Christopher Columbus's journal | |
---|---|
Writing | Spanish |
Created | 3 August 1492 — 15 March 1493 |
Present location | Unknown, presumed lost |
Christopher Columbus's journal (Diario) is a diary and logbook written by Christopher Columbus about his first voyage. The journal covers events from 3 August 1492, when Columbus departed from Palos de la Frontera, to 15 March 1493 and includes a prologue addressing the sovereigns. [1] Several contemporary references confirm Columbus kept a journal of his voyage as a daily record of events and as evidence for the Catholic Monarchs. [2] Upon his return to Spain in the spring of 1493, Columbus presented the journal to Isabella I of Castile. [3] She had it copied, retained the original, and gave the copy to Columbus before his second voyage. [4] The whereabouts of the original Spanish text have been unknown since 1504. [4]
Copies based on an abstract from the journal have been made, most notably by Bartolomé de las Casas. [2] Since the discovery of the las Casas copy in the late 18th century, scholars have questioned the accuracy of the copy and its fidelity to the original. [5] A number of alternative translations of the journal and bibliographies of Columbus are derived from the las Casas copy. The most commonly sourced works include the University of Oklahoma's The Diario of Christopher Columbus' First Voyage to America 1492–1493, John Cummins' The Voyage of Christopher Columbus: Columbus' Own Journal of Discovery, and Robert Fuson's The Log of Christopher Columbus.
The story of Christopher Columbus's origins and young life preceding his sea-faring voyages is still largely unknown. [3] Columbus survived the sinking of a Portuguese ship, worked for a merchant, and began mapping with his brother Bartholomew before his marriage to Dona Filipa Moniz Perestrelo in 1478. [3] [6] [7] Columbus was interested in studying geography, philosophy, theology, and history. [3] Columbus lived the life of a wandering traveler through his ocean-oriented profession until 1480. [3] Through inaccurate calculations and estimates, Columbus believed that he could successfully travel west to east in order to open up a new trade route to the East Indies. [7] Initially, Columbus presented his potential trade passage to John II of Portugal, [7] who rejected his request for financial accommodations to support his eastward expedition. [3] [7] Afterwards, Columbus experienced a number of dismissals from presenting his proposal to Venice, Genoa, France, and King Henry VII of England, before reaching Queen Isabella I and King Ferdinand II of Spain in January 1492. [6] [7] Columbus's first presentation of his expedition to the Spanish royalty resulted in denial. [6] Yet after a reexamination pushed by Columbus's persistent attitude and unique character, Isabella and Ferdinand agreed to finance his first voyage. [6] [7] Columbus and 90 men commenced their journey from Palos on 3 August 1492 in three ships, the Santa María , the Niña , and the Pinta . [6]
In the prologue, Columbus mentions his orders to sail to India were received in January 1492, following the expulsion of Jews from Spain. [1] Conflicting reports exist over the actual date of the expulsion, with Columbus citing January while other sources, including the Alhambra Decree, cite March. [1] After the prologue, the diary begins with Columbus's departure from Spain towards the Canary Islands "half an hour before sunrise" on 3 August 1492. On 16 September Columbus reported he had entered the Sargasso Sea. The journal mentions several animals encountered during the westward voyage, such as dolphins and frigatebirds. [1] Columbus also describes magnetic declination. Because European sailors had only previously traveled with eastern magnetic declination, Columbus is credited with discovering western magnetic declination for Europeans. [8] The journal also briefly mentions the crew's mood during the voyage. Columbus writes that the covered distance regularly announced to the crew was usually smaller than the real one. On the eve of arrival to the New World, the journal reported an unknown light sighting. [9] Columbus named the first landfall of his voyage San Salvador on 12 October, and described the people residing on the island as naive and naked, but welcoming to the European explorers. [10] Even though the journal shows Columbus's imperfect knowledge of the Spanish language, he makes comparisons of the New World landscape to that of Spain, such as spring-like in Andalusia, rivers like those in Seville, and hills like those behind Córdoba. [4]
All existing copies of the journal are based on the journal's abstract – a manuscript of 76 folios discovered later in the library of the Duke of the Infantado by Martín Fernández de Navarrete. [2] The manuscript was kept in the Biblioteca Nacional de España until 1925 when it was reported as missing. [2] Navarrete reported the discovery of the journal's abstract to his friend, Juan Batista Muñoz, who used it in his Historia del Nuevo Mundo published in 1793. [2] In 1825, Navarrete published the abstract with expanded abbreviations, spelled out numerals, corrected punctuation and modernized spelling. [2] All editions of Navarrete's copy since 1825 differ to some extent from the las Casas copy. In 1892, an edition of Navarrete's copy was published by Italian scholar Cesare De Lollis with critical apparatus. In 1962, Carlos Sanz published a facsimile of the Las Casas copy using Navarrete's copy.
Bartolomé de las Casas did not have the original journal either and ordered a scribe to make a copy of the journal's abstract. [2] The scribe made several errors while copying the abstract, such as frequent confusions of Columbian leagues with Roman miles. [2] The authenticity of las Casas's copy was challenged by Henri Vignaud and Rómulo D. Carbia, both of whom believed the copy was largely or entirely a fabrication. [11] In 1939, las Casas's copy was proven to be authentic by Samuel Eliot Morison, and this view was endorsed in later studies. [11]
Columbus's journal has been translated into English, Italian, French, German, Russian and other languages. [2] The first English translation was made by Samuel Kettell and published in 1827. [12] In 1991, an English translation based on the Sanz facsimile of the las Casas copy was published by the University of Oklahoma Press. [13] John Cummins wrote The Voyage of Christopher Columbus:Columbus' Own Journal of Discovery in 1992, mixing translated parts of las Casas’s copy of the journal with excerpts from Diego Columbus's biography, to provide a comprehensive first-hand account of Columbus’s first voyage. [14]
Multiple scholarly interpretations and descriptions of Columbus and his actions are based on the las Casas translation rather than the original copy of Columbus's Diario which has disappeared. John E. Kizca, a professor and history department chair at Washington State University, argues that since the only remaining primary source of Columbus's journal is translated by Bartolome de Las Casas, Casas's translation cannot be relied upon. Kizca asserts that Casas's translation is biased due to his own personal opinions of Columbus and the magnitude of his actions in the Americas. Kizca explains that Casas hides Columbus's true motives through his translation because he observes Columbus as the representative figure of manipulating the Native Americans and "as the embodiment of Spanish policy towards overseas expansion.". [15] In The Conquest of Paradise: Christopher Columbus and the Columbian Legacy, Kirkpatrick Sale displays Columbus through passages of his journal as the chaotic result of a corrupted European society. [16] Sale concludes that Columbus was overwhelmed by the pressures of Spain to discover something significant, which led to his materialistic-minded and polarizing perspective of the Native Americans and their home. [16] Charles Alperin of the Jewish Federation of Omaha and many other Jewish scholars have pointed to the prologue of Columbus's journal as evidence for his Jewish heritage. [17] Conspiracists cite the prologue's unexpected delay in Columbus's departure and the vague mentions of Jewish people as the primary evidence in Columbus's first-hand journal. [17]
Jose Rabasa, professor of Romance languages and Literatures at Harvard University, describes Columbus's journal as an accurate account of his journey, despite Columbus inaccurately reaching the East Indies. [18] Rabasa characterizes Columbus's narrative of his discovery as picturesque and glorified, citing examples from Las Casas's translation like "pretty water," "stones with gold-covered spots," and "a good river." [18] Rabasa indicates that Columbus composes his journal with a conqueror approach to exploration in order to convince Queen Isabella of the industrial potential of the new lands. [18] Elvira Vilches, author and professor of Romance studies at Duke University, approaches Columbus's intentions for his journal in a purely religious light. [19] Vilches considers the Diario as Columbus's proof that he successfully spread Christianity to the Americas and as Columbus's evidence that he should acquire more resources to conduct more voyages to the New World. [19] Vilches contends that Columbus’s successful presentation of the contents of his journal and accompanied slaves from his first voyage commenced a chain of events. [19] Vilches traces Columbus’s mass murder and elimination of Native Americans back to his promise to the Spanish royalty of finding enough gold to fund a Christian crusade in Jerusalem. [19] Vilches argues that the journal’s documented New World potential directly led to the promise of gold which resulted in the massacre of innocent Taíno. [19] Dona de Sanctis, the editor in chief of the Italian American magazine, defends Columbus's interactions with the Tainos through his Diario. [20] She specifies that Columbus compliments the Native Americans' appearance and acumen upon first meeting them; she explains that Columbus's crew only retaliated with violence after the men Columbus left behind were killed off by the Tainos, and that Columbus's journal should serve as an important historical artifact emphasizing the significance of Columbus's accomplishments. [20] However, according to the journals, Columbus, unable to prove the Taino actually perpetrated the massacre, took no action whatsoever against the Taino.
The University of Oklahoma's translation, The Diario of Christopher Columbus' First Voyage to America 1492–1493, won the "Spain and America in the Quincentennial of the Discovery" award gifted by the Spanish government in 1991 in celebration of the 500th year anniversary of Columbus's discovery of the Americas. [13] Robert Fuson, professor of Geography at the University of South Florida, was awarded both the "Book of the Year" by the Library Journal and the "Elliott Montroll Special Award" by the New York Academy of Sciences for his work The Log of Christopher Columbus. [21]
Christopher Columbus was an Italian explorer and navigator from the Republic of Genoa who completed four Spanish-based voyages across the Atlantic Ocean sponsored by the Catholic Monarchs, opening the way for the widespread European exploration and European colonization of the Americas. His expeditions were the first known European contact with the Caribbean and Central and South America.
Juan Ponce de León was a Spanish explorer and conquistador known for leading the first official European expedition to Puerto Rico in 1508 and Florida in 1513. He was born in Santervás de Campos, Valladolid, Spain, in 1474. Though little is known about his family, he was of noble birth and served in the Spanish military from a young age. He first came to the Americas as a "gentleman volunteer" with Christopher Columbus's second expedition in 1493.
Martín Alonso Pinzón, was a Spanish mariner, shipbuilder, navigator and explorer, oldest of the Pinzón brothers. He sailed with Christopher Columbus on his first voyage to the New World in 1492, as captain of the Pinta. His youngest brother Vicente Yáñez Pinzón was captain of the Niña, and the middle brother Francisco Martín Pinzón was maestre of the Pinta.
Guanahaní was the Taíno name of an island in the Bahamas that was the first land in the New World sighted and visited by Christopher Columbus' first voyage, on 12 October 1492. It is a bean-shaped island that Columbus called San Salvador. Guanahaní has traditionally been identified with Watlings Island, which was officially renamed San Salvador Island in 1925 as a result, but modern scholars are divided on the accuracy of this identification and several alternative candidates in and around the southern Bahamas have been proposed as well.
La Niña was one of the three Spanish ships used by Italian explorer Christopher Columbus in his first voyage to the West Indies in 1492. As was tradition for Spanish ships of the day, she bore a female saint's name, Santa Clara. However, she was commonly referred to by her nickname, La Niña, which was probably a pun on the name of her owner, Juan Niño of Moguer. She was a standard caravel-type vessel.
La Isabela in Puerto Plata Province, Dominican Republic was the first stable Spanish settlement and town in the Americas established in December 1493. The site is 42 km west of the city of Puerto Plata, adjacent to the village of El Castillo. The area now forms a National Historic Park.
Enriquillo, also known as "Enrique" by the Spaniards, was a Taíno cacique who rebelled against the Spaniards between 1519 and 1533. Enriquillo's rebellion is the best known rebellion of the early Caribbean period. He was born on the shores of Lake Jaragua and was part of the royal family of Jaragua. Enriquillo's aunt Anacaona was Queen of Jaragua, and his father Magiocatex was the crown prince. He is considered a hero in the modern day Dominican Republic and Haiti for his resistance in favor of the indigenous peoples. Dominican friar Bartolomé de las Casas, who documented and rallied against Spanish abuse of the native peoples, wrote sympathetically of Enriquillo.
Frey Nicolás de Ovando was a Spanish soldier from a noble family and a Knight of the Order of Alcántara, a military order of Spain. He was Governor of the Indies (Hispaniola) from 1502 until 1509, sent by the Spanish crown to investigate the administration of Francisco de Bobadilla and re-establish order. His administration subdued rebellious Spaniards, and implemented the Encomienda system with the native Taíno population of Hispaniola.
The Pinzón brothers were Spanish sailors, pirates, explorers and fishermen, natives of Palos de la Frontera, Huelva, Spain. Martín Alonso, Francisco Martín and Vicente Yáñez, participated in Christopher Columbus's first expedition to the New World and in other voyages of discovery and exploration in the late 15th and early 16th centuries.
Between 1492 and 1504, Italian explorer Christopher Columbus, under the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, led four Spanish transatlantic maritime expeditions of discovery to the Caribbean, and to Central and South America. These voyages led to the widespread knowledge of the New World. This breakthrough inaugurated the period known as the Age of Discovery, which saw the colonization of the Americas, a related biological exchange, and trans-Atlantic trade. These events, the effects and consequences of which persist to the present, are often cited as the beginning of the modern era.
La Navidad was a fort that Christopher Columbus and his crew established on the northeast coast of Hispaniola in 1492 from the remains of the Spanish ship the Santa María. La Navidad was the first European colony established in the New World during the Age of Discovery, although it was destroyed by the native Taíno people by the following year.
Anacaona (1474?–1504), or Golden Flower, was a Taíno cacica, or female cacique (chief), religious expert, poet and composer born in Xaragua. Before the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1492, Ayiti or Quisqueya to the Taínos was divided into five kingdoms, i.e., Xaragua, Maguana, Higüey, Maguá, and Marién. Anacaona was born into a family of caciques. She was the sister of Bohechío, the ruler of Xaragua.
Guarionex was a Taíno cacique from Maguá in the island of Hispaniola at the time of the arrival of the Europeans to the Western Hemisphere in 1492. He was the son of cacique Guacanagarix, the great Taíno prophet who had the vision of the coming of the Guamikena.
A letter written by Christopher Columbus on February 15, 1493, is the first known document announcing the results of his first voyage that set out in 1492 and reached the Americas. The letter was ostensibly written by Columbus himself, aboard the caravel Niña, on the return leg of his voyage. A postscript was added upon his arrival in Lisbon on March 4, 1493, and it was probably from there that Columbus dispatched two copies of his letter to the Spanish court.
Juan de Esquivel was a Spanish colonist and first governor of the Colony of Santiago, now Jamaica.
Columbus's vow was a vow by Christopher Columbus and other members of the crew of the caravel Niña on 14 February 1493, during the return trip of Columbus's first voyage to perform certain acts, including pilgrimages, upon their return to Spain. The vow was taken at Columbus's behest during a severe storm at sea.
Golfo de Las Flechas or Bay of Arrows refers to a bay on the northeastern side of the island of Hispaniola in the present day Dominican Republic where there was a small skirmish between Christopher Columbus’ crew and the Cigüayos that lived there during Columbus' first voyage. It lies around 69 degrees west and 19 degrees north. The Bay of Arrows underwent a name change after being discovered by Christopher Columbus in January 1493. There is a current debate surrounding its location where some argue it is the present-day Samaná Bay while others claim it is the present-day Bay of Rincón.
The chiefdoms of Hispaniola were the primary political units employed by the Taíno inhabitants of Hispaniola in the early historical era. At the time of European contact in 1492, the island was divided into five chiefdoms or cacicazgos, each headed by a cacique or paramount chief. Below him were lesser caciques presiding over villages or districts and nitaínos, an elite class in Taíno society.
Caonabo was a Taíno cacique (chieftain) of Hispaniola at the time of Christopher Columbus's arrival to the island. He was known for his fighting skills and his ferocity. He was married to Anacaona, who was the sister of another cacique named Bohechío.
A manuscript containing the transcription of nine letters apparently sent by Christopher Columbus to the Catholic Monarchs, which appeared in 1985 in Tarragona, is called the Christopher Columbus Copy Book. From the form of the handwriting it has been estimated that the book could date from the last third of the 16th century. Most of the nine documents are "letter-relations" that narrate the events of Columbus' various voyages of discovery to the Indies; seven were previously unknown and the other two contain a different text from what was already known.