Martin Behaim

Martin Behaim lived a long time ago.

He was from a city called Nuremberg. He worked with cloth and trade.

Later, he moved to a place called Portugal. He helped make a special round map. This map is a globe. It is the oldest globe we know. People called it an earth apple.

It shows many plants and animals. It even shows monsters from far away! It is a very cool piece of history.

Martin Behaim was a man from Nuremberg, Germany.

He was born in 1459. His family was rich and successful. He worked as a merchant selling cloth.

Behaim moved to Portugal to find new trade. He lived in the city of Lisbon. He worked for King John II. The King made him a knight in 1485. Behaim may have traveled to West Africa on a trade trip. Later, he lived on an island called Faial.

In 1490, Behaim went back to Nuremberg. He asked the city leaders to help him make a globe. This globe is the oldest one we know today.

People called it the Erdapfel, which means "earth apple." It is about 51 centimeters wide. A team of workers made it from paper and wood.

The globe has many details. It shows over 2,000 place names. It also has 100 drawings of plants and animals. Some drawings show monsters from far away. The map was made using old ideas. It does not show the Americas because they were not known yet. Behaim died in 1507.

Martin Behaim was a merchant and map maker from Nuremberg, Germany.

He was born on October 6, 1459, into a wealthy and successful family. His father was also a merchant who traded goods across Europe. After his father died in 1474, Behaim went to Flanders to learn the cloth trade. He worked with clothing sellers in places like Mechelen and Antwerp. These years helped him learn how business worked in different lands.

In 1484, Behaim moved to Lisbon, Portugal. This city was a huge center for trading gold, spices, and other goods. He became an adviser to King John II of Portugal. The King even made him a knight in 1485. While some say he was a great scientist, there is no proof he was a mathematician. He may have helped by bringing scientific tools to the King. He might have also gone on a trade voyage to Guinea near West Africa.

Behaim is most famous for making a very special object. In 1490, he returned to his home in Nuremberg. He convinced the city leaders to pay for a new globe. A team of skilled workers helped him build it. An artist named Georg Glockendon drew the maps for the globe. It was finished in 1492, just before people knew about the Americas. This globe is the oldest one that still exists today.

This globe is called the Erdapfel, which means "earth apple."

It is about 21 inches or 51 centimeters wide. The ball is made of papier-mache and covered in gypsum. It sits on a wooden tripod with iron hoops. The map has over 2,000 place names on it. It also features 100 drawings of plants and animals. Some notes even describe strange monsters from far away lands.

The Erdapfel shows how people understood the world in 1492. It used ideas from an old geographer named Ptolemy. It also used stories from travelers like Marco Polo. Because it was made then, it does not show the Americas. It also has some mistakes that do not match real geography. Behaim lived in Portugal for a long time after the globe was made. He died in Lisbon on July 29, 1507. Today, his famous globe is kept in a museum in Nuremberg.

Martin Behaim was a German textile merchant and cartographer from Nuremberg.

He lived during a time of great exploration in Europe. Behaim is most famous for creating the Erdapfel. This name means "earth apple" in German. The Erdapfel is recognized as the oldest known terrestrial globe in existence. It provides a unique window into how people viewed the world in 1492. This was the very year Christopher Columbus began his famous voyage.

Behaim was born in Nuremberg on October 6, 1459. He was the oldest son of Martin Behaim and Agnes Schopper. His father was a successful merchant who traded throughout Europe. This included major trading hubs like Venice. Because his family was prosperous, Behaim likely received a high-quality education. He studied at one of the best grammar schools in Nuremberg. Some early biographers claimed he studied under the mathematician Regiomontanus. However, modern historians find no evidence to support this claim.

After his father died in 1474, Behaim began his career in the cloth trade. At age 15, his uncle Leonhard sent him to Mechelen in Flanders. He worked with a clothing vendor named Jorius van Dorpp. Behaim eventually moved to Antwerp to find better business prospects. Antwerp was a leading center for the cloth trade at that time. In 1484, Behaim moved to Lisbon, Portugal. Lisbon was a major hub for trading gold, spices, and slaves from Africa.

In Portugal, Behaim became a counselor to King John II. The King knighted him on February 18, 1485. Some historians believe he advised the King on navigation and astronomy. However, there is no documentary evidence for these specific scientific contributions. It is possible he acted as an importer of scientific instruments. Nuremberg was famous for producing the finest instruments of that era. Behaim may have also participated in a trading voyage to Guinea. This voyage was likely led by João Afonso de Aveiro around 1485.

In 1490, Behaim returned to Nuremberg for three years. He convinced the city council to finance a special project. He directed a team of artisans to build a terrestrial globe. An artist named Georg Glockendon created the map drawings. These drawings were painted onto parchment strips. The strips were then pasted onto a sphere made of papier-mache. The sphere was coated with gypsum to finish it. The globe is about 21 inches or 51 centimeters in diameter.

The Erdapfel is incredibly detailed for its time. It contains more than 2,000 different place names. There are also 100 pictorial illustrations of various subjects. These include 48 banners and 15 coats of arms. The globe features more than 50 long legends or notes. These notes describe plants, animals, and even mythical monsters. Many notes also reference famous travelers like Marco Polo. The map was based on the geography of the second-century scholar Ptolemy. It also used information from explorers like Diogo Gomes.

Because the globe was made in 1492, it lacks modern data. It does not show the Americas or recent Portuguese discoveries. It also contains several geographical errors. Some historians have debated Behaim's true accomplishments. For example, one writer claimed Behaim discovered America before Columbus. There is no evidence that Behaim ever sailed west. Other claims suggest he helped Magellan find a sea passage. Historians now doubt he had direct knowledge of such a passage. Behaim died in a Lisbon hospice on July 29, 1507. The globe is now kept in the German National Museum in Nuremberg.