Why was Columbus dismissed?
Christopher Columbus, a Genovese living in Portugal was dismissed by our King Dom João II and thus offered his services to D. Fernando and D. Isabel, the Catholics, of Castilla.
Some people think this was lack of vision, some people say the Portuguese had lost their chance of discovering a new continent.
Well, first of all, Columbus wasn’t trying to discover a new continent, he was trying to get to India. Getting to India by sea meant having the ability to trade directly with the East without having to do business with the Arabs or having to take the risks of a desert caravan.
Well, Portugal already knew there would be a sea route to India around Africa (and they did manage to start using it soon after). Furthermore, Portugal knew India was farther away, if going thru West, than Columbus thought. The truth being we knew there was a continent ahead (does Brazil ring a bell? The official discovery date was later than that, but that was due mostly to keep secrecy). Even more, we knew that continent would probably be very big, because we knew there was land where Canada is and we also had information of land where the Caribbean Islands are.
In fact, based on a map given to Infante Dom Henrique (Prince Henry, the Navigator) by his uncle (King Eric of Denmark), a map of “Northern Europe” including the coast of Greenland and a few more territories (a so called land of codfish, beyond Greenland was known by Norse seamen as well as by Portuguese sailors), Dom João II got the idea of a Luso-Norwegian expedition through the Northwest, to check whether there was a passage there.
Also at that time a Dutch sailor named Fernão Dulmo got permission from our king to seek for the Island of Antilia (the Antilles), already referenced in some maps.
So, why was Columbus dismissed? First of all because our navigators already knew more than he did, second and by far of no less importance because he couldn’t be trusted. The Portuguese king knew he would sell out any secrets to whatever bid he’d got.
Some people think this was lack of vision, some people say the Portuguese had lost their chance of discovering a new continent.
Well, first of all, Columbus wasn’t trying to discover a new continent, he was trying to get to India. Getting to India by sea meant having the ability to trade directly with the East without having to do business with the Arabs or having to take the risks of a desert caravan.
Well, Portugal already knew there would be a sea route to India around Africa (and they did manage to start using it soon after). Furthermore, Portugal knew India was farther away, if going thru West, than Columbus thought. The truth being we knew there was a continent ahead (does Brazil ring a bell? The official discovery date was later than that, but that was due mostly to keep secrecy). Even more, we knew that continent would probably be very big, because we knew there was land where Canada is and we also had information of land where the Caribbean Islands are.
In fact, based on a map given to Infante Dom Henrique (Prince Henry, the Navigator) by his uncle (King Eric of Denmark), a map of “Northern Europe” including the coast of Greenland and a few more territories (a so called land of codfish, beyond Greenland was known by Norse seamen as well as by Portuguese sailors), Dom João II got the idea of a Luso-Norwegian expedition through the Northwest, to check whether there was a passage there.
Also at that time a Dutch sailor named Fernão Dulmo got permission from our king to seek for the Island of Antilia (the Antilles), already referenced in some maps.
So, why was Columbus dismissed? First of all because our navigators already knew more than he did, second and by far of no less importance because he couldn’t be trusted. The Portuguese king knew he would sell out any secrets to whatever bid he’d got.
posted by DCveR at 9:21 AM
21 Comments:
It's amazing - I was thinking about asking you questions about Columbus recently!
Interesting story. At first, I thought that this text is a kind of 'your success means nothing because we know more and only by an accident he is known as the one who discovered new world'. I know that Columbus wasn't the first. Greenland has been known for centuries (Vikings) and I'm sure that other places you mentioned too but I haven't heard that any european nation had knowledge that there's any continent on the east ("The truth being we knew there was a continent ahead "). None of scientific programs I've seen, nor magazines I've read mentioned about such knowledge (except Greenland of course). I have to learn more about the case as it's extremely interesting.
Do you have any reference materials?
shyha: There was no certainty of the existence of a continent, but the fact there were islands near the equator with a mass of land farther away, a huge mass of land north and a huge mass of land south had brought the idea of a continent to some people. Add to that the distance, that had to be more than twice that calculated by Columbus and you get either a big empty Ocean or a continent or both, as it happened. I draw your attention for the fact that Dulmo asked permission to "discover" officially a certain island.
shyha: As for reference materials on this particular subject I'll try and get you some references, I'll have to check among stuff from a series of conferences some years ago and that is all messed up right now.
Ok.
Do you know if Luso-Norwegian expedition ever took place?
And - what happened in Portugal when Columbus found East India?
Interestingly, I read a biography of Columbus and was quite disappointed to discover that he was no more than a legal bandit. Selling out the highest bidder was what most ship captains did in that day, since shipping was like any other business: it required making a profit. But many captains, like Columbus, became obsessed with money and created what would be similar to the USA's Teamsters Union - a group of mobsters that controlled all trade, crushing the little guys driving up the prices of all goods.
There are stories that the New World was visited by the Vikings long before Colombus.
It is really strange that Colombus, a Genoan, dismissed by the Portuguese, convinced the Spanish to sponsor him!
The mention of Colombus and the discovery of the Americas always reminds me sadly of the massacres perpetrated by the Conquistadors and other Westerners.
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Leiv Erikson grew up at the viking settlement of brattalid in Eiriksfjord on greenland. He was the son of Eirik Raude, who was son of Thorvald Asvaldson. Eirik Raude came from Jæren in rogaland in Norway, but had too flee the country because of manslaughter.
From brattalid, Leiv traveled south to the northern peak of newfoundland, which he named vinland(wineland). He built houses (leivsbuene), and spend the winter here. He traveled back to spend the winter several times.
Bjarni herólfsson, is supposed to have discovered and named Markland, helluland and vinland as early as 986.
It is believed that attacks by indians in the area made permanent settlements impossible, but there are tracks of norse settlements in the area; this(http://whc.unesco.org/pg.cfm?cid=31&id_site=4) is from unescos list on our world hertiage...
For more details on their travels check out; http://www.spirasolaris.ca/sbb4g1ev.html
As always, it nice to learn of different perspectives. We celebrate "columbus day" here in the states which always struck me as odd. Happy new year sweetie!
D,
Thanks for the new years message it is much appreciated.
When I remember how to add links to my blog I'll return the favour. Things have been a bit grim for me these past two months but I'm gonna make a real effort to cheer my self up by returning to regular blogging.
Now, that Christopher Colombus bloke, just a gangster like all most of the sea captains of the time. Here in Britain we had Sir Francis Drake and Walter Raleigh and the like who sailed the high seas robbing for Queen Elizabeth. The forerunners of the Royal Navy who muscled their way around the world's shipping lanes for centuries pillaging and stealing (if they are not the same thing!) Bunnyjo is right to be disappointed these people really were disreputable. I did read somewhere that CC and his crew had to do penance when they returned to Spain because having no meridian (no chronometer means no longitude) meant that they returned with their calendar a day or so out of synch with the rest of Europe. So it was determined that they had held their feast days at the wrong time and were punished for it. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. Well, not ha ha for the crew, just the officers.
In this neck of the woods, Columbus is not exactly revered...in fact the explorers are looked upon with a jaded eye in these parts. Yes, they achieved a lot for Europe..but as Bunnyjo, Cream and Dan say...
shyha: The effect in Portugal was quite simple, official discoveries were sped up in order to make sure Portugal would have the credit (Brasil being the most important one. Yet, not all knowledge was disclosed and thus when Portugal and Spain signed the famous treaty at Tordesilhas dividing the unknown territories in two Portugal managed to insure we'd get the part we wanted.
bunny jo: Washington and Jefferson had slaves too. Morals in those days were slightly different...
cream: And yet of all former colonial empires, I like to think we were the less nasty one.
isa, isae: The first books that I recall reading that mention those facts you quoted were the "Top of the World Trilogy" by Farley Mowat.
bees knees: There are always two sides to every story, that bit is a well known fact, but when we stop to think about it the worst crooks usually win the battles thus writing official history in their own terms.
dan: What doesn't kill us makes us stronger. Ok, I know this sounds a bit like grandpa's talk... but I really do hope things get better for you. The difference between pirates and heroes was as fickle as the wind and in most cases was just a question of point of view.
tall glass: Talking about spices, the Arabs tried to keep their sources secret and even spread misinformation regarding the origin of some spices in order to keep their monopoly.
GG: Not just the conquerors, the missionaries were just as bad...
shyha: The expedition was taken by the successor of Erik, Christian I. I have no knowledge of Portuguese sailors in the expedition. Maybe isa, isae's links have more info on that, I'll have to check those later.
well, as dan flynn mentioned, these norse discoverers where nothing but murderers and villians in the eyes of the viking kings, but that does not take away their discoveries. Every historical person, only a few honor the exception, has been lapdogs for greedy european regimes. The only historical heritage witch is truely european is; never trust a guy with money! It's stated in all our folklore and all our fairytales; fuck the guys with cash; do your own thing!!
Somebody sounds jealous...
isa, isae: Good single malts, airplane tickets, nice food, comfy clothes, internet service... just a few of the things you can get with money. It is not the most important thing, as long as you have enough to live a nice life.
viking: ????
Ah, that's the name of the movie I was trying to remember, The Mission. Did you see it, Dcver? Oh, it was tragic.
GG: Saw it years ago. A great movie. I've got to watch it again sometime.
'im so angry' is right about the amazing things these burglars and robbers did, it was no mean achievement sailing across the Atlantic in a boat not much bigger than the average London double decker bus. I once saw a replica of Drake's Golden Hind that had sailed into Liverpool and it was tiny, not much larger than the average garden shed and I was amazed. Those captains were still shits tho.
Colombus could not have done it without a crew of poor nobodies or the sailmakers, shipwrights etc all of whose names are lost in time. I prefer my history to be more than kings and queens and ships captains. Real history, total history is made by the unknowns who make the rest possible.
During Colombus's time my forebears were scraping a very poor living from some freezing Irish bog, and during Liev Erikson's time probably doing the same thing. In fact I'm sure that when our species first came down from the trees onto the plains my family warned against such recklessness staying behind until that last bushfire burned our bums and drove us out. Thinking about it, in our family there was talk that after the dinosaurs got theirs we argued against those who said we should now live above ground, we saw no reason to leave our snug little hole (hey, it had done us well for 30 million years!)The Cambrian explosion? Phhsht, just nature showing off, the early Flynn's were agin it. And we were right, just look at what's happened since then. And when our sun eventually transforms into a red giant, yup there'll still be a Flynn saying 'Don't go, it's just a phase, it'll pass. Stay here where it's warm."
Jealous of those darn Spaniards for taking all the glory...
ian: Can it be possible the Flynns have come to Portugal at some time in history? Camões in his epic, The Lusiadas, portraits a character that stays behind on the beach while the ships sail off to discover "new worlds". An old man who keeps pointing out what can go wrong and who voices the ideas of all those who oppose change. That old man is far from being a main character in the whole epic and yet he is one of the most famous and is known by most people in Portugal.
viking: Nope. After all Colombus was neither from Portugal nor from Spain.
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