Vivaldi, Ugolino and Vadino

VIVALDI, UGOLINO e VADINO. – Genoese navigators who in 1291 undertook a voyage «quod aliquis usque nunc minime attemptavit» in order to travel «per maria oceana ad partes Indias», as related by the only chronicler who mentions them, the contemporary Genoese annalist Iacopo Doria.

They anticipated a long absence from Genoa, perhaps lasting as long as ten years. After emerging from the Strait of Gibraltar,

the two ships that made up the expedition and were loaded with goods to sell were last seen on the coast of southern Morocco at Gozora (near Cape Juby, opposite the Canaries). These are the only certain facts concerning this exceedingly daring attempt. Every other detail is uncertain or fanciful. It is uncertain how far the ships reached: according to a late account, after rounding Africa they would have

The account according to which they were shipwrecked on the coasts of Somalia, whence the V. Abyssinia, deserves little credence. Nor is another report certain, according to which, about ten years later, Sorleone Vivaldi, Ugolino’s son, allegedly ventured by ship to the coasts of the Indian Ocean in search of the missing men. Incredible is the story that a descendant was still surviving 170 years later on the coast between Senegal and the Gambia. The hypothesis put forward by Alberto Magnaghi, according to which the V. attempted to reach the Indies not by circumnavigating Africa but by crossing the Ocean westward, and should therefore be regarded as precursors of Columbus, although supported by the learned scholar with erudite arguments, does not appear sufficiently substantiated.