Tuesday, October 14, 1997
Lancaster County Courthouse, PA

    From the first statement rolling from Columbus’ attorney’s lips, the plaintiff’s courtroom strategy was certainly evident. “Ralph Waldo Emerson, a very learned and influential man in our illustrious New World history wrote: ‘Strange ... that broad America must wear the name of a thief. Amerigo Vespucci, the pickledealer at Seville, who went out, in 1499, a subaltern with Hojeda, and whose highest naval rank was boat-swain's mate in an expedition that never sailed, managed in this lying world to supplant Columbus and baptize half the earth with his own dishonest name (Pohl vii).’" Dramatically pointing at Mr. Vespucci during these apparently heart felt words, the silver tongued lawyer rambled on enumerating the points of contention between his client and Mr. Vespucci. All the while he carefully painted the prosecution’s case of a hard-working middle class man who brought himself up through the rank and file of 15th century medieval Europe to the highest reaches of human fame, only to have Mr. Vespucci, an insidious agent of the flourishing bourgeoisie, crash his world and wreck his good name all for his own greedy purposes. After a lengthy opening argument, the prosecution rested and opened the door for Mr. Vespucci’s lawyer to take the floor.

    Tension in the small courtroom mounted as Mr. Vespucci’s attorney walked quietly to the front of the jury box. Most eyes, however, were hanging on Amerigo’s every move. Columbus’ strategy, thanks in part to his outlandish Hollywood lawyer and the sometimes incessant ramblings of The Friends of Columbus, had appeared in print and on television for several months leading up to the trial. The defendant’s motus operandi, however, was not so clear. After clearing his throat, Amerigo’s solicitor introduced Mr. Vespucci to the packed courtroom.

    “My duty here is not to denounce, defame, or defraud anyone. Unlike the prosecution whose client has long been renowned for his ‘God, gold, and glory’ mentality, my client, Mr. Amerigo Vespucci, is not a greedy man. . . at least not in the same sense as Mr. Columbus.” Many gasps and murmured shocks could be heard bursting from every corner of the packed courtroom. Once the noise faltered to a low whisper, he continued by recounting, rather poignantly, Mr. Vespucci’s intimate details and accomplishments.

    Starting with his birth in March of 1454 in the city of Florence (Lester 50), now a city in the country of Italy, the young defense attorney presented an idyllic picture of Amerigo’s youth growing up in a land brimming with Renaissance ideas and golden opportunities. The third son of the Florentine aristocrat Ser Nastagio Vespucci, Amerigo was named after his grandfather. A boy of barely medium height, his physical prowess was secondary to his intellectual appetite (Pohl 14). In the electric intellectual world of Renaissance Florence, men like Paolo dal Pozzo Toscanelli, the most advanced geographer and “unquestionably the greatest cosmographer of his day” (Pohl 23), and even Amerigo’s uncle, Giorgio Antonio, a highly respected and educated priest, influenced and shaped the mind and curiosities of the young Amerigo Vespucci. In fact, it is Amerigo’s uncle, Giorgio, who probably had the most profound impact on the youthful scholar. Continuing with Giorgio’s role in Amerigo’s life, the lawyer expounded upon the special relationship that Amerigo shared with his uncle. Instilling not just knowledge but enlightened attitude in the young Amerigo, Giorgio introduced his young protege to the broadening of ideas found so essential by the best Renaissance minds. For Giorgio, and later for his nephew, “medieval scholasticism, or learning limited by the narrowest orthodoxy, was unsatisfactory food for an active intellect” (Pohl 15). With this fundamental attitude, Amerigo grew to love the works of Virgil, Dante, and Petrarch and became highly skilled in mathematics and Latin as well (Pohl 15). An important point that should not be missed, for Mr. Vespucci’s attorney returned to it over and over again in his opening statement, was Mr. Vespucci’s development of a valid astronomical method for determining longitude that remained the standard of maritime navigation for over 300 years (Pohl 68). “On August 23, 1499, in one lonely moment, my esteemed client gave so unselfishly, to the entire known world, more in his longitudinal formula than Mr. Columbus did in his entire life. A system so accurate that a mariner could now calculate his position within two degrees of accuracy, he revolutionized the world of seaborne navigation (Pohl 66).” His remarks severely contrasted Columbus’ overt self-aggrandizement with the noble, almost holy intellectual pursuits of Amerigo. At one point in his soliloquy, the attorney paused in front of Mr. Vespucci, picked up a small tattered handbook, and read the following passage quoted from M.F. de Navarrete: “Amerigo Vespucci did not bring home many pearls, for imitating badly the acts of the Admiral [Columbus], the desire to push on for discovery was greater than for the acquisition of riches (Pohl 61).” He ended his opening remarks by returning to his beginning. “Ladies and gentlemen of the court and, indeed, of the world, my client was greedy. But his avarice was of a more noble and humanitarian nature. He wanted to improve upon humankind’s intellect and expand our understanding of our world. In my most humble opinion, I am proud to wear the name of this incredible man.” Some of the court reporters exited the court chamber after this passage was spoken.

    After the conclusion of the opening statements, the judge ordered the court in recess for the remainder of the day. Testimony would resume on the 15th with the prosecution’s first witness. Already speculation abounds about the witnesses and revelations that may be forthcoming in the week’s events. Based on the opening remarks, however, this reporter believes that the prosecution will certainly have to earn its keep.