"Sources for the Life and Times of Christopher Columbus" by Carla Rahn Phillips in "Society for Spanish and Portuguese Historical Studies Bulletin" (Winter 1992, Vol. XVII, No. 1, pp. 8-18) In this Quincentenary of Columbus's first voyage across the Atlantic Ocean, a great deal is being written about the man and his times. Much of the published work will aim at a popular audience and will not include source notes; in fact, it may not be based on reliable documentation at all. Given this situation, an annotated list of some of the major sources for a scholarly approach to Columbus may be useful. I present here some of the materials consulted in researching the recent book on Columbus that I co-authored with William D. Phillips, Jr., "The Worlds of Christopher Columbus" (Cambridge University Press, 1992). The list is grouped around a few of the salient issues that arise when Columbus is discussed in front of general audiences. Was Columbus A Man Of Mystery? Over the centuries, various countries and ethnic groups have claimed Columbus as one of their own, arguing from evidence that is doubtful at best, and faked at worst. These claims are based on the erroneous premise that little is known for sure about Columbus, and that even his origins remain mysterious. This manufactured controversy began in the late 17th century and continues now. Malloy, C. "De jure martimo et navali." London, 1682. Claimed that Columbus was born in England, but later resided in Genoa. Madariaga, Salvador de. "Christopher Columbus. Being the Life of the Very Magnificent Lord Don Cristobal Colon." New York, 1940; reprinted 1967, 1987. Claims that Columbus's family were Spanish Jews who had moved to Genoa. See especially pp. 52-53. Patrocinio Ribeiro. "A nacionalidade portuguesa de Cristovam Colombo." With an English translation by Antonio Cruz, "The Portuguese Nationality of Christopher Columbus." Lisbon, 1927. Arthur Lobo D'Avila and Saul Santos Ferreira, "Cristobal Colon. Salvador Goncalves Zarco, Infante de Portugal." Lisbon, 1939. Claimed that Columbus was actually a Portuguese nobleman who fled to Genoa, later returning to Portugal under the alias of Cristoforo Colombo. Durlacher-Wolper, Ruth G. "The Identity of Christopher Columbus." "Columbus and His World. Proceedings of the First San Salvador Conference." Compiled by Donald T. Gerace, Ft. Lauderdale, FL: CCFL, 1987, pp. 13-32. Claims that Columbus was a Greek from the island of Chios. Augusto Mascarenhas Barreto. "O portugues Cristobao Colombo. Agente secreto do rei Dom Joao II." 2d ed. Lisbon, 1988. Claims that Columbus was Portuguese, and a secret agent for King John II of Portugal. Fernando Pedrosa. "Cristobao Colombo, corsario em Portugal (1469-1485)." Lisbon, 1989. Claims that Columbus was a Genoese corsair who worked for King John II of Portugal for 14 years before 1485. Who Was Columbus? Ample evidence exists that Columbus was born in the city- state of Genoa in northern Italy, probably in 1451. Both his father and his mother belonged to Christian families from villages in the mountains near the city of Genoa. His father made a living as a wool-weaver and merchant, in addition to dabbling in a variety of other occupations and serving in minor political offices in Genoa. Some of this evidence includes: Genoese documents published in the "Raccolta di documenti e studi pubblicati dalla R. Commissione Colombina," 15 volumes (1892-94), outlined the history of Columbus's family in Genoa, and his continuing close ties with Genoa after he moved to Lisbon, and then to Spain. Columbus's deed of primogeniture, in which he declared himself to be Genoese. The privilege of primogeniture, granted to Columbus by the Spanish crown, gave him the right to bequeath his property as he wished, free from laws requiring equal distribution of property to all one's children. Issued in the city of Burgos on April 3, 1497. This document is held in Genoa and is printed in the "Raccolta." The "Asseretto document," from the Notarial Archive of the city of Genoa, papers of the notary Girolamo Ventimiglia, file 2, years 1474-1504, no. 266, certified in Genoa August 25, 1479. This shows that Columbus was in Genoa briefly on business in 1479, that he was 27 years old at the time, and that he was headed back to Lisbon. He was identified as a citizen of Genoa by the notary. Because notarial documents were used as legal proof, this document is considered highly reliable and incontrovertible proof of Columbus's age and citizenship. Printed in the "Raccolta," and a photograph of it is in the volume of Columbian documents published by the city of Genoa in 1931. Although the "Asseretto document" proves Columbus's birthdate, nothing is known for sure about his childhood. A very few documents provide evidence of his years in Portugal from 1476 to 1485. Once he arrived in Spain in 1485, the documentary record is somewhat better. Between his 1492 voyage and his death 1506, the evidence is quite full. What Did Columbus Look Like? Columbus was never painted or sketched from life, as far as historians know, although an Italian art historian has recently claimed to have found a portrait of Columbus by Spanish artist Pedro Berruguete, who died in 1504, two years before Columbus. The portrait agrees quite well with descriptions of Columbus written by people who knew him, but the claim is too recent to have received scholarly scrutiny. The written descriptions are: "Libretto de tutta la nauigatione de re de Spagna de le isole et terreni nouamente trouati" (Venice, 1504). Facsimile edition with an introduction by Lawrence C. Wrote (Paris, 1929). This is an Italian version of the beginning of Peter Martyr's "Oceani Decas." Martyr had known Columbus in Granada and had written down stories of his voyages. He then allowed Angelo Trevisan, a secretary to the Venetian ambassador in Granada in 1501, to consult his notes. Trevisan translated them and sent them to Domenico Malpiero, a Venetian senator. Unknown to Martyr, his account of Columbus's first three voyages was published in Italian in 1504 as the "Libretto de tutta la nauigatione," which opened with the first published description of Columbus. "Christopher Columbus, Genoese, a man of tall and imposing stature, ruddy-complexioned, of great intelligence, and with a long face, followed the Most Serene Sovereigns of Spain for a long time wherever they went." Another, though very similar, description appears in Gonzalo Fernandez de Oviedo, "Historia General y Natural de las Indias," libro 2, chap. 2. Published in 1535. A modern edition is Biblioteca de Autores Espanoles, vols. 117-121. Madrid, 1959. vol. 117, p. 16. "(H)e was of good stature and appearance, taller than middling, and with strong limbs; the eyes lively, and the other parts of the countenance of good proportion; the hair very red and the face somewhat flushed and freckled." Colombo, Fernando. "Historie del S.D. Fernando Colombo; nelle quali s'ha particolare, & vera relatione della vita, & de'fatti dell'Ammiraglio D. Cristoforo Colombo, suo padre: et dello scoprimento, ch'egli fece dell'Indie Occidentali; dette Mondo Nuovo, hora possedute dal Sereniss. Re Catalico: Nuovamente di lingua Spagnuola tradotte nell'Italiana dal S. Alfonso Ulloa." Venice, 1571, Chap. III. This first edition was published in Italian; the original manuscript was assumed to be in Spanish, but it has been lost. Translated into English by Benjamin Keen, "The Life of the Admiral Christopher Columbus by his Son Ferdinand." New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1959, p. 9, the passage reads: "The Admiral was a well-built man of more than average stature, the face long, the cheeks somewhat high, his body neither fat nor lean. He had an aquiline nose and light-colored eyes; his complexion too was light and tending to bright red. In youth his hair was blond ("biondi") but when he reached the age of thirty, it all turned white. In eating and drinking, and in the adornment of his person, he was very moderate and modest." Casas, Bartolome de las. "Historia de las Indias," book 1, chap. 2. The work was drafted by Las Casas from 1527 on, but it was not published until 1875. A three volume edition, edited by Agustin Millares Carlo, was published in Mexico City in 1951. "(I)n his external person and corporeal disposition (Columbus) was tall rather than of middling height, his face long and commendable; the nose aquiline; the eyes grey-green; the complexion pale, tending to bright red; the beard and hair, when he was youth, fair, but which soon became gray with his troubles." The best conclusion is that Columbus was of more than average height for the time (probably no taller than six feet, probably no shorter than five and a half feet.) He was pale- complexioned with high coloring, and Oviedo said he was quite freckled. He probably had red hair as a young man, which lightened and then turned gray by the time he was thirty, which is a common pattern for redheads, regardless of the quality of their lives. His face was oblong rather than round, distinguished by an aquiline nose and lively hazel eyes. Very few of the portraits over the ages claiming to depict Columbus conform to these written descriptions of his physical characteristics. Moreover, some of the most popular portraits, such as the Sebastiano del Piombo portrait in the Metropolitan Museum in New York, bear no resemblance whatsoever to the descriptions. What was Columbus's Character And Personality? Columbus was very ambitious for wealth and status for himself and his family. His ambition is clearly revealed by the various titles and other concessions granted him by the Spanish crown. Many of the documents are housed in the Archivo General de Simancas. Confirmation of the Capitulations of Santa Fe. Text of the agreement drawn up between Christopher Columbus and the King and Queen of Spain, confirmed April 1497. Archivo General de Simancas (AGS), Registro General del Sello (R.G.S.), April 1497. Reward granted by the Catholic monarchs to Christopher Columbus and his heirs in the title of Admiral, Viceroy, and Governor of the terra firma and islands he should discover in the ocean and authorization to use the title of "don." Granada, April 30, 1492. AGS, R.G.S., April 1492, folio 20. Confirmation issued to don Christopher Columbus of his titles of don, Admiral, Viceroy, and Governor of the islands and terra firma of the ocean, with all of the powers and privileges they convey. Included: the letter of reward (April 30, 1492) and the ratification of the same issues on May 28, 1493. Issued in the city of Burgos on April 23, 1497. AGS, R.G.S., April 1497, folio 2. Anxious to retain all that had been promised him, Columbus compiled a listing of the documents relating to his relations with the Spanish crown. Helen Nader is preparing an edition and translation of this "Book of Privileges," to be published by the University of California Press in 1992. Columbus was also a devout Catholic, determined to further the cause of Christianity, in particular to aid in the conversion of non-Christians and the recapture of Jerusalem from the Muslims. In later life Columbus adopted a cryptic signature, whose central element was "Xpo ferens"--meaning "Christo Ferens" or "Christ-bearer." He seems to have identified with St. Christopher, who bore the Christ-child across a swollen stream. The letters that form the rest of the signature seem to relate either to his ambition or to his religiosity, but they will probably never be deciphered for certain. Even the most cursory study of Columbus's letters and other writings confirms his deep Christian religiosity. A partial list of editions of his writings include: Colon, Cristobal. "Textos y documentos completos." Edited by Consuelo Varela. Madrid, 1982. Dunn, Oliver, and James E. Kelley, Jr., eds. and trans. "The "Diario" of Christopher Columbus's First Voyage to America, 1492-1493, Abstracted by Fray Bartolome de las Casas." Norman, OK, 1989. Jane, Cecil, ed. and trans. "Select Documents Illustrating the Four Voyages of Columbus." 2 vols. London, 1930, 1933. Varela, Consuelo, ed. "Cristobal Colon: Los cuatro viajes, testamento." Madrid, 1986. West, Delno C., and August Kling, eds. and trans. "The "Libro de las profecias" of Christopher Columbus." Gainesville, FL, 1991. Another translation by Kay Brigham, "Christopher Columbus's Book of Prophesies" (Ft. Lauderdale, FL, 1991) is also available. In later life, Columbus spent a good deal of time petitioning the crown of Spain for all the honors, wealth, and land he felt were rightfully his. His descendants continued this fight for wealth and status in a series of lawsuits against the crown. Begun by Columbus's son Diego, the suits continued for many generations. The Escuela de Estudios Americanos in Seville is in the process of publishing these lawsuits, known collectively as the "Pleitos Colombinos," under the direction of Antonio Muro Orejon. Five volumes were published from 1964 to 1989. Was Columbus The First To Realize The Earth Was Round? Learned men in Columbus's time knew full well that the earth was round, although many ignorant persons may have believed in a flat earth. Nonetheless, the notion still persists that Columbus was the first to conceive of a round earth, and that he had to fight ignorance and tradition among the advisors to the Spanish crown in propounding his theory. Writers in the 19th century regularly made this claim, and it appeared in textbooks as late as 1955. Although modern authors do no repeat the error, many adults were taught the "flat earth" story as children and continue to believe it. A selection of textbooks where the "flat earth" notion appears includes: Steele, Joel Dorman, "A Brief History of the United States for Schools." New York, A.S. Barnes & Company, 1875. Higginson, Thomas Wentworth, "Young Folks' History of the United States." Boston, Lee and Shepard, 1880. Fiske, John, "A History of the United States for Schools." Boston, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1907. Earlier copyrights 1894, 1895, 1989, 1899. Riegel, Robert, and David Long, "The American Story, Volume One: Youth." New York, McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1955. v. 1, p. 6. A college textbook. Was Columbus A Hero? Columbus has often been portrayed in popular literature, as well as textbooks, as a hero, a man misunderstood in his own time who died scorned, impoverished and forgotten. A very popular biography of Columbus by Washington Irving, ("The Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus." 3 vols. New York, 1828), had an enormous influence on later writers, especially writers of textbooks in the United States. Irving's biography appeared in 175 full editions and abridgements in several languages between 1828 and 1900, promoting a heroic depiction of Columbus's life. Many textbooks of the 19th and 20th centuries based their interpretation of Columbus on Washington Irving, thus perpetuating an uncritical acceptance of the notion that Columbus was an unblemished hero. See, for example: Willard, Emma, "History of the United States or Republic of America." New York, A.S. Barnes & Co., 1852. Quackenbos, G.P., "Illustrated School History of the United States of America." New York, D. Appleton and Company, 1869. Earlier copyrights 1857 and 1865. Perry, Arthur, and Gertrude Price, "American History: First Book (1492-1783)." New York, American Book Company, 1914. Moon, Glenn W., "Story of Our Land and People." New York, Henry Holt and Company, 1942. Earlier copyright 1938. Davidson, James West, and Mark Lytle, "The United States: A History of the Republic." Englewood Cliffs, NJ, Prentice- Hall, 1984. Earlier copyright 1981. In 1942, on the 450th anniversary of Columbus's first voyage, another biography appeared that emphasized his undoubted skills as a mariner and tended to avoid his failings as an administrator and the less than admirable aspects of his personality. Samuel Eliot Morison. "Admiral of the Ocean Sea." 2 vols. Boston, 1942. The great popularity of Morison's biography, in its two-volume form, a one-volume version without notes, and a later summary treatment, influenced many other authors. The heroic portrayal of Columbus has become a part of popular culture in the United States, which often trivializes his role in history and avoids altogether the more controversial aspects of his life. Was Columbus A Villain? Columbus's own writings reveal a complex man with both admirable and deplorable traits. A few books of varying merit in the 19th century tried to revise the heroic portrayal. Jacob Abbott remarked on the peculiar (to him) combination of greed and religious idealism that seemed to motivate Columbus. Jacob Abbott, "American History," vol. II. "Discovery of America." New York: Sheldon & Company, 1860. Other early detractors of Columbus followed their own political agenda rather than a scholarly search for the truth. Aaron Goodrich not only tried to tear down the heroic image of Columbus, but in the process disparaged the accomplishments of all of souther Europe, especially Catholic countries, although he admired a few political and cultural leaders in Italy and Spain. he also claimed that Columbus was a Greek corsair in French service, with name of Coulon or Coullon. Aaron Goodrich, "A History of the Character and Achievements of the So-Called Christopher Columbus." New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1874. A few writers in the late nineteenth century avoided biased opinions and tried to present a balanced picture of Columbus as a man with both positive and negative characteristics. Justin Winsor based his biography on a careful examination of the evidence, especially about Columbus's treatment of Indians. Justin Winsor, "Christopher Columbus and How He Received and Imparted the Spirit of Discovery." Boston: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1892. Some writer in the late 20th century have portrayed Columbus as the embodiment of everything evil and destructive in the process of European colonization and world domination. Just as he was often a symbol of heroic virtues in the nineteenth century, in the late twentieth century he is often seen as a symbol of anti- heroic vices, and the very worst that European civilization had to offer. Howard Zinn, "A People's History of the United States." New York: Harper & Row, 1980. Sale, Kirkpatrick. "The Conquest of Paradise." New York: Knopf, 1991. What Do We Know About Columbus's Voyage In 1492? Columbus's three ships are often assumed to have been all of the same type--caravels. Instead, his fleet included two small caravels--the Nina and the Pinta--and one larger, heavier ship called a nao--the Santa Maria. The precise dimensions of the ships are not known. Historians estimate their size and configurations based on very sparse evidence. The only two specific references to the size of the ships are: Escalante de Mendoza, Juan. "Itinerario de navegacion de los mares y tierras occidentales." Madrid, 1575. The author mentioned in passing that the largest of Columbus's ships was "very little larger than 100 toneladas." In Cesareo Fernandez Duro, "Disquisiciones nauticas," 6 vols. (Madrid, 1876-81), 5: 445. "Raccolta di documenti e studi pubblicati dalla Reale Commissione Colombiana." Rome 1892-96. III, ii, p. 103. Michele de Cuneo, an Italian who accompanied Columbus on the second voyage, wrote that the Nina was about 60 tonnelate, using the Italian word for ship tonnage. It is not clear if that would be the equivalent of the Spanish tonelada, but most scholars have assumed they were the same. Unfortunately, there is no agreement about the precise cubic measure of the tonelada in the late 15th century. I think it was equivalent to the tonelada still in use in the late 16th century, about 1.42 cubic meters. An important document was recently discovered by Eugene Lyon, who is preparing a full edition of it for publication. This "Libro de Armadas" provides precise information about the rigging of the Nina, which accompanied Columbus on both his first and second voyages across the Atlantic. "Libro de Armadas," from the Archivo General de Indias in Seville, Contraction, leg. 3249. Historians also rely on visual evidence from the 15th and early 16th centuries to get an idea of what Columbus's ships looked like. Map of Piri Reis, 1513. Piri Reis was a Turkish admiral who captured a collection of Spanish and Portuguese maps and sea charts in 1502. The beautiful map produced from them, with captions in Arabic, showed lands discovered in the Western Hemisphere, plus a variety of large and small ships. The small vessels with two triangular sails were caravels, assumed to be very like Columbus's Nina and Pinta. The large three-masted vessels are called carracks or naos and were probably similar to Columbus's Santa Maria. "Llibre appellat Consolat de mar." Barcelona: J. Rosembach, 1518. This shows a carrack of the type common in the late 15th century. Columbus found it very difficult to recruit crew members, in part because he was not well known among local mariners in southwestern Spain. Moreover, they had heard stories of the danger and impracticality of his planned voyage. Ferdinand and Isabella issued a letter insuring the crew injury and maltreatment. First New World insurance policy. Royal letter insuring the members of the crew of Columbus's proposed voyage to the ocean. AGS, R.G.S. April 1492, folio 16. With the assurance, and with the help of important local mariners from the families of Pinzon, Yanez, Nino, and others, Columbus was able to recruit his crews. A popular misconception holds that the crew members were all pardoned criminals. That is not true. The American scholar Alice Gould painstakingly researched the names and life histories of the original crew members from the 1920s to the 1940s. Her articles, recently reprinted, identify 87 of the 90 crewmen. Nearly all were experienced mariners from southwestern Spain, plus ship's officers. Three of the mariners were released from jail to accompany the voyage. One of them had murdered the town crier of Palos de la Frontera, and the other two had tried to help him escape from jail. They were evidently not considered a danger to society. Gould, Alicia B. "Nueva lista documentada de los tripulantes de Colon en 1492." Madrid: Real Academia de la Historia, 1984. Columbus's log of the first voyage no longer exists. The only version extant is a summary by the Dominican friar Bartolome de las Casas, who had access to the Columbus family's papers. Las Casas's version is highly flawed and cannot be trusted for precise information about navigation. Nonetheless, it has been used by numerous scholars to prove one point or another about the trajectory of the voyage. The best version of Las Casas's abstract is a new transcription and translation by Oliver Dunn and James Kelley, who provide a careful concordance of available texts in Spanish, with English translation on facing pages. Dunn, Oliver and James E. Kelley, Jr., eds. and trans. "The Diario of Christopher Columbus's First Voyage to America, 1492-1493. Abstracted by Fray Bartolome de las Casas." Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press, 1989. A controversy over the identity of the island where Columbus first landed flourished in the late 19th century but died down with the general acceptance of the island once called Watling's as the first landfall. The government of the Bahamas recently renamed that island San Salvador, the name that Columbus gave to the island where he first landed, which the local inhabitants called Guanahani. Nonetheless, the controversy over the landfall re-ignited in the 1980s and seems likely to continue, fueled by the interest of sailors and amateur historians. General scholarly opinion is that the diary entries are too ambiguous to allow any certainty in the matter. "Terrae Incognitae. The Journal for the History of Discoveries" devoted its annual issue in 1983 (vol. 15) to the landfall controversy. "National Geographic Magazine" (November 1986) devoted most of its issue to reviving an old claim that the landfall was Samana Cay, rather than Watling's/San Salvador. David Henige, "In Search of Columbus: The Sources for the First Voyage" (Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1991), carefully examines the sources and concludes that the diary cannot be used to determine the landfall. What Did Columbus Hope To Accomplish By His Voyage? Every piece of trustworthy evidence supports the idea that Columbus was searching for a new sea route to Asia, hoping to enrich himself, the merchants who helped finance the voyage, and Ferdinand and Isabella. However flawed Las Casas's abstract of the diary is, it demonstrated that Columbus spent months searching the Caribbean for the Grand Khan, a descendant of the Mongol ruler that Marco Polo had known in China in the 13th century. Columbus repeatedly expressed his hope that the trading fleets of the Khan would be found soon. Of course, he did not know that the Mongols no longer ruled China, or that he was nowhere near China and Japan. From his many writings, it is also clear that Columbus meant to further the goals of Christianity through his exploits. In one passage in the on-board diary, Columbus urged Ferdinand and Isabella to spend the profits from his voyage to recapture Jerusalem from the Muslims. In another passage he urged the monarchs to bar Jews and Muslims from access to the lands he found. Upon returning to Spain, Columbus evidently wrote of his voyage first to Luis de Santangel, a high official in the court of Ferdinand and Isabella. Nonetheless, many scholars think that the Santangel letter that was published was actually a revision of Columbus's letter by King Ferdinand's advisers. "Letter from Christopher Columbus to Their Majesties' accountant, Luis de Santangel, with an account of his first voyage to the Indies." (Dated in the caravel Nina in the canary Islands on February 15, 1493, with a postscript in Lisbon dated March 14. AGS, Estado, 1-2, 164 and 165. Santangel was a great friend of Columbus and had evidently persuaded King Ferdinand to support the 1492 voyage. He had also helped to organize funding for the voyage by temporarily shifting tax revenues to that purpose, with the permission of the king and queen. Santangel came from a family that had converted from Judaism to Christianity. Some writers have portrayed Santangel's Jewish background and his friendship with Columbus as evidence that Columbus was either descended from converted Jews or that his voyage in 1492 secretly aimed to find a new homeland for Jews expelled from Spain and elsewhere in Europe. Wiesenthal, Simon. "Operation Neue Welt." Vienna, 1972. Translated as "Sails of Hope: The Secret Mission of Christopher Columbus." New York: Christopher Columbus Publishing, 1979. There is no documentary proof whatsoever for these assertions, beyond the undoubted facts that Santangel's family were converted Jews, and that he was a friend of Columbus.