“1492” (also known as 1492: The Year the World Began) is a book written by British historian, Dr. Felipe Fernandez-Armesto. The book contains ten chapters and an epilogue, but the story of Columbus doesn’t appear until chapter seven. The reason is because, as the subtitle of the book suggests, this book is about what was happening in the world before 1492 and how everything changed in that critical year. Each chapter covers different countries and what was happening with them in terms of politics, conquest, religion, commerce, economics, exploration, etc. This concept for a book is a good idea, but I won’t recommend it to anyone who is not familiar with history in general. In fact, I don’t recommend anyone to read any history book by any historian, especially when it comes to Columbus, unless one read the primary sources first.
There are good historians, bad historians, and okay historians out there. In the case of Dr. Armesto, all I can say is that he is eloquent, a good writer, intelligent and knowledgeable with world history. Nevertheless, I cant’ judge Dr. Armesto’s view on Columbus based on one book alone. So far, this is the first and only book I’ve read by him. I don’t know if Dr. Armesto is for or against Columbus. It is clear though, that Columbus made an impact on him, since he has other books about him, and other historical figures who lived during the same era.
“1492” is a book full of opinions and comments. Some are fair, others are not, others I’m not sure about, since my specialty is with Columbus. For example, in chapter four the author writes about the expulsion of the Jews in Spain. He claims that Andres Bernaldez, chronicler of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabel, “hated” the Jews. This is a little bit contradictory, since his chapter opens with Bernaldez (who was a priest and friends with Columbus) lamenting the Jews’ suffering during their exile. Bernaldez’s complaint was against behavior, and not skin color. Behavior like, according to Bernaldez, “arrogance,” “idolatry,” “extortion,” and “usury.” Later in the same chapter, Dr. Armesto mentioned other accusations that were made against them, acknowledging there “was probably some truth in the less sensational” of them. In all fairness, Armesto acknowledged the Jews were expelled by other countries before and after Spain in 1492.
Chapter seven is the one Armesto wrote about Columbus. So here are a few things he got wrong about him:
Dr. Armesto claims “Columbus’ proposal was unoriginal,” that there were several attempts in the 15th century. However, none of the examples he provided prove his statement. There are just examples of people exploring the Old World side of the Atlantic, and not of people trying to reach Asia by sailing west. The only attempt from that era was the King of Portugal, after Columbus presented him with his proposal. The Portuguese king told Columbus he was not interested, but then he sent a ship behind Columbus’ back. When Columbus found out, he was furious and left Portugal for Spain to make his proposal there. The rest we all know is history. See History of the Admiral by Ferdinand Columbus, Chapter 11.
Armesto states that Columbus “hardly began reading geography until he was middle-aged.” Incorrect! Columbus died as a middle-aged man, at 54 years old, so this is not true. Unless what he meant by “middle-aged” was the middle of Columbus’ life, during his 20’s. In that case, he might be right. In addition, he says that Columbus frequently “fanticed about having noble ancestors” making the “absurd” claim that he was “not the first admiral of my line.” I don’t recall Columbus “fantasizing” on having “noble ancestors,” but he did mention not being the first or only the admiral of his family. As a young man Columbus accompanied a relative of his, named Colombo the Younger, “who won great fame on the sea because he warred so fiercely against… the enemies of his country (History of the Admiral, Ch. 5).” If his father in law counts as family, then he was right again, because his father in law was a governor and a noble man as well. Armesto pessimistically added that Columbus’ first wife was,“one of the few noblewomen poor enough, marginal enough” to be his “miserable match.” Paolo Emilio Taviani, a historian I trust better, refutes this by saying Columbus’ wife was “impoverished perhaps, but a full blooded noble… (Columbus the Great Adventure, Ch. 6, p.31).”
Armesto writes that there “is no firm evidence that he [Columbus] had any sort of plan before 1486; only pious deference to unreliable sources makes most historians date it earlier.” In other words, Dr. Armesto knows more than the people who personally knew Columbus well. Basically, he is denying evidence by saying there is none, because he says so.
Armesto asserts that Columbus was not “clear” about his plan, that he changed his version like a good salesman depending on the audience. According to him, to some, Columbus proposed searching for new islands, while to others an unknown continent, to others China, etc. He kept changing his destination. However, this is not true and there are no contradictions. Columbus’ proposal was to reach Asia by sailing from Spain, exploring both the islands and the continent, which he did, but it ended up being a new continent that was not on the maps, until he discovered it.
Armesto commented that the “tenacious certainty most historians attribute to him was a myth he [Columbus] created and his earlier biographers enriched.” To Armesto, Columbus’ objective was just to become Don, admiral, viceroy, perpetual governor, etc. That statement by itself is the myth. Columbus indeed was certain of his mission, which was his objective. The titles of Don, admiral, governor, were his rewards. Again, Armesto is trying to put himself above history here. He describes this as the “Sancho Panza syndrome,” the “pursuit of vainglory,” and earlier in the same chapter, he called Columbus a “self-aggrandizing” person.
The author charges Columbus of “misreading” and “misrepresenting” the data that earth was 20% smaller, concluding he could reach Asia in a “few days.” Columbus' belief of a smaller earth was based on the science of many ancient cosmographers, and even one who was a contemporary of his, named Paolo Toscanelli, who told him in a letter he could reach Asia in a few days, which he did.
Columbus talked about meeting the Grand Khan in the Indies, but Armesto reminded us that that dynasty was dethroned in 1368, as if Columbus should be aware of it. They, the Europeans, at the time didn't even know what a Chinese or Japanese person looked like, and here we are expecting Columbus to know the aforementioned.
Armesto tells us Columbus chose the Canary Islands for departure. In reality, the reason why he stopped there was because someone rigged one of the ships (La Pinta) twice. He was forced to make a stop with the dilemma of either buying a new ship, or repairing the one they have, opting for the latter. See History of the Admiral, Ch. 17, p. 46 and The Voyage of Christopher Columbus by John Cummins, p. 84).
Columbus was rewarded by the king and queen for seeing the light of the first island they encountered. Armesto calls this “stunningly unfair egotism;” but it was the king and queen who decided to reward him instead. For more on this point, read my first book, Christopher Columbus The Hero, Ch. 8.
Armesto highlighted Columbus' comment about the first natives he met when he said they were “ignorant of warfare.” However, that’s totally out of context. In fact, Columbus said the natives were full of scars due to warfare, meaning they were acquainted with it. See The Voyage of Christopher Columbus by John Cummins, p. 94.
Armesto says Columbus was entertaining “bizarre fantasies: of islands populated respectively by Amazon women and bald men, of the enmity of Satan ‘who desired to impede the voyage’...”
The one entertaining “bizarre fantasies” is Dr. Armesto. Columbus was told by the natives of an island where the Caribs, a tribe of cannibals, would leave their women there and sporadically visit them [1]. The Caribs wore their hair long,[2] so I don’t know where the “bald men” description comes from, not to mention Armesto won’t provide sources for some of these quotes.
The one entertaining “bizarre fantasies” is Dr. Armesto. Columbus was told by the natives of an island where the Caribs, a tribe of cannibals, would leave their women there and sporadically visit them [1]. The Caribs wore their hair long,[2] so I don’t know where the “bald men” description comes from, not to mention Armesto won’t provide sources for some of these quotes.
1. History of the Admiral by Ferdinand Columbus, Ch. 63, p. 171.
2. Ibid, Ch. 36, p. 88.
2. Ibid, Ch. 36, p. 88.
Armesto describes the natives that came with Columbus to the Spanish court, when he returned from his first voyage, as “kidnapped” and “captives.” Yet, the seven natives that came with Columbus to the court, came voluntarily and got baptized as Christians voluntarily as well. See Historia General by Oviedo, Lib. II, C. VII, p. 29.
Armesto seems to suggest that the experts of Columbus’ times were still convinced he did not reach Asia or was near it. Armesto did not provide any evidence to prove this point.
Armesto’s description of Columbus’ 2nd voyage (in the same chapter) is more accurate than the 1st. When talking about the 3rd, he says Columbus’ behavior was “increasingly erratic,” causing the king and queen to repudiate his monopoly over the explorations. Actually, it was the Spanish colonists who were acting erratic, causing all kinds of trouble in Hispaniola, accusing Columbus of all sorts of falsehoods. See my book, Christopher Columbus The Hero 2.
What I appreciate from this chapter is that Armesto never used quotation marks for the word discovery, when it comes to Columbus, or anyone who was an explorer. He also acknowledged the overwhelming evidence that Columbus was from Genoa, and he admits native cannibalism was real.
Jumping to chapter 10, Armesto falsely claims all the natives disappeared from earth due to conquest, enslavement, disease and assimilations. If that is the case, why do we still have native tribes in North America, Central America and South America? What about the brown looking people in the Caribbean, like Puerto Rico, The Dominican Republic and Cuba?
Armesto claims the conquest of the Canary Islands history was written by “bold revisionists friars.” He did not elaborate.
He calls Columbus’ primary source, Bartolome de las Casas, an “impassioned critic of empire” even though he was a loyalist. Las Casas' criticism was against the mistreatment of the natives by some Spaniards (behind the back of the king and queen), and not against imperialism.
Further, Armesto argues that the Aztecs and Incas being “mistaken” by the Spaniards “for gods and preceded by omens” is false. I’m more familiar with the Aztecs than the Incas, so I can confirm that all primary sources contradict Dr. Armesto.
Finally, Dr. Armesto declares that Inca historians (clerics, conquistadors and Inca descendants) “exaggerated” the Inca power in order to “flatter” the Spaniards who overthrew it. In the case of historian and Inca descendant, Garcilaso de la Vega, he says he perpetuated this “myth” in order to “agrandazide” his ancestors by making them equal or superior to the Spaniards. Nevertheless, the one exaggerating and making myths here is Armesto.
Does anyone see Dr. Armesto’s pattern of making himself the authority of history, based solely on his comments without anything to substantiate it?
He concluded his book with an epilogue by saying the world changed in 1492. The world as they knew before 1492 ended and a new one began. “The world we are in, began to take shape,” our planet took a “modern” look. I do agree with that, and that 1492 was an important year in history.
In summary, this book contains history, but also a lot of comments and opinions the author wants to pass as “history.” Overall, this book is okay.
#FelipeFernandez-Armesto #1492 #BookReview
