A lesser known aspect of the Great Navigator Christopher Columbus was his superpower. Beyond his amazing nautical skills, the Admiral seemingly had the heavens on his side.
On February 29th 1504, during his 4th voyage to the New World an eclipse of the moon saved him and his shipwrecked crew from the wrath of an indigenous Taíno tribe.
The story begins with the unfortunate results of his 3rd voyage (1498-1500). It was during that stay on the island of Hispaniola (now Haiti/Dominican Republic), which was Columbus’s first colony, that things got out of hand for the Admiral. New Spanish settlers ignored his rules to respect the natives. Moreover, Columbus and his brother Bartolomeo were reviled by the high-class (hidalgo) colonists as Italian upstarts undeserving of obedience. The animosity came to a head when the Spaniards appealed to Queen Isabel to send a new governor named Francisco de Bobadilla and to adopt a tougher, feudal policy over the natives as practiced by the rebellious Francisco Roldán.
When Bobadilla arrived on the island the first thing he saw were bodies of Spaniards just hanged by Gov. Bartolomeo. Soon both Columbus and his brother were put in chains and sent back to Spain for trial. At the sight of her glorious Admiral in chains; and hearing his side of the story, Isabel exonerated him, even allowing him a 4th voyage back. The one restriction was that he was not allowed to land on Hispaniola. Basically, Columbus was to establish a new base elsewhere and continue his search for a route to the East Indies. This is where the sorcery begins.
His small fleet arrives in the Caribbean during hurricane season. Columbus, now an old hand on New World weather patterns, senses the coming of a big blow. Against orders, he approaches Hispaniola seeking a safe harbor from the coming storm. At the same time a fleet of 28 ships is about to leave Hispaniola for Spain. Aboard the ships are Bobadilla and Roldán as well as cargoes of precious gold, including one ship with Columbus’s portion (his contract with the Spanish Crown was still being honored). The new governor Nicolás de Ovando denies Columbus shelter and dismisses his warnings of a hurricane. The treasure fleet to Spain will sail on schedule.
Columbus positions his four ships outside the harbor as best he can. The storm hits and spares his tiny fleet. Meanwhile, the treasure fleet is pummeled at sea with the loss of Bobadilla, Roldán and the Crown’s gold. The one ship that survives and makes it to Spain is, drum roll, the one carrying Columbus’s gold! How else to explain such a turn of events in the minds of medieval men—Columbus is avenged with the deaths of his worst enemies and his fortune is intact—except by sorcery.
ship-wrecked on Jamaica
The Admiral’s four ships: Capitana, Vizcaína, Gallega, and Bermuda, now set out on a voyage of discovery. Heading southwest, they reached present day Panama, almost exactly where the future Canal would be cut. The natives had lots of gold but no tolerance for a Spanish colony. The Spaniards escaped with their lives. Meanwhile their ships were worm-eaten, two had to be abandoned. The leaking Capitana and Bermuda headed for Hispaniola but were wrecked on the island of Jamaica, 300 miles from Hispaniola. Worse, his men mutinied, and the natives were unwelcoming. Columbus turned to “sorcery.”
Columbus was stranded on Jamaica for a full year and ran out of food early on. He depended on trade with the natives but they wanted more than beads and hawk bells. Possessing astronomical tables of eclipses, Columbus found that on February 29th there would be a lunar eclipse in Spain. How he managed to compute that event for the Caribbean time zone is nothing short of a miracle – yet he did. He assembled the native chiefs and warned of his power over Nature. The eclipse lasted over 3 hours and the terrified natives agreed to sustain the Spaniards until rescue.
There are so many wondrous dimensions to Columbus, despite his flaws, that he must remain a hero in our pantheon. -JLM
To appease the anti-Columbus faction, Colorado Governor Jared Polis signed a bill that abolishes Columbus Day and replaces it with a new state holiday in honor of Saint Frances Cabrini. It seems like a transparent attempt to appease the Italian American community of Colorado but, in reality, it is an insult to their intelligence, given that the underlying motivation is that a “mass murderer” cannot be honored with a holiday.
The irony is that the Columbus Day movement began in Colorado back in the early 1900s. Unfortunately, many Italian Americans are willing throw Columbus under the bus just to compromise. I have no idea what Mother Cabrini did for the people of Colorado. By contrast, Columbus benefitted all of mankind.
Yes, it is sad to think that the IA leaders in Colorado appear to have bought into the big lie about Columbus. Not too many years ago, Colorado Italian Americans showed great courage in marching on Columbus Day even though the American Indian Movement under the leadership of Ward Churchill threw urine on them and called out “mafia scum” during the parade. They could benefit some of your research studies on Columbus.
After moving to the U.S., I was exposed to the smear campaign against Colombo. One good thing about it is that it made me more curious about him and his voyages.
I recently read a new Italian book called 1492. It talks about Colombo based on his diary and other sources (no woke, no Anglo, no Scandinavian lies and hoaxes). I was amazed to learn that it took years of preparation and training. He sailed to Iceland for example. He amassed books and scientific resources available at that time. The trip was possible because he had the most advanced knowledge and skills in astronomy, engineering, meteorology of that time. I think it is still possible to visit his library in Spain and see his notes on those books ( Institución Colombina, Seville, Spain).
That knowledge and experience were the foundation of his voyages. He was never lost during his voyages. He was constantly calculating the distance from Tenerife. Not sure why anybody would think he was lost. Also, there is no evidence to believe that he had intention to commit crimes against native people both before departure and after he landed in the Caribbean and started interreacting with natives.
It is crazy how millions of Americans have been brainwashed into believing that Columbus was responsible for genocide.