Legendary Islands of the Atlantic: A Study of Medieval Geography

by William Henry Babcock

Conclusion

In general review it appears likely that St. Brendan in the sixth century wandered widely over the seas in quest of some warm island, concerning which wonderful accounts had been brought to him, and found several such isles, the Madeira group receiving his special approval, according to the prevailing opinion of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. But this judgment of those centuries is the only item as to which we can speak with any positiveness and confidence.

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CHAPTER IV
THE ISLAND OF BRAZIL

So far as we know, the first appearance of the island of Brazil in geography was on the map of Angellinus Dalorto,[71] of Genoa, made in the year 1325. There it appears as a disc of land of considerable area, set in the Atlantic Ocean in the latitude of southern Ireland ([Fig. 4]). But the name itself is far older. In seeking its derivation, one is free to choose either one of two independent lines.