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I PROPOSE in this chapter to deal with the relations which are supposed to have existed between Behaim and Columbus.
Antonio de Herrera,(1) in his `Historia General de las Indias' (Dec. I., lib. 6, I., c. 2), after referring to Columbus's views as to the ease with which India might be reached by sailing to the West, adds that, "he was confirmed in this opinion by his friend Martin de Bohemia, a Portuguese, a native of the island of Fayal, and a cosmographer of great judgment (de gran opinion)."
It is quite possible that Columbus and Behaim met during the former's residence in Portugal, and that they discussed the scheme of discovering the East by the West. Behaim had arrived in Portugal in May or June, 1484, and stayed there, or in Fayal, until the spring of 1490, when he left for Nuremberg. Columbus, on the other hand, made his first appearance in Portugal in 1476.(2) It was in Portugal that he conceived the idea of reaching the spice-lands of India by sailing across the Western Ocean. It was in Portugal he first studied the `Imago Mundi' of Pierre d'Ailly,(3) the `Historia rerum ubique gestarum' of Pope Pius II.,(4) Mandeville's `Travels',(5) and other works, of which several with marginal notes by himself and his brother Bartholomew are still to be found in the Colombine Library at Seville. At Lisbon he listened to accounts, more or less fanciful, of voyages beyond Madeira and the Azores. Having matured his scheme of discovery, he submitted it to King John. The King seems to have listened with favour to the proposals of this persistent stranger, but his scientific advisers, D. Diogo Ortiz de Vilhegas, Master Rodrigo, and Master Josepe or José,(6) looked upon Columbus as a visionary, and upon his scheme as not likely to yield any profit, if not altogether impracticable. And they were justified in their opinion if they had approximately correct notions as to the extent of Asia and the consequent vast breadth of the Western Ocean, which up till then had in vain been navigated by Portuguese expeditions in search of imaginary islands depicted upon the charts.(7) But the King, notwithstanding this unfavourable report, might have provided a caravel had not the reward claimed by the Genoese in case of success been most unreasonable. Moreover, it was thought preferable to devote the resources of the kingdom to the prosecution of the voyages of discovery round Africa, which in the course of time yielded a direct sea-route to India and Cathay.(8)
Columbus, disappointed, turned his back upon Portugal at the end of 1484 or in the spring of 1485. But in Castile, too, which was still engaged in the struggle with the Moors, he met with little encouragement, and he seems to have made fresh overtures to King John of Portugal. Such, at least, may be judged to have been the case from the tenour of a letter which the King wrote to him on March 20, 1488,(9) in which he guaranteed that Columbus should not be proceeded against, civilly or criminally, on account of any offence he might have committed.(10) Columbus did not at once avail himself of this permission, for on June 16, 1488, he was still at Seville, but probably started for Portugal soon after the birth of his son Ferdinand, on September 28, 1488. He certainly was at Lisbon in December, for he was present when the King received the report of Bartholomeu Dias on his return from the memorable voyage round the Cape of Good Hope. But, however friendly his treatment by the King, Columbus failed once more in gaining acceptance for his adventurous proposals. He returned to Spain. Granada, the last stronghold of the Moors in Spain, fell on January 2, 1492; his conditions, in spite of their extravagance, were agreed to, and on August 3, 1492, he sailed from Palos on his momentous passage across the Atlantic. And though he did not discover the promised ocean highway to the spice-lands of India or to the wealthy cities of Cathay, he revealed, unconsciously, the existence of a veritable `Mundus novus,' the existence of which had been foreshadowed by Crates of Mallos and even earlier speculative cosmographers, but which Columbus himself refused to recognise down to the day of his death.(11)
On March 8, 1493, on the triumphant return from his first and most daring voyage, he once more called at Lisbon. Behaim at that time was still absent at Nuremberg.
It will thus be seen that the opportunities for personal intercourse between Behaim and Columbus were not many, especially if it be borne in mind that both were frequently absent from Lisbon, the one residing usually in the island of Fayal, the other undertaking occasional voyages to England and the Guinea coast. The "opinions" held by Columbus surely needed no "confirmation" on the part of Behaim. In 1484, the earliest date when the two men could have met, the mind of Columbus on the subject of his proposed voyage of discovery had been fully made up, and it is not likely that a young German merchant, quite new to questions of that kind, would have obtruded his opinions upon a man so much his superior in age and experience.
But though Behaim may never have held personal intercourse with Columbus, or influenced his cosmographical theories, there can be no doubt that he shared the erroneous views held by the successful Genoese as to the narrowness of the Ocean Sea and the facility with which it might be crossed, and so persistently and successfully urged by him in favour of his proposals. A glance at Behaim's globe proves this. We there find Antilia, the island depicted upon the chart which Columbus had with him, but looked for in vain on the 17th and 25th of September; as also Cipangu (Japan), his declared goal, which he unhesitatingly identified with Cuba.(12) These geographical features agree absolutely with what we know to have been the "opinions" held by Columbus. Whether Behaim derived them from a copy of Toscanelli's chart, or from some other source, shall be considered (p. 64).
Further evidence in favour of the contention that Behaim shared the views of Columbus with regard to the small breadth of the ocean which was supposed to separate the West from the East is furnished by a letter which Hieronimus Monetarius or Müntzer, a Nuremberg physician, addressed to King John in July, 1493, and in which he is recommended to avail himself of the services of Martin Behaim in a expedition fitted out to "disclose the East by the West." The arguments employed by Monetarius in favour of such an expedition are identical with those previously put forth by Columbus, and there can be no doubt that this letter(13) was written at the suggestion of Behaim and its contents inspired by him. It is curious, however, that such a letter should have been written at all, considering that Behaim is supposed to have been persona grata with King John, whilst Monetarius was merely an obscure man of learning in a distant German town.
(1)Antonio de Herrera was born in 1559. He was appointed Historiographer of India in 1596, and as such had access to the Spanish archives. The first Decade of his `Historia General de las Indias, 1492-1554,' was published at Madrid in 1601. He died 1625. back
(2)See H. Vignaud's able `Études critiques sur la vie de Colomb,' Paris, 1904. back
(3) Pierre d'Ailly (Petrus de Alliaco) was born at Compiègne in 1350, rose to high honours in the Church, and died at Avignon, Bishop of Cambrai and Cardinal, 1420. He is credited with being the author of one hundred and fifty-three works. His `Imago Mundi,' largely based upon Roger Bacon's `Opus Majus,' was written in 1400, but only published, at Louvain, about 1480. A `Compendium Cosmographiæ' was written in 1413, after he had become acquainted with Angelo's Latin translation of Ptolemy (Salambier, `Petrus de Alliaco,' Paris, 1886). back
(4) Enea Silvio de Piccolomini (Pius II.) was born at Pienza in Tuscany in 1405, became Private Secretary of the Emperor Frederick III. in 1442; Cardinal in 1455; and was elected Pope in 1458. He died in 1464. His `Opera' were published at Basel in 1471, his `Historia' at Venice in 1477. (G. Voigt, `Enea Silvio als Papst,' Berlin, 1852-63; H. Berg, `Enea Silvio als Geograph,' Halle, 1901.) back
(5) Columbus told his friend Andres Bernaldes, the Curate of Villa de los Palacios, that he had read Mandeville's `Travels' first published in 1480. (A. Bernaldes, `Historia de los Reyes Catolicos,' Seville, 1870, c. 123.) back
(6) Concerning these see Ch. VI. The question of the breadth of the Western Ocean is dealt with in Ch. XIX. back
(7) Harrisse, `The Discovery of North America,' Paris 1892, p. 655. back
(8) It was after the rejection of the proposals of Columbus that his brother, Bartholomew, proceeded to England, where, on February 13, 1488, he had completed a map of the world which he intended to present to Henry VII. This map seems to be lost past recovery. (Ferdinand Colon, `Vida de D. Christobal Colon,' c. 10; Las Casas, `Historia,' I., p. 225, and list of errata.) In England the year began on the 25th of March, and if the date given is according to the English style, we ought to read February 13, 1489. back
(9) This letter is published in Navarrete's `Coleccion,' II., Madrid, 1859, doc. No. 2. A. C. Teixera de Aragão, `Breve noticia sobre o descobrimento de America,' Lisbon, 1892, p. 26, doubts the authenticity of this letter. back
(10) It has been suggested that Columbus was involved in the conspiracy headed by the Duke of Viseu, whom the King killed on August 23, 1484; or that he obtained surreptitiously a copy of Toscanelli's Chart and letter, but it seems more probable that he left Lisbon secretly in order to escape being prosecuted for heavy debts incurred by him. We know, from a codicil to his last will and testament, that when he left Lisbon he owed about two hundred ducats and half a mark of silver. He instructed his son Diego to discharge these debts "for conscience' sake." Diego only remembered these debts on his own death-bed, in 1523, when he ordered them to be paid so "that his father's and his own soul should rest in peace" (Navarrete, II., doc. 152). back
(11) It is true that Columbus, after the discovery of the Orinoco, in 1498, spoke of "most extensive lands to the south, not known hitherto," but this "Mondo novo," to his mind, was merely an appendage of Asia. This is clearly shown by his brother Bartholomew's map (see p. 36, No. 4). Peter Martyr (Letter No. 136, October 1, 1493) already doubts that the islands discovered by Columbus adjoined India, though merely on the ground that the habitable world, according to Ptolemy, had an extent of only 180° in longitude. back
(12) Barros, `Da Asia,' Dec. I., liv. III., c. 11; Journal of the first voyage, Sept. 17 and 25, Oct. 23, 1492. back
(13) For a translation of this letter see Appendix IX., p. 118. back
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