The Spanish Ultramarine Map: How One Man Changed Navigation

In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the story of Juan de la Cosa, the navigator and cartographer who sailed with Columbus on the Niña and later created the first known world map to include the Americas. In 1500, his mappa mundi—the Carta Universal—depicted the New World's coastline from Greenland to Brazil, blending European, African, and Asian geography with startling accuracy for its time. They discuss the map's creation in El Puerto de Santa María, its survival in a single copy now in Madrid's Naval Museum, and how it challenged the Treaty of Tordesillas. Lucas explains how de la Cosa's map revealed the scale of Spain's discoveries, influenced later explorers like Vespucci and Magellan, and served as a tool for empire. The conversation also touches on the politics of cartography—how maps were state secrets—and the tragic end of de la Cosa in Colombia. A story of ambition, ink, and the birth of a global worldview. #JuanDeLaCosa #Cartography #Columbus #MapaMundi #AgeOfExploration #SpanishEmpire #CartaUniversal #ElPuertoDeSantaMaría #TreatyOfTordesillas #NavalMuseum #1500 #Discovery #Navigator #History #FexingoHistory #Cartographer #Colonial #Spain Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo