Diego Ribero

Diego Ribero, also known as Diego de Ribero, Diego (de) Rivero, Diego Ribeiro, or Diego Ribeira, (?-1533), Spanish
cartographer and explorer, of
Portuguese origin.

Career

Ribero started working for Charles V in 1518, as a cartographer at Casa de Contratación in Seville. He adopted Spanish citizenship in 1519, and took part in the development of the maps used in the First Circunnavegation of the Earth.

On January 10, 1523, he was named Royal Cartographer and "master in the art of creating maps, astrolabes, and other instruments". He eventually succeeded Sebastian Cabot as first cartographer. Cabot published his first map in 1544.

In 1524, Ribero participates in the Spanish delegation at the Badajoz Conference, where Spain and Portugal discussed whether the Philippines where in the Spanish or Portuguese side of the Treaty of Tordesillas.

In 1527, Ribero finishes the Padrón real, the official (and secret) Spanish map used as template for the maps present in all Spanish ships. It is considered the first scientific world map.

In 1531, he invented a bronze water pump that was able to pump water out ten times faster than the previous models.

He died in 1533.

First Scientific World Map

Ribero's most important work is the 1527 Padrón real. The map, from which there are copies at the Weimar Library (Mundus Novus) and the Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, in Vatican City (Propaganda Map), is the first world map based on empiric latitude observations. It is strongly influenced by the information obtained during Magellan-Elcano's trip.

The map delineates very precisely the coasts of Central and South America. Neither Australia nor the Antarctica appear, and the Indian subcontinent appears too small. The map shows, for the first time, the real extension of the Pacific Ocean. It also shows, for the first time, the North American coast as a continuous one (probably influenced by the Esteban Gómez's exploration in 1525). It also shows the demarcation of the Treaty of Tordesillas.

External links

* [http://www.cervantesvirtual.com/FichaObra.html?Ref=18634 "Las cartas universales de Diego Ribero (siglo XVI)", by Cesáreo Fernández Duro]

* [http://www.fomento.es/NR/rdonlyres/B5775E32-4341-4735-86C7-BECE168F7489/12975/Ex166_179.pdf "Los descubrimientos geográficos de los siglos XVI y XVII abrieron la era de la cartografía: La nueva cara del orbe", in Revista Ministerio de Fomento, July-August 2005]
* [http://www.henry-davis.com/MAPS/Ren/Ren1/346mono.html Description of Carta Universal by Diego Ribero]

ee also

*Map
*Cartography
*List of explorers
*List of cartographers
*List of conquistadors