The successful outcome of the Granada War in early 1492 revealed a problem: the coffers of Isabel I of Castile y Ferdinand II of Aragonlos Catholic Kingswere empty. But a restless Genoese sailor threatened to transfer his tempting project of reaching the Indies and its riches by sailing to the West to France or England. In the weeks following the surrender of the Nasrid kingdom, Christopher Columbus He used a series of mystical-economic tricks to seduce the monarchs, among which the most notable was dedicating any profit to organize a new crusade: the conquest of Jerusalem.
The final agreement between both parties was ratified in the Capitulations of Santa Fe, signed on April 17 and which granted Columbus the title of admiral for life, among other privileges. The financing of a company in which the kings did not place much hope amounted to a total of about two million maravedis. Where were those resources going to come from?
Traditionally it has been argued that Isabella the Catholic had a greater role in supporting the uncertain Columbian enterprise – the latest investigations, however, point to a decisive role also played by Fernando and his most direct Aragonese collaborators. In this sense, a fairly widespread myth states that the sovereign He offered to pawn his jewelry given the amount of money necessary to finance the trip.
The landing of Christopher Columbus in America seen by the brush of the American painter John Vanderlyn.
Wikimedia Commons
This exaggerated story, as explained by Consuelo Varela, one of the most authoritative voices on the figure of Christopher Columbus, finds its roots in the biography that Hernando Colón made of his father, entitled Admiral’s History. The Dominican Bartolomé de las Casas included this anecdote in his General History of the Indies. And so it became a ball. “Everything seems to indicate that it is a legend which contrasts with the more generalized vision presented by the first chroniclers of the history of Columbus and the Discovery,” says the historian.
There is a fundamental fact that refutes that the monarch could mortgage her holes: it had been a long time since I had pledged them to the Valencia juries as collateral for a loan to finance the war against the Muslims of Granada. “To finance the company, something that the kings could not easily assume, an agreement was reached that focused the solution on hiring a service, which the monarchy endorsed, but it was paid for by individuals with which the kings had their own agreements and adjustments”, details José Ángel Sesma, professor of Medieval History, in his biography of Ferdinand II the Catholic (Tirant Humanities).
El presupuesto fue aportado principalmente por Luis de Santángel, hijo de conversos procedentes de Calatayud instalados en Valencia y gestor de los fondos de la Santa Hermandad, una institución dotada de un cuerpo armado, jurisdicción y tribunales propios. Este hombre, escribano de ración del rey Fernando desde 1481, en colaboración con Francisco Pinelo, fiel ejecutor de Sevilla, entregó al obispo de Ávila 1,15 millones maravedíes “para el despacho” de Colón, según recogieron en sus libros de cuentas.
“El resto se saldó para la Corona sin gastos ya que se aprovechó la sanción a la villa de Palos [puerto del que zarpó la expedición] forcing her to put two ships at the Admiral’s disposal,” adds Varela. Columbus himself, according to the Capitulations, was also responsible for financing a percentage of the trip. He barely had any wealth, so he had to seek financial support from his compatriots: the loan of 500,000 maravedis was provided by his friend and factor, the Florentine. Juanoto Berardi. The economic puzzle to launch an expedition to an unknown destination but that would end up transforming the world and changing history.