LA MINA DE ORO AND THE SUGAR CANE.

Columbus had, without a doubt, long projected his voyage to the Indies. The first voyage was made with a very small fleet of vessels, and the motive was for the crew to witness and verify the exploit, and to take samples of natives, flora and fauna from the land to the Kings of Aragon. Another more important expedition was soon to be organized, with more vessels, more crew and passengers, some of who would be priests and members of the clergy to carry out the religious services that would be held and to evangelise the natives. There would be soldiers, farmers and artisans all with their tools and utensils, and knowledge. There would even be some native slaves from Guinea to cultivate the tropical produce, as well as domestic animals such as dogs and horses, all for the conquest and colonization of the new lands.

This was why the voyages to the Portuguese colonies were of such interest to Columbus. Some he made in the company of his brother Bartolomé and Miguel Ballester, who as we will see, on the second voyage to the New World, was to be the first man to plant of sugar cane on the Island of La Española and to extract the juice.

Paolo Emilio Taviani in I viaggi di Colombo (Novara, 1986) p. 32, writes:

"A una prima impresione, il Genovese, che ha conosciuto gli ignami in Guinea, confonde con casi  l`ajes, cioé la batata (...) Chi le ajes  crescono piú

 grosse e buone di quante abbia visto altrove, poiché l ´Ammiraglio

 dice che ne aveva giá visto in Guinea (...) Studi recenti compiuti particolarmente in Dominicana hanno portato a concludere che l´ajes e il tubero che lo Scopritore definisce, per il recordo della Guinea..."

The same author on p.429 writes:

"Il fallimento dell´impresa coloniale di Colombo all ´Hipaniola: Nel " Manual de historia dominicana" - che, in qualche punto riportiamo integralmente e il resto riassuntivamente - Moya Pòns sottollinea che il plano di Colombo era stato dii constituire nell ´Hispaniola una fattoria o colonia simile a quelle che egli  aveva visto, molti anni addietro, lungole coste di Guinea e Capo Verde, in Africa".

There is no doubt then, that Columbus visited Castillo de la Mina (of gold) in Guinea, from the numerous manifestations made by the sailor and which Hernando Columbus and Las Casas wrote down. The latter insists on making a point that Columbus’ voyages to la Mina, were made whilst he was resident in Portuguese territory, namely Porto Santo where he was nationalized by way of his marriage to a Portuguese woman, and that he was frequently accompanied by his brother Bartolomé.

His words read:

‘On these voyages of discovery, or at least, some of them, the Admiral was joined by his brother D.Bartolomé Columbus, confirmed by the information that I have obtained from letters and other written documents that have come into my hands’ he continues ‘the two men were frequently accompanied by others of Portuguese nationality.

Columbus had planned his navigation project well, and had voyaged to Guinea in order to learn about tropical agricultural produce, how to cultivate and later manufacture it.

As we have said Columbus, and his team, studied the possibility of planting and cultivating the produce from the Guinea Coast in the new tropical lands of the Antilles. Columbus had already sailed with the Norwegians Pining and Poshort from Tile or Tule (known today as Greenland) to Vinland  (land of wine) on the north-east coast of Canada, and he knew that the Antilles Islands, which he wanted to reach, were situated on a lower parallel of latitude than that he had previously sailed on i.e. in the Tropics and that it was a straight course from the Gulf of Guinea to the Carribean.

A BRIEF LOOK BACK INTO HISTORY SO AS BETTER TO UNDERSTAND THIS STORY.

Catalonia under the Crown of Aragon.

From the XIIth Century onwards, Catalonia had had ties with the Crown of Aragon and from the middle of the XIIIth Century also with the Kingdoms of Valencia and Majorca as well as other possessions in the Mediterranean belonging to these Crowns as a result of successive conquests. These territories have all been ruled, at times under the same government and at times by independent governments under the same head, namely the Crown of Aragon, whose subjects were denominated Aragonese, although they were perhaps from Valencia or the Balearic Islands. At that time, Aragonese subjects were considered as foreigners by the land of Castile.

The General Courts of the Crown of Aragon were held, subject to convenience, in different parts of  the territory; Zaragoza, Alcañiz, Barcelona, or Cervera, and to them came representatives of all the different geographic possessions of the realm, for example the Island of Sardinia.

At the end of the XVth. Century the new peninsular dynasties of Avis in Portugal and Euvre in Navarre opened ways to create a union of the different kingdoms, which up till then had never been consolidated. With their marriage, the Catholic Monarchs brought about, if not a union within the mainland, at least the possibility of confederating the two crowns following the Conquest of the Moors in Granada, the Expulsion of the Jews from Castile and Aragon and the great Discovery of America by Columbus all of which happened in 1492.

The marriage of Isabel of Castile to Ferdinand of Aragon. Archbishopric of Tarragona, the see at which the dispensation for the legitimate marriage of the Catholic Monarchs was negotiated.

The Royal Family had lived in Tarragona from 1462 because of the 10-year War against the Generalitat (Catalan Government) being fought by the troops of Juan II of Aragon. Queen Juana Enriquez died on 13th February 1468, after suffering a long and cruel illness whilst living in this city,. Daughter of the Admiral of Castile, second wife of Juan II, and mother of the heir to the throne Ferdinand, she was not able to live long enough to see the long sought after marriage of her son Ferdinand to Isabel, both members of the Trastamara family, and cousins.

At the Courts celebrated in August 1469 in Cervera  (Lérida), situated half way between Zaragoza and Barcelona and where the Kings of Aragon had a palace, a parliament took place. Ferdinand, King of Sicily as from 13th. June of the previous year and Heir to the Crown of Catalonia and Aragon accepted the conditions for his marriage to Isabel of Castile. The ceremony would be held illegitimately in Valladolid in October of the same year (1469).

The Archbishop of Toledo, Alfonso de Carrillo, solved the problems involved in the question of kinship by presenting a Papal Bull issued by Pio II, which dispensed the marriage contractors of any degree of consanguinity. However, later on this document was proved to be false, forged by Ferdinand himself and his father Juan II, in confabulation with Archbishop Carrillo.

In her book “The Borgia Popes Calixto III and Alexander VI” (Valencia 1991), the Viennese historian Susanna Schüller-Piroli writes (p.109):

‘…Young Ferdinand’s reputation suffered very badly when his eldest stepbrother Don Carlos de Viana died in the prison where he had been cruelly held by his own father. The responsibility for the tragic death of the legitimate Heir to the throne of Aragon and Navarre fell on the shoulders of Ferdinand’s mother Doña Juana Enriquez. Ferdinand was the son of Juan II by his second marriage. The indignation felt by the Catalans was directed mainly towards Doña Juana, but stronger still was the hostility of the people of Navarre, where Juan had been ruler only thanks to his first wife Blanca d’Evreux from whom he had received Navarre as inheritance on her death’.

Rodrigo (de Borja, the Cardinal from Valencia) was extremely prudent in dealing with this problem. Firstly he arranged to meet Prince Ferdinand in person and judge for himself before making any decision about him. The future Pope and future King

met at the end of the summer of 1472 in Tarragona (Archbishop Urrea’s see). The first result of this meeting, Schüller explains, was that Rodrigo urgently recommended Pope Sixto IV to concede a dispensation for the legal marriage of Ferdinand to Isabel. Only this way, could the nation be united as one force in the struggle against the Infidels. The Pope listened to this advice and granted his representative the power to legitimise the marriage between the two young people.

1493: THE CATALANS WITH COLUMBUS IN LA ESPAÑOLA

Columbus in Tarragona on his return from the Voyage of Discovery of the New World, before being received by the Catholic Monarchs.

Regarding the return voyage to Spain after the discovery of the New World, it is worth mentioning that their Catholic Majesties were in Catalonia as the previous December, the King had suffered an attack on his life and had been badly injured in the neck by a knife. This fact confirms the 3rd April 1493 as the date that the Admiral was received by the Catholic Monarchs in Catalonia.

Columbus arrived first at Restelo (Lisbon) on 4th March 1493, where he stayed until 14th anchored in the Tajo Estuary, cleaning and repairing the ship. It is strange that it was not until 14th March 1493 that Columbus wrote the letter and list to the Catholic Monarchs in which he tells them of his discovery, explaining the most relevant facts in detail. This letter was sent by courier on horseback before Columbus left for Seville,

on board the craft “La Niña” on which he had returned from the New World.

On Friday 15th March “La Niña” anchored in the waters of the Guadalquivir with a cargo of natives and exotic animals brought from the Indies. From Seville

Columbus set off on his journey by land, by way of Royal Highways to Cordoba, where his mistress Beatriz Enriquez de Arana lived with their son Hernando and his son by his first marriage Diego.

Father Las Casas explains in his Historia de las Indias that he was very young, nine years old in fact when he witnessed the colourful arrival at Seville of Columbus’ caravan and retinue of native Indian slaves, exotic produce and animals brought from the new lands. He also confirms that from Lisbon on 14th March 1493 Columbus had sent an extensive letter explaining the whole voyage, to which the Monarchs had replied with a missive dated 30th March and which concludes:

‘… And as we wish you to continue that which with God’s help you have begun, we desire your return in our service as soon as possible. Time is important, the summer is advanced and there is no time to journey there ,therefore, proceed to arrange your return to the land from which you come.’

Write to us by this post of returning soon to see how it is to be done, while you leave and return so that all is ready. Barcelona, the thirtieth of March of the ninety third year. I the King. I the Queen.
 

The young nine-year-old witnessed the caravan passing through Seville on its way to Cordoba (where Columbus was to visit his mistress Beatriz Enrique and his sons Diego and Hernando, in her care). He saw Columbus and his retinue of men, native Indians, exotic fruits and birds brought from the Indies all of which were to be presented to the Catholic Monarchs in Barcelona.

An error made in History.

The fact that the letter from the Catholic Monarchs is dated 30th March and that Columbus was received by them on 3rd April (an event not noted in any official diary or register of the Ciudad Condal (Barcelona) has evoked many doubts among historians who think that Columbus must still have been in Andalucia on this date as he could not possibly have made the journey in so short a time. Probably, because of the many interests and ambitions involved in this discovery the Catholic Monarchs would have been extremely discreet and cautious regarding the arrival of the Admiral.

With respect to this fact, Antonio Rumeu de Armas, in his Estudio Histórico-Crítico of the Libro Copiador de Cristóbal Colón (known as Columbus’ Copy book or the Tarragona Manuscript because of where it was discovered) tells us:

‘The Monarchs of Castile, due the ambiguous behaviour of Juan II of Portugal regarding the discovery, have decided to bring forward the project of the development of the Indies so as to consolidate their position with respect to the lands and islands recently discovered, and, as the task of exploration has already been initiated, to renew the effort to repopulate them. On this day 30th March the second oceanic expedition was firmly decided’.

Some historians, supposing that when the Monarchs sent their missive to Columbus he was still somewhere in Andalucia, either in the house at Pinzon en Palos, or with the Franciscan Fathers at Santa María de la Rábita in Huelva, or in Seville, or Cordoba, believe it unfeasible for him to have reached Barcelona in four days. The error is that they have not contemplated the possibility of him having reached a location nearer to Barcelona, for example Tarragona, where he would have organised together with his companions his imminent and most important voyage, with a larger fleet of vessels, men and utensils, since this voyage was to be one of exploration, colonisation, and evangelisation of all the new lands discovered.

So, Morales Padrón in Cristobál Colón, Almirante de la Mar Océana (Madrid 1988) tells us that it was ‘about the middle of April’ stating more exactly ‘between the 15th and the 20th. A similar claim was made by the north American writer Washington Irvine in 1827, who said: ‘In the middle of April, Columbus arrived in Barcelona’. In his Gran Historia de América, published in weekly instalments by the magazine “Epoca” 1991-1992, Ricardo de la Cierva says:

‘Columbus had considered arriving at Barcelona by sea, but on receiving the Royal summons to arrive at the beginning of April, he immediately started his journey by land by way of Cordoba, (where he was to embrace his mistress Beatriz de Arana and his sons), then on  by way of Murcia, Valencia and Tarragona to Barcelona, where his triumphant journey was to culminate in the momentous occasion of his reception by their Royal Majesties’.

Just as la Cierva says, Columbus had written of his intention to sail to Barcelona in his Ship’s Diary. The route, which the Admiral actually took, according to this historian, confirms this theory. He would have had to travel by carriage from Seville to Cordoba, and then on to Murcia, but in our opinion, at some point on the coast, possibly Cartagena , his vessel “La Niña” and her crew were waiting for him, and he continued his route by sea from then on, by way of Valencia and Tarragona finally arriving at Barcelona. If Columbus had continued his journey by land, there would have been no reason for him to make the detour from Cordoba to Murcia. It would have been much more logical to travel northwards to Albacete, Almansa and then Valencia. To follow this route however, would not only have taken longer with the slow passage of the carriages, but would also have exposed them to the dangers lurking along the highways. It was much quicker and safer to make the last part of the journey by the means of transport in which the Admiral was most expert.

Maritime and land route which Columbus took through Spain after his return voyage from the Discovery of America

Columbus’ itinerary up to his reception by the Catholic Monarchs in Barcelona, by way of Royal Highways from Seville to Cordoba and Murcia and up the coast by ship.

In Consuelo Varela’s Critóbal Colón. Rertato de un hombre, her opinion is of particular interest: ‘What Columbus really desired, seaman that he was, was to be aboard his ship, and whenever he could, to avoid going on land. Even Oviedo tells us wickedly’ she says ‘that, on his first voyage, he did not go on land until reaching the Island of Cuba. It is almost certain that on Christmas Eve of 1492, when the craft Santa María ran aground Columbus was resting on board, and had not disembarked either to sleep or to celebrate the Christmas with the rest of the crew.

The course set for Tarragona is a key factor which sheds light on what has been considered as an error made in assuming that 3rd April was the date on which the Catholic Monarchs received Columbus in Barcelona, because it allows us to give a much more simple explanation. Between the date of the royal missive on the 30th March and the reception on the 3rd April there are four days, more than enough time for a missive to travel from Barcelona to Tarragona. A distance of 55 miles could be covered in one day by a courier on horseback such as Collantes galloping along the Royal Highways, so Columbus and his crew would have had three more days with which to prepare the voyage and sail from Tarragona to Barcelona.

        Miguel Ballester was from Tarragona, a true and loyal friend, and one of Columbus’right-hand men. Fray Bernat Boyle , who 5 years earlier had been secretary to Ferdinand II and foreign diplomat in France, was also from Tarragona and we could add still other citizens to the list of people who accompanied Columbus on other voyages, such as a certain Andreu and his brother Joan Anton, who served Columbus as page and valet.

Pedro de Urrea had held the Archbishop’s see of Tarragona from 1445-89. He had been the right-hand man of King Juan II of Aragon. When he died Gonzalo Fernández de Heredia, was nominated Archbishop. Gonzalo had also been ambassador of Juan II at the Court of Rome continuing to occupy this same position during the reign of Ferdinand II. Among the positions that Gonzalo occupied in Rome, the most noteworthy was that of Captain of the Guard of the Sacred Palace. He held this position at the time of The Conclave that took place in 1492, on the death of Inocencio VIII, when the Valencian Cardinal Rodrigo Borja was elected Pope, taking the name of Alexander VI. He was also a Prefect of the Eternal City in 1503 when this same Pope died. The late Pope had granted various bulls to Bernat Boyle, nominating him Vicar of the Church of Rome in the New World and had ratified the Treaty of Alcaçobas in which the boundaries separating the recently discovered Spanish and Portuguese territories were clearly defined.

The “Tarragona Manuscript” or Christopher Columbus’ Copy Book.

It is not surprising that it was in Tarragona, the ancient Mediterranean Catalan city and metropolitan Archbishopric, where 500 years after it was written, Columbus’ Copy Book was found. Known to all erudite scholars as the “Tarragona Manuscript”, this important document, found on the shelves of an antique bookshop, was acquired by the Spanish state in 1987, for a considerable sum of money, although its value is incalculable. Today, this manuscript is to be found in the Archive General of the Indies in Seville.

A Crucial meeting.

The “Tarragona Manuscript”, is no more nor less than a book in which Columbus copied down all the documents that he wrote to the Catholic Monarchs, a total of 38 pages written on both sides and which reproduce seven letter reports and two other missives of an intimate nature, written on the Admiral’s voyages to the New World between 1492 and 1504, this last year being when he returned from his fourth and last voyage.

One of these letters is considered as “the Birth Certificate of America “, because in it is to be found the first written news referring to the lands named the West Indies.

From the seven letter reports, two were already known, and had been published more than once, which itself guarantees the authenticity of the document. It is interesting to note that the text written in the “Libro Copiador” (Copy Book), is full of Catalan, Portuguese and occasionally Italian terms.

Rumeu de Armas, author of the transcription of the commentaries in Estudio Histórico-Crítico, says that the “Copy Book” constitutes one of the most important findings for the Commemorative Acts of the 500th Anniversary of the Discovery of America. Taking into consideration the details of the “manuscript”, Rumeu himself writes: ‘Although it is risky to prophesise the development of future events, we do not hesitate in claiming that one of the most significant and memorable incidents, from a historical point of view, is without doubt the appearance on the scene of Columbus’ Copy Book. The finding is absolutely transcendental because it gives us such highlighted and extensive information about the first expeditions to America.

On a visit we made in January 2000 to Dr. Ricardo E. Alegría, Director of the Centre for Advanced Studies of Puerto Rico and the Caribbean in Viejo San Juan, the knowledgeable archaeologist informed us that thanks to “the Tarragona Manuscript”, a hundred-year long controversy had been solved between Puerto Rican erudite scholars as to whether Columbus had disembarked on the Island of Boriquén (native denomination) or had only sailed around it. The precision and detail, with which the landscape flora and fauna is described, shows that Columbus must have inspected the place in very great detail.

Columbus took possession of the Island of Boriquén, which in the Araucan native language means “land of the brave man”, on 19th November 1493 and renamed it the Island of San Juan Bautista, in honour of Prince Juan, son of their Catholic Majesties. He disembarked there, apparently at the farthest point on the west coast, and was surprised at the transparent waters, rich vegetation, and abrupt coastline of the place.

The Testimonio Compañia Editorial in Madrid published Christopher Columbus’ Copy Book in three volumes in 1989 to commemorate the 500th Anniversary of the Discovery. The first volume corresponds to the Estudio Histórico-Crítico, of which Antonio Rumeu de Armas writes. The second volume is the translation of the seven informative letters and the two private letters, and the third volume is a facsimile publication of the manuscript itself, bound in embossed leather and decorated with five gold nails on each cover.

A limited edition of 980 copies was made and registered in a notarial act signed by Don Alberto Ballarin Marcial, notary of Madrid and member of the Illustrious College of Notaries. The act states that a part of the edition, 42 copies to be precise, each numbered with Roman numerals in red ink were to go to the 21 Hispano-American countries. On a visit that we made to the Museo del Faro de Colón in Santo Domingo, we were able to see a copy on show in a glass case.