The Portuguese Columbus: Secret Agent of King John II

588 Pages·1992·62.16 MB·English

by  Mascarenhas Barreto (auth.)

THE PORTUGUESE COLUMBUS
THE PORTUGUESE
COLUMBUS
Secret Agent of King John II
Mascarenhas Barreto
Translated by
Reginald A Brown
Palgrave Macmillan
ISBN 978-1-349-21996-4 ISBN 978-1-349-21994-0 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-21994-0
English translation ©The Macmillan Press Ltd 1992
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1992 978-0-333-56315-1
All rights reserved. For information, write:
Scholarly and Reference Division,
St. Martin's Press, Inc., 175 Fifth Avenue,
NewYork, N.Y.10010
First published in Portugal in Portuguese in a
longer version by Edi~;oes Referenda, Lda 1988
as 0 Portugues CristOviio Columbo: Agente Secreto
do Rei Dom Joiio IL Copyright©
Augusto de Mascarenhas Barreto 1988
First published in the United States of America in 1992
ISBN 978-0-312-07948-2
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Barreto, Mascarenhas.
[Portugues Crist6va Columbo: agente secreta do Rei Domjoiio II.
English]
The Portuguese Columbus, secret agent of King john II I
Mascarenhas Barreto ; translated by Reginald A. Brown.
p. em.
Translation of: 0 portugues Crist6vao Columbo, agente secreta do
Rei Domjoiio II.
Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index.
ISBN 978-0-312-07948-2
1. Columbus, Christopher-Family. 2. john II, King of Portugal,
1455-1495. 3. Portugal-History-John 11,1481-1495. 4. America
-Discovery and exploration. I. Title.
Ell2.B2713 1992
970.01 '5-dc20 91-44778
CIP
To my master, the late Father Antonio da Silva Rego,
and all the mariners of the Discoveries
Contents
List of Tables xiii
List of Illustrations, Plates and
Genealogical Trees xiv
Preface xix
Acknowledgements xxi
Translator's Note xxii
PART I INTRODUCTION
1 The Cathars 3
The Island of St Lawrence 4
The Persecution 6
The Portuguese Monarchs 8
2 The Inquisition 13
3 The Portuguese Jews 19
The Compulsory Conversions 28
The All Saints' Hospital 30
Political 'Estates' 31
4 The Peninsular Crusades and the Templars 34
Crusades against the Muslims 35
Crusades against the Saracens and the Turks 36
The Extinction of the Templar Order 38
The Order of Christ 42
5 The Discoveries before Columbus 46
The Canary Islands 48
The 'Sagres School' 51
vii
viii CONTENTS
The University of Lisbon 53
Madeira and the Azores 55
Sailing West - Brazil 57
Greenland and Newfoundland 62
6 The Diplomatic Treaties of King John II 66
PART IT THE HERMETICISM OF COLUMBUS
7 Documentation of Columbus's Origins 81
8 The Language of Columbus 86
9 The 'Foreign Columbuses' 97
The Supposed 'Shipwreck' 100
A Distorted Miracle 104
Catalan Navigation 107
The Island of Genoa 109
PART ill EMPIRICAL AND SCIENTIFIC NAVIGATION
10 Portuguese Nautical Cryptography 117
11 The Enigma of Columbus's Voyages 133
12 The Problem of the Legendary Thule 143
13 More Theses on the Discovery of America 149
14 The Mystery of the Seven Cities 162
The Conspiracy 164
Cypangu 167
Espionage 167
The Myth of St Brendan 168
PART IV BIOGRAPHICAL PROBLEMS
15 Enigmatic Lineage 179
Fornari's Work 183
The Capitulaciones Diploma 184
The Origins of Columbus 186
CONTENTS ix
16 The Descent of a Weaver 189
Notarial Documents of Genoa and Savonna 191
The Real Dates of Columbus's Birth and Arrival in Spain 195
Muratori's Document 197
Suspect Documents 198
The Missing Deed 'Mayoradgo' 199
The Fake Deed 'Mayorazgo' 200
The Royal Deed and the Memorial to Diogo 205
The Memorando of Debts 207
Conclusion 212
17 Strategems and Deceits 214
The Lawsuit Against the Crown 215
The Suspect Final Paragraph of Fernando's Will 218
The Lawsuit of Succession 219
The Military Codicil' 221
I
The Letters of Columbus 223
The Handwritten Note in the Imago Mundi 227
The King's Letter 228
Conclusion 230
PART V COLUMBUS REVEALED
18 Dispersing the Mist 235
The Origins of Col6n-Zarco's Name 237
Previous Interpretations of Columbus's Siglum 241
Two Seventeenth-century Messages 244
19 The Prophecy of the Sibyl 246
Valentim Fernandes 246
The Meaning of the Prophecy 248
20 Astrology and Alchemy 253
The Origins of the Perestrelo Family 255
The Alchemists 257
Palaeo-Christian and Alchemical Symbols 257
21 The Labyrinth of the Cabala 262
The Western Cabala and its Symbology 263
The Rite of Mithra 271
The Temurah Method and the Names of
'Babel' and 'Tomar' 273
x CONTENTS
The Gematric Method 273
The Excellence of the Ternary 274
The Hexagon and the Dextratio Processes 275
The Mirror Process 278
The Notariqon Method and a Hebraic Temuric Example 279
22 The Other Side of the Mirror 283
The Meaning of the '5' 285
The Umbilical Centre and the Triangles 286
Irrelevant Messages 298
23 From Light to Darkness 301
'Ferens' and Frustrating Messages 307
The Sibyl's Advice 312
'Cantara' 314
The Final Solution 316
The Mysterious Monogram 319
The Discoverer Prince 320
PART VI CHECK AND MATE
24 After the Heat of the Battle 325
'Terra Rubra' 325
The Fulling and Weaving Industry of Beja 327
Bartolomeu Col6n at the English and French Courts 328
A Coinddenc,e of Toponymy 330
Zarco in Madeira 338
25 A House on Madeira and a Convent in Lisbon 342
'Esmeraldo' 342
The Convent of Santos (Saints) 343
Was Filipa Promised in Marriage to CoI6n-Zarco? 346
26 The Genealogical Web 349
The Obscurity of New Christian Surnames and the
Inquisition 352
The Tombs of Isabel and Filipa Moniz 354
The Navigators Converge on Beja 356
Juvenile Marriages 357
27 'Terra Rubra' and La RAbida 360
Vila Ruiva 361
Alvito 363
CONTENTS xi
The Friars Marchena 364
The Coutinhos 370
The Order of St James and the Convent of Santos 371
28 Huntsmen and Admirals 373
The Aguiars 375
The Eliminated Brothers 378
Bartolomeu and Diogo Colom 382
Admiral Kinsmen of Col6n-Zarco 384
29 Stopovers at the Azores, Portugal and Arzila 388
The 'Nina' at Santa Maria 390
Albergaria, Castanheira and Rui da Camara 392
Columbus Visits his Family 393
The Letter to Santangel 397
The Siege of Arzila 399
PART VII ON THE TRAIL OF THE LAST INCOGNITOS
30 The Protectors of Columbus 407
Genealogical Relationships 407
All Columbus's Protectors Were his Relatives 413
31 Adulterers and Adulterators 418
Queen Juana of Castile and her Daughter 'the Beltraneja' 419
Beatriz Henriques and Nuno Pereira of Serpa 421
Intentional Omissions 421
The Expedition to Tangier 423
Governors of Fronteira 423
Nuno Pereira de la Cerda and his Two Marriages 425
32 The Damsel of C6rdoba 427
The Notarial Documents 430
Cousins and Lovers 436
33 Distortions Corrected 439
The Name of Don Fernando's Grandfather 439
The Two Portuguese Grandmothers of Don Fernando 440
Moliarte, CoI6n-Zarco's Brother-in-Law 448
34 The Heraldic Secret 456
Heraldic Symbology 457
CoI6n-Zarco's Coat-of-Arms 465