Saint Helena – Insula D. Helena sacra coeli elementia…

Saint Helena: an island with history

João da Nova on his journey back from India discovered this volcanic island 16 at 8 km on May 21, 1502. When van Linschoten sailed back to his home country in 1589 he made a stopover at St. Helena. The island quickly got strategic importance for long voyages, since it possessed an abundance of fresh water. Especially for the return trips from the East it served as a rendezvous place for ships before making the last thousand kilometers in convoy. The Republic claimed sovereignty of the island in the first half of the seventeenth century, but there is no evidence of any Dutch settlement. A Dutch territorial stone is still kept in the archives of the island. With the arrival of the first local governor, John Dutton, the British claimed the island in 1659 and since then it became an important stopover for British ships.

In addition to this print van Linschoten put a triple sight of the island in his work. The settlement called S. Helena later became the local capital Jamestown. Van Linschoten states in the central cartouche that the island was uninhabited. In the right cartouche coat of brothers Edward and Philip Sezcundus Octavian Fugger shows dedicated to whom this view. The map was engraved by Baptista Doetecum. In addition to these print has Linschoten in its Itinerario included a triple view of the island. The settlement called S. Helena later became the local capital Jamestown. Van Linschoten states in the central cartouche that the island was uninhabited. In the right cartouche one notices the coat of brothers Edward and Philip Sezcundus Octavian Fugger to whom this view was dedicated. The map was engraved by Baptista Doetecum.

The most famous resident, Napoleon Bonaparte, lived on the plateau of Longwood House from 1815 until his death in 1821.