Dry compass with wind rose
Brújula seca con rosa de los vientos
- Date
- c. 1300 · confidence medium
- Place
- Amalfi, Italy
- Credited to
- Amalfitan sailors (the Flavio Gioia tradition)
- Field
- Movement
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
A needle mounted on a pivot in a box with a 32-point wind rose glued beneath it, enclosed in glass and gimbal-mounted. A robust, legible instrument that made accurate dead-reckoning navigation possible.
Flavio Gioia is probably a legendary figure; the design is clearly Italian, dating from around 1300.
What it led to
- winter navigation in the Mediterranean and two annual voyages to the Levant instead of one
- portolan charts with rhumb lines and toleta de marteloio tables
- Portuguese Atlantic exploration
Built on
- Gimbal suspensionc. 180 CE
- Magnetic navigational compassc. 1100
- Magnetic navigational compass