Christopher Columbus

The Mystery of History volume 3 has now brought us to a detailed study of Christopher Columbus.  We have read about him in the past but not to this extent.  We are reading things that I have never heard of before.  Columbus has a very interesting history indeed.

I have always associated Columbus with the discovery of America because that is what I learned but I have recently learned that this is not true.  When Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492, people were already there.  There are many theories on who actually discovered America.  We read that Africans were the first, Asians were the first, Chinese explorer, Zheng He was the first, the Vikings were the first, we even read that the Irish were the first people in America.  Who is right?

Another interesting topic surrounding Columbus revolves around ethnicity of Columbus.  I have lived my whole life believing that Columbus was from Italy but it turns out that may not be true.  This is a big debate among historians.  There are many different ideas about his birthplace.  It has been recorded that he was born in (Catalan) Spain, Portugal, Greece, and (Genoa) Italy which seems to be the most likely place of his birth.  It was even thought that he was of Polish descent, and his father was a king that had been exiled.  We may never know for sure but it makes for interesting research.

Other interesting facts about Columbus:
*He may have been a Portuguese spy?
*He enslaved the native people from the places he explored and if they did not conform, he murdered them.
*He had an illegitimate son.
*He believed the earth was flat.
*He only wrote in Spanish but could speak several different languages.
*Not one portrait was painted of him while he was alive.
*He had 4 siblings.

Another very interesting fact about Columbus was the way he signed his name the last 13 years of his life.  There are many theories about what his signature meant since he never told anyone according to scholars.  So mysterious!
One explanation:
Servus
Sum Altissimi Salvatoris
Xristus Maria Yosephus
Xristo-Ferens

Scholars agree with the meaning of the bottom line which is a combination of Greek and Latin for the name Christopher emphasizing that Christopher literally means "Christ bearer."  It seems scholars also agree that Mr. Columbus was devoted to his religion.

Map by Christopher Columbus 

More resources
BBC
The Kid's Window
Christopher Columbus
And, of course, the Christopher Columbus Pinterest page

Christopher Columbus translated:
Genoese: Christoffa Corombo
Latin: Christophorus Columbus
Portuguese: Cristovao Colombo
Spanish: Cristobal Colon
Italian: Cristoforo Colombo

We may never know the real story of very famous explorer but as you can see, there is a lot of speculation about him and his life.  This is far better information than I received when I was learning about him way back in the day.