map and the story are still as intriguing as they were when I first stumbled upon them by chance at the Biblioteca Marciana. As the reader knows by now, I am inclined to believe that Nicolò the Younger was a first-class muddler, not a fablemonger, and that the story he tells of his forefathers offers fascinating glimpses into the past. Unlike R. H. Major, though, I suspect the book will remain “one of the most puzzling in the whole circle of literature.”
MY OWN QUEST came to an end, or at least came full circle, when the following e-mail unexpectedly popped up on my computer screen one day:
Dear Mr. di Robilant,
I hear you are writing a book on the Zens. I went to Italy in 2001. I stopped by the library on Saint Mark’s Square to ask about the Zens’ home in Venice. Some person helped me and after half an hour found the location and I went to have my picture taken. He had not heard of the Zen travels and he did not believe in the story.
Tom Paul
Madison, CT
Mr. Paul had learned that I was writing a book about the Zens from Niven Sinclair, but he did not know that I was the person who had helped him out that day in the library. A few months after receiving his e-mail I was visiting some colleges on the East Coast with my oldest son and I arranged to meet him at a diner in a town in Connecticut. I was surprised he seemed so familiar—our encounter years earlier had been so brief. We sat for lunch and he showed me a photograph of himself in front of the Palazzo Zen near the Frari. I told him how sorry I was that I had sent him to the “wrong” palazzo, but he didn’t seem to mind. “So tell me,” he said cheerfully, “how did you come to write a book about the Zen brothers?”
Acknowledgments
MY QUEST for the Zen brothers began in the Biblioteca Marciana in Venice, where Piero Falchetta, Tiziana Plebani and Maria Grazia Degenhardt generously gave me their time. Around the corner, at the Biblioteca Civica Correr, Piero Lucchi and Camillo Tonini helped me untangle a few knots in the tale. And Claudia Salmini offered precious guidance in the labyrinthine Archivio di Stato at the Frari. Other Venetian friends helped along the way: Donata Grimani, Girolamo Marcello, Nicolò Zen and most of all Pamela Berry. Massimo Donattini, at the University of Bologna, provided me with a useful bibliography on the Zen family early on in my research. The brave Laura Zolo, who sailed her thirty-foot sloop 7 Roses in the wake of the Zen brothers across the Atlantic, turned out to be a great source of inspiration when I visited her in Elba.
In London, Niven Sinclair gave me enthusiastic support and voluminous material on the Sinclair family. I also received encouragement from a band of happy geographers: Catherine Delano-Smith, Tony Campbell, Peter Barber at the British Library and Francis Herbert at the Royal Geographical Society.
In Orkney, Kath Gourley, Tom Muir and Willie Thomson enlightened me on the history of their beloved islands. After his initial reticence, Brian Smith, head of the Shetland Archives in Lerwick, assisted me generously. Jonathan and Leslie Wills welcomed me warmly in Bressay. Further north, in the Faroes, Magni Arge, Jóannes Patursson, Arne Thorsteinsson and Andras Mortensen provided good company and some illuminating insights into Faroese history as well as a few glimpses of the islands’ prospects. Iceland’s ambassador to Rome, Guðni Bragason, was kind enough to provide me with a translation of Jógvan Isaksen’s Adventus Domini. In Iceland, Margaret Blondal, Arna Antonsdóttir, Steinunn Kristjánsdóttir, Olafur Asgeirsson, Póður Tomasson, Martina Potzsch and Villi Eyjolsson were especially generous with their time.
Silvia Cosimini expertly translated some Icelandic texts for me. Father Edward Booth and Nicola Lugosch assisted me with a translation of Thorlak’s Saga. Michele Melega read Danish material on Admiral Christian Zahrtmann for me.
Before leaving for Greenland, I benefited from the insights of Kirste
n Seaver, author of A Frozen Echo. Several people assisted me kindly during my visit: Silverio “Silver” Scivoli, Inga Dora Markussen, Daniel Thorleifsen, Hans Lange, Jens Larsen, Christian Hansen. Most of all I would like to thank my friend Robin Navrozov for her decisive impulse before the last leg of my journey. The Greenland chapter is dedicated to her.
Notes
Prologue
1 “a tissue of fiction”: Christian Zahrtmann, “Remarks on the Voyages to the Northern Hemisphere ascribed to the Zeni of Venice,” The Journal of the Royal Geographical Society 5 (1835), p. 109.
2 “one of the most successful and obnoxious”: Frederick Lucas, The Annals of the Voyages of the Brothers Nicolò and Antonio Zeno in the North Atlantic about the End of the Fourteenth Century and the Claim founded thereon to a Venetian Discovery of America (London: Stevens, Son and Stiles,1898), p. 143.
3 “to be filled with candor”: Alexander von Humboldt, Examen critique de l’histoire de la géographie du nouveau continent, vol. 2 (Paris: Gide, 1836–37), p. 122.
Chapter One: Making a Book
1 “He was not pleased with my request”: From the dedication in the second edition of Dell’origine de barbari che distrussero per tutto ’l mondo l’imperio di Roma onde hebbe principio la città di Venetia (Venice: Marcolini, 1558).
2 “not to show it to anyone”: Ibid., from the original dedication in the edition of 1557, reprinted in 1558.
3 “He had been so busy performing”: Ibid., from the dedication in the 1558 edition.
4 “how truly distraught”: Ibid.
5 “trickster whose inventions”: Tony Wood “Confections of Zeno,” Cabinet Magazine 18 (2005), online edition.
6 “Venetians, especially young ones”: Storia della Guerra Veneto-Turca, unpublished manuscript. Venice: Biblioteca Marciana, mss. ital., CL VII, cod. 2053, p. 194.
7 “the infamy of all Christianity”: Ibid., p. 112 verso.
8 “the Spanish soldiers who were on the Emperor’s ships”: Ibid.
9 “Now everyone rushes to buy property”: Dell’origine, p. 15 verso.
10 “in houses of equal size”: Ibid.
11 “the indolent and the pleasure-seeking”: Ibid.
12 “whose great worth and wisdom”: Dell’origine, dedication of 1557, reprinted in 1558 edition.
13 “with loving diligence”: Daniele Barbaro, I dieci libri di Vitruvio (Venice: Marcolini, 1556); quoted in Ennio Concina, L’arsenale della Repubblica di Venezia (Milano: Electa, 1984), p. 146.
14 “lifting huge weights”: Ibid., p. 150.
15 “good judgment”: Ibid.
16 “soul mate”: Dell’origine, from the 1557 dedication.
17 “appease his rage”: Ibid.
18 “a creature of the great Pietro”: From the dedication to Duke Ercole of Ferrara in Libro delle sorti (Venice: Marcolini, 1560); quoted in Scipione Casali, Gli annali della tipografia veneziana di Francesco Marcolini (Bologna: Gerace, 1953), p. 279.
19 “Our friend Francesco’s superb structure”: Ibid., quoted by Luigi Servolini in the introduction.
20 “beautiful imagery”: Giorgio Vasari, Le opere (Firenze: Passigli, 1832–38), p. 691.
21 “not a little familiarity”: Dell’origine, dedication of 1557 reprinted in the 1558 edition.
22 “quite inaccurate”: Giovanni Battista Ramusio, Navigazioni e viaggi, vol. 1 (Torino: Einaudi, 1978), p. 4.
23 “I think it would be good and not a little useful”: Ibid.
24 “by stealing time from Time”: Navigazioni, vol. 1, p. 8.
24 “The Spaniards … tell us there are many countries”: Storia della Guerra, p. 3.
26 “so many territories”: Ibid., p. 58.
27 “the documents I have been able to salvage”: Nicolò Zen, Dello scoprimento dell’isole Frislanda, Eslanda, Engrovelanda, Estotilanda e Icaria fatto sotto il Polo Artico da due fratelli Zeni, Messer Nicolò Cavaliere e Messer Antonio (Venice: Marcolini, 1558), p. 58.
28 “When I was a child”: Ibid., p. 57.
29 “on an old and rotten chart”: Ibid., p. 47.
27 “The loss has been very substantial”: Navigazioni, vol. 3, p. 4.
31 “damaged and filled with mistakes”: Ibid., vol. 1, p. 5.
32 “I hesitate a long time”: Ibid.
33 “many sleepless nights”: Ibid.
34 “wondrous things”: Dello scoprimento, from the dedication to Daniel Barbaro.
Chapter Two: Messer Nicolò
1 “After the war against the Genovese”: Dello scoprimento, p. 46.
2 “where we accosted”: Daniele di Chinazzo, Cronica de la Guerra da Veniciani a Zenovesi, edited by Vittorio Lazzarini (Venice: Deputazione di Storia Patria per le Venezie, 1958), p. 215.
3 “We raided the ships”: Ibid.
4 “the men were chopped to pieces”: Ibid.
5 “a bombardment of heavy rocks”: Ibid.
6 “a strong desire to fight”: Ibid., p. 216.
7 “all the biscuit he could find”: Ibid., p. 218.
8 “[build] and [equip] a ship with his own riches”: Dello scoprimento, p. 46.
9 “He was caught in a fierce storm”: Ibid.
Chapter Three: Frislanda
1 “Messer Nicolò landed”: Dello scoprimento, p. 46.
2 “they were unlikely to put up”: Ibid., p. 46 verso.
3 “grandissima allegrezza”: Ibid., p. 46.
4 “lord of Sorant”: Ibid., p. 46 verso.
5 “a group of islands”: Ibid.
6 “Zichmni quicky understood”: Ibid., p. 47.
7 “While Zichmni led”: Ibid., p. 47 verso.
8 “The sea in which”: Ibid.
9 “First the rebel chiefs”: Ibid.
10 “came out rather well”: Ibid., p. 47.
11 “following the advice”: Ibid., p. 47 verso.
12 “conquered the enemy”: Ibid.
Chapter Four: Zichmni
1 “triumphantly”: Dello scoprimento, p. 48.
2 “set in such a way as to form a great number of gulfs”: Ibid.
3 “hauling copious catches”: Ibid.
4 “the principal city of the island”: Ibid.
5 “whose great valor and goodness”: Ibid., p. 57 verso.
6 “employed on the subject”: John Rheinhold Forster, History of the Voyages and the Discoveries in the North (London: Robinson, 1786), p. 181.
7 “far more closely resembles Wichmannus”: The Annals of the Voyages, p. 96.
8 “ruled over Porlanda”: Dello scoprimento, p. 46 verso.
9 “a natural corruption of [the name]”: Barbara Crawford, “The Earls of Orkney-Caithness and Their Relations with Norway and Scotland 1158–1470” (PhD thesis, University of St. Andrews, 1971).
10 “up to a hundred armed men”: Diplomatarium norvegicum, vol. 2 (Oslo: 1849–70), p. 353. Quoted in Records of the Earldom of Orkney (Edinburgh: Scottish History Society, 1914), p. 21.
11 “one thousand golden pieces”: Ibid.
12 “tripe”: Brian Smith, “The Zen Voyages,” The New Orkney Antiquarian Journal 2 (2002).
13 “most blatant hoaxer”: Ibid.
14 “middling rank”: William Thomson, conversation with the author.
15 “Many ships come here to take large consignments”: Dello scoprimento, p. 48.
16 “He purchased a ship”: Ibid., p. 48 verso.
17 “greeted him with great joy”: Ibid.
18 “If any may wish to attack”: Diplomatarium norvegicum, vol. 2, p. 353.
19 “in full military regalia”: Dello scoprimento, p. 48 verso.
20 “few and poorly armed”: Ibid., p. 49.
21 “what remained of his army”: Ibid.
22 “he rigged up his three ships”: Ibid.
Chapter Five: Islanda
1 “The place was a wonder to behold”: Ibid., p. 50.
2 “scalding water”: Ibid., p. 51.
3 “they simply let in the cold”: Ibid., p. 49 verso.
4
“hold them in great awe”: Ibid.
5 “The dough rises”: Ibid.
6 “The men go up to the crater”: Ibid.
7 “The builders start with”: Ibid., p. 50.
8 “a thousand other chores”: Ibid.
9 “he organized the monks’ life so beautifully”: At the time of my trip to Iceland there were no English translations of Thorlak’s Saga available. A rough translation was provided to me by Nicola Lugosch, then a PhD student working on a thesis on Thorlak. This particular sentence is at the end of chapter 7.
10 “Strange things are happening to me”: Anonymous, Njall’s Saga (London: Penguin Classics, 2002), p. 217.
Chapter Six: Estotiland, Drogio and Icaria
1 “Being unaccustomed to the bitter cold”: Dello scoprimento, p. 51 verso.
2 “But despite all his efforts and prayers”: Ibid.
3 “I have merely substituted”: Ibid.
4 “Four fishing boats”: Ibid.
5 “a very high mountain”: Benedetto Bordone, Isolario, book 1 (Venice: Zoppino, 1534), p. xii.
6 “fairly agrees … a little less”: Richard Henry Major, “The Site of the Lost Colony of Greenland Determined,” The Journal of the Royal Geographical Society 43 (1873), p. 202.
7 “some twelve days away from Norway”: From a letter written by Pope Alexander III to the Norwegian archbishop in Trondheim, quoted in Kirsten Seaver, The Frozen Echo (Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 1996), p. 34.
Irresistible North Page 19
