About Christopher Columbus
A Final Word

Dr. J. Regnault, in Le Provençal (Paris) on May 10, did not convince us. He could not convince us. His mistake, if he may say so, was to attribute to the 15th century the ideas, knowledge, and means of investigation of the 20th.

We know what the Americas are: a continent, 18,000 kilometers long, which, almost from pole to pole, separates the Atlantic from the Pacific. But—and we apologize for asking again—what were they like in 1492? Lands that the Irish and Scandinavians had already visited. In support of his thesis, Doctor Regnault notes that various geographical treatises of the 11th and 13th centuries noted their existence; he provides a list of the bold men who went to explore them.
We regret to point out that all the treatises (perhaps with the sole exception of Bianco) of the following two centuries no longer mention them. While some geographers admit them, they are ignorant of their exact position, and have no doubt that they are connected to the old continent. The pioneers who ventured there—without any particular idea of ​​discovery, let us note—had buried their very memory there. And, from the beginning of the 14th century to the end of the 15th, Europe knew nothing of either of them other than what tradition reported. The Middle Ages could therefore not answer the questions we had posed. By answering for him, Doctor Regnault has only demonstrated a more complete documentation today than it could have been. then—but no more certain: the hallucinations of a Moël, for example, attest to this.

But tradition equals history. In 1472, claims Doctor Regnault, an expedition formed by Christian I reached Labrador. And so the "Belles of the Sleeping Ocean" were reconquered. Will Europe ever learn more about them? Will the mystery surrounding them be solved? Are we approaching a new world? No. Afterward, as before, these lands remain shrouded in the mists of the North Sea; afterward, as before, a single ocean separates Europe from Asia. And this ocean is always empty of continents. Oh! Countless islands do populate it, including St. Blandan. But when one goes looking for them, one cannot find them. If a few appear, they move away when one approaches them; they move closer when one moves away. And the geographical maps of the known world offer no No less preposterous fantasies (when Heaven doesn't join in!) It is Africa that runs, in a parallel line, beneath Europe and Asia; it is Iceland and Norway, located opposite the Rhine; it is Vinland that touches, sometimes(!), Africa. Doctor Regnault cites this last map as proof that the existence of America was no longer in doubt. It is surprising, then, that Columbus did not take the stagecoach to make his voyages.

Not all maps, it must be admitted, were treated, especially a little later, with such nonchalance. Some of them contained fairly accurate data, quite precise. Even, thanks to the kindness of Mr. Isnard, section head at the National Library, we were able to admire a portolan chart, which is one of the most magnificent specimens of its kind. And, coincidentally, Strangely, this portolan chart was executed precisely between the years 1484 and 1492: the Cape of Storms appears there, the earthly paradise shines there, and... America is still and always absent... And one can maintain that Columbus knew that it existed!

But, please, when, "expert enough in geography to draw the map of the "world" to the point of placing the cities, rivers and mountains where they are located; after having visited all the known areas, conversed with a large number of scholars and people of all religions, acquired in navigation, in astronomy and geometry" the most reliable knowledge" (1). Columbus plans to undertake a voyage of discovery, is it to Vinland-Markland-Helluand that he wants to go? No. Is it to America? No. Where then? To the Indies. And Doctor Regnault himself recognizes it. So, why reproach him for the ridiculousness of a secret (Jean Revel), which he could not have? For pseudo-information (Magnus), which he had no use for? For precursors who could not have been his? The theft of a glory that he could not commit? Columbus will go to the Indies, a fabulous country, the homeland of El Dorado, the abode of Eden. He will call to the light of the Gospel the peoples who are ignorant of it; he will bring back enough gold to deliver the holy places, and to redeem the Holy Sepulchre to donate it to the Holy See... When he leaves the Azores, he sails straight to the West, facing the Indies; when he lands at San Salvador, he believes he is reaching the Indies; the natives he brings back are Indians; shortly after, Las Casas will be named its universal protector; a tribe still bears this name today... Columbus therefore did not go to coast, in the Northern Ocean, lands supposedly explored; He set off, the first, into the heart of the immense Ocean Sea, never crossed, to seek a world that was more imaginary than real, but which he found...
And, in order to agree with Doctor Regnault, we will, if he agrees, concretize Columbus's work in a formula entirely in keeping with his professional character. For several centuries, that is to say, for some time, the Earth, which was flat, had been rounding despite the pressure exerted on its belt. One day, on October 12, 1492, it gave birth to a continent. The doctor who assisted him was named Christopher Columbus. Columbus was not paid, it is true, for his services. But it sometimes happens that doctors are not paid.
A reservation that we, especially the French, would make without hesitation about the merits of the brilliant navigator comes from Jean Cousin. But how can we give any credence to the story of a ship, in 1488, being carried by a sea current, from the coasts of Africa to the coasts of Brazil? Yes, the name Maragnon given to the Amazon has something disturbing about it. This, however, is all that remains, to our knowledge, of a very unlikely adventure. The value of Columbus therefore remains intact. And when, on October 7, Columbus veered southwest, it was flocks of birds flying in that direction that inspired him. If, until then, Pinzon had not fomented sedition, he had not repressed those that had been hatched. But, when on October 10, two days before the great event, the armed revolt of all the crews broke out, it was Pinzon who was at their head and who summoned Columbus to return to Spain - under penalty of his life. And this was the kind of guide and advisor he was! So we willingly leave him the island filled with savages with his coat of arms, and prefer even the legend of those of his leader: For Castile and for Leon, this Columbus found the new world. Accompanied by twelve religious of various orders, Father Boïl, appointed by a Brief from Rome as apostolic vicar in the Indies, and charged with ordering everything necessary for the celebration of divine service, embarked with Columbus on his second voyage. Elysée Reclus reproaches the Viceroy of the Indies no less for not having taken even a chaplain with him. With equal levity, Reclus reproaches him again for not having followed through on his plan concerning the liberation of the holy places. Now, never has a man aroused such profound jealousy among the grandees of Spain; his arrest, and the chains of his third voyage, bear sufficient witness to this. When he undertook his fourth and final voyage, he was suffering from gout, was subject to attacks of paralysis, aged, worn out, almost blind, and weaker than ever in the presence of all-powerful enemies. Besides, El Dorado had kept its secrets. And he found himself in extreme poverty, abandoned by all, forgotten by the world when, on May 20, 1506, he "placed his spirit in the hands of God" (1).

Even the uncertainty that, for a time, reigned over the place of his birth is a cause for complaint. Let us state it here: Columbus was born in Genoa, in a house owned by his father, located next to the Porta St. Andrew, on the road to Bisagno, his mother's country. He himself wrote it in the act of institution of Majorat dated February 22, 1498: Yo sciendo nascido en Genova. Columbus was therefore born in Genoa as was born in Florence, in 1397, Paul Toscanelli, son of Dominic. But Columbus is discredited, even in his homeland. Here are the Spaniard Mùnoz, the Italian Bossi, the Englishman Robertson, the American Irving, the Frenchman Roselly de Lorgues, among many other authors, who write stories of him that are so many dithyrambs. In 1873, 700 bishops from all over Christendom supported a request for the beatification of the glorious navigator in the Roman court. Only the doubt surrounding the validity of his second marriage prevented this proposal from being followed through. In 1892, Genoa, Italy, Spain, and America celebrated the fourth centenary of his discovery. And this, in our opinion, is the truth about the origins and consequences of the immortal epic, as well as about "the man most worthy of going to represent to the new world all the virtues of the old, without bringing with him a single one of its vices." Such was Lamartine's sentiment, and, may our eminent opponent forgive us, such will remain ours.

J. Couissinier.

(1) Letter from Columbus to the King of Spain.
(1) Last words of Columbus.