Francesco Carletti

Francesco Carletti (1573 – January 12, 1636) was a Florentine merchant, explorer and writer. He was the first private traveler to circumnavigate the globe without royal or religious sponsorship, leaving Florence in 1591 at the age of eighteen and returning in 1606.

Early life Francesco was born into a merchant family dating back to the 13th century.

Travels Carletti and his father departed for Cape Verde on January 8, 1594. There they purchased 50 male and 25 female slaves and set off for Cartagena, Colombia. On the journey, many suffered from illness and malnutrition, with seven dying. The Imjin War ongoing at the time resulted in thousands of Korean captives being brought to Japan as slaves, five of which Carletti bought at a very low price. He had them all baptized, and would later set them free in Goa.

In March of 1598, the Carlettis sailed on a Japanese smuggling ship to the Portuguese warehouse at Macao, where they were immediately apprehended for lacking any trading license, and imprisoned by the local authorities. They were soon able to pay a fine to secure their release, but the accumulated stresses of traveling and confinement lead to Antonio Carletti's death in July of that year after a long illness. After burying his father, Francesco remained in Macao until December 1599.

Finally embarking on the homeward leg of the long voyage, Carletti departed Macao in December 1599 and passed through Malacca en route to Goa, the capital of Portuguese India. He made a substantial profit selling his Chinese goods and enjoyed a prosperous existence there for 21 months, writing that "there is no other region in the world in which it is possible to live better and more lavishly!"

Writings As a private, self-funded traveler, Carletti was not writing out of obligation to report his progress to any sponsors, or to support any political or religious organization's agenda. Nor, as a Florentine, would he have felt any particular pride or need to whitewash the situation in the primarily Spanish and Portuguese colonial holdings he traveled through. Instead, his more conversational account reflects both a practical, mercantile mindset, as well as a general fascination with the exotic peoples and practices he encountered.

Agriculture While in New Spain, Carletti observed the native agricultural practice of chinampa, marveling at how "they cultivate diverse things with much artfulness" through advanced irrigation. He also encountered small fruits which could be crushed and brewed into "a certain drink, which the Indians call chocolate," and which Carletti himself quickly developed a taste for, stating, "it is hard to give up drinking it every morning or, in fact, in the evening after supper when the weather is warm and particularly when one is traveling." Also of note were "roots called patatas," which would soon become a global staple.

In Japan, Carletti was frequently served cha (tea), as it was habitually offered to guests as a matter of manners, "as they do with wine in the regions of Flanders and Germany." And in Malacca, he found growing a dizzying array of tropical fruits and spices, from mangosteen and durian to cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

Sexuality Carletti's attention was often drawn to matters of what he termed the "pleasures of Venus." In Manila he specially paid to observe the procedure of male genital piercing called palang, and he wrote extensively on the practice of miǎnlíng in Macao.

Not content to be a mere observer, Carletti had relations with various women throughout his travels, ultimately declaring mixed Indian-Portuguese women to be "the most desirous creatures imaginable" according to his tastes. He was regretfully unable to assess the merits of Chinese women during his time in Macao, who "are said to be very beautiful and well made, but [...] the men are so jealous of these women that they never allow them to see anyone." In Japan, by contrast, agents approached sailors as soon they landed, offering to provide girls at reasonable prices.

Works and translations In Italian: Francesco Carletti: Ragionamenti di Francesco Carletti Fiorentino sopra le cose da lui vedute ne’ suoi viaggi si dell’ Indie Occidentali, e Orientali Come d’altri Paesi. Into German: Francesco Carletti "Reise um die Welt 1594: Erlebnisse eines Florentiner Kaufmanns," translated by Ernst Bluth. Herrenalb/Schwarzwald: Erdmann, 1966. Into English: Francesco Carletti "My Voyage Around the World", translated by Herbert Weinstock, Random House, New York, 1964. Into Dutch: Francesco Carletti "Reis om de Wereld", translated by Jo Verhaart-Bodderij, Kruseman, Den Haag, 1958; 1985