Mestre Diogo - Rodrigues Island

Rodrigues Island

Alfred North-Coombes records that maps of the island dated to 1540 of Plate 49 of the monumenta shows charts from both atlases and indicates as "do d0 ROIZ" also the Wolfenbuttel chart of c. 1540 carried the following inscriptions "i que achou Diogo Roiz". Diogo's surname Rodrigues was replaced by Roiz later after receiving his knighthood (or Royes as it was written in some Dutch maps) as it was a royal diminutive of Rodrigues, who was knighted and received the royal confirmation from King João III, an honor granted only to those Rodrigues aristocratic families for service to the monarch or empire. It is also concluded that the exact date of discovering the island of Rodrigues by D.Diogo Roiz was between 4 and 9 February 1528 as they had left from Cochin under the command and presence of D.Pedro Mascarenhas on the 15th of January 1528 with a fleet of four ships to appeal to the King. Under favorable north-east monsoon conditions, it would take twenty to twenty five days to reach the Mascarene islands. The island was chosen to be called Rodrigues permanently from February 1528. Portugal did not claim any ownership, but used the island as a mark for sailing and had officially marked it on all maps, cartographic materials of that time either as Rodrigues, Diogo Roiz, Roiz or Diogo Rodrigues.