Thread by @DrJohnFreedman

It’s hard to separate #COLUMBUS THE MAN from COLUMBUS THE MYTH from COLUMBUS THE MONSTER. He was all 3. As a MAN: The supposedly Genoan mariner (he never wrote a word in Ligurian, the language of Genoa) had red hair that went prematurely gray according to eyewitness accounts. 1/

Genealogical cases have been made for him being Spanish, Ibizan, Portuguese, a converted Jew, a Polish descendant of King Wladyslaw III, Norwegian, or Scottish (really: scotsman.com/whats-on/arts-… )

In the realm of MYTH is Washington Irving’s portrayal of the mariner-businessman as a man of science intent on proving the Earth was round. That was literary license. Columbus & mariners & astronomers knew at least since the time of Aristotle (4th c. BC) that Earth was round. 3/

The ‘Enterprise of the Indies’ was the name he used to pitch his visionary idea to sail west to Asia & reap Bezos-like riches from spices & silk of the Orient. It was in fact a failure- though due to his stubbornness, egotism, & increasing grandiosity, he never recognized that.4/

‘The Admiral of the Ocean Sea’ never really knew where he was going, never knew where he was when he got there (on all 4 voyages 1492-1504 he thought he had reached the periphery of Asia) and never knew where he had been when all was said and done. 5/

He twice touched continental mainland - Venezuela on his 3rd voyage & Honduras on his 4th voyage. But the man who first recognized that the islands & land mass were in fact not Asia at all but a ‘Novo Mundo’ was the Florentine Amerigo Vespucci (hence 'America' in due tribute).

As for the MONSTER: Columbus was undeniably a cruel tyrant as Governor of Hispaniola and in fact was arrested and brought back to Spain in chains from his 3rd voyage. He subjugated, enslaved, exploited & slaughtered countless native Americans throughout the Caribbean. 7/

And he and his men - unintentionally one hopes - killed millions more through the spread of Old World diseases to highly vulnerable New World populations. That tragedy would indirectly lead to another dark chapter: the importation of African slaves. 8/

For more on the world-changing life and times of this towering figure in history - Columbus the man, myth & monster - join me on a Caribbean or Yucatan or Iberian or trans-Atlantic cruise when we resume sailing. 10/
travelenrichmentservices.com/seedrjohnssche…

POSTSCRIPT: Portuguese mariner FERDINAND #MAGELLAN sailing for Spain would accomplish Columbus’ dream of finding a westerly sea route to Asia (also in quest of spice riches) in 1521. He successfully sailed from Spain to the Philippines, where he died in a scuffle on the beach.11/

A small bedraggled fragment of his crew under first mate Juan Sebastian Elcano made it back to Spain in the world’s first circumnavigation (proving beyond any doubt that the Earth is round). For more on the larger-than-life Columbus & Magellan, see @LBergreen’s excellent works.

@threadreaderapp unroll please