Christopher Columbus or Colon. Photo by Columbus Historian Manuel Rosa.

The exact place and date of birth of Christopher Colombus have been the source of some speculation although most historians believe that he was Italian.^[1] There are, however, several competing theories regarding his national origin. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (500x690, 321 KB) monkey Summary Portrait of Christopher Columbus from the painting Virgen de los Navegantes (in the Sala de los Almirantes, Royal Alcazar, Seville). ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (500x690, 321 KB) monkey Summary Portrait of Christopher Columbus from the painting Virgen de los Navegantes (in the Sala de los Almirantes, Royal Alcazar, Seville). ... Manuel da Silva Rosa is a Portuguese historian who supports a Portuguese origin for Christopher Columbus. ... No authentic contemporary portrait of Columbus has been found; this late 19th-century engraving is one of many conjectural images For information about the director, see the article on Chris Columbus. ...

Portuguese theory

The house of Christopher Columbus in Porto Santo, a museum today.

Another theory claims that he may have been a Portuguese nobleman, purportedly born in Cuba, Alentejo under the name of Salvador Fernandes Zarco.^[2] The hypothetical offspring of an extramarital relationship between D. Fernando — Duke of Viseu and Beja and son of King Edward I — and Isabel Gonçalves Zarco — daughter of João Gonçalves Zarco, discoverer of Madeira — , Salvador Fernandes Zarco would have been an illegitimate child and thus easily omitted from contemporary historical and genealogical records. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (2080x1544, 702 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Porto Santo Island Origin theories of Christopher Columbus Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (2080x1544, 702 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Porto Santo Island Origin theories of Christopher Columbus Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the... Location    - Country Portugal    - Region Alentejo  - Subregion Baixo Alentejo  - District or A.R. Beja Mayor Francisco Orelha  - Party PS Area 172. ... A portrait of Christopher Columbus Salvador Fernandes Zarco is the theorized Portuguese name of Christopher Columbus (October 30, 1451? – 20 May 1506), the man widely recognized as discovering the New World in 1492. ... Ferdinand, Duke of Viseu Ferdinand, Prince of Portugal, Duke of Viseu (1433–, Portuguese: Fernando, pron. ... Location  - Region  - Subregion  - District or A.R.   {{{Region}}} {{{Subregion}}} Viseu Mayor  - Party Fernando Ruas PSD Area 507. ... Beja can refer to: The Beja people, an ethnic group in the Horn of Africa The Beja language Beja, Portugal Béja, Tunisia This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Duarte of Portugal (Edward, in English), the Philosopher or the Eloquent, the 11th king of Portugal, was born in Viseu on October 31, 1391 and he died in Tomar on September 13, 1438. ... João Gonçalves Zarco João Gonçalves Zarco (c. ... For other uses, see Madeira (disambiguation). ...

All this was first presented in 1930 by the historian and codebreaker António Ferreira de Serpa. It was later supported by some facts and documents of the Admiral's life and an analysis of his signature under the Jewish Kabbalah,^[3] which he might have used to encipher the truth concerning his family, his origin and, most of all, his real name: Christo Ferens, with Christo meaning Savior (Salvador), Ferens being an anagram of Fernes, a diminutive of Fernandes, and the final s an inverted Lamedh, know as Zarco.^[4] Since he never signed his name conventionally, the pseudonymous theory is reinforced. His name, Christopher, was of Greek-Latin origin, meaning "Bearer of Christ" which had moved into Latin holding the same meaning "Bearer of Christ" (Christo ferens) (Columbus, dove in Latin, since the dove traditionally symbolizes the Holy Spirit), a reference to the Order of Christ, which succeeded the Knights Templar in Portugal and initiated the Age of Exploration. The corollary of the above is that he would be knowingly diverting the Castilian kings from their target of India. Therefore, he would have reasons to hide his identity and origin since Portugal was the biggest rival of Spain in its sea ventures. In sum, he was a "secret agent". This article is about traditional Jewish Kabbalah. ... Look up saviour, savior in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Lamed or Lamedh is the twelfth letter in many Semitic abjads, including Phoenician, Aramaic, Hebrew and Arabic alphabet . Its sound value is IPA: . The Phoenician letter gave rise to the Greek Lambda (Λ), Latin L, and Cyrillic El (Л). // Lamedh is believed to have come from a pictogram of an ox goad... Founded in 1318, the Military Order of Christ (Ordem dos Cavaleiros de Nosso Senhor Jesus Cristo) was the heritage of the Knights Templar in Portugal, after the suppression of the Templars in 1312. ... For other uses, see Knights Templar (disambiguation). ... The so-called Age of Exploration was a period from the early 15th century and continuing into the early 17th century, during which European ships were traveled around the world to search for new trading routes and partners to feed burgeoning capitalism in Europe. ...

He got married in Portugal, in 1479, with a local noble woman, Filipa Moniz who was a member of the Order of Santiago thus proving that the King of Portugal had to authorize their marriage.^[5] [2] They had a son, Diogo Colón, in 1480 who became the 2nd Admiral of the Indies. Year 1479 was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar). ... Events March 6 - Treaty of Toledo - Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain recognize African conquests of Afonso of Portugal and he cedes the Canary Islands to Spain Great standing on the Ugra river - Muscovy becomes independent from the Golden Horde. ...

Pope Alexander VI issued two bulls mentioning Columbus. Both present Columbus' name written in Portuguese. This has been interpreted as a clue to his Portuguese origin [3], [4], [5]. Pope Alexander VI (1 January 1431 – 18 August 1503), born Roderic Borja (Italian: Borgia), (reigned from 1492 to 1503), is the most controversial of the secular popes of the Renaissance and one whose surname became a byword for the debased standards of the papacy of that era. ... A Papal bull is a particular type of patent or charter issued by a pope. ...

His original coat of arms also gives much information about his origin, see [6] for more information.

The names Columbus gave to the places he discovered have also been interpreted as evidence of his Portuguese origins.^[6] More than 40 Portuguese names can be found, among them Cuba (after his native village), Salvador, Bocas das Serpentes ("snakes' mouths"), Santarém, Belém, Mourão, Redondo, Fernandina (after his father Fernando) and Isabelina (after his mother Isabel). Many of them represent names of places in the Alentejo region. This list is now extended to more than 80 names by a new investigation that located names such as Cabo Talhado and Cabo Agulhas, used by Bartolomeu Dias in discovering the Cape of Good Hope, and As Formigas Açores, Cabo dos Namorados Madeira. ^[7] There are a number of places called Santarém: Santarém, Brazil Santarém, Portugal Santarém is also a Portuguese cheese. ... Nickname: Local da cidade de Belém, no estado do Pará State Pará County Belém Government  - Mayor Duciomar Gomes da Costa Area  - City 1,070 km²  (413. ... Coat of Arms Mourão is a municipality in Portugal with a total area of 279. ... Coat of Arms Redondo (pron. ... Fernandina Beach is a city located in Nassau County in the state of Florida in the United States of America and on Amelia Island. ...

It also a known fact the during the Portuguese Age of Discoveries an extreme secret policy was employed by the Portuguese due to the competition with Spain and other European countries. For this reason, many documents that reached other countries were fake records showing false names, facts, and dates, thus misleading any other nation's possible efforts. Christopher Columbus was very famous for sailing across to America and discovered Native Americans. For additional context, see History of Portugal and Portuguese Empire. ... For other uses, see Europe (disambiguation). ...

Catalan theory

In 2003, a team of Spanish scientists gained the right to exhume Columbus's remains from Seville, Spain.^[8] They performed a DNA analysis of bones from Columbus (Cristóbal Colón), his son, and his brother Diego, and looked at Columbus' writings. Columbus wrote in a Northern Italian form^{[citation needed]}; the Genoese language was not a written one in his time, and it has been suggested that, being an illiterate in his youth, he never mastered it. Analysis of the words Columbus used, and the linguistic mistakes he made, suggested that he most likely learned Catalan as a young man during his trips to Spain, while analysis of his handwriting suggests that he was educated as a young man. Or Catalan may be his mother tougue. For other uses, see Seville (disambiguation). ... The structure of part of a DNA double helix Deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA, is a nucleic acid molecule that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms. ... Genoese (Zeneize) is the variety of the ligurian language spoken in Genoa, the capital city of Liguria (Italy) . The Ligurian is listed by Ethnologue as a language in its own right (not to be confused with the ancient Ligurian language). ... Catalan IPA: (català IPA: or []) is a Romance language, the national language of Andorra, and a co-official language in the Spanish autonomous communities of Balearic Islands, Catalonia and Valencia, and in the city of LAlguer in the Italian island of Sardinia. ...

Signs of his Catalan heritage were also searched for. Throughout Columbus' life, he referred to himself as Christobal Colom; his contemporaries and family also referred to him as such. Columbus always maintained that he was an Italian^{[citation needed]}. It is possible that Colom is the shortened form of Columbus used for the Italian surname Colombo (which means "dove"). Colom can also be a Portuguese, French or Catalan name. There was a wealthy mercenary and merchant family of nobility in Barcelona (Spain) named Joan Colom i Bertran.^{[citation needed]}

Joan Colom age is not known exactly, but he was an old man at the time of the discovery ^[9]. Some descriptions of the discoverer coincide in this. ^[10] The discoverer was certainly not young when he arrived at Portugal^[11] and had white hair after the first expedition^[12]. In 1505 he was considered an elderly person ("anciano")^[13].

Other theories

The question of Columbus's nationality became an issue after the rise of nationalism; the matter was scarcely raised until the time of the quadricentenary celebrations in 1892 (see World's Columbian Exposition), when Columbus' Genoese origins became a point of pride for some Italian Americans. In New York City, rival statues of Columbus were underwritten by the Hispanic and Italian communities, and honorable positions had to be found for each, at Columbus Circle and in Central Park. Eugène Delacroixs Liberty Leading the People, symbolising French nationalism during the July Revolution 1830. ... One-third scale replica of Daniel Chester Frenchs Republic, which stood in the great basin at the exposition, Chicago, 2004 The Worlds Columbian Exposition (also called The Chicago Worlds Fair), a Worlds Fair, was held in Chicago in 1893, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher... An Italian-American is an American of Italian descent either born in America or someone who has immigrated. ... New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ... View of Columbus Circle, looking east down Central Park South from inside the Time Warner Center. ... Central Park is a large public, urban park (843 acres, 3. ...

One hypothesis is that Columbus served under the French corsair Guillaume Casenove Coulon and took his surname but later tried to hide his piracy. Some historians have claimed that he was Basque. For other uses, see Privateer (disambiguation). ... Language(s) Basque - few monoglots Spanish - 1,525,000 monoglots French - 150,000 monoglots Basque-Spanish - 600,000 speakers Basque-French - 76,000 speakers [4] other native languages Religion(s) Traditionally Roman Catholic The Basques (Basque: ) are an indigenous people[5] who inhabit parts of north-central Spain and southwestern...

Another theory is that he was from the town of Calvi on the island of Corsica, which at the time was part of the Genoese republic. Because the often subversive elements of the island gave its inhabitants a bad reputation, he would have masked his heritage. Calvi from Citadel Calvi is a small town and commune of the Haute-Corse (2B) département, in France. ... For other uses, see Corsica (disambiguation). ...

One historian has speculated that Columbus may have come from the island of Chios in Greece.^[14] The argument supporting this theory states that Chios was under Genoese control at the time, and was thus part of the Republic of Genoa, and that he kept his journal in Greek and Latin instead of the Italian of Genoa. He also referred to himself as "Columbus de Terra Rubra" (Columbus of the Red Earth); Chios was known for its red soil in the south of the island where grow the mastic trees that the Genoese traded. Chios (Greek: , alternative transliterations Khios and Hios), is the fifth largest of the Greek islands, situated in the Aegean Sea seven kilometres (five miles) off the Turkish coast. ...

Also, Norwegian Tor Borch Sannes has speculated that Columbus was Norwegian, comparing his coat of arms to that of the Bonde family who fled Norway for Italy in the 15th Century.^[15]

Others, such as Columbus researcher, Janes Francis Amler, have said that he was a converso (a Spanish Jew who publicly converted to Christianity). In Spain, even some converted Jews were forced to leave Spain after much persecution; it is known that many conversos were still practicing Judaism in secret. The correlation between the Alhambra decree, which called for the expulsion of all of the Jews from Spain and its territories and possessions by July 31, 1492, and Columbus' embarkation on his first voyage on August 3, 1492, has been offered as support for this claim. However, Discovery Channel's Columbus: Secrets from the Grave purports Columbus could not have been of Jewish descent because certain genetic markers characteristic of people with converso descent were not present in Columbus' DNA. Though DNA evidence alone could not conclude with such certainty that Columbus was Italian or Spanish, researchers concluded that, given the evidence, Columbus was likely of Catalan origin.^[16] Converso (Spanish and Portuguese for a convert, from Latin conversus, converted, turned around) and its feminine form conversa referred to Jews or Muslims or the descendants of Jews or Muslims who had converted to Catholicism in Spain and Portugal, particularly during the 1300s and 1400s. ... Sephardim (ספרדי, Standard Hebrew Səfardi, Tiberian Hebrew ardî; plural Sephardim: ספרדים, Standard Hebrew Sfaradim, Tiberian Hebrew ) are a subgroup of Jews, generally defined in contrast to Ashkenazim and/or . ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... ‹ The template below (Expand) is being considered for deletion. ... is the 212th day of the year (213th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Also film, 1492: Conquest of Paradise. ... is the 215th day of the year (216th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Also film, 1492: Conquest of Paradise. ... Discovery Channel is a cable and satellite TV channel founded by John Hendricks which is distributed by Discovery Communications. ... The Catalans are an ethnic group or nationality whose homeland is Catalonia, or the Principality of Catalonia (Catalan: Catalunya, or Principat de Catalunya), which is a historical region in southern Europe, embracing a territory situated in the north-east of Spain and an adjoining portion of southern France. ...

Other theories suggest that he may origin from the Colno or Cholno family of merchants and sailors living in Danzig (Gdańsk), as there was a Joannis de Colno who studied at the Cracow Academy in 1455. A John Scolvus or Jan z Kolna is reported to have taken part in the Didrik Pining expedition to Greenland in 1472. For alternative meanings of Gdańsk and Danzig, see Gdansk (disambiguation) and Danzig (disambiguation) The title given to this article is incorrect due to technical limitations. ... John of Kolno (also known as Jan z Kolna (in Polish), Johannes Scolnus (in German), and in Latin as John Scolvus, Ioannis Scolvenius or Iohannes Scolvus Polonus (1435–1484) was a semi-legendary sailor from Poland. ... Didrik Pining (ca. ...

Language

Although Genoese documents have been found about a weaver named Colombo, it has also been noted that, in the preserved documents, Columbus wrote almost exclusively in Spanish, and that he used the language, with Portuguese or Catalan phonetics, even when writing personal notes to himself, to his brother, Italian friends, and to the Bank of Genoa. His two brothers were supposedly woolweavers from Genoa but also wrote in Spanish. Catalan IPA: (català IPA: or []) is a Romance language, the national language of Andorra, and a co-official language in the Spanish autonomous communities of Balearic Islands, Catalonia and Valencia, and in the city of LAlguer in the Italian island of Sardinia. ...

There is a small handwritten Genoese gloss in an 1498 Italian (from Venice) edition of Pliny's Natural History that he read after his second voyage to America. However, it displays both Spanish^[17] and Portuguese^{[citation needed]} influences. Genoese Italian was a written language in the 15th century. There is also a note in non-Genoese Italian in his own Book of Prophecies exhibiting, according to historian August Kling, "characteristics of northern Italian humanism in its calligraphy, syntax, and spelling". However, and since this note is the only known case of Columbus writing in impeccable Italian, it is likely that the author was in fact Italian priest Gaspar Gorricio, who co-wrote the Book of Prophecies. Naturalis Historia Pliny the Elders Natural History is an encyclopedia written by Pliny the Elder. ... The Book of Prophecies is a compilation of apocalyptical religious revelations written by Christopher Columbus in the 15th and 16th centuries C.E. This journal of sorts conveys the medieval notion that in order for the end of the world or the second coming of Jesus Christ to occur, certain... Humanism is a broad category of ethical philosophies that affirm the dignity and worth of all people, based on the ability to determine right and wrong by appeal to universal human qualities—particularly rationality. ...

Phillips and Phillips point out that 500 years ago, the Latinate languages had not distanced themselves to the degree they have today. Bartolomé de las Casas in his Historia de las Indias^[18] claimed that Columbus did not know Spanish well and that he was not born in Castile. In his letters he refers to himself frequently, if cryptically, as a "foreigner." Ramón Menéndez Pidal studied the language of Columbus in 1942^[17], suggesting that while still in Genoa, Columbus may have learned notions of Portuguese-influenced Spanish from travellers. In his business, he would have used a sort of commercial Latin as a lingua franca (latín ginobisco^[19] for Spaniards). He suggests that Columbus learned Spanish in Portugal through its use in Portugal as or "adopted language of culture" from 1450. This same Spanish is used by Portuguese poets like Fernán Silveira and Joan Manuel. The first testimony of his use of Spanish is from 1481. Menéndez Pidal and many others detect a lot of Portuguese in his Spanish, where he mixes, for example, falar and hablar. Menéndez Pidal does not accept the hypothesis of a Galician origin for Columbus by noting that where Portuguese and Galician diverged, Columbus always used the Portuguese form. Even in his latest writings, he uses quero and cualquera (instead of quiero and cualquiera) in spite of the years spent in a Spanish-speaking milieu he never lost his Portuguese. Menéndez Pidal thinks probable that Columbus spoke Portuguese. Bartolomé de las Casas This article is about a Spanish priest in the 16th century. ... Ramón Menéndez Pidal (March 13, 1869 - November 14, 1968) was a Spanish philologist and historian. ... Lingua franca, literally Frankish language in Italian, was originally a mixed language consisting largely of Italian plus a vocabulary drawn from Turkish, Persian, French, Greek and Arabic and used for communication throughout the Middle East. ... // March - French troops under Guy de Richemont besiege the English commander in France, Edmund Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, in Caen. ... Galicia (Iberia) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... Galician (Galician: galego, IPA: ) is a language of the Western Ibero-Romance branch, spoken in Galicia, an autonomous community with the constitutional status of historic nationality, located in northwestern Spain and small bordering zones in neighbouring autonomous communities of Asturias and Castilla y León. ...

Latin, on the other hand, was the language of scholarship, and here Columbus excelled. He also kept his journal in Latin, and a "secret" journal in Greek.

References