The New and Old World Through the Eyes of A Discoverer: “The Sum of Geography” by Martín Fernández de Enciso

The author analyses the treatise “Suma de Geografia” (1519) by the Spanish jurist, traveller, conquistador, and scholar Martín Fernández de Enciso. He focuses on Fernández de Enciso's biography prior to writing the book, especially his years in America, in particular his role in the creation and early application of the Requerimiento. He looks at the context and purpose of writing the treatise, its structure and meaning. “Suma de Geografia” reflects the state of knowledge of the new seas and lands discovered by Europeans during the Age of Discoveries, while going far beyond it, as the first attempt in the history of geographical thought to integrate a generalised knowledge of the New World into a comprehensive picture of the world. There are differences in the descriptions of the New and Old World: while the American part, based on personal experience and eyewitness accounts, contains information unique for such an early date, Old World descriptions are much more traditional, generally having antique and medieval prototypes, but are also of great interest because, being quite popular, they allow a better understanding of the inner world of a sixteenth-century man.

Martín Fernández de Enciso, “Suma de Geographía”, sixteenth century, Spain, Age of Discoveries, travels, Conquest of America, Renaissance, perceptions of the world, cosmography, New World, Old World