As something of a historian myself, the discovery of the New World is a topic that has always been of interest to me. So it is natural that the Vinland Map, a likely-forged mappa-mundi, apparently from the 1400s which depicts "Vinland", an area of modern-day Canada that we now know was the site of a Norse settlement in around 1000 AD. If the map were genuine, it would represent the first known depiction of any part North America (except possibly Greenland?) on a mappa-mundi.
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Genuine or otherwise, the islands in the far-east of the "Vinland Map" have long been of intrigue to me. My presumption is that the bulk of these islands, which are mostly unmarked, are supposed to represent Indonesia. But, one of these islands, to me, has always stood out a great deal. It is the island marked with the text infute sub agedo?e, the first two words of which mean in Latin "legally below" or "legally under", with the third word being unintelligible. My opinion , whether this map be genuine or the work of some sophisticated forger, is that this island is supposed to represent the northern extremes of the Australian landmass. I base this view on the shape of the island, as well as its position in relation to what would appear to be Indonesia.
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I am keen to hear your opinions about this. Do you have some other explanation as to what the island I am referring to is?
In my opinion, if you're going to call yourself 'something of a historian' you have to realize that being a historian does not mean sitting in a vacuum, staring at primary sources and coming up with theories. You ought to be informed on the existing academic literature on the topic (such as Kirsten A. Seaver, Maps, Myths, and Men: The Story of the Vinland Map, Stanford University Press, Stanford, California, 2004) You should have the broad background knowledge to put sources in their historical context. (e.g. it is not the first map with Greenland on it; Claudius Clavus map does) You should acquire the necessary tools to do what you're doing as well, if you're going to read 15th century Latin, you need to know some Latin ('infute' isn't a Latin word) and paleography (the subreddit wiki has a book list), in which case it's not at all illegible but reads in the whole "Insule sub aqiulone zamogedorum" ('insulæ' and 'aquilone' in standard spelling) meaning "Islands of the Samoyeds under the northerly winds".
My opinion would therefore be to agree with Vigneras and Seaver that that "Mare Oceanum Orientale" is intended to be the Kara Sea area and the island more likely an actual Samoyed-inhabited island like Novaya Zemlya. (albeit well before any authentic maps mention Samoyeds/Nenets peoples)
