Researchers have discovered a short passage in a medieval manuscript that references the New World more than a century before Columbus’ journey.
A team of researchers has discovered evidence that an Italian monk had knowledge of the New World over a century before Christopher Columbus’ 1492 expedition. References to the lands of North America were discovered in a 14th-century manuscript. The passage was likely disseminated to the monk by European sailors who had heard tales from Norse seafarers.
Since the 1960s, it has been established that Vikings reached the New World before Columbus set sail from Spain. The L’Anse aux Meadows, Newfoundland, was found to be the site of a Viking settlement in North America from as early as 1,000 AD.
