L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2023 www.italoamericano.org 28 L'Italo-Americano LIFE PEOPLE PLACES HERITAGE TRADITIONS W h o d i s - covered the New W o r l d ? T h e c a n o n i c a l a n s w e r i s , o f course, Christopher Colum- bus, but many among you probably already know that there are other interesting theories: some historians believe that the Vikings had already reached the north- e r n p a r t o f t h e A m e r i c a n continent in the early Mid- dle Ages, while some more recent archaeological discov- eries hinted at the possibility t h a t t h e A n c i e n t R o m a n s had been, in fact, the first to sail through the Atlantic, m o r e t h a n o n e t h o u s a n d y e a r s b e f o r e g o o d o l d Christopher. Lesser known is, perhaps, t h e t h e o r y a c c o r d i n g t o which it was two Venetian brothers, Nicolò and Anto- nio Zen who, moved by a thirst for knowledge and dis- covery only comparable to t h a t o f U l y s s e s , r e a c h e d America a century before Columbus, in the 1390s. The adventures of the Zen brothers are not as known as t h o s e o f t h e e l e g a n t a n d courageous Homeric hero, b u t t h e y a r e w e l l w o r t h b e i n g t o l d , o r s o w a s t h e thought - with which I fully agree - of Andrea di Robi- l a n t , a u t h o r o f t h e 2 0 1 2 book Irresistible North, published by Vintage. In it, t h e a u t h o r n a r r a t e s t h e - almost - incredible voyages o f t h e t w o V e n e t i a n s through Scandinavia and the Northern Atlantic, which eventually led them to the coast of North America. Di Robilant's book is part- ly based on the research of Giorgio Padoan, Italianist and philologist at Venice's Ca' Foscari University, who had been interested in the Venetian brothers' explo- rations since adolescence. We are at the end of the 14th century, straight after V e n i c e h a d w o n t h e w a r against Genoa for the domi- nation of trade routes in the M e d i t e r r a n e a n , a v i c t o r y that had cost the Serenissi- ma money, time and men, and that had brought it on its knees. So much so, in f a c t , t h a t c o m m e r c e w a s very slow to pick up. This is w h y w e a l t h y m e r c h a n t Nicolò Zen decided to go solo and, to say in a very modern way, explore other markets: he was interested in the North, he wanted to trade with Scandinavia, an area of Europe with which commercial relations had been growing steadily. During one of his early trips, the stormy winds and waters of the Northern Sea and the Atlantic led him all t h e w a y t o t h e F a e r O e r Islands, today part of Den- m a r k , w h e r e h e m e t t h e Earl of Orkney, Henry Sinclair. Apparently, the two communicated in Latin with one another, as it was the only language they both k n e w . D e s p i t e t h e b a d w e a t h e r a n d t h e s t o r m y seas, Nicolò continued his commercial exploration of the North of the Atlantic and w a s a l s o r e a c h e d b y h i s b r o t h e r A n t o n i o . B o t h o f them worked for Sinclair as tax collectors and traveled across the northern Atlantic all the way to Greenland, before eventually returning to Venice. It was during these years of voyages between Green- land and Norway that the brothers met an adventur- ous fisherman who said he had traveled to a new land, further west than Greenland itself. And if it's true that the Zens did eventually return to Venice, at least one of them, Antonio, wasn't ready to set- t l e q u i t e y e t . I n t h e l a t e 1390s, he returned to Scan- dinavia and, along with his friend Henry Sinclair, sailed to Greenland and then all the way to Terranova, in North America. Here, they were not particularly wel- come, if it's true they were eventually chased away by "locals" strangely similar to northern Europeans because t h e y h a d s h i p s a n d m a d e beer. They also apparently had "books in Latin" which t h e y , h o w e v e r , c o u l d n o t understand. According to P a d o a n , t h i s e n c o u n t e r shows that the settlers were likely descendants of an old Viking settlement, as their k n o w l e d g e o f s h i p - a n d beer-making would testify. The books mentioned in the accounts could have been r e l i g i o u s t e x t s i n L a t i n , w h i c h p e o p l e c o u l d n o longer understand but had kept. A n t o n i o n e v e r m a d e i t back to Venice because, after more years navigating the northern seas, he died while on his way back home. How- e v e r , w e k n o w h i s a n d Nicolò's story thanks to a g r e a t - g r a n d n e p h e w o f t h e i r s , N i c o l ò Z e n t h e Young who had an interest- i n g b o o k l e t p u b l i s h e d i n Venice in 1558, that was to become the go-to manual for sailors and traders of the northern seas. In it, he also n a r r a t e d t h e t r i p s t o t h e New Continent of his ances- tors who, back in the late 14th century, weren't quite aware they were on undis- covered land – not surpris- ing: neither did Columbus. Some 300 years later, a D a n i s h a d m i r a l c a l l e d Zarthmann debunked, or so he said, the younger Zen's account, stating his ances- tors' explorations were total- ly made up and this is why t h e Z e n B r o t h e r s ' s t o r y remained under the radar for such a long time, until Padoan first and di Robilant later brought it back to light. The point is, though: is it all true, or is it all fake? Well, w e k n o w a l r e a d y w h a t Padoan thought, but there are also others, notably the renowned early 20th-centu- ry archivist of Venice's Bib- lioteca Marciana Andrea da Mosto, who sided with Zarthmann. Truth is: we don't know the truth. But there is one l a s t c u r i o s i t y t o r e v e a l . Apparently, there are plenty o f p e o p l e i n C o n n e c t i c u t who know the story of how America was discovered by two Venetian brothers a cen- t u r y b e f o r e C o l u m b u s arrived, a story - they say - t h a t ' s b e e n p a s s e d d o w n generation after generation in their area. You can make of that what you like… Columbus… or Venice? The story of the Zen brothers and their voyage to America CHIARA D'ALESSIO Nicolò Zen, in a portrait by Titian (Copyrighted work available under Creative Commons Agreement. License: Public Domain)

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