- Zichmni
Zichmni is the name of an explorer-prince who appears in a
1558 book by Nicolo Zeno ofVenice , allegedly based on letters and a map dating to the year1400 by the author's ancestors, brothers Nicolo andAntonio Zeno . Zichmni is described as a great lord of some islands off the southern coast ofFrisland a, a fictitious island claimed to be larger than Ireland and located south of Iceland.The letters provide what is claimed to be a first-hand account of a voyage of exploration undertaken in
1398 by Prince Zichmni, accompanied by the Zeno brothers. It crossed theNorth Atlantic toGreenland and possibly reached the coast ofNorth America . Historians consider either the1558 book, or the letters on which it is based, to be simply ahoax .Proponents of the authenticity of the tale maintain that Zichmni was a Scottish nobleman named
Henry Sinclair . However, scholars point to many flaws in this identification and consider it extremely unlikely. [http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/ahamilton/sinclair.htm]ee also
*
Henry Sinclair References
* Cooper, Robert L. D. (Ed.) "The Voyages of the Venetian Brothers Nicolo & Antonion Zeno to the Northern Seas in the XIVth Century". Masonic Publishing Co. 2004. ISBN 0-9544268-2-7.
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