The Columbus Myth

The name Christopher Columbus is the Anglicization of the Latin Christophorus Columbus. His name in Italian is Cristoforo Colombo, and in Spanish Cristóbal Colón. The story of Columbus is not at all that we have been told. This article is not written to infer that Columbus did not travel to America; there is plenty of historical evidence to establish that fact. The chapter does, however, validate that by the time Columbus made his voyage, both North and South America had been explored surveyed and claimed by two separate European nations, and that Spain had knowledge of this fact. This chapter will also prove that Spain had plans to conquer Mesoamerica (Central America) even before Columbus began his voyage. Based on this information, the story that Cortez invaded Mesoamerica on his own, without permission from Spain is most likely not true.

The Quest for Support

In 1485 AD, Columbus presented his plans to John II, King of Portugal to cross the Atlantic. He proposed that the king equip three sturdy ships and grant Columbus one year's time to sail out into the Atlantic, search for a western route to the Orient, and return. Columbus also requested that he be made "Great Admiral of the Ocean", appointed governor of any and all lands he discovered, and given one-tenth of all revenue from those lands. The king submitted Columbus's proposal to his experts, who rejected it. It was their considered opinion that Columbus's estimation of a travel distance of 2,400 miles (3,860 km) was, in fact, far too low. The true reason for the denial was that Portugal did not want their colonies in South America discovered, until after the current war to reclaim the Iberian Peninsula from the Muslims was over. It is not a coincidence that Portuguese is the native language of Brazil.

In 1488 AD, Columbus appealed to the court of Portugal once again, and once again, John II invited him to an audience. King John again showed no interest in Columbus's far-fetched project. Columbus traveled from Portugal to both Genoa and Venice, but he did not receive encouragement from either. Columbus had also dispatched his brother Bartholomew to the court of Henry VII of England, to inquire whether the English crown might sponsor his expedition, but also without success.

Columbus then sought an audience with the monarchs Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile, who had united many kingdoms in the Iberian Peninsula by marrying, and now, by ruling together. On 1 May 1486, Columbus received permission to see Queen Isabella. Columbus presented his plans to the Queen, who, in turn, referred it to a committee. After the passing of much time, the experts of Spain, like their counterparts in Portugal, replied that Columbus had grossly underestimated the distance to Asia. They pronounced the idea impractical and advised their Royal Highnesses to pass on the proposed venture.

‘Columbus Before the Queen’ (1843) by Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze. Image source: Wikipedia

However, to keep Columbus from taking his ideas elsewhere, the Spanish Monarchs gave him an annual allowance of 12,000 Maravedis and, in 1489 AD, furnished him with a letter ordering all cities and towns under their domain to provide him food and lodging at no cost. This was a full 6 years prior to the departure of Columbus for the “New World”. In reality this was a contingency plan by the Vatican, Spain and Portugugal. They now knew that Columbus was very serious about crossing the Atlantic. If he was successful he would have discovered the Portuguese, Mayan, Aztec and Masonic colonies already in the Americas. The Portuguese and Spain needed a tactic to delay his departure until they had finished their war against the Moors (Muslims). Once the war was over they could divert their resources to protecting their interests in the Americas.

On January 2, 1492, the last Muslim leader, Muhammad XII, known as Boabdil to the Spanish, surrendered complete control of Granada, to Ferdinand and Isabella, Los Reyes Católicos ("The Catholic Monarchs"). The re-conquest (Reconquista) of Iberia was complete.

On the evening of August 3, 1492 AD, Columbus departed from Palos de la Frontera with three ships: a larger carrack, the Santa María (A Galician ship), and two smaller caravels, the Pinta (Meaning painted), and the Santa Clara, nicknamed the Niña (Meaning little girl) after her owner, Juan Niño of Moguer.

   The monarchs forced the Palos inhabitants to contribute to the expedition. The Santa María was owned by Juan de la Cosa and captained by Columbus. The Pinta and the Niña were piloted by the Pinzón brothers (Martín Alonso and Vicente Yáñez). The ship the Santa Maria was not only a Galician ship, owned by Juan de la Cosa, who after the voyage was responsible for printing the now famous map called the "Juan de la Cosa Map". The map was printed c1500 and shows 25 ancient geoglyphic survey markers that currently exist on the North and South American Continent. These geoglyphs would have taken centuries to explore and construct. Could both the North and South American Continents have been explored from coast to coast in the 8 years between the voyage of Columbus and the printing of the map? I think you already know the answer. ("Ancient Signposts" - Amazon.com, 2011)

The Pinzon Brothers

The Pinzón brothers were Spanish sailors, explorers and fishermen, natives of Palos de la Frontera, Huelva, Spain. All three were Marisco Muslims according to Christian scholar Jerald Dirks. Martín Alonso, Francisco Martín and Vicente Yañez Pinzon, 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.

Columbus and the Pinzón brothers arrive in America, Dióscoro Teófilo Puebla Tolín (1831-1901). Image source: Wikipedia

The brothers were sailors of great prestige along the previously held Muslim coast of Huelva. Huelva is located in Spain near the border with Portugal. Thanks to their many commercial voyages and voyages along the coast, they were famous, well off, and well respected in the maritime community. The strategic position of Huelva was established by the historic Atlantic port of Palos, from which expeditions had set forth to the African coasts as well as the wars against Portugal, organized on many occasions, by the Pinzon family.

Martín Alonso and Vicente Yáñez, captains of the caravels La Pinta and La Niña are the best known of the brothers, but the third brother, the lesser-known Francisco Martín, was aboard the Pinta as its master.

Although they sometimes quarreled with Columbus, on several occasions the Pinzón brothers were instrumental in preventing mutiny against him, particularly during the first voyage. On 6 October, Martín intervened, in a dispute between Columbus and his crew, by proposing an altered course (which Columbus eventually accepted) and thus calming the simmering unrest. A few days later, on the night of 9 October 1492 AD, the brothers were forced to intercede once again, and this time they proposed the compromise that if no land was sighted during the next three days, the expedition would return to Spain. On the third day, land was in fact sighted by Juan Rodriguez Bermejo (also known as Rodrigo de Triana). Could it be a coincidence that the Pinzon brothers knew exactly what correction to make in order to land on the first island outside the NE corner of the territory which Spain claimed on that first voyage. The Pinzon brothers quickly set up survey markers to claim the Carribean, the Gulf of Mexico and Mesoamerica for Spain? Could it have been a coincidence that the Pinzon brother knew exactly when they would sight land? It is clear that either the Pinzon brothers, or Juan de la Cosa, had already been to the Americas many times. Juan being a Galician was most likely the one with the navigation knowledge to the Americas. This assumption is established in the book. Not only did Juan de la Cosa travel with many famous explorers, but his name implies that he may have had some secret navigation device that we no longer know about. People of that time were named after something peculiar to that person. Juan de la Cosa is Spanish for "John of the Thing". I have always wondered what "The Thing" referred to.

Why would the Monarchs of Spain, and the King of Portugal, choose two Muslim brothers to accompany Columbus to the Americas? After all, hadn't the two countries just spent 700 years getting rid of Muslim control and weren’t the Pinzon brothers the architects of wars against Portugal? The obvious answer is that they had many reasons to persecute the Pinzons, but instead used this, and the Pinzons knowledge of the Americas, against them in directing Columbus to the uncolonized and unclaimed parts of the Americas. (Actually, the Caribbean had already been claimed by the Mayans, as indicated by the Chichin Itza Pyramid geoglyphs, but that is another story.)

The First Voyage of Christopher Columbus

After departure, Columbus first sailed to the Canary Islands which belonged to Castile (A western extension of Spain), where he took on provisions and made repairs. After stopping over in Gran Canaria, he departed from San Sebastián de La Gomera on 6 September, for what turned out to be a five-week voyage across the ocean. A lookout on the Pinta, Rodrigo de Triana (also known as Juan Rodríguez Bermeo), spotted land about 2:00 on the morning of 12 October, and immediately alerted Columbus by firing a small cannon. Columbus later maintained that he himself had already seen a light on the land a few hours earlier, thereby claiming for himself the lifetime pension promised by Ferdinand and Isabella to the first person to sight land.

While performing research on Columbus, I ran across a story that I had never heard before. Until the writing of this article I just placed it in the back of my mind because of the lack of validation. Now that I have obtained a definitive map of the first voyage of Columbus I am inclined to believe that the story is true. The story asserted that one of the ships, the Pinta, captained by one of the Pinzon brothers, mysteriously departed the convoy at Cuba and was not seen again until 45 days later, after Columbus had already began his trip home. The story indicated that the Pinta mysteriously joined Columbus near an island off the coast of Hispaniola (Haiti) 45 days later, laden with Aztec Gold.

History also indicates that when the Pinta arrived back in Spain it was loaded with a cargo of Gold. This is not hard to believe after reading that Montezuma, 27 years later, sent Hernan Cortez, while an official in Cuba, a circular piece of gold three feet wide. This was accompanied by a circular piece of silver three feet wide, along with much more gold. This was payment to keep Spain from invading Mesoamerica. Why did Montezuma think Spain was going to invade Mexico? This question is answered by one of the Geoglyphs that Columbus and the Pinzon brothers placed during their first voyage to the Americas. All that payment of gold did was intensify the appetite of Cortez who, supposedly against orders from Spain, invaded Mesoamerica in 1519 AD. Thus began the quest for gold, and the Spanish Inquisition in the Americas.

It should be noted that the Spanish Inquisition was sponsored by the Vatican, and that a priest accompanied every Spanish expedition in order to protect the interests of the Church. An exception to the harsh treatment of the natives was the Catholic Jesuit Order, from which the current Pope was chosen, who protected the American Indians from slavery whenever possible.

The ‘Exploration’
Columbus explored the northeast coast of Cuba, where he landed on 28 October. On 22 November, Martín Alonso Pinzón took the Pinta on an unauthorized expedition to places unknown. Columbus, for his part, continued to the western tip of Hispaniola, where he landed on 5 December at what is now Mole-Saint-Nikolas Bay.

There, the Santa María “allegedly” ran aground on Christmas Day 1492 AD, 20 days after it arrived, and had to be abandoned. The native Chief in the area, Guacanagari, gave Columbus permission to leave some of his men behind. Columbus left 39 men behind and founded the settlement of La Navidad, Haiti. When he departed Haiti he sailed along its northern coast, with a single ship, until he encountered the Pinta on 6 January 1493." (Wikipedia - Keyword Christopher Columbus.)

The Santa Maria runs aground in Haiti. Image source.

Did the Santa Maria really run aground or was it left behind by the Pinzon Brothers, with a crew of 39 men, to collect more gold? Based on the documented information, a picture is emerging of what transpired during the Columbus expedition. From the documentation available, and the history of Columbus in later life, it appears that he was but a pawn in a plan by Spain to gather gold and occupy Mesoamerica.

Just days after the Nina departed Hispaniola it was joined by the missing ship the Pinta. The fact that the two ships were able to locate each other at all in such a vast ocean is inconceivable. The only way that this could have happened was for the Pinzon brothers to have known the area, and have agreed to meet at an easily recognized point, such as between the island of Tortue and the Island of Hispaniola (Haiti). The Pinta was missing from 22 November, 1492 until 6 January, 1493, a period of 45 days. Allowing for a speed of only 5 knots the Pinta could have traveled 5400 miles during that period of time.

It is most likely that the Pinta traveled to Vera Cruz, Mexico to obtain gold for Spain. If this is true it would have been logical for the Pinta to have left the other two ships while off the coast of Cuba. The distance from that point to Vera Cruz is 1296 miles. The distance from Vera Cruz to Hispaniola is 1576 miles. Based on this mileage, the sailing time from Cuba to Vera Cruz and back to Hispaniola would take approximately 24 days. Based on the 45 days that the Pinta was absent, this leaves 21 days unaccounted for. Assuming that the Pinta did go to Vera Cruz, which this author has many reasons to believe, a portion of the 21 days in Vera Cruz would have been used in resupply, negotiations and loading. During our research it was learned that Vera Cruz, Mexico and Lisbon, Portugal are two of the oldest cities in the Atlantic. I find it interesting that both countries play a part in this story.

The Pinzon brothers most likely had agreed to meet between the Island of Tortue and Hispaniola. The Pinta most likely passed by the bay where Columbus was waiting, and proceeded to the agreed meeting place. When the captain of the Pinta found no one waiting, he would have dropped anchor at the east end of the island and waited for Columbus and his brother.

Based on the available information, it would appear that Spain had two objectives when they sent Columbus to the "New World". One was to establish survey markers (Geoglyphs) outlining their claim to the Caribbean and the surrounding territory. The second, was to bring back gold to Spain to help eliminate the deficit that Spain and the Vatican had acquired during the 700 year long war against the Moors. The Portuguese, most likely, did not participate in this adventure since they already had substantial colonization in the Americas by this time. Spain now had other motives to in vade Mesoamerica. They were now aware of the vast horde of gold brought back to Spain, by the Pinzon brothers, from the Aztecs. Spain and the Vatican wanted more gold and all the land that they could conquer.

The Vatican also had motives to participate in the planning of this expedition. During the 700 year war with the Muslims, the influence of the Catholic Church had been decimated. The Vatican’s control had also been compromised, by the split of Europe into two camps consisting of Eastern Europe and Western Europe. The Orthodox Churches prevailed in the Eastern half of Europe, and the Western half was involved in a dispute for control of the Church, between the Vatican and the royal families of France. Both Spain and the Vatican needed to restore their wealth and prestige. To protect the Vatican’s interests, a priest accompanied each expedition that the Conquistadores made to the Americas.

Between 1492 AD and 1503 AD, Columbus completed four round-trip voyages between Spain and the Americas, all of them under the sponsorship of the Crown of Spain. These voyages marked the beginning of the massive exploitation, and colonization of the Americas, and are therefore of enormous significance in Western history. Columbus always insisted, in the face of mounting evidence to the contrary, that the lands that he visited during those voyages were part of the Asian continent, as previously described by Marco Polo and other European travelers. Columbus's refusal to accept that the lands he had visited, and thought he claimed for Spain, were not part of Asia might explain, in part, why the American continents were named after the Portuguese term "La Merica" (The Western Star) and not after Columbus. The lack of knowledge by Columbus, of where he had been, further confirms that the Pinzon Brothers, and Juan de la Cosa, were the driving force during the expedition, and were responsible for the building of the geoglyphs along the route of Columbus.

It was never intended that Columbus be crowned the discoverer of the Americas. It wasn't until years later that the United States decided that they `would not contest myths that Columbus discovered America. Columbus was sent to the Americas to establish Spain and Portugal’s claim to the Caribbean. As is explained in the book neither Columbus, nor Spain, had their eye on North or South America.

The following is historically documented:

"Columbus Day was the brainchild of New York state senator Timothy Sullivan, an archetypal Tammany Hall man who greased the wheels of New York City's notoriously corrupt political machine during the late 19th century and early 20th century. His bill to set Columbus Day aside passed by a vote of 86 to 35 in 1909, and the initial reaction from those hardworking Americans of yore wasn't great. People labeled it superfluous and called for its repeal." 

Sullivan’s power was so great there is no doubt he could accomplish the fete of getting this bill through Congress. Sullivan began life selling newspapers as a young boy from Ireland. During his rise to fame he was deeply involved in the criminal element in New York. Once he achieved his political success he protected the people with whom he had risen to power. Sullivan served in the NY State Assembly, the NY Senate and the US Congress. 

Sullivan forced the bill on reluctant New York lawmakers and they in turn forced it on other States, an objector wrote of the day; "Its occurrence interferes sadly with the conduct of business in the season which should be the busiest, but once we have a holiday we must keep it. Luckily there are no other new holidays in sight at present." (The Origins of Columbus Day, Katy Steinmetz, Times Online - Monday, Oct. 11, 2010)

It should now be clear that US employers should not be paying millions of employees to enjoy a holiday that is marred with misconceptions.  

Featured image: Christopher Columbus on Santa María in 1492. Image source: Wikipedia
By Arthur Faram