User:Glendoremus/Alonso de Chaves

Alonso de Chaves (c. 1495 – 28 August 1587) was a Spanish cosmographer who spent most of his career working at the Casa de Contratación, an institution established in Seville to oversee all aspects of trade and commerce in Spain's burgeoning colonial empire. Chaves was appointed pilot and cosmographer at the Casa in 1528 and was responsible for training new pilots in the arts of navigation, including the use of the astrolabe, the quadrant and nautical charts. In the 1530s he wrote Espejo de Navegantes (Mariner's Mirror), a practical handbook of navigation meant to instruct new pilots and mariners. The handbook has been called "the most complete guide to maritime cosmography of the first half of the sixteenth century." In recognition of his expertise in cosmography and navigation, he was appointed pilot major in 1557 and held the position for nearly 30 years.