Prince Henry Sinclair with Admiral Antonio Zeno as his fleet
commander set sail from the Shetland islands in 1398. Antonio had been in his
employ for the last seven years ever since he arrived at the request of his
late brother Nicolo. Nicolo was ship wrecked and saved by Prince Sinclair. The
Zeno's have been in his service ever since, for the last eight years. During this time they were preparing to explore the lands to the
west, which was primarily based on Prince Sinclair getting his affairs in
order.
Frequent conflicts with England, fighting pirates in the Shetlands
and re enforcing Norway as the sovereign power in the islands. Which means
collecting taxes from a group of people that were fiercely independent, of the
viking stock and for generations hadn't paid taxes at all.
The cannon was a new concept at this time and had with in the last
few years been used in naval conflict. The first engagement that the cannon was
used shipboard was at the battle of Chioggia for the freedom of Venice.
Antonio's older brother,, Carlo the”Lion” of Venice, was credited as the “ Savior
of Venice” because after a long siege of Venice he had arrived with his fleet
from a routine patrol in the eastern Mediterranean and was able to attack the
Genovese with his newly refined cannons.
They had reforged the cannon for ship board use. Antonio was at that
time a Galley Captain in the Navy of Venice, and had personal experience with
the cannon in naval conflict. He transferred this knowledge to the Templar Navy
of Prince Henry Sinclair.
For the prior seven years before leaving on the
Trans-Atlantic voyage to the New World, Antonio used the cannon to fight piracy
in the Shetland Islands, and Norway's enemy the Hanseatic League in the Baltic.
A fisherman who was lost at sea for twenty years, returned with a
very interesting story of lands to the west but history doesn't give the legend
credit, so I won't go into the story at this point, only to say the fisherman was
going to accompany the fleet as a “guide” but died three day s before the fleet
was to leave in the early spring of 1398.
In late March the fleet
departed the Shetland Islands from the Island of Fer to the Faroes Islands
which lay half way between Scotland and Iceland in the Norwegian Sea. They
rested for seven days and fished and took on water to replenish their supplies.
From the Zeno Narratives: "Departing thence, we arrived on the
1st of April at the island of Ilofe;( Iceland) and as the wind was full in our
favor, pushed on. But not long thereafter, when on the ocean, there arose so
great a storm that for eight days we were in toil, and driven we do not know
where, and a considerable number of vessels were lost to each other. At length
when the storm abated, we gathered together the scattered vessels, and sailing
with a prosperous wind, we sighted land on the west."
"Steering straight for it, we reached a safe and quiet harbor,
in which we encountered a very large group of armed people, who came running,
prepared to defend the island. Sinclair now caused his men to make peace to
them, and they sent ten men to us could speak ten languages, but we could
understand none of them, except one who was from Iceland.
Being brought before our Prince and asked what was the name of the
island, and what people inhabited it, and who was the governor, he answered
that the island was called Icari, and all the Kings there were called Icari,
after the first King, who was the son of Daedalus, King of Scotland.
Daedalus conquered that island, left his son there for King, and
gave them those laws that they retain to the present time. After that, when
going to sail farther, he was drowned in a great tempest; and in memory of his
death that the sea was called to this day the Icarian sea, and the Kings of the
island were called Icari. They were content with the state which God had given
them, and would neither alter their laws nor admit any strangers.
They therefore requested our prince not to attempt to interfere with
their laws, which they had received from that King of worthy memory, and
observed up to the present time. That the attempt would lead to his own
destruction, for they were all prepared to die rather than relax in anyway the
use of those laws.
Nevertheless, that we might not think that they all together
refused intercourse with other men, they ended by saying that they would
willingly receive one of our people, and give him an honorable position among
them, if only for the sake of learning our language and gaining information as
to our customs, in the same way as they had already received those ten other
persons from ten different countries, who had come into their island. To all this our Prince made no reply, beyond inquiring where there
was a good harbor, and making signs that he intended to depart.
Accordingly, sailing round about the island, he put in with all his
fleet in full sail, into a harbor which he found on the eastern side. The
sailors went ashore to take in wood and water, which they did as quickly as
they could, for fear that they might be attacked by the island men, who stood
constantly prepared to beat us back, if we should attempt to come on land.
Wherefore, Sinclair, seeing he could do nothing, and if we were to preserve in
this attempt, the fleet would fall short of provisions, took this departure
with fair winds and sailed six days to the westwards; but the winds afterward
shifting to the southwest, and the sea becoming rough, we sailed four days with
the winds aft, and finally sighted land.
As the seas ran high we did not know what country it was, we were
afraid at first to approach it, but by God's blessing the winds lulled, and
there they came on a great calm. Some of the crew pulled ashore and soon returned
with great joy with news that they found an excellent country and a still
better harbor.
We brought our barks and our boats to land, and on entering a
excellent harbor. We saw in the distance a great hill that pored forth smoke,
which gave us hope that we might find some inhabitants in the island.
Neither
would Sinclair rest, though it was a great way off, without sending 100 soldiers to explore the country, bring us
an account of what sort of people the inhabitants were. Meanwhile, we took in a
store of wood and water, and caught a considerable quantity of fish and sea
fowl. We also found such an abundance of bird eggs that our men, who were half
famished, ate of them to repletion.
While we were at anchor there, the month of June came in, and the
air in the island was mild and pleasant beyond description; but as we saw
nobody, we began to suspect that this pleasant place was
uninhabited. To the harbor we gave the name of Trin, and the headland that
stretched out into the sea we called Cape Trin.
After eight days the 100 soldiers returned, and brought word that
they had been through the island and up to the hill, and the smoke was a
natural thing proceeding from a great fire in the bottom of the hill, and there
was a spring from which issued a certain substance like pitch, which ran into
the sea, and thereabouts dealt a great many people half wild, and living in
caves. They were of small stature and very timid. They reported also that there
was a large river, and a very good and safe harbor.
When Sinclair heard this, and noticed the wholesome and pure
atmosphere, and fertile soil, good rivers, and many other convinces, he
conceived the idea of founding a settlement. But his people, fatigued, began to
murmur, and say they wished to return to their homes for the winter was not far
off, and if they allowed it to once set in, they would not get away before the
following summer.
He therefore retained only boats propelled by oars, and such
of his people as were willing to stay, and sent the rest away in ships,
appointing me against my will, to be their Captain.
Having no choice, therefore, I departed and sailed 20 days to
eastwards, without sight of any land; Then, turning my course to the southeast,
in 5 days I sighted on land, and found myself on the island of Neome, and
knowing the country, I perceived I was past Iceland; and as the inhabitants
were subject to Sinclair, I took in fresh stores and sailed 3 days to
Frislanda, where the people, who thought they had lost their Prince, in
consequence of his long absence on the voyage we had made, received us with
hearty welcome....
In it I have described the country, the monstrous fishes, the customs and laws of Frislanda, of Iceland, of Shetland, the Kingdom of Norway, Estotiland and Drogio; and lastly I have written....the life and exploits of Sinclair, a Prince as worthy of immortal memory as any that lived, for his remarkable goodness.” And this is what the Zeno narratives say about the Trans-Atlantic voyage.
The Narrative was copied verbatim so the punctuation and run on sentences are driving my word perfect into overtime. This was written in the first person of Ant
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