Columbus: What Really Happened

Columbus reached an island in the West Indies on 12 October, 1492. Four hundred and six years ago today.

Most history books tell us that Columbus died without realizing that he had reached a new continent. It is true that he died swearing that he’d travelled to India. Four times. But there are reasons why he’d swear this, regardless of whether he really believed it.

The history books I had to read as a schoolboy also said that, before Columbus, Europeans thought the world was flat, and sailors were afraid, if they sailed very far from land, they could fall off the edge. But the sailors had a very different worry.

In the 14th century, sailing ships could only go in the direction of the wind. To go against the wind, it was necessary to use galleys, and galleys have very limited cargo and passenger capacity, since most of the galley is full of galley slaves. Given a strong east wind, a sailing ship could get away from Europe, but couldn’t get back, and the entire crew could expect to die of thirst and hunger.

Near land, there is usually a strong breeze blowing toward the sea early in the morning, and a strong breeze blowing toward land in the evening, and fishermen tried to stay close enough to shore that they could get home. Sailors trapped in a storm that blew them too far from land often never made it back.

Sometime in the 15th century, the Italians discovered how to make a sailing ship that could beat against the wind. The Italians only wanted such ships to dominate the Adriatic, but the Portuguese stole the design and used it to sail south along the west coast of Africa, against the prevailing winds and currents.

Columbus took the design and a map from 1427 that showed land approximately 4,000 km west of Europe and went to Madrid, where he applied for a government grant in 1485 (he’d already been turned down by the Portuguese).

He could have written, ‘I have no idea what this land is, or what I’ll find, but I’d like you to fund my proposal to build three ships.’ What he wrote was on the lines of ‘This map shows how to get to India faster than the Portuguese, and I alone know how to navigate there, so fund my proposal and Spain will gain competitive advantage.’

Spain put him on retainer, so he couldn’t travel to India for anyone else, but didn’t fund him until 1492. For about two months, Columbus sailed against a western wind, which kept his sailors happy, since they knew that, when water and food ran low, they could get back to Europe much quicker than the outbound voyage. Finally, on 12 October, Columbus reached an island where he found some strange foods.

When Columbus got back from America, he could have said, ‘I found something, but it certainly wasn’t India. We found some plants we ate on the way back, but we have some left to show you.’

But, had he said this, there would have been questions. And they would have been asked by the Spanish Inquisition.

So he said, more or less, ‘As promised, I managed to reach India. My first trip, while a complete success, was just a “proof of principal.” You need to give me further funding so I can continue and maintain Spain’s competitive advantage in Indian imports.’ Spain made Columbus the Governor of All India and funded three more missions. (There was a slight problem when the Governor of All India ordered the execution of a nobleman, resulting in his being removed from office and gaoled, but he kept pointing out that he'd found India for Spain before Portugal reached it, and they eventually released him.)

And Columbus kept saying he’d reached India until he died.

Of course, the best salesmen often believe their own drivel, so he may have deluded himself into thinking he’d reached India, and that the Native Americans were, as he said, Saracens. But there’s no conclusive evidence for what he really believed, only for what he said he believed.