Monthly Archives: September 2020

Father Boyle, “a priest as turbulent as he was crafty”, had been “irritated, it is said, by the rigid impartiality of Columbus”. Supplies at La Isabella were running short and the Spaniards had been put on half-rations. [1] He was … Continue reading →

Christopher Brito of CBS News is startled to discover that at least 33 Christopher Columbus statues have been taken down or are in the process of being removed since Summer 2020. Congratulations to Brito for having noticed this as of … Continue reading →

Around 1700, two strange books appeared. Each was published separately, in different nations, yet each had the same pseudonymous author: Prior Don Tivisco de Nasao Zarco, y Colona. Coded information was within these books, but you needed both books to … Continue reading →

Fort St. Thomas neared completion. (Now it is no more.) Command of the outpost in Cibao was given to one Pedro Margarite, a cavalier or knight. Under him were 56 men. Cristóbal Colón (aka Christopher Columbus) departed, returning to La … Continue reading →

To the inland region of Cibao on March 4, 1494 traveled Columbus, along with miners, munitions, and implements, to build a fortress in the mountains and an establishment for working the gold mines. [1] Gently, Cristóbal Colón coaxed Caonabo’s people … Continue reading →

Imagine you are an old man. Imagine when you were young you had been taught, “In 1492, he sailed the ocean blue.” All your life, through its vicissitudes, one truth could you always cling to: “In 1492, he sailed the … Continue reading →

The public is “ever fickle in its smiles”, declares Washington Irving. Stuck in the middle of nowhere, with the city of La Isabela more imagined than real, the crew of Columbus were in a mutinous mood. He lay sick in … Continue reading →

La Isabela was the name chosen for the embryo city being built by Mystery Man after the site of Fort Navidad had failed so disastrously. By February 1494 a dry stone wall surrounded La Isabela for protection against attack. A … Continue reading →

There’s no getting around it. Even Washington Irving says it. Writing a letter from his sickbed to be sent to Spain, around January 1494 Columbus proposed a slave trade between Hispaniola and Spain. The suggestion exhibits “a most pernicious tendency,” … Continue reading →

The Virgin of the Navigators is a painting by Spanish artist Alejo Fernández, created between 1531 and 1536. It is the earliest painting having as its theme the discovery of the “New” World. In the lower left of the painting, … Continue reading →