London, England — 1122
Another flying ship loses its anchor
Mr. Page, associate national correspondent of the French Antiquary Society, reports a story told by a 12th century monk from Limousin named Geoffroy de Vigeois. Fig. 49: Bulletin des Antiquaires The event concerns a flying ship “navis sursum in aere,” which landed in the middle of London. The inhabitants rushed on the anchor of this ship, and the passengers were forced to cut the rope in order to take to the air again. “Mr. le Comte H.-F. Delaborde reminds us that Leonardo da Vinci has studied aerial navigation, and was not the first. He assumes that the event may have originated with a simple mirage. The legend must have grown as it traveled, as often happens.”
Source: Geoffroi du Vigeois, Chronica, A.D. MCXXII, ed. Philippe Labbe, Nova Bibliotheca manuscripta (Parisiis, 1657), II, 299-300; Bulletin de la Societe des Antiquaires de France (1911): 102-103. Case: W494