Francesco Carletti

Francesco Carletti was a Florentine merchant whose short slave-trading expedition turned into an eight-year round-the-world tour immortalized in his biography „Ragionamenti sopra le cose da lui vedute ne' suoi viaggi“ („Reflections on What He Has Seen in His Travels“).

At the age 18 he was sent to Sevilla in Spain to learn about maritime trade. Two years later he obtained a license to transport slaves from Africa to Spanish possessions in America. After he completed this mission, Carletti decided to prolong the journey and continued to travel over the Pacific and into Asia. In his work he left details of almost every place he visited on his voyages. In 1601 Carletti suffered misfortune when the Portuguese ship on which he was travelling was attacked by the Dutch who seized all of his fortune. He died in Florence where he served as master of the household to the Grand Duke Ferdinando de' Medici.