BORIS BURDA: How the Son of a Weaver Discovered America
Presumed map of Christopher Columbus. Lisbon, workshop of Bartolomeo and Christopher Columbus, circa 1490 / wikipedia.org
ATTENTION — QUESTION!
One hundred years after Columbus’s voyage, the amount of this in Europe increased at least eightfold. What exactly?
ATTENTION — CORRECT ANSWER!
Gold, of course.
W
e were told in school that Christopher Columbus discovered America. The story seemed simple: the king and queen gave the order — so he sailed. But in reality, the story of this, as we would now call it, the business venture, is extremely interesting and can astonish anyone with the qualities it reveals — foresight, determination, and even stubbornness.
Columbus showed no early signs of becoming a figure in world history. He was the son of an ordinary weaver or wool merchant — not a proletarian, but neither an aristocrat. Moreover, he had fiery red hair, which was frowned upon even in medieval Europe. At least no one said his grandfather was killed with a shovel…
Where Columbus was born is also unclear. There is a house preserved in Genoa where he lived from the age of five but before that? More cities claim to be his birthplace than claim to be the homeland of Homer — though all are tiny and little known. The evidence that he was indeed Genoese is based on documents created later than his birthdate. The matter is clear yet obscure…
His nationality is also debated. He has been considered Spanish, Catalan (based on linguistic turns in his letters, though he might have acquired them later), Swiss, Polish, and even Byzantine. The main «proof», as usual, is a strong desire, such as rumors about his roots in German Cologne or Polish Kołno.
There is also considerable evidence supporting his Jewish heritage — how else to explain the Jewish abbreviation «bet-hey» appearing in the corner of all Columbus’s letters to his son, meaning «with the help of the Almighty»? There are many other facts difficult to explain outside this hypothesis — which we will return to later…
THE ORIGIN OF THE IDEA
Genoa thrived on maritime trade, and a career at sea was natural for a Genoese. Columbus sailed extensively: he traded, and possibly engaged in piracy (a common practice at the time), and miraculously survived a pirate attack near Cape São Vicente. Afterward, he moved to Portugal, one of the two dominant maritime powers.
There, he married well and began a new venture — trading books. But how does that relate to geographical discoveries? Quite directly, it turns out — his idea was born not from seafaring experience but from bookish wisdom. Almost certainly, it was the result of reflections by the astronomer and geographer Paolo Toscanelli, not a sailor.
Like most serious scientists of his era, Toscanelli believed the Earth was round and was among the first to conceive a simple idea: if you sail westward around the globe instead of eastward, you will eventually reach India. According to his calculations — which underestimated Earth’s diameter significantly (leading Columbus astray) — you might even arrive sooner.
No direct letters from Toscanelli to Columbus on this topic have been found, but their correspondence is well documented, and the demand for such ideas was high in Portugal, which was actively discovering new lands. Columbus decided to propose his services in realizing this idea to King João II of Portugal — hoping the king would fund the expedition!
FROM KING TO KING
King João reacted like a typical modern bureaucrat faced with a promising but risky idea — he deferred the decision to a commission called the Mathematical Junta (in the Pyrenees, «junta» means any assembly, not a tyrannical gang). The commission comprised knowledgeable astronomers, mathematicians, and geographers — not a bad group. But the junta opposed the proposal.
Their opposition was not solely due to erroneous views. They doubted (rightfully, as it turned out) Toscanelli’s estimates of Earth’s diameter. Another entirely non-scientific reason was Columbus’s excessive demands: a noble title, the rank of Admiral of the Ocean Sea, a tenth of all profits, and golden spurs — or else the king could sail on his own.
João II refused. Moreover, Columbus’s troubles began: his wife died, he fell into debt, and he likely became viewed as suspicious — someone privy to secrets, the leakage of which might harm Portugal. In the summer of 1485, he fled intact to neighboring Spain, where they, too, were trying to discover new lands — hoping for a better deal there…
In Spain, Columbus met Antonio de Marchena, the abbot of the Rabida monastery, whom he managed to convince so successfully that Marchena introduced him to the royal court. There, Columbus gained several supporters, and a letter from Marchena to the queen’s confessor, Cardinal Talavera, helped Columbus secure an audience with Their Majesties on January 20, 1486 — no quicker response was possible!
Ferdinand of Aragon was no less cautious than João of Portugal and was also known as a notorious miser. The matter became bogged down in numerous commissions that delayed Columbus for years (he was even paid a small allowance to prevent him from fleeing). Columbus’s high demands complicated matters further. Years passed, yet no decision was made — they told him to keep waiting…
Almost in despair, in 1488, Columbus tried to sell his idea to King Henry VIII of England — hoping he might be interested. The response was favorable but noncommittal. Portugal also stirred again — Columbus was invited back and promised no claims would be made regarding past affairs. Meanwhile, his brother Bartolomeo turned to the King of France — maybe he would bite?
FINALLY, SUCCESS!
In 1491, Ferdinand once again refused Columbus — the war with the Moors was underway, and there was no money. But Columbus managed to explain his troubles to Queen Isabella, and the emotional queen took it to heart. When her husband told her again that there was no money, she replied that she would pawn her jewels to fund the expedition! What husband wouldn’t be alarmed…
By the way, the war ended shortly thereafter. On April 17, 1492, the king and queen finally signed a contract with Columbus. It seems the king found the best way to handle Columbus’s enormous demands — promise everything but give only what he could spare. He allocated almost no funds but allowed sums to be drawn from tax arrears — and how to collect those?
Two Marranos (converted Jews) helped: Luis de Santángel and Gabriel Sánchez, as well as the kingdom’s finance minister, Isaac Abrabanel, who refused baptism and left Spain around the same time as Columbus in exile. Another converted Jew, Martín Alonso Pinzón, provided his ship, the Pinta, and paid for another on Columbus’s behalf.
Why did they do this? They hoped that the Jews expelled from Spain might be able to resettle in the new lands. To some extent, yes: the Inquisition did not arrive there immediately. In Jamaica, governed later by Columbus’s descendants, Jews were not persecuted for a long time. Columbus himself everywhere claimed that the income from the new lands would be used to free Jerusalem from infidels… Which ones?
Incidentally, there were many converted Jews among the crews of the ships. No surprise — even the infamous Torquemada had Jewish relatives; under Hitler, he would certainly have ended up in Auschwitz or Bergen-Belsen. Columbus’s translator was also a converted Jew — just in case the lost tribes of Israel were encountered. He also knew Arabic, and Asia was full of Arabs…
AND A FEW MORE DETAILS
Columbus set sail on August 3, 1492, from the tiny port of Palos. When, 500 years later, an attempt was made to replicate his voyage, it turned out that sailing from Palos was impossible — the harbor had silted up. Why not from Seville or Cádiz? They were simply overcrowded — Moors and Jews were leaving Spain after being banned from the country as of August 2. Some converted to Christianity, but not all were saved…
The voyage took significantly longer than planned. A mutiny even broke out on the ships, but Columbus calmed it by promising to turn back in three days. On the morning of the third day, the sailor Rodrigo de Triana shouted, «Land!» but did not receive the promised reward — Columbus claimed he had seen land earlier… There are reports that de Triana moved to Africa and converted to Islam. Hmm…
The glorification of Columbus has ended to the point that nowadays, over 30 of his statues have been removed. It is said that Columbus treated the indigenous population extremely cruelly. Unfortunately, this is true. Should the monuments be taken down? The question is interesting — will this change anything for the better? So far, it is unclear…
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