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. In the ages since, Columbus' identity has remained enigmatic. It is widely believed that he was from Genoa, Italy, but there have always been questions about the authenticity of every claim on Columbus' origins. Another theory has arisen from literary discoveries made by Dr. Manuel L. da Silva, a Portuguese citizen living in Bristol, Rhode Island: Columbus may have been Portuguese. Image File history File links Columbus. ... Christopher Columbus portrait, painted by Alejo Fernándõ between 1505 and 1536. ... October 30 is the 303rd day of the year (304th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 62 days remaining. ... // Events February 3 - Murad II, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire dies and is succeeded by his son Mehmed II. April 11 - Celje acquires market-town status and town rights by orders from the Celje count Frederic II. June 30 - French troops under the Comte de Dunois invade Guyenne and capture... May 20 is the 140th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (141st in leap years). ... 1506 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... World map showing the Americas The Americas are the lands of the Western hemisphere or New World consisting of the continents of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions. ... 1492 was a leap year starting on Friday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Country Italy Region Liguria Province Genoa (GE) Mayor Giuseppe Pericu (since 2005-05-30) Elevation 20 m Area 243 km² Population  - Total (as of 2006) 620,316  - Density 2,553/km² Time zone CET, UTC+1 Coordinates Gentilic Genovesi Dialing code 010 Postal code 16100 Frazioni Acquasanta, Vesima Patron St. ... Nickname: Motto: Official website: http://www. ...

The origins of Dr. da Silva's theory were founded in 1988, when he read a book by Portuguese author Augusto Mascarenhas Barreto titled (in English) The Portuguese Christopher Columbus: Secret Agent of King John II.

Dr. da Silva's books regarding the subject are: The True Antilles; Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, Columbus was 100 percent Portuguese, and The Pope Alexander VI and Cristofom Colon. Newfoundland —   (stress on final syllable; for mispronunciations, see Newfoundland travel guide from Wikitravel)— (French: , Irish: ) is a large island off the east coast of North America, and the most populous part of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. ... Motto: Munit Haec et Altera Vincit (Latin: One defends and the other conquers) Official languages None (English,French,Gaelic) Flower Trailing arbutus Tree Red Spruce Bird Osprey Capital Halifax Largest city Halifax Lieutenant-Governor Mayann E. Francis Premier Rodney MacDonald (PC) Parliamentary representation  - House seat  - Senate seats 11 10 Area... Pope Alexander VI (January 1, 1431 – August 18, 1503), born Rodrigo Borja (Italian: Rodrigo Borgia), Pope from 1492 to 1503), is the most controversial of the secular Popes of the Renaissance, whose surname became a byword for low standards in the papacy of that era. ...

Papal bulls

In 1994, Dr. da Silva traveled to the Vatican to look at papal bulls related to the discovery of the New World in the late 15th century. In these bulls, da Silva made an interesting discovery regarding Columbus. In two inscriptions dated May 4, 1493, there are articles regarding the discovery of the new world by one 'Cristofõm Colon.' The manuscripts, written by Pope Alexander VI, have Columbus' name written in the Portuguese style. This spelling is inconsistent with Columbus' name in other possible nationalities, such as Italian and Spanish. The Spanish spelling is Cristobal Colón and the Italian is Cristoforo Colombo. This discovery is notable because at the time the manuscript was written, the Catholic Church and the Pope together held great secular authority and proclaimed what was considered the final word. 1493 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The name Catholic Church can mean a visible organization that refers to itself as Catholic, or the invisible Christian Church, viz. ...

Salvador Fernandes Zarco

Author Barreto has done genealogical research that suggests Columbus' given name was Salvador Fernandes Zarco. Through his mother, Zarco was the grandson of the Rabbi of Tomar, an important center of Jewish learning prior to the Inquisition being established in Portugal (1495). On the patrilineal side, Zarco was first cousin of King John II, the half-brother of Queen Dona Leonor and King Manuel I, and grandnephew of Prince Henry the Navigator. Joao Zarco discovered the island of Madeira, and the family held important mercantile concessions there. Zarco's Portuguese royal connections may also be reflected in his frequent use of Portuguese place-names in the New World ("Cuba" is a town in Portugal, not Spain, and is theorized to have been his birthplace). Rabbi (Classical Hebrew רִבִּי ribbÄ«;; modern Ashkenazi and Israeli רַבִּי rabbÄ«) in Judaism, means teacher, or more literally great one. The word Rabbi is derived from the Hebrew root-word RaV, which in biblical Hebrew means great or distinguished, (in knowledge). In the ancient Judean schools (and among Sefaradim today) the sages... District or region Santarém Mayor   - Party António Paiva PSD Area 351. ... The term Inquisition (Latin: Inquisitio Haereticae Pravitatis Sanctum Officium) refers broadly to a number of historical movements orchestrated by the Roman Catholic Church aimed at securing religious and doctrinal unity by converting through coercion, and sometimes persecution, of alleged heretics. ... 1495 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... John II of Portugal João II of Portugal (Portuguese pron. ... Manuel I of Portugal (pron. ... Infante Dom Henrique (4 March 1394 - 13 November 1460) was a prince of Portugal, often regarded as the most important figure in the early days of European colonial expansion. ...

Barreto's theory claims that Zarco had a secret mission to distract Spanish royalty away from the true route to India, which Prince Henry was navigating around the Cape of Good Hope. Dr. da Silva points out that Columbus was on several occasions offered private investments to go on his expedition, but he refused for seven years until he had full approval from the Spanish Crown. This, he claims, would have fit in with King John's master plans. The Cape of Good Hope; looking towards the west, from the coastal cliffs above Cape Point. ...

Columbus' sigla and monogram

Columbus' sigla, which he used instead of a signature.

Christopher Columbus always signed his documents with his sigla instead of his name. The ambiguity of symbols allows for many different theories regarding the deeper meanings and representations of each symbol. Dr. da Silva deciphers the sigla to support his belief that Columbus was in fact Portuguese. At the bottom of the sigla he finds evidence of the name Salvador Fernandes Zarco hidden among the symbols. The top part of the sigla proclaims Columbus' religious ties, but da Silva believes Columbus would mix well-known information in with more secretive double meanings. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1088x696, 11 KB) Summary Here is the URL: http://www. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1088x696, 11 KB) Summary Here is the URL: http://www. ... Scribal abbreviations (sigla) were abbreviations used by ancient and medieval scribes writing in Latin. ...

The conclusion that the bottom section of Columbus' sigla reveals his true identity, Salvador Fernandes Zarco, is based on interpretations of the language. [Xpo] is a Greek abbreviation for Christ, who is recognized in Christianity as the Savior of the world. "Salvador" is the Portuguese word for "savior." The sigla is thought to refer to a given name and not to Christ, because references to Christ were routinely capitalized [XPO]. It is interesting that Zarco named his first New World landfall "San Salvador." While an outward expression of Christian piety, it was also his own given name, an arcane fact that would fit in well with the hidden meanings of the "sigla" and Columbus' habits toward self-aggrandizement. [FERENS] is the Portuguese abbreviation for the name "Fernandes."

The S symbol is slightly skewed in the top right corner. This is believed to symbolize the inverted Hebrew letter, lamedh. Lamed in Hebrew means colon, which corresponds to Colon as Columbus' last name. By the rules of Hebrew alphabet, the Lamed as an inverted letter signifies that the Lamed looks like 'Colon' but is intended to be read with its other meaning. The skewed Lamed also stands for the name 'Zarco' in Hebrew, and that concludes how Columbus hides 'Salvador Fernandes Zarco' in his sigla. This article is mainly about Hebrew letters. ... Lamed or Lamedh is the twelfth letter of the Phoenician and Hebrew alphabets. ... Hebrew redirects here. ... Colon has several meanings: colon (anatomy) colon (punctuation) colon (rhetoric) See also Colón This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ...

The reality of Zarco/Columbus' Jewish roots, far from being mere idle speculation, are further bolstered by his frequent but obscure written references to the "royal blood of Jerusalem" in his veins, his well-documented sympathy for the Iberian Jews who, after 2000-plus years in "Sepharad" were expelled from Spain the day he set sail for "India" (his was a very "Politically Incorrect" attitude for his era, and potentially dangerous to him personally), his penchant for keeping company with Marranos, Conversos and Moors, and the fact that so many Jews held important offices on his expedition (Luis de Torres, who colonized Cuba, was his translator, and Master Marco was the expeditionary physician, amongst others). The term marrano refers to the Sephardim, Jews from the Iberian peninsula, who were forced to adopt the identity of Christians, either through coercion as consequence of the cruel persecution of Jews by the Spanish Inquisition, or for forms sake, and became Catholic converts. ... Spanish for converted one, converso (feminine conversa) referred to Jews or Muslims or the descendants of Jews or Muslims who had converted, sometimes unwillingly, to Catholicism in Spain, particularly during the 1300s and 1400s. ... Pencil and charcoal Drawing of Moor The Moors were the medieval Muslim inhabitants of al-Andalus (the Iberian Peninsula including present day Spain and Portugal) and the Maghreb and western Africa, whose culture is often called Moorish. ... Luis De Torres was Christopher Columbuss interpreter on his first voyage to the New World. ...

Columbus' monogram, split into S, F, Z.

Dr. da Silva's wife, an expert embroiderer, has noted that the monogram with which Columbus signed his documents—usually to the left of his sigla—can be split into three initials: S. F. Z., for Salvador Fernandes Zarco. Image File history File links Monogram-columbus. ... The Chi-Rho, a monogram of the first two letters in the Greek word for Christ Haddot Ardalone lili The New York Yankees team monogram Ecstacy commonly appears in a tablet form, usually imprinted with a monogram. ...

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