In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue…We all know it, but did you know that he set out to traverse the Big Blue on August 3rd? His courage and sometimes audacity won this Italian the nickname, “Admiral of the Ocean.”
The Admiral and his crew of 90 set sail from Palos, Spain just half an hour before sunrise. Columbus captained the Santa Maria, while the Pizón brothers manned the Pinta and the Santa Clara (nicknamed the Niña). They set sail with the end goal of arriving at Cathay (Anglicized version of Catai, or Khitan, or what we call China today), but actually landed on Guanahani (what is now part of the Bahamas).
Columbus was named administrator of these Indies, by the Spanish government. However, two factors began to impede his administrative duties. He became sick from his many voyages back and forth across the ocean. Columbus was not the only thing traversing the Atlantic; his fellow countrymen sent complaints to the Spanish crown of the way in which Christopher was governing. Even his two brothers expressed grievances to the royal representative present during Christopher’s third voyage of exploration.
Bobadilla, a Spanish nobleman, was requested by Columbus to serve him as an aid, due to his declining health. Upon his arrival, Bobadilla revealed news that the crown had sent him to replace Columbus as administrator rather than act as his aid. Columbus was sent from his post in chains, back to Spain, without any opportunity of defense.
The story of Mr. Columbus does not end there. Later in his life, while in Spain, he wrote a book of prophecies. Columbus lived in a time of many apocalyptic assertions, and he made his own as well. Several sources mention that his prophecies were heavily influenced by Joachim of Flore, the founder of an Italian monastic order, the Joachimites. Columbus’ prophecies were religious in nature, and broken into four assertions.
1. Christianity must be spread throughout the world
2. The biblical Garden of Eden must be found
3. The Holy Land must be reclaimed through Crusades
4. A final world leader must be chosen so that the world can be handed over to the Christ upon his return.
Columbus also asserted that the Crusades would be funded by the gold found in the New World, and finally, that the Final World Leader would be both Ferdinand and Isabella.
Even at the end of his life, Columbus was an active individual, meaning that he was always pushing forward to new lands and new adventures.
Want to learn more about the saga of Christopher Columbus?
Read about The Enterprise of the Indies in the JBD Library.
The library also houses a book of prophecies made by Cristoból Colón himself, called, Christopher Columbus’s Book of Prophecies.
Other Events Today in History…
National Mustard Day
Niger: Independence Day
Source:
Chase’s Calendar of Events 2013
El Libro de las Profecías