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OCTOBER NEWSLETTER |
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FROM THE EDITOR
A week of unexpected sunny warm
weather has
graciously prolonged the boating season.
What joy! Let’s hear it for global warming, or
whatever. Take advantage of it while you can!
COLUMBUS DAY
Wasn’t
it thoughtful of the old fellow to “discover” the new world on a Monday so that
we could all have a long holiday weekend each fall? This picture (actually part
of a larger work done sometime between 1505 and 1536 by the Spanish painter
Alejo Fernandez) hangs in the Royal Alcazar in Seville. It is not known whether
the Admiral posed for the picture himself, or whether Senor Fernandez painted it
from his memory or imagination. In fact, a great deal about the most famous
sailor in history is shrouded in mystery!
What has been clearly established is that:
1. There was a person born in Genoa (then an independent republic) who went by the name of Christoforo Columbo, the son of Domenico Columbo, a weaver. It’s not at all clear, however, whether that individual was the same person as the explorer. Records of his early adult life are missing. There are suggestions that they have been removed intentionally. Why would he wish to hide his origins?
2. A person using the name of Cristobal Colon (a Spanish version of the name) appeared at the Court of the Spanish King Ferdinand and his Queen Isabella in early1492. He is identified in the court records as a Genovese.
3. He proposed an exploratory voyage to the unknown West in order to find an alternative trade route to the Eastern sources of silk and spices. Constantinople (now Istanbul) had recently fallen to the Muslim Arabs, known then as “Moors”. This had cut off the access of European countries to the eastern Mediterranean termini of the “silk road” overland routes. Prices of oriental goods in Europe rose to great heights. A direct sea route to the orients would be extremely rewarding financially.
4. With financial and legal support from the Spanish rulers he led several westward exploratory voyages westward to what he believed were the “East Indies” Under the terms of the agreement (the documents still survive in the form of “The Book of Appreciations” kept by this man) he was to receive 2% of any profits” as documented in his “Book of Appreciations” which survives today. It helped that Spain had finally re-taken Grenada, the last Spanish city occupied by the Moors. This eased the drain on the Spanish treasury somewhat.
5. “Cristbal Colon’ left the port of Huelva in southern Spain with his well known 3 ships, Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria, on August 3, 1492.
6. After being held up in the Canary Islands, Spain’s most western possessions, for lack of wind, the expedition made its next landfall on one of the Bahama Islands east of Cuba. (Which one of seven possibilities was the actual site is still not established!) on October 12, 1492
7. Colon then proceeded to Cuba on October 28. While sailing north of Cuba on November 22, Martin Alonso Pinzón, captain of the Pinta, left the other two ships without permission and sailed on his own in search of an island called "Babeque," where he had been told by his native guides that there was much gold. Colon continued with the Santa Maria and Niña eastward, and arrived at Hispaniola (modern Haiti/Dominican Republic) on December 5.
8. His flagship Santa Maria went aground on Christmas Eve and foundered the next day. Columbus used the timbers of the ship to build a fort on shore, which he named La Navidad.
9. Now down to just one ship Niña, which could not hold all of the remaining crew, Columbus was forced to leave about 40 men at La Navidad to await his return from Spain. Columbus departed from La Navidad on January 2, 1493
10. He continued eastward along the coast of Hispaniola, and was surprised when he came upon the Pinta on January 6. Columbus's anger at Pinzón was eased by his relief at having another ship for his return to Spain.
11. The two ships departed Hispaniola on January 16, 1493 but were again separated by a fierce storm in the North Atlantic on February 14. Columbus and Pinzón each believed that the other had perished. Columbus sighted the island of Santa Maria in the Portugese Azores the next day. After a run-in with the local governor, he arrived at Lisbon on March 4, and finally made it back to his home port of Palos in Spain on March 15, 1493. Columbus never set foot on land that is now the United States!
12. Meanwhile, Pinzón in Pinta had missed the Azores and arrived at the port of Bayona in northern Spain. After a stop to repair the damaged ship, the Pinta limped into Palos just hours after the Niña. Pinzón had expected to be proclaimed a hero, but the honor had already been given to Columbus. Pinzón died a few days later. Recently, some of his descendents suggested having a “Pinzon Day”
Of course there’s a lot more to the story! He went on to make further return voyages, a total of four, always believing that he had found “The Indies” The later expeditions, however, were quite malevolent, resulting on the capture of many of the native “Indians” who were sold into slavery.
Who was Columbus really?
The lack of documentary evidence surrounding his origins, as well as his several strange behaviors, such as never signing his name (instead he used an odd figure, an apparent cryptogram) has led to much speculation by historians over the years. Besides the possibility that he was Genoese, three other possibilities have been raised:
1. He was a Catalonian rebel and hid his identity because it would not have been favorably viewed by the King and Queen.
2. He was actually the son of a Portuguese nobleman born out-of-wedlock to a woman at the Portuguese court. No love was lost between Spain and Portugal in those days as they were trading competitors.
3. He was a Sephardic Jew. The infamous Spanish Inquisition under Tomas de Torquemada was in full swing at the time. The Spanish government had just issued an edict expelling all Jews from Spain. Columbus’ strange cryptic “signature” contains some Hebrew letters.
Recently, a small amount of DNA was recovered from the bones of Columbus, and a search is on among Genovese, Catalans, Portuguese, and Sephardic Jews with family names similar to Columbo (Colon, Colom, etc.). So far his origins remain a mystery.
In the next issue, I’ll discuss the Vikings who probably did discover North America long before Columbus and the “Vinland Map” which may prove it!