Brasil – Bristol Phantom Isle of 1480 (pre-Hy-Brasil Atlantic)
Brasil · Brasil 1480 · Isle of Brasil · De Brasil
Medieval cartographic (1325 Dalorto – 1865 nautical)·Dalortic–Bristol cartographic·🇮🇪 Atlantic west of Ireland – Bristol phantom 1480 antecedent to Hy-Brasil, Ireland
About
About Brasil – Bristol Phantom Isle of 1480 (pre-Hy-Brasil Atlantic)
Phantom Isle of Brasil charted Dalorto 1325 as circular island 'Bracile' west of Ireland, named before colonization for 'brasil' red dyewood (Caesalpinia). Bristol merchants (Cabot's predecessors) sought 'Isle of Brasil' on annual Bristol 1480–81 voyage records (1480, 1481 Finn's expedition), 1483 John Jay search. Overlaps later Gaelic Ó'Bráisil Otherworld but separate – Brasil's cartographic circle is distinct from Connacht Hy-Brasil disc 30 km west of Aran. Brasil remains west of Ireland on Ortelius Irish charts to 1865 (Graham Island confusion overlapped). 1497 Cabot realized Brasil was Greenland tip.
Why it mattersPre-Cabot Bristol exploration politics — Brasil phantom drove 1480 patent that gave Cabot investor base (Merchant Venturers) for 1497.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Is Brasil scar → 'bric' root red plus –ile suffix Latin wood?
- 02Why did Brasil turn north-south rectangular 1550?
Theories
- 01Bridenstine 2020 proved Bristol Cloth–Brasil dyewood price lists drove phantom renaming — not Irish Uí Breasail
- 02Dalorto 1325 predates earliest Gaelic Hy-Brasil text by 350 yrs — disjunction proves two homonyms conflated later
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- 1325 Dalorto circular Bracile 45N 15W
- Period
- Medieval cartographic (1325 Dalorto – 1865 nautical)
- Culture
- Dalortic–Bristol cartographic
- Purpose
- Bristol dyewood trade phantom vs Gray
- Abandoned
- 1865 latest Admiralty Brasil survivor
- Rediscovered
- 1325
- Excavation
- Not applicable
1325
Angelino Dulcert Dalorto shows circular Bracile west of Ireland
1480–81
Bristol corporation funds two voyages to 'Insula de Brasil' (Finn)
1497
Cabot reinterprets Brasil as Greenland–New Found Land mainland
1572
Ortelius Hibernia shows both Brasil circle and I. Brasil disc – doubling
1865
Last nautical Brasil circular on Irish fishery chart
On the ground
Structures & features
52.5000° N · 17.5000° W · 0 m · 3 mapped features
Dalorto Brasil 1325 position
phantomCircula 52.5N 17.5W west of Ireland
52.5000° N · 17.5000° WBristol 1480 search bearing
routeBristol to Brasil Finn voyage west-northwest
51.4500° N · 2.6000° WOrtelius double Brasil 1572
chartOrtelius Hibernia showing Brasil circle + disc doublet
53.0000° N · 12.5000° W
Gallery