The origins of Christopher Columbus, a never-ending controversy (original) (raw)

A lot of speculation and hypothesis has been and still is about Christopher Columbus' birthplace, but the historiographic consensus mostly favours the established theory that the Admiral of the Indies was a Genovese citizen, even if the exact point within the Republic is difficult to ascertain. We also mention the most well-known alternative hypothesis that states Columbus' was Catalan. We here agree with the global consensus as it is the best explanation in regards to primary sources and first-hand witnesses.

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CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS -12 REASONS THAT MAKE HIS GENOESE ORIGIN UNFEASIBLE

Int. Conf. “Admiral Colon – A Feat in the West”, Chiado Publisher, Lisbon, 1919

Admiral Christopher Columbus never revealed his origin, creating a mystery with a five-century search to which many researchers are dedicated. The most internationally accepted hypothesis considers that he, in his youth, was a Genoese weaver (Cristoforo Colombo) and, later, after having spent some years in Portugal, he became the famous Admiral who discovered the Indies (America) at the service of the Catholic Monarchs. This hypothesis of the Genoese weaver, because of its inconsistencies, has been strongly contested, and several other hypotheses have emerged for the origin of the Admiral. In this article, and based on existing documents, 12 of the main facts are shown, that make unfeasible the hypothesis that the Admiral was the Genovese weaver.

FIVE YEARS IN THE LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS BEFORE HIS ARRIVAL IN PORTUGAL: 1471-1476

The goal of this paper is to demonstrate that the biographies of Christopher Columbus written by his son Hernando Colón and by father Bartholomew de Las Casas are sufficiently accurate to allow us to complete and define the facts of these five years of the life of Christopher Columbus with the help and complement of several documents found during the last ten years in several European historical archives by the author.

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