The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Life of Columbus, by Arthur Helps

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Title: The Life of Columbus

Author: Arthur Helps

Release Date: March 12, 2005 [EBook #15336]

Language: English

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LIFE OF COLUMBUS ***

Produced by Don Kostuch

Transcribers Notes:

Several non-English proper names have been rendered in ASCI, omitting the proper accents.

Page headers have been moved to the beginning of the appropriate paragraph and several very long paragraphs have been split to correspond to the page headers. See the DOC or PDF versions for the original pagination and map images.

The following glossary provides references and definitions of unfamiliar (to me) terms and names.

Adelantado
  Governor or commander. Refers to Don Bartholomew Columbus (brother of
  Christopher) in this volume.

Angelic Doctor:
  Thomas Aquinas

Arroba
  In Spanish-speaking countries, a weight of about 25 pounds.
  In Portuguese-speaking countries, about 32 pounds.

Aught
  Anything whatever.

Bartholomew Columbus
  Brother of Christopher Columbus.

Cacique
  Title for an Indian chief in the Spanish West Indies.

Ca da Mosto or Cadamosto
  Alvise Ca' da Mosto, (1432-1488) Venetian explorer and trader who wrote
  early accounts of western African exploration.

Caonabo
  Cacique (chief) who destroyed Columbus's first garrison at La Navidad.

Cave of Adullam
  About 13 miles west of Bethlehem where David gathered "every one that
  was in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one that was
  discontented" (1 Sam. 22:2).

Cipango
  Japan.

Compeer
  Person of equal status; a peer.

Contumely
  Contempt arising from arrogance; insolence.

Cosmography
  Study of the universe, including geography and astronomy.

Diego Columbus
  Son of Columbus and Donna Felipa

Don Diego Columbus
  Brother of Columbus

Donna Felipa Munnis Perestrelo
  Wife of Christopher Columbus. Daughter of the first governor of Porto
  Santo. Only issue was Diego.

Dragon's blood
  Thick red liquid from a palm (Daemonorops draco) in tropical Asia;
  formerly used in varnishes and lacquers.

Encomienda
  A grant entitling Spaniards to land plus the Native American inhabitants
  of that land. The land and its inhabitants.

Fernando Columbus
  Son of Christopher Columbus and Beatrice.

Friesland
  Located in Europe on the North Sea between the Scheldt and Weser rivers.
  Now a province of the northern Netherlands.

Galliot
  Light, swift galley.

Gyve
  Shackle for the leg.

Las Casas
  Bartlome de las Casas is the chief source of information about the
  islands after Columbus arrived. Other historians overlooked the Indian
  slave trade, begun by Columbus; Las Casas denounced it as "among the
  most unpardonable offenses ever committed against God and mankind."

Machiavelli: Nicolo Machiavelli (1469-1527)
  Political philosopher, author of The Prince, that focuses on problems of
  a monarch, the foundation of political authority and how to retain
  power, rather than pursue ideals.

Maravedis
  Spanish currency. One million Maravedis (one cuentos) in 1490 is
  equivalent to about 308 English Pounds in 1860, or US$ 48,000 in 2005.

Martyr, Peter
  Peter Martyr d'Anghera wrote early accounts of Columbus, Ojeda, Cortes,
  and other Spanish explorers.
  An Italian humanist from Florence.
  Served as tutor in the Spanish court and had direct access to Columbus.
  Author of "De Orbe Novo" describing the first European contacts with
  native Americans.

Moors
  Arabs

Provence
  Province of southeast France bordering on the Mediterranean.

Pinzon, Martin Alonzo
  Chief shipowner of Palos. Accompanied Columbus as a captain.

Paria, Gulf of
  Between Trinidad and Venezuela.

Repartimiento
  Spanish, from repartir, to divide.
  Distribution of slaves or assessment of taxes.

Tagus
  River on the Iberian Peninsula flowing westward
  through central Portugal into the Atlantic.

Ultima Thule
  Ancient name for northern-most region of the habitable world.

End of Transcribers Note

The Life of Columbus

GEORGE BELL & SONS,
LONDON: YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN
NEW YORK: 66, FIFTH AVENUE, AND
BOMBAY: 53, ESPLANADE ROAD
CAMBRIDGE: DEIGHTON, BELL & CO.

THE LIFE OF COLUMBUS

CHIEFLY BY SIR ARTHUR HELPS K.C.B. AUTHOR OF "THE SPANISH CONQUEST IN AMERICA" "FRIENDS IN COUNCIL" ETC.

LONDON GEORGE BELL AND SONS 1897

First published 1868.
Reprinted 1869, 1873, 1874, 1877, 1878, 1881,
1883, 1887, 1890, 1892.
Included in Bohn's Standard Library, 1896,
Reprinted 1897.

TO
WILLIAM HENRY STONE,
THIS LIFE OF COLUMBUS
IS DEDICATED
WITH SINCERE ESTEEM AND REGARD
BY HIS AFFECTIONATE.
FRIEND,
ARTHUR HELPS.
London, October, 1868

PREFACE.

This Life of Columbus is one of a series of biographies prepared under my superintendence, and for the most part taken verbatim from my "History of the Spanish Conquest in America."

That work was written chiefly with a view to illustrate the history of slavery, and not to give full accounts of the deeds of the discoverers and conquerors of the New World, much less to give a condensed memoir of each of them.

It has, therefore, been necessary to rearrange and add considerably to these materials, and for this assistance I am indebted to the skill and research of Mr. Herbert Preston Thomas.

Perhaps there are few of the great personages in history who have been more talked about and written about than Christopher Columbus, the discoverer of America. It might seem, therefore, that there is very little that is new to be said about him. I do not think, however, that this is altogether the case. Absorbed in, and to a certain extent overcome by the contemplation of the principal event, we have sometimes, perhaps, been mistaken as to the causes which led to it. We