Christopher Columbus
was Christopher Colomb -
Spanish Jew.
-From magazines.
The era of the great geographical discoveries was one of the most romantic periods in the life of mankind. The rapid development of navigation not only opened the map of the world for Europe, but also raised a huge number of all kinds of dark personalities from the social lowlands to the heights of fame.
If we look closely at the participants of those expeditions, we will hardly find scientists there. With great difficulty we will find merchants (although about half of the expeditions were carried out precisely with the money of individuals, large and medium-sized businessmen). Nor were there priests hungry for glory on the basis of missionary work. Excuse me, but who was there then? And there were adventurers, crooks and crooks of all stripes and sorts, gentlemen of fortune, romantics of the high road and so on and so forth …
Moreover, they were not only ordinary sailors. The commanders and inspirers of most expeditions: Drake, Magellan, Cortez - they were all either condottieri or simply robbers.
The most important of the discoveries of that period was the discovery of America. The man who did this covered himself with unfading glory. His name was Christopher Columbus. And what is curious: almost all sources, describing his life path, begin their narrative precisely from the moment of his first expedition, modestly keeping silent about what came before. In addition, the events that took place around him after the start of his expeditions certainly defy logical explanation.
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This is somehow strange: one gets the impression that much of the life of the great navigator is deliberately overlooked. If you look into his life path in more detail, then the reasons for such "shyness" of the authors become quite clear. Columbus was such an extraordinary person that it would be somewhat "inconvenient" to describe all his deeds …
No one knows exactly where Columbus was from, however, the names of his parents are known, in any case, they are mentioned in metrics and in the writings of historians. For a long time it was believed that our hero was born in Genoa. Today, 2 Italian, 2 Portuguese and 4 Spanish cities dispute the right to be called the birthplace of Columbus.
It is known that from about 12 years old, Columbus definitely lived in Genoa, where he could observe the peculiarities of social life and business of that time. Christopher perfectly mastered the rules of this game, in which business was closely intertwined with power structures, and by the age of 25, having graduated from the University of Pavia, having gained some experience in sea trade and having acquired the necessary connections, he moved with his family to Portugal. The reason for the move was a conflict with the authorities of Genoa. Columbus, who by that time had his own enterprise, tried to deceive his partner, who later became a doge. Even today, businessmen who "throw" power, then regret it for a long time, and then it was generally like death.
In Portugal, Columbus develops an extensive activity: he participates in many trade expeditions, visits almost all European countries, travels a lot to Africa. It was here that the first thoughts of a different path to India came to his mind, different from those that the Portuguese sailors tried to find (bypassing Africa).
The problem was that one of the crown princes of Portugal, Enrique, nicknamed the "navigator" so long and persistently promoted this idea, that even with the current king of Portugal, João II, who was the grand-nephew of Enrique, there was no other way to go to India was not even considered. That's what authority means, especially a royal one!
However, even the devil could envy Columbus's tenacity. The cunning Genoese was able to convey his ideas to King João, but what Columbus wanted for himself personally, the king did not really like, and he did not give permission for this enterprise. Which, however, did not prevent him from giving Columbus the opportunity to earn on some government orders.
João could not even imagine what a cunning rogue he admits to the development of public funds. In three years, Columbus earns several times more than in his entire previous life. João II was a politician, first of all, engaged in strengthening royal power and not particularly interested in the finances of the state (fortunately, the then economy of Portugal was quite stable), so no one paid special attention to the dark affairs of Columbus.
But, no matter how much the rope does not twist, but twists into a loop. The last successful scam of our hero was a contract for the supply of the construction of the Elmina fortress in Ghana. In less than two years, the fortress was built, but Diogo de Azambuja, the head of construction and the first commandant of the fortress, arranged a sudden audit and found out that several hundred thousand reais had stuck to the unclean hands of our hero. And since the king himself paid special attention to the first fortress of "Black Africa", a serious scandal broke out.
However, it did not come to a loop, but Christopher had to urgently flee with his family in 1485 from Portugal, which had suddenly become very uncomfortable, to Spain. That, however, did not prevent him from saving almost all the funds "earned" in Portugal. By this time, he had already finally thought out the ideas of how it was possible to sail to India directly, and not through southern Africa.
Business in Spain did not follow the rules that Columbus was used to in Genoa and Portugal, in addition, the Granada War, which the King of Spain, Ferdinand II, personally waged, left a certain imprint on all processes in the kingdom.
It must be said that Ferdinand was a very sensible monarch and the affairs of the kingdom under him were kept in relative order, and all kinds of dubious measures were not particularly encouraged. Having spent about a year and a half all his money in unsuccessful enterprises, Columbus was left with practically nothing, and the only idea that remained with him was a voyage to India across the Atlantic Ocean.
Supported by the authority of his new Spanish friends, he presented to the King of Spain his business plan for a trade route to India, but again he did not find support. And again, as in the case of the Portuguese king, everything rests on the ambitions of the "Genoese upstart".
What did Columbus want? First, to be the viceroy of all the lands opened to him, which meant formally obey the Spanish Crown, but in fact - to nobody. Secondly, to get the title of "chief admiral", which, again, did not oblige to anything, but provided him with a very good allowance. Not surprisingly, the kings refused him.
However, from a financial point of view, the plan was really pretty good. And so much so that even João II, the king whom Columbus actually "threw", wrote him a letter that he could return to Portugal without fear of persecution from the authorities, if only he would carry out his plan.
But Columbus was no longer up to the Portuguese king. His plan became interested in Ferdinand's wife, Queen Isabella. A very zealous Catholic, she appreciated the missionary part of Columbus's plan, as well as the benefits of going to India bypassing the Ottoman Empire. In general, the royal couple finally gave Columbus the go-ahead for his expedition.
And again the "cunning" nature of our hero appeared. Recruiting sponsors for the expedition, he pretended to be a "poor relative" who has absolutely no money. It got to the point that, drawing up the budget of the expedition, he borrowed half of its cost from Martin Pinson, which he contributed to its statutory fund on his own behalf, promising to pay off at the end. Pinson, on the other hand, joined the expedition as an ordinary shareholder with a share much less than that of Columbus.
During the maiden voyage, Columbus teased Pinson in every possible way, eventually forcing him to lose his temper and go home on his own. This subsequently played a fatal role in his fate. Having been ahead of Pinson's ship by only a few hours, Columbus presented the case to the king in such a way that Pinson was generally forbidden to appear at court, as a person who had lost his royal trust. From the resulting stress, Pinson fell ill and died a few months later, giving Columbus every right not to return the money he borrowed.
Having discovered new lands, Collumbus quickly realized that this was not India at all, however, to admit this openly was tantamount to death. And Columbus decided to delay to the last, along the way using his status as Viceroy to the fullest.
For the rapid development of open lands, the newly-made Viceroy did not disdain any means. He knocked out of the king the right to recruit settlers from prisoners, since they did not need to pay salaries - they worked for their freedom. In addition, for new expeditions, he received huge loans from the wealthy of that time, promising to pay them off with spices and jewels that had not yet been found. And "locally" our financial genius has created such a wonderful state that future dictatorships will seem just innocent camps. The local Indians were first "tied" to land plots, like serfs, and then they were actually turned into slaves.
The most interesting thing was that Columbus did not let go of almost all the income, paying only with the king, and then only covering the amounts given to him a little. There could be no question of any profit “ten doubloons for one invested”.
For almost six years he misled the public, until Vasco da Gama, having not rounded Africa from the south, found a real sea route to India. The indignation of the deceived aristocrats was so great that a special fleet was sent for Columbus, whose team arrested the adventurer and brought him in shackles to Spain.
However, the financial circles of Spain, which had already begun to develop new lands, and seeing in them considerable potential, petitioned the king about Columbus's innocence, and he was quickly released.
Columbus's last journey was a kind of "redemption". In it, he really behaved like a real researcher, not caring about his pocket. For two and a half years, he surveys the coast of Mexico and creates a map of it. And two years later, he dies in Seville.
A few years after the death of Columbus, both of his sons make a kind of come-out. However, we are not talking about what our contemporaries understand by this. The heirs simply show what the unforgettable father left them.
The combined fortune of Diego and Fernanda Columbus was such that it exceeded the annual income of all of Spain by a factor of five. Absolutely all the money that Columbus somehow "knocked out" from sponsors, the Crown and just successful "geshefts" on the new continent, he sent to his good friend, Luis de Cerda, a Spanish aristocrat, who, in fact, helped Columbus to present his project to the royal couple of Spain. De Cerda died several years before Columbus's death, however, his heirs continued to help Columbus. And then they transferred all the finances to both of his sons.
Christopher Columbus was one of the most controversial personalities in human history. He was an ingenious discoverer, ahead of his time. However, one should not forget about the dark side of his nature. Excessive love of easy enrichment brought few people happiness. Perhaps that is why the open lands were named not in his honor, but in honor of a person who thoroughly researched them and proved that this is not just "not India", but in general - the New World. This man was Amerigo Vespucci, but that's a completely different story …