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Martin Behaim

Type Figure Region Nuremberg Time c. 1459–1507 Also known as Martin Behaim、Martinho de Boémia、马丁·贝海姆

Martin Behaim, a German merchant and nautical geographer from Nuremberg, who joined Atlantic trade from Faial in the 1480s and made the Erdapfel glob…

Timeline

  1. c. 1459–1480Nuremberg · Holy Roman EmpireBorn in Nuremberg, he received commercial and mathematical training, then was employed by a Flemish merchant family, gradually turning toward navigation and geography.
  2. 1480–1485Faial · PortugalIn the 1480s he took part in Atlantic trade on Faial in the Azores, gaining access to reports of Portuguese African exploration and building up geographical knowledge of the western Atlantic and the African coast.
  3. 1485–1493Nuremberg · Holy Roman EmpireHe returned to Nuremberg in 1485 and around 1492 completed the oldest surviving Erdapfel globe, drawing the west coast of Africa from Portuguese discoveries and marking the western Atlantic.
  4. 1494–1507Lisbon · Kingdom of PortugalAfter completing the globe he returned to Portugal, advising on navigation planning under Manuel I, and died in Lisbon in 1507.

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