Age of Exploration

Week #1: Early European Contact
1. Early European Contact (General Sources)

The Vinland Map and the Tartar Relation (Click for the link)

• Date: c. 1440 (map), 13th century (relation)

• The Vinland Map is controversial but shows Norse knowledge of lands west of Greenland. It is often discussed alongside early accounts of contact.

• Access: Yale University Library

The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents (1610–1791) (Click for the Link)

• Missionary records of early contact with Indigenous peoples in North America, especially in Canada and New England.

• Though later than Viking and Columbus-era contact, they document Native responses to European arrival.

• Access: Online archive from Creighton University

2. Leif Erikson & Norse Exploration (Click for the Link)

The Saga of the Greenlanders (Grænlendinga Saga)

• Date: c. 13th century

• Type: Norse Saga (oral tradition, later written)

• Why it matters: Primary source recounting Leif Erikson’s voyage to Vinland (North America), including his encounters with Indigenous peoples.

• Details: Describes the discovery of new lands by Bjarni Herjólfsson, followed by Leif's more detailed exploration.

• Access: The Vinland Sagas: The Norse Discovery of America, Penguin Classics (trans. Magnus Magnusson and Hermann Pálsson)

The Saga of Erik the Red (Eiríks saga rauða)

• Why it matters: Complements the Greenlanders Saga, with more detail on Leif’s conversion to Christianity and Norse settlements in Vinland.

Norse Accounts in Adam of Bremen’s Gesta Hammaburgensis Ecclesiae Pontificum (c. 1075)

• Mentions Norse exploration west of Greenland and is one of the earliest known written records about Vinland.

3. Christopher Columbus

The Diario of Christopher Columbus’s First Voyage (1492–1493)

• Why it matters: Columbus’s firsthand daily account of his first voyage, translated from the abstract made by Bartolomé de Las Casas.

• Includes: Encounters with the Taíno, descriptions of geography, resources, and justifications for Spanish colonization.

• Reliable Translation: The Diario of Christopher Columbus’s First Voyage to America, 1492–1493, trans. by Oliver Dunn & James E. Kelley

The Book of Privileges (1502)

• A collection of royal grants Columbus received for his discoveries.

• Access: Digital edition at the Huntington Library or published in English by the University of California Press.

Letters of Columbus

• Columbus sent multiple letters to Ferdinand and Isabella and to his patrons describing his discoveries.

• Notable Example: Letter to Luis de Santangel (1493)

4. John Cabot (Giovanni Caboto)

John Cabot’s Letters and Reports (1497–1498)

• Why it matters: Though no firsthand writings from Cabot survive, his journey is documented in contemporary Venetian records, Bristol port records, and letters from Italian diplomats.

Letter from Lorenzo Pasqualigo (Venetian merchant in London), 1497

• Details: Describes Cabot’s voyage from Bristol and his landfall on the North American coast.

• Quote: “He planted the banner of England and took possession for the king.”

Available in:
1. The Voyages of John Cabot and the English Discovery of North America, edited by James Williamson
2. The North Atlantic Frontier of Medieval Europe, edited by James Muldoon (includes diplomatic correspondence)

Letter from Raimondo di Soncino to the Duke of Milan (1497)

• Another primary account of Cabot’s landfall and interactions with Indigenous peoples (very limited).

• Reprinted in many historical readers and exploration anthologies.

Digital Archives and Repositories

• Fordham University’s Internet Medieval Sourcebook
  Includes translations of Columbus’s letters, Viking sagas, and early diplomatic reports.

• British History Online
  Includes early English exploration records and letters.

• Project Gutenberg
  Search for "Christopher Columbus," "Saga of Erik the Red," etc.