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COLUMBUS;
CONQUEROR of the UNKNOWN !!
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Conqueror he certainly was !
For Christopher Columbus
conquered years of
frustration as he sought patronage
for his voyage, and then
the inescapable fear of
sailing into uncharted seas
.
It was 1492, as every schoolboy used to know, that Columbus sailed the ocean blue. And that, at least, is historical fact.
But tracking down the life of this remarkable explorer has led researchers into a maze of contradictions.
There are those who tell us he was of Italian descent, (born in Genoa in 1451).
Another records that he first saw light of day on Corsica, whilst another theory speaks of his Viking ancestors! Then there are those scholars who assure us that his parents were Jewish and that Christopher was a convert to the Christian faith. ( Laufer .p.2)
The close of his life is also shrouded in a variety of theorizing.
As one historian writes, It is possible that parts of his remains are in several locations!
You may visit the tomb of Columbus in Seville, Spain, or another tomb of Columbus in the Cathedral at Santo Domingo in Hispaniola, an island of the West Indies (just north of South America). Or, again, one historian argues that the body of Columbus is really in Havana, Cuba, whilst another claims we will find his remains in the Spanish town of Valladolid! (Pickering )
Some volumes tell of how he died in poverty (Rogers p.13) whilst another assures us that the story of the utter destitution in which he died is one of the many legends with which his biography has been distorted. (Bandelier p.11)
.
But of this we can be sure he discovered or rediscovered America.
Other adventurers are regarded as having been first to set foot on this great continent.
Norwegians point to their Leif Ericson of 11th century fame, and some Irish historians speak of the monastic missionary, St. Brendan, as having preceded Columbus by a thousand years!!
Columbus, himself, never even saw North America, let alone set foot upon it. During his four voyages he landed at those islands betwixt North and South America. Twice he would visit South America but never mainland U.S.A. (Laufer)
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HIS MOTIVATION
Todays educational textbooks emphasize his quest for gold.
Marco Polo had traveled east from Venice to China and there beheld the fabulous riches of the Orient. The court of Kublai Khan dazzled his eyes with a splendor the like of which he had never seen. Was this the motivation for Columbus daring voyage?
Some earlier volumes told of his obsession to prove the world was round. But this was already known by a number of scholars in 1492.
Recent works, however, have revealed from his own writings, that the primary motivation in his quest for gold was spiritual. ( Miller. P. 15)
Columbus, as all his biographers agree, was devoutly religious.
Only translated into English in 1991 was Columbus own writing, The Book of Prophecies .
We now know how he studied the Sacred Scriptures and mingled astrology, geography and prophecy with his theology. As he saw it, the End of the Age was drawing nigh 155 years to go, according to his computation! and that meant (to Columbus, and many of his contemporaries) the Holy Land must be delivered from the hands of the Seljuk Turks. He sincerely believed that King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain were Gods chosen instruments to recapture Jerusalem and bring about the Golden Age.
But such a military expedition, akin to the Crusades of a previous century, would cost money. Vast amounts of money!
He read again Marco Polos account of the exotic East. And the die was cast.
He would sail west to these fabulous lands, a much shorter distance, he thought, rather than sailing east as the Portuguese ships were doing. From thence he would bring back treasure to lay at the feet of his monarchs. This, in turn, would result not only in the deliverance of the Holy Land from the Moslems, but also a great in-gathering of souls into the Christian faith.
He even called for priests to accompany
him that in the Name of the Lord Jesus they might spread His Name and the
Gospel everywhere. (quoted by
Flood. p. 17)
Why did Columbus sail? asks Samuel
E. Morison in his Pulitzer Prize winning book Admiral of the Ocean Sea,
This conviction that God destined him to be an instrument for spreading the
(Christian) Faith was far more potent than the desire to win glory, wealth, and
worldly honors, to which he was certainly far from indifferent. (Quoted by Miller p. 16 )
(It is typical of much of todays journalism that an article in the Readers Digest publication, Great Lives, Great Deeds, condensed from Morisons book, omits any reference to Columbus primary incentive. One would think, reading this biased expurgation, that gold and glory were his main objectives.)
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HIS SUCCESS !!
On August the 3rd,1492 three small ships left Spain for the great unknown.
The Santa Maria was about the length of a tennis court so small and frail compared to the mighty ocean liners of today. On its deck stood this Admiral of the Ocean as Queen Isabella called him, a tall, red-headed adventurer who had spent seven years pleading with kings and nobles to sponsor his dream.
The two smaller ships, named the Pinta and the Nina, were captained by the Pinzon brothers.
Again legend clouds the facts.
(a) Was it true that the ninety-strong
crew consisted mainly of convicted
criminals, offered freedom if they would partake of this foolhardy venture? (Cassell p.767) Or
are these skilled seamen who have willingly offered themselves for this
dangerous undertaking? (Only four criminals were on board. Laufer.)
(b) And did the crew begin to threaten mutiny and demand that Columbus turn back to Spain when rations were running low and land was nowhere to be seen?
(Cassell p.768) That they were frightened, yes! but mutinous? Such seems to be the stuff that adds color to sensational magazine articles. No such acts of insubordination are mentioned either by Columbus, his commentator, Las Casas, or his son, Fernando. (Bandelier p.3)
The Admiral , we read , even kept two log books, one recording the actual state of affairs and the other falsifying the information to show the crew how everything was still going according to schedule !! ( Bandelier p.3) (Hart p. 77)
His perseverance is noteworthy. After all, he had expected to reach land within thirty days. Now twice that time had expired and nothing but a vast ocean surrounded the tiny crafts.
A poet has expressed it well
They sailed and sailed, as winds might blow,
Until at last the blanched mate said:
Why, now not even God would know
Should I and all my men fall dead!
These very winds forget their way,
For God from these dread seas is gone.
Now speak, brave Admrl; speak and say -
He said Sail on! Sail on! Sail on!
On October 12th land was sighted.
Thinking he had found the fabled Orient described by Marco Polo for no educated European of the mid-Fifteenth century was aware of Americas existence and not knowing India was thousands of miles further on across the yet undiscovered Pacific Ocean, he called the natives Indians.
HIS FAILURES!!
(a) Before returning to Spain the Santa Maria ran aground and was wrecked after a drunken Christmas Eve on Hispanola. (Bryant p.77) Many a wreck be it of ship or man is the result of demon drink. Like-wise the thirty-nine crew members who remained upon the island began to treat the natives cruelly. Lust for gold eventually led into savage conflict. By the time Columbus returned on his second voyage, all those thirty-nine men had been massacred.
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(b) And it must be confessed that he failed to accomplish that which he set out to achieve. The Travels of Marco Polo which accompanied him on his voyage led him to believe that he would reach Japan and India.
He assessed, on the basis of his Bible reading (!!) that Japan was only 3,000 miles west of Spain. Now we know it is a distance of 12,000 miles . with America in-between! A lack of accurate information (which in the case of Columbus was not his fault!) and misinterpretation of Scripture can cause failure to accomplish ones goal.
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(c) Nor did he have the gift of administration!
On a subsequent voyage to Hispanola, where a Spanish colony had been established, Columbus became Governor for five disastrous years. He ruled the farmers and settlers with such a heavy hand they rebelled. The fact that he was Italian and his subjects were Spanish may have added to the problem. Before long he was incredibly unpopular. Reports reached the Spanish monarchs who dispatched Francisco de Bobadilla with full authority to investigate and take control of the situation.
As a result Columbus was shipped back to Spain in chains!!
Columbus was eventually re-instated, his property restored and arch-enemy, Bobadilla, was recalled. It is a complicated story beyond the scope of this article.
Nevertheless history seems to indicate
that Columbus should have delegated administrative duties to someone capable of
carrying out such matters satisfactorily.
(d) Ill-health began to plague the
gallant Admiral. Gout, malaria and arthritis afflicted him and his eyesight
began to fail. Even his mental
condition deteriorated. A pitiful
letter written from Jamaica in June 1503 ( when he was 52 years of age ) gives a fantastic account of his sufferings
which in itself gave evidence of an over-excited and disordered mind. (Bandelier.p.12)
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(e) One might add that despite his
accomplishments and his loyalty to the Roman Catholic Church, he failed to make
it into the list of saints. Irish and French Catholics argued that it should be
so
after all he brought the Christian faith to half the world. But there was no proof he had ever worked
a miracle and besides, three years after the death of his wife, he had fathered an illegitimate child in
Cordoba
. (Giles p.2)
(Bryant p.77)
Such is hardly the stuff of which saints are made!
CONCLUSION
There are many qualities to be admired in the life of Christopher Columbus. His vision, his perseverance, and his faith are worthy of emulation.
But there are dangers to avoid, illustrated for us in the life of this same self-same man the ignorance of facts (which, in this case was not his fault!) and a failure to delegate in areas where one is incompetent.
Herein are lessons to heed for explorers of the mighty oceans or for executives launching out upon the sometime stormy seas of commerce!
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Ross. S. Columbus & the Age of Exploration. Wayland Pub. 1985. 58pp.
Hart M. 100 Most Influential People in History.
Vantage House 1978. 572pp.
Cassells Romance of Famous Lives ( 3 Vols ) Cassell & Co.
Flood R. Men who Shaped America. Moody
Press 1976 pp.
Morison S.E. Great Lives, Great Deeds. Readers Digest Ass. 1966
477pp.
Giles T. Christian History Magazine Issue 35
1992 50pp.
Miller K. Christian History magazine. Issue 35. 1992. 50pp.
Rogers D. Famous Explorers Wayland Publishers 1993
48pp.
Pickering K.
Internet article .
Bandelier A.F.
Internet article taken from Catholic Encylopaedia, Vol IV.
Laufer J.M.
Internet article Columbus
Mythbusters.
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