Columbus before the conclave of Professors at Seville--His parentage and
early history--Battle with Venetian galleys--Residence in Portugal--
Marries widow of a navigator--Grounds on which he founded his theory--
Offers his services to the King of Portugal--His offer declined--Sends
his brother Bartholomew to Henry the Seventh of England--Don John sends
out a squadron to forestall him--Sets off for Spain--Introduced by the
Duke of Medina Celi to Queen Isabella--She encourages him--Plan for the
recovery of the Holy Sepulchre--His long detention at Court while
Ferdinand and Isabella are engaged in the war against the Moors of
Granada--A hearing at length afforded him--His demands refused--Leaves
the Court in poverty and visits Palos on his way to France--Met by Juan
Perez, Prior of the Rabida convent--The Prior listens to his plans--
Introduces him to the Pinzons, and informs the Queen of his intended
departure--Sent for back at Court--All his demands agreed to--Authority
given him to fit out a squadron.
In the year 1486 a council of learned professors of geography,
mathematics, and all branches of science, erudite friars, accomplished
bishops, and other dignitaries of the Church, were seated in the vast
arched hall of the old Dominican convent of Saint Stephen in Salamanca,
then the great seat of learning in Spain. They had met to hear a simple
mariner, then standing in their midst, propound and defend certain
conclusions at which he had arrived regarding the form and geography of
the earth, and the possibility, nay, the certainty, that by sailing
west, the unknown shores of Eastern India could be reached. Some of his
hearers declared it to be grossly presumptuous in an ordinary man to
suppose, after so many profound philosophers and mathematicians had been
studying the world, and so many able navigators had been sailing about
it for years past, that there remained so vast a discovery for him to
make. Some cited the books of the Old Testament to prove that he was
wrong, others the explanations of various reverend commentators.
Doctrinal points were mixed up with philosophical discussions, and a
mathematical demonstration was allowed no weight if it appeared to clash
with a text of Scripture or comment of one of the fathers.
Although Pliny and the wisest of the ancients had maintained the
possibility of an antipodes in the southern hemisphere, these learned
gentlemen made out that it was altogether a novel theory.
Others declared that to assert there were inhabited lands on the
opposite side of the globe would be to maintain that there were nations
not descended from Adam, as it would have been impossible for them to
have passed the intervening ocean, and therefore discredit would be
thrown on the Bible.
Again, some of the council more versed in science, though admitting the
globular form of the earth, and the possibility of an opposite habitable
hemisphere, maintained that it would be impossible to arrive there on
account of the insupportable heat of the torrid zone; besides which, if
the circumference of the earth was as great as they supposed, it would
require three years to make the voyage.
Several, with still greater absurdity, advanced as an objection that
should a ship succeed in reaching the extremity of India, she could
never get back again, as the rotundity of the globe would present a kind
of mountain up which it would be impossible for her to sail even with
the most favourable wind.
The mariner replied in answer to the scriptural objection that the
inspired writers were not speaking technically as cosmographers, but
figuratively, in language addressed to all comprehensions, and that the
commentaries of the fathers were not to be considered as philosophical
propoundings, which it was necessary either to admit or refute.
In regard to the impossibility of passing the torrid zone, he himself
stated that he had voyaged as far as Guinea under the equinoxial line,
and had found that region not only traversable, but abounding in
population, fruits, and pasturage.
Who was this simple mariner who could thus dare to differ from so many
learned sages? His person was commanding; his demeanour elevated; his
eye kindling; his manner that of one who had a right to be heard, while
a rich flow of eloquence carried his hearers with him. His countenance
was handsome; his hair already blanched by thought, toil, and privation.
He was no other than Columbus, who, after his proposals had been
rejected by the Court of Portugal, had addressed himself to that of
Spain, and had, year after year, waited patiently to obtain a hearing
from Ferdinand and Isabella, then occupied in their wars against the
Moors.
He had been a seaman from the age of fourteen. He was born in the city
of Genoa about the year 1435, where his father, Dominico Colombo,
carried on the business of a wool comber, which his ancestors had
followed for several generations. He was the eldest of three brothers,
the others being Bartholomew and Diego. He had at an early age evinced
a desire for the sea, and accordingly his education had been mainly
directed to fit him for maritime life.
His first voyages were made with a distant relative named Colombo, a
hardy veteran of the seas, who had risen to some distinction by his
bravery.
Under this relative young Christopher saw much service, both warlike and
in trading voyages, until he gained command of a war ship of good size.
When serving in the squadron of his cousin information was brought that
four richly-laden Venetian galleys were on their return voyage from
Flanders. The squadron lay in wait for them off the Portuguese coast,
between Lisbon and Cape Saint Vincent. A desperate engagement ensued;
the vessels grappled each other. That commanded by Columbus was engaged
with a huge Venetian galley. Hand-grenades and other fiery missiles
were thrown on board her, and the galley was wrapped in flames. So
closely were the vessels fastened together, that both were involved in
one conflagration. The crews threw themselves into the sea. Columbus
seized an oar, and being an expert swimmer, reached the shore, though
fully two leagues distant. On recovering he made his way to Lisbon.
Possibly he may have resided there previously; certain it is that he
there married a lady, the daughter of a distinguished navigator, from
whose widow he obtained much information regarding the voyages and
expeditions of her late husband, as well as from his papers, charts,
journals, and memoranda.
Having become naturalised in Portugal, he sailed occasionally on voyages
to the coast of Guinea, and when on shore supported his family by making
maps and charts, which in those days required a degree of knowledge and
experience sufficient to entitle the possessor to distinction.
He associated with various navigators, and he noted down all he heard.
It was said by some that islands had been seen far away to the west when
they had been driven in that direction. Whatever credit might have been
given to these reports by Columbus, he had far stronger reasons for
believing that, by sailing across the ocean to the west, he should reach
land. He was of opinion that about one-third of the circumference of
the earth was unknown and unexplored. A great portion of this might be
filled up by the eastern regions of Asia, while the tract of water
intervening between these countries might be less than at first
supposed.
In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, two great travellers, Marco
Polo and Sir John Mandeville, journeyed eastward over a large portion of
Asia, and had given vivid descriptions of the magnificence of its cities
and scenery. Marco Polo especially had described two large islands,
Ontilla and Cipango, the latter undoubtedly Japan, which it was expected
would be the first reached by a navigator sailing westward.
A Portuguese pilot, Martin Vicenti, after sailing four hundred and
fifty-two leagues to the west of Cape Saint Vincent, had found a piece
of carved wood evidently laboured with an iron instrument, and as
probably the wind had drifted it from the west, it might have come from
some unknown land in that direction. A brother-in-law of Columbus had
likewise found a similar piece of wood drifted from the same quarter.
Reeds of enormous size, such as were described by Ptolemy to grow in
India, had been picked up, and trunks of huge pine-trees had been driven
on the shores of the Azores, such as did not grow on any of those
islands. The bodies of two dead men, whose features differed from those
of any known race of people, had been cast on the island of Flores.
There were islands, it was rumoured, still farther west than those
visited, and a mariner sailing from Port Saint Mary to Ireland asserted
that he had seen land to the west, which the ship's company took to be
some extreme point of Tartary.
These facts being made known to Columbus, served to strengthen his
opinion. The success indeed of his undertaking depended greatly on two
happy errors: the imaginary extent of Asia to the east, and the supposed
smallness of the earth. A deep religious sentiment mingled with his
meditations. He looked upon himself as chosen by Heaven for the
accomplishment of its purposes, that the ends of the earth might be
brought together, and all nations and tongues united under the banner of
the Redeemer.
The enthusiastic nature of his conceptions gave an elevation to his
spirit, and dignity and eloquence to his whole demeanour. He never
spoke in doubt or hesitation, but with as much certainty as if his eyes
had beheld the promised land.
No trial or disappointment could divert him from the steady pursuit of
his object. That object, it is supposed, he meditated as early as the
year 1474, though as yet it lay crude and immatured in his mind.
Shortly afterwards, in the year 1477, he made a voyage to the north of
Europe, navigating one hundred leagues beyond Thule, when he reached an
island as large as England, generally supposed to have been Iceland.
In vain he had applied to Don John the Second, who ascended the throne
of Portugal in 1481. That king was so deeply engaged in sending out
expeditions to explore the African coast that his counsellors advised
him to confine his efforts in that direction. He would, however, have
given his consent had not Columbus demanded such high and honourable
rewards as were considered inadmissible.
To his eternal disgrace the Bishop of Ceuta advised that Columbus should
be kept in suspense while a vessel was secretly dispatched in the
direction he pointed out, to ascertain if there was any truth in his
story. This was actually done, until the caravel meeting with stormy
weather, and an interminable waste of wild tumbling waves, the pilots
lost courage and returned.
Columbus, indignant at this attempt to defraud him, his wife having died
some time previously, resolved to abandon the country which had acted so
treacherously. He first sent his brother Bartholomew to make proposals
to Henry the Seventh, King of England; but that sovereign rejected his
offers, and having again made a proposal to Genoa, which, from the
reverses she had lately received, she was unable to accept, he turned
his eyes to Spain.
The great Spanish Dukes of Medina Sidonia and Medina Coeli, were at
first inclined to support him, and the latter spoke of him to Queen
Isabella, who giving a favourable reply, Columbus set off for the
Spanish Court, then at Cordova.
The sovereigns of Castile and Arragon were, however, so actively engaged
in carrying on the fierce war with the Moors of Grenada, that they were
unable to give due attention to the scheme of the navigator, while their
counsellors generally derided his proposals.
The beautiful and enlightened Isabella treated him from the first with
respect, and other friends rose up who were ready to give him support.
Wearied and discouraged by long delays, however, he had again opened up
negotiations with the King of Portugal, and had been requested by that
monarch to return there. He had also received a letter from Henry the
Seventh of England, inviting him to his Court, and holding out promises
of encouragement, when he was again summoned to attend the Castilian
Court, and a sum of money was sent him to defray his expenses, King
Ferdinand probably fearing that he would carry his proposals to a rival
monarch, and wishing to keep the matter in suspense until he had leisure
to examine it.
He accordingly repaired to the Court of Seville. While he was there two
monks arrived with a message from the Grand Soldan of Egypt, threatening
to put to death all the Christians and to destroy the Holy Sepulchre if
the Spanish sovereigns did not desist from war against Grenada.
The menace had no effect in altering their purpose, but it aroused the
indignation of the Spanish cavaliers, and still more so that of
Columbus, and made them burn with ardent zeal once more to revive the
contest of faith on the sacred plains of Palestine. Columbus had indeed
resolved, should his projected enterprise prove successful, to devote
the profits from his anticipated discoveries to a crusade for the rescue
of the Holy Sepulchre from the power of the infidels.
During the latter part of the year 1490 Ferdinand and Isabella were
engaged in celebrating the marriage of their eldest daughter, the
Princess Isabella, with Prince Don Alonzo, heir apparent of Portugal.
Bearing these long and vexatious delays as he had before done, Columbus
supported himself chiefly by making maps and charts, occasionally
assisted from the purse of his friend Diego de Deza.
The year was passing on. Columbus was kept in a state of irritating
anxiety at Cordova, when he heard that the sovereigns were about to
commence that campaign which ended in the expulsion of the Moors from
Spain. Aware that many months must pass before they would give their
minds to the subject if he allowed the present moment to slip by, he
pressed for a decisive reply to his proposals with an earnestness that
would admit of no evasion.
The learned men of the council were directed to express their opinion of
the enterprise. The report of each was unfavourable, although the
worthy friar Diego de Deza, tutor to Prince John, and several others,
urged the sovereigns not to lose the opportunity of extending their
dominions and adding so greatly to their glory.
Again, however, Columbus was put off. Having no longer confidence in
the vague promises which had hitherto been made, he turned his back on
Seville, resolved to offer to the King of France the honour of carrying
out his magnificent undertaking.
Leaving Seville, his means exhausted, he travelled on foot, leading his
young son Diego by the hand, to the sea-port of Palos de Moguer in
Andalusia. Weary and exhausted, he stopped to ask for bread and water
at the gate of the ancient Franciscan convent of Santa Maria de Rabida.
The Prior, Juan Perez de Marchena, happening to come up, and remarking
the appearance of the stranger, entered into conversation with him. The
Prior, a man of superior information, was struck with the grandeur of
his views, and when he found that the navigator was on the point of
abandoning Spain to seek patronage in the Court of France, and that so
important an enterprise was about to be lost for ever to the country,
his patriotism took the alarm. He entertained Columbus as his guest,
and invited a scientific friend--a physician--Garcia Fernandez, to
converse with him.
Fernandez was soon captivated by his conversation. Frequent conferences
took place, at which several of the veteran mariners of Palos were
present. Among these was Martin Alonzo Pinzon, the head of a family of
wealthy and experienced navigators. Facts were related by some of the
mariners in support of the theory of Columbus, and so convinced was
Pinzon of the feasibility of his project, that he offered to engage in
it with purse and person. The Prior, who had once been confessor to the
Queen, was confirmed in his faith by the opinions expressed, and he
proposed writing to her immediately, and entreated Columbus to delay his
journey until an answer could be received.
It was decided to send Sebastian Rodriguez, a shrewd and clever pilot,
to Santa Fe, where the Queen then was. Isabella had always been
favourable to Columbus, and the Prior received a reply desiring that he
himself should repair to Court. He went, and, seconded by the
Marchioness of Moya and other old friends, so impressed the Queen with
the importance of the undertaking, that she desired Columbus might be
sent for, and ordered that seventy-two dollars, equal to two hundred and
sixteen of the present day, might be forwarded to him, to bear his
travelling expenses.
With his hopes raised to the highest pitch, Columbus again repaired to
Court; but so fully occupied was he with the grandeur of his enterprise,
that he stipulated that he should be invested with the title and
privilege of admiral, and viceroy over the countries he should discover,
with one-tenth of all gains, either by trade or conquest. It must be
remembered the pious and patriotic way--according to his notions--in
which he intended to expend the wealth he hoped to acquire.
The courtiers were indignant, and sneeringly observed that his
arrangement was a secure one, that he was sure of a command, and had
nothing to lose.
On this he offered to furnish one-eighth of the cost, on condition of
enjoying one-eighth of the profit. The King looked coldly on the
affair, and once more the sovereigns of Spain declined the offer.
Columbus was at length again about to set off on his journey to Palos,
when the generous spirit of Isabella was kindled by the remarks of the
Marchioness of Moya, supported by Louis de Saint Angel, Receiver of the
Ecclesiastical Revenues in Arragon. She exclaimed, "I undertake the
enterprise for my own crown of Castile, and will pledge my jewels to
raise the necessary funds!"
This was the proudest moment in the life of Isabella, as it stamped her
as the patroness of the great discovery.
Saint Angel assured her there was no necessity for pledging her jewels,
and expressed his readiness to advance seventeen thousand florins. A
messenger was dispatched to bring back the navigator, with the assurance
that all he desired would be granted; and so, turning the reins of his
mule, he hastened back with joyful alacrity to Santa Fe, confiding in
the noble probity of the Queen.
Articles of agreement were drawn up by the royal secretary at once.
Columbus was to have for himself during his life, and his heirs and
successors for ever, the office of admiral of all lands and continents
which he might discover.
Secondly: He was to be viceroy and governor-general over them.
Thirdly: He was to be entitled to receive for himself one-tenth of all
pearls, precious stones, gold, silver, spices, and all other articles
and merchandise obtained within this admiralty.
Fourthly: He or his lieutenant was to be the sole judge in all cases and
disputes arising out of traffic between those countries and Spain.
Fifthly: He might then, and at all after times, contribute an eighth
part of the expense in fitting out vessels to sail on this enterprise,
and receive one-eighth part of the profit.
The latter engagement he fulfilled through the assistance of the Pinzons
of Palos, and added a third vessel to the armament.
Thus, one-eighth of the expense attendant on this grand expedition,
undertaken by a powerful nation, was actually borne by the individual
who conceived it, and who likewise risked his life on its success.
The capitulations were afterwards signed by Ferdinand and Isabella on
the 17th of April, 1492, when, in addition to the above articles,
Columbus and his heirs were authorised to prefix the title of Don to
their names.
It was arranged that the armament should be fitted out at the port of
Palos, Columbus calculating on the co-operation of his friends Martin
Alonzo Pinzon and the Prior of the convent.
Both Isabella and Columbus were influenced by a pious zeal for effecting
the great work of salvation among the potentates and peoples of the
lands to be discovered. He expected to arrive at the extremity of the
ocean, and to open up direct communication with the vast and magnificent
empire of the Grand Khan of Tartary. His deep and cherished design was
the recovery of the Holy Sepulchre, which he meditated during the
remainder of his life, and solemnly provided for in his will.
Let those who are disposed to faint under difficulties in the
prosecution of any great and worthy undertaking, remember that eighteen
years elapsed after the time that Columbus conceived his enterprise,
before he was able to carry it into effect; that the greater part of
that time was passed in almost hopeless solicitation, amidst poverty,
neglect, and taunting ridicule; that the prime of his life had wasted
away in the struggle; and that when his perseverance was finally crowned
with success, he had reached his fifty-sixth year.