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GALERÍA
HISPÁNICA:
Tales and Images From The
Spanish-Speaking World
Volume IX: Columbus, Spain, and
the Enterprise of the Indies
Part I
1492 was a watershed year in the
history of Spain. Fernando and
Isabel, the Catholic Monarchs,
put the finishing touches on the
reconquest of Spain with their
victory over the Moors in the
battle of Granada on January 2
of that year. At that moment,
Spain was for the most part a
unified country, both
politically and religiously.
The Catholic monarchs could
begin to focus their attention
and energies to the task of
nation building. At first
glance, it seemed like a
fortuitous coincidence that
Christopher Columbus would enter
the lives of Isabel and
Fernando, but in reality
Columbus had been for some time
in steady pursuit of political
support and financial backing
for his “Enterprise of the
Indies”. By that time, Columbus
already knew that his enterprise
would either live or die with
the decision of the Catholic
Monarchs.
The “Enterprise of the Indies”
of Christopher Columbus was
based on one simple theory:
the way to India, which
lay in the East, could be found
by sailing to the West. The
ramifications of finding such a
route were obvious to most of
the enlightened people of the 15th
century: the lands and nations
of the East were sources of
wealth. Trade routes over land
coming from the East already
existed and had existed for
centuries. Europeans had an
appetite for the spices and the
silk fabrics from the Orient
since the time of Marco Polo.
If a faster and more easily
accessible source for this
commerce could be found, sea
merchants like Columbus and the
nations they represented would
tap into an endless supply of
riches like none that had ever
been seen before.
It is generally, but not totally,
accepted that Cristóbal Colón (Columbus)
was born in Genoa, Italy in 1451
to a family involved in the
trade of weaving. Colón studied
cartography as a young man and
besides helping with the family
business in weaving, he worked
as a seller and trader of books.
Since Genoa was a major Italian
seaport, it was natural that
Colón would be attracted to the
sea and sailing. Beginning at
age 14, Colón apprenticed as a
sailor. By 1474, Colón was
sailing throughout the
Mediterranean, mostly in and
around the Greek Islands. In
1476 Colón hired on as a sailor
in a commercial Genoese venture
to England. On that voyage, the
Genoese ships passed through the
Strait of Gibraltar where they
were attacked by French pirate
vessels. The ship in which
Colón sailed, was sunk 6 miles
off the Portuguese coastline.
Colón managed to swim and float
his way to shore at the Port of
Lagos, Portugal. Eventually,
Colón would find his way to
Lisbon and would reside in the
sailing/shipbuilding community
of Genoese families living there.
He was then 25 years old.
In hindsight, it seems ironic
that Lisbon lay at the mouth of
the Tagus (Tajo) River. The
Tagus is the same river that
winds itself around Toledo,
Spain. Toledo was then the
capital of Spain and the seat of
its monarchy. This was the same
monarchy that would eventually
fund his “enterprise”. Lisbon
was important to Colón for a
variety of reasons. Lisbon was
a center of exploration by sea
and it was the port of Henry the
Navigator, whose writings Colón
would study exhaustingly in
preparation for his own
navigations. Lisbon was a port
teeming with sailors, merchants,
and ships preparing for voyages.
It was alive with map makers,
cartography schools, book shops
that sold ancient books and maps
of earlier voyages , and most
importantly, Lisbon was the
capital of Portugal and the seat
of its monarchy. Colón’s
brother, Bartolomé, eventually
arrived in Lisbon where the two
did business together as
cartographers and booksellers.
Colón received several
opportunities to set sail on
commercial voyages out of Lisbon.
He sailed to England, Ireland,
and Iceland. Each voyage
offered him an opportunity to
learn more about wind and ocean
currents and to learn about the
Atlantic voyages of previous
sailors. Colón was a man of a
singular purpose: preparing
himself for his Enterprise of
the Indies.
By 1478, Colón had met, courted,
and married Felipa Perestrello e
Moniz, the daughter of a
respected noble family of Lisbon.
Her father was an appointed
provincial governor of Porto
Santo in the Madeira Islands.
The father himself was a sailing
man also with Italian ancestry.
Around 1480, Felipa bore Colón a
son, Diego, while they were
living in the Madeira Islands.
It is suggested that the birth
of Diego precipitated the death
of Felipa there. Colón took
advantage of the geographic
location there and began several
voyages from the Canary Islands
to the Portuguese holdings on
the coast of Africa. This
afforded him opportunities to
study the Atlantic currents and
winds from those vantage points.
When Colón eventually set sail
on his “enterprise”, his
Atlantic point of departure was
the Canary Islands. By 1484,
when Colón presented himself for
his royal audience with the king
of Portugal, he had a well-thought
out plan based on his map-making
knowledge, his personal voyages,
his interviews with captains and
sailors, and the wealth of
knowledge he would gain from the
intellectual estate of his
father-in-law.
Colón’s father-in-law, by then
deceased, himself had sailed
with Henry the Navigator. He
had amassed a wealth of
documents, books, maps, charts
of ocean currents, and letters
from sea captains and sailors,
all of which were left behind in
his estate. Most importantly,
his father-in-law had access to
the Court of King John II, which
Colón would use, via his wife,
to gain an audience in order to
petition funding and political
support for his enterprise.
Colón believed that it was the
right time to present the
proposal to King John because
the king was known to have an
avid interest in exploration.
After the king had listened to
Colón’s proposal at court, he
turned it over to a royal
commission that eventually
denied the request on the
grounds that it was too
expensive and too risky.
Like all great men and women in
history, Colón was more than
just a visionary, he was a man
of experiences and persistence.
He was able to draw from his
considerable knowledge and
experience of the oceans and
seas in order to turn his
enterprise into a plan of action.
He also had the will power and
bravery to attempt to do
something that no one had
attempted before. Portugal had
denied him financial support for
his enterprise. His
opportunities in Portugal, for
all intents and purposes, had
evaporated, so he decided to
look for support elsewhere. In
1485 he took his small son,
Diego, and departed for Spain.
Image 25
This image is of La Rábida
Monastery at Palos de la
Frontera in southern Spain.
This monastery was the home of
Cristóbal Colón and his son,
Diego, when they first appeared
in Spain in 1485.
It was extremely fortuitous for
Colón that he arrived first on
Spanish territory at the town of
Palos de la Frontera. The term
”la frontera” is affixed to many
towns in southern Spain. It
translates into “the border, or
the battle front”. This is in
reference to towns that, during
the epoch of the reconquest of
Spain, were on the battle front
as it was then known to be.
Palos was one of them. In the
town of Palos de la Frontera
Colón located a monastery, la
Rábida, where he could lodge
himself and his son. This would
be a safehaven for both of them.
Palos was on the banks of a
river that led to the
Mediterranean and it was also
near a larger city, Huelva,
known for families with
seafaring histories. In la
Rábida and in Huelva, Colón
would make acquaintances that
would help and support his ‘enterprise’,
and also open doors for him at
the Court of Spain.
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