Vivaldi brothers vanish seeking a sea route to India

1291

Two Genoese merchants, Ugolino and Vadino Vivaldi, sailed out through the Strait of Gibraltar with two galleys intending to reach India by the Atlantic. They were never heard from again. Their disappearance did not deter imitators and dimly foreshadowed Columbus. The attempt demonstrated that European merchants were already thinking about oceanic routes to Asian markets two centuries before the Age of Discovery.