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Maritime Quadrant
The maritime quadrant, used in 1540s European ocean voyages to measure the altitude of the sun or stars, typically a wooden or brass quarter-circle w…
Timeline
- c. 1543–1546Lisbon · PortugalPortuguese and Spanish merchant fleets equipped wooden or brass quadrants for transoceanic voyages; crews computed latitude from the noon sun's altitude using the Regimento star tables, with the quadrant, compass, and chart forming the basic navigation kit.
- c. 1547–1550Antwerp · FlandersPorts such as Antwerp and Hamburg introduced Iberian-style quadrants through spice and Baltic trade; instrument makers began local production and improved the alidade and scale divisions to suit observation conditions on North Sea and Baltic routes.
Sources
- The Age of Reconnaissance: Discovery, Exploration, and Settlement, 1450-1650 — J. H. Parry (1981)