the L'Ecuy globe, of the sixteenth century, it is written in Latin that between 70° and 80° N. lat. and in long. "These are the people to whom the Dane Johannes Scowus penetrated in the year 1476." The description of Scolvus as a Dane may indicate the same source as the English mention of him in 1576. Generally, the later sources about Scolvus are less reliable, since the writers probably read the earlier accounts and more or less copied from them. Speculations Some historians have variously described Scolvus as a Norwegian pilot, Catalan corsair, Welsh shipmaster and Polish navigator. Such claims have been criticised as being opportunistic in nature. Some writers (initially Peruvian librarian Louis Ulloa in 1934) have even speculated that Johannes Scolvus may have been the young Christopher Columbus, and others that he is identical with Hans Pothorst or João Vaz Corte-Real. Polish origin theory Polish historian and cartographer Joachim Lelewel (1786 - 1861) was the first to gather all available mentions of Johannes Scolnus. He quoted a source from 1570 by François de Belleforest, a source from 1599 by Wytfliet, and another from 1671 which claimed that Scolvus was Polish. Lelewel claimed that his name was really Jan z Kolna (), and was the navigator of the Danish fleet. He also found mentions of a Joannis de Colno who studied at the Krakow Academy in 1455, and a Colno or Cholno family of merchants and sailors living in Danzig (Gdańsk). Criticisms Bolesław Olszewicz, one of the modern historians who criticize Lelewel, argues there is not enough evidence to prove that Scolvus was actually Polish. Most of the works that mention Johannes Scolvus were published more than a century after the voyage and no contemporary evidence has been found. As early as 1911 Fridtjof Nansen had speculated in his study Northern Mist that "Pilotus" (pilot) had been misread as "Polonus" (Polish). See also Pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact Notes References Sources External links Dictionary of Canadian Biography H. P. Resen's map Explorers of North America Pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact