_ 241 _ made only to the wealthy, and the Normans were rich in experience as well as in money. This was what made their fortune. In the early 16th century, the guild of sailors of Hon fleur purchased a manuscript of the Book of Marco Polo; they were certainly not the only French mariners to take an interest in the "Marvels" of the Far East(A). Nor were the three Normans who were among Magellan's crew the only Frenchmen to take part in the first Circumnavigation. But Normandy was favored. The Mediterranean continued to be a closed world; even the Marseillaise hardly travelled beyond it, perhaps because they lacked resources. The Breton ports lacked means also. On the other hand, Normandy was such a center for information that this became a source of annoyance to the Portuguese. Norman traders profited also from royal encouragement and from the proximity of Paris, and they were receptive to the enterprising outlook of the Italian navigators. The names of Jean Ango and the Verrazzano brothers together symbolize the advent of the French in the Indian Ocean and their presence in the New World. (A) La Roncière, Histoire de la Marine Francaise, 111, 129-30.
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