|
|
Columbus
exposed as iron-fisted tyrant who tortured his slaves
By Graham Keeley in Barcelona
07/22/06 "The
Independent" -- -- Christopher Columbus was a despot who ruled his
subjects with an iron fist, according to documents which have emerged 500
years after his death.
The man who discovered America for Europe routinely tortured slaves and
starved his subjects in colonies on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola.
Columbus was known to have mistreated native people when he was viceroy in
Santo Domingo, the capital of today's Dominican Republic, at the end of
the 15th century. But until now it had been put down to his lack of
political sensitivity.
The documents suggest a hidden face to the man who, after arriving in the
Caribbean in 1492, fell from grace eight years later because of his
conduct in Santo Domingo. In 1500, Columbus was brought back from the city
as a prisoner on the orders of the Spanish monarchs, Ferdinand and
Isabella, to stand trial.
Statements from 23 witnesses at his trial were uncovered at the archive of
Simanacas, near Valladolid, by an archivist, Isabel Aguirre, who spent a
year transcribing them.
Consuelo Varela, a historian in Seville, has studied the documents and
believes it is the most important discovery about Columbus's life for a
century. Her research, which appears in La Caida de Cristobal Colon (The
Fall of Christopher Columbus), reveals the brutal life in the first colony
which Columbus set up.
Varela told the Spanish daily El Pais: "Life in the colony in these first
seven years was hard and terrible. There was a great deal of hunger, envy,
rancour and rumours of all sorts. It was a primitive, insular life, rather
like what we see in Western films."She said people, including white
Spanish slaves, were auctioned in the main square of Santo Domingo. "We
hear of a poor boy who was caught stealing wheat grain. They cut off his
ears and nose and put shackles on him and made him a slave. Columbus ran
the colony with an iron fist.
"One woman happened to say that Columbus came from a working-class family
and that his father had been a weaver. Columbus's brother Bartholme had
her tongue cut out, after parading her naked through the streets on a
donkey. Christopher congratulated his brother on defending the family
honour."
There were many attempts at mutiny in the colony, she said.
The 46-page document shows Columbus and his brothers Bartolme and Diego as
tyrants who ruled through summary justice. They also forbade natives from
baptism so they could used as slaves. Varela said the documents showed
Columbus's "immense greed". He was eventually arrested, tried and
dismissed as viceroy of Santo Domingo and governor of the Indies.
"Now we know why he was removed from office and the good reasons for it,"
she said. "Nobody likes to air dirty laundry, but this is what the
document shows."
The exposure has already provoked an angry reaction. Critics say some of
the accounts may have come from enemies of Columbus, who were out to
damage his reputation. But other accounts come from members of his own
close group, even trusted friends. "Even they told of the atrocities that
happened," said Varela. "Columbus's government was tyrannical, with no
trials or anything similar."
The revelations come as the world marks the 500th anniversary of Columbus'
death in 1506. DNA investigations on his descendants are under way in
several countries finally to pinpoint the explorer's birthplace, usually
attributed to Genoa in Italy. A result is expected later this year.
© 2006 Independent News and Media Limited
Columbus spoke Spanish while living in Italy. This is
an unusual situation unless his family had originated in Spain. The
area around Genoa had many Spanish-speaking Jewish refugees from the
Inquisition.
The form "Colón" was a common Jewish variation on the name which
Columbus adopted as the Spanish equivalent of his last name. The
expected form would have been "Colom" or "Colombo".
Columbus kept the company of Jews and former Jews, among whom were
noted astronomers and navigators, as well as his official translator.
Marranos were prominent among his backers and crew.
Throughout Columbus' life he had demonstrated a keen knowledge of
the Bible and the geography of the Holy Land. On one occasion he
calculated the date from the destruction of the "Second House" meaning
the temple, counting from the traditional (and erroneous) Jewish date
of 68 CE, rather than the commonly held 70 CE.
The connections between the timing of Columbus's voyage and the
expulsion of Spanish Jewry are curious. Historians have noted that
though Columbus was not scheduled to set sail until August 3rd, he
insisted that his crew be ready on board a full day earlier. This
becomes more intriguing in that 2 August 1492 was the day that had
been ordained for the last Jews of Spain to depart the country.
Hundreds of thousands of Jews were departing Spain on that black day.
When these coinciding dates were first noted by the Spanish biographer
S. de Madariaga, the English Jewish historian Cecil Roth added a
further "coincidence": 2 August 1492 coincided with the Ninth of Av,
which is the Jewish fast of mourning for the destruction of the Temple
in Jerusalem. Columbus may have arranged to remain on board ship
during that ill-omened day, and to depart only afterwards.
Louis Santanel, the financier for Columbus' voyage to America was a
Jew.
Much
more evidence has been cited on the Jewish Columbus question. De
Madariaga devoted a 500 page tome to proving this thesis. Some of the
most important arguments, though, are summarized in the Encyclopedia
Judaica, written by the its editor-in-chief, Cecil Roth. Although Roth
himself expresses some skepticism about Columbus' Jewish origins, it's
probably significant that the entry is not preceded by the special
sign that normally indicates an article about non-Jews. |
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C.
Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have
expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for
research and educational purposes. Real Dream Catchers.com has no
affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is Real Dream
Catchers.com endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)
White Eagle Soaring: Dream Dancer of the 7th Fire
This is a crazy world. What can be
done? Amazingly, we have been mislead. We have been taught that we can
control government by voting. The founder of the Rothschild dynasty, Mayer
Amschel Bauer, told the secret of controlling the government of a nation
over 200 years ago. He said, "Permit me to issue and control the money of
a nation and I care not who makes its laws." Get the picture? Your freedom
hinges first on the nation's banks and money system. That's why we
advocate using the
Liberty Dollar, to understand the
monetary and banking system. Freedom is connected with
Debt Elimination for each individual. Not
only does this end personal debt, it places the people first in line as
creditors to the National Debt ahead of the banks. They don't wish for you
to know this. It has to do with recognizing WHO you really are in
A New Beginning: A Practical Course in Miracles.
You CAN
take
back your power and
stop volunteering to pay taxes to the collection
agency for the BEAST. You can take back that which is yours,
always has been yours and use it to pay off your debts. And you can send
others to these pages to discover what you are discovering.
Disclaimer: The
statements on www.real-dream-catchers.com have not been evaluated by the FDA.
These dream catchers are not intended to diagnose nor treat nor cure any
disease or illness
© 2007, Allen Aslan Heart / White Eagle Soaring of the Little Shell Pembina Band, a
Treaty
Tribe of the Ojibwe Nation
|
bravenet.com
Museum-quality
