IGNORANCE OF THE WEST. made a few voyages to what we now know to have been the coast of America; but it is an abuse of language to say that they discovered ' America. In no sense was any real contact established between the eastern and western halves of our planet until the great voyage of Columbus in 1492."'* It is undoubtedly true, as Mr. Irving says, “that at the beginning of the fifteenth century, when the most intelligent minds were seeking in every direction for the scattered lights of geographical knowledge, a profound ignorance prevailed among the learned as to the western regions of the Atlantic; its vast waters were regarded with awe and wonder, something to bound the world as with a chaos, into which conjecture could not penetrate and enterprise feared to ad venture." It was considered foolhardy at that time to venture forth upon the ocean for a long voyage and few dreamed of the existence of the vast regions which lay beyond the Atlantic.‡ Undoubtedly much earnest thought had been given to the * Fiske, The Discovery of America, vol. i., p. 255 (copyright by Houghton, Mifflin & Co.). Irving, History of the Life and Voyages of Columbus, vol. i., p. 20. Irving in proof of the statement made above cites a passage from Xerif al Edrisi, a well-known Arabian writer, which is a curious illustration of the views and conceptions held by well-informed men of that day. ‡ John Fiske (Discovery of America, vol. i., pp. 255-260) gives what seems to be the true reason for this and on page 261 further says: "Until after 1492. Europe stood with her back toward the Atlantic. What there might be out VOL. I.-8 109 subject, but as the calculations of the geographers and astronomers were not based upon accurate knowledge, it was considered presumptuous to suppose that mortal man would ever learn anything concerning that which existed beyond the "Sea of Dark ness." The great task of discovery, therefore, did not find a man sufficiently resolute, determined and unflinching to undertake such a voyage until Christopher Columbus made his attempts to open the pathway to the New World. Christopher Columbus was born at Genoa about 1446.* Genoa about 1446.* Though his parents were poor, Christopher succeeded in obtaining a good education at the University of Pavia, where he learned Latin, geometry, cosmography, astronomy and drawing. He was strongly attached to the sea and when fourteen years of age made his first beyond that 'Sea of Darkness' (Mare Tenebrosum) as it used commonly to be called, was a question of little interest and seemed to have excited no speculation. In the view of medieval Europe the inhabited world was cut off on the west by this mysterious ocean and on the south by the burning sands of Sahara; but eastward it stretched out no one knew how far, and in that direction dwelt tribes and nations which Europe from time immemorial had reason to fear." * There is much dispute about the date and the place of birth of Columbus, the matter being thoroughly sifted by Fiske, vol. i., p. 342 et seq. The date as given is accepted by Muñoz, Harrisse, Avezac, and Major, but Fiske seems to think that "Washington Irving showed good sense in accepting the statement of the curate of Los Palacios as decisive, dating as it does the birth of Columbus at 1436, a little more or less.'" Columbus himself states that he was born at Genoa, and this should suffice as authority. * voyage under a hardy old sea-captain shortening the route, for if this could be done it would save an enormous amount of money and bring untold wealth into the hands of the nation which first succeeded in opening such a pathway. Long reflection and study convinced Columbus that it was possible to reach the Indies by sailing directly across the western ocean, and the idea became firmly fixed in his mind that, as the earth was spherical, if he could sail directly west he must in the course of time reach the lands of the east, incidentally discovering any lands or islands which might lie between Europe and Asia.* The current calculations regarding the size of the earth were far from correct, for it was supposed that Asia lay only 3,000 miles to the west, whereas it is 12,000, and that between Europe and Asia lay a vast expanse of water merely dotted here and there with a few islands. of the same name as his father. About 1470 he removed to Lisbon, which city, owing to the ability and sagacity of Prince Henry of Portugal, was at that time the chief commercial port of Europe.* Shortly afterward he was married to the daughter of a distinguished navigator, Bartholomew Perestrello (or Bartolommeo de Palestrello) who had founded a colony in Porto Santo, an island that had only recently been discovered.† Perestrello left many charts and nautical instruments and of these Columbus soon began to make use. He also corresponded extensively with Paolo dell Pozzo dei Toscanelli, the famous Florentine astronomer and cosmographer and from him learned much regarding the size and shape of the earth. The Cosmographia written in 1410 by Cardinal Pierre D'Ailly, Bishop of Cambria, likewise had great weight with Columbus. Up to this time the commodities from the East had been transported overland, but as the journey was long, tedious and expensive, much thought had been given to the best way of On the various attempts of the Portuguese to find the Indies, see Fiske, Discovery of America, vol. i., pp. 295-334. See also C. R. Beazley, Prince Henry, the Navigator. Sir Arthur Helps, in his Spanish Conquest in America (revised ed. 1900) vol. i., p. 56, says that Columbus married Donna Felipa Muñiz Perestrelo, but in a footnote on the same page it is stated that he married" Felipa Moniz, niece of Isabel Moniz, wife of Bartholomew Perestrello, governor of Porto Santo, who died in 1547." Fiske, vol. i., pp. 355–381 and Appendix A, vol. ii., pp. 571-579. Columbus now reached the conclusion that his calculations were correct and thereupon set himself vigorously to the task of obtaining the means for finding the land of Cathay on the easternmost regions of Asia as described by Marco Polo. "It is singular" as Mr. Irving remarks in this connection, "how much the success of this great undertaking depended upon two happy errors, the imaginary extent of Asia to the east, and the supposed smallness of the *See Fiske, Discovery of America, vol. i., pp. 279-294, and the references there cited to Marco Polo, Cathay, etc. COLUMBUS AT THE COURT OF SPAIN. earth; both, errors of the most learned and profound philosophers, but without which Columbus would hardly have ventured upon his enterprise." The first monarch to whom Columbus broached the subject was John II. of Portugal, but that king and his advisers, after practicing a dastardly piece of deception upon Columbus, rejected his proposition.† Columbus * Irving, History of the Life and Voyages of Columbus, vol. i., p. 53. Fiske, vol. i., p. 381, says: "It was a case where the littleness of the knowledge was not a dangerous but a helpful thing. If, instead of the somewhat faulty astronomy of Ptolemy and the very hazy notions prevalent about the Indies,' the correct astronomy of Toscanelli had prevailed and had been joined to an accurate knowledge of eastern Asia, Columbus surely would never have conceived his great scheme, and the discovery of America would probably have waited to be made by accident." 111 therefore in 1484* bade adieu to Portugal and then repaired to the court of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain. He also sent letters on the same subject to Henry VII. of England but fared no better with that monarch than he had with the Portuguese king. A man less resolute and determined than Columbus undoubtedly would have been worn out by the weary years of waiting upon the court of the impassive, calculating Ferdinand, and by the neglect, the repulses, the coldness, the sneers of contempt, the absurd prejudice and conceited ignorance which he encountered; but he never for a moment gave up his great plan and purpose, and his constancy and courage finally obtained their just reward. "Let those, then, who are "Unforunately for the Portuguese nation, disposed to faint under difficulties, in but happily for the world, the explorations of its mariners along the coast of Africa were well advanced; and all those who were interested in promoting these enterprises wished, pursuing their own efforts, to prevent the Crown from adopting any measure which might lessen their subsidies or detract from their success. In brief, although turning to the West should prove the shorter course to the Indies, Portuguese seamen did not favor the idea, believing that, were further discoveries in that direction made, sources of competition would be opened which might divest them of their existing rights and future profits, acquired or to be acquired by the eastern routes; for it must never be forgotten that Columbus regarded the. Indies as his ultimate destination. This element of opposition, due to fear of rivalry, combined with the antagonism of those who held that the government had already wasted too much money in fruitless expeditions, almost sufficed to secure the immediate rejection of his plans. Still, as a tentative compromise, and perhaps with a view of depriving a foreigner of any credit which might redound to the national glory, the king, while professedly holding the matter under advisement, resorted to a the prosecution of any great and worthy undertaking, remember that eighteen years elapsed after the time dastardly trick. A Portuguese fleet was secretly dispatched in 1484 to accomplish, if possible, the proposed results; naturally and most righteously, the endeavor failed. The commander, nevertheless, reporting upon his return that he had accurately followed the written outlines previously submitted, Columbus was marked as a hypocrite, scoundrel and ignoramus. He thenceforth became a wanderer, at once quitting the land which, having breathed the inspiration into his soul, had failed to profit by it."-Henry C. Morris, The History of Colonization from the Earliest Times to the Present Day, vol. i., pp. 233-234. (Copyright by the Macmillan Co.) Fiske also gives a good resumé of the difficulties experienced by Columbus during the period immediately following 1474, Discovery of America, vol. i., p. 381 et seq. * Various dates are given for the arrival in Spain, varying from the autumn of 1484 to the spring of 1486. |