Fernando Colón
Encyclopedia
Ferdinand Columbus was the second son of Christopher Columbus
. His mother was Beatriz Enriquez de Arana
, whom his father never married, but who was Columbus' constant companion in later life.
, Spain
, and spent his early years there with his mother. After Columbus
's triumphant return from his first voyage, Fernando was appointed a page to the Spanish crown prince Don Juan, but transferred to the service of Queen Isabella
following the young prince's death.
Between the ages of 13 and 15, Fernando was a crew member on Columbus' fourth voyage to the New World. After his father's death, Fernando accompanied his older half-brother Diego
to the New World in 1509 upon Diego's appointment as governor of Hispaniola
. But Fernando preferred a more settled life, and returned to Spain a few months later.
, and used a sizeable fraction of it to buy books, eventually amassing a personal library of over 15,000 volumes. This library was patronized by educated people in Spain and elsewhere, including the Dutch philosopher Erasmus.
Apart from its size, the library was unique in several ways. First, Fernando personally noted each and every book that he or his associates acquired by listing the date of purchase, the location and how much was paid. Secondly, he sought to take advantage of a recent technological development by devoting the bulk of his purchases to printed books instead of manuscripts. As a result, the library acquired a sizeable number (currently 1,194 titles) of incunabula (singular: incunabulum
) or books printed between the years 1453-1500. Third, he employed full-time librarians who, as the scholar Klaus Wagner noted, were required to live on the premise in order to ensure that their top priority would be the library itself. After his father's death, Fernando inherited Columbus' personal library, and what remains of these volumes contains much valuable information on Columbus, his interests, and his explorations.
Provisions were made in his will to ensure that the library would be maintained after his death, specifically that the collection would not be sold and that more books would be purchased. Despite this precaution, the ownership of the library was contested for several decades after Fernando's death until it passed into the hands of the Cathedral in Seville
, Spain.
During this time of disputed ownership, the size of the library was reduced to about 7,000 titles. However the library, renamed the Biblioteca Colombina, has been well maintained by the Cathedral and today it is accessible for consultation by scholars, students and bibliophiles alike.
and translated into Italian), Historie del S. D. Fernando Colombo; nelle quali s'ha particolare, & vera relatione della vita, & de fatti dell'Ammiraglio D. Cristoforo Colombo, suo padre: Et dello scoprimento ch'egli fece dell'Indie Occidentali, dette Mondo Nuovo (The life of the Admiral Christopher Columbus by his son Ferdinand). http://www.liberliber.it/biblioteca/c/colombo_fernando/
In the first paragraph of page 3 of Keen's translation, Fernando dismissed the fanciful story that the Admiral descended from the Colonus mentioned by Tacitus. However, he refers to "those two illustrious Coloni, his relatives". According to Note 1, on page 287, these two "were corsairs not related to each other or to Christopher Columbus, one being Guillame de Casenove, nicknamed Colombo, Admiral of France in the reign of Louis XI". At the top of page 4, Fernando listed Nervi, Cugureo, Bugiasco, Savona, Genoa and Piacenza (all inside the former Republic of Genoa) as possible places of origin. He also stated:
The publication of Historie has been used by historians as providing indirect evidence about the Genoese origin of the Discoverer. Fernando's manuscript was eventually inherited by his nephew Luis, the playboy grandson of the Discoverer. Luis was always strapped for money and sold the manuscript to Baliano de Fornari, "a wealthy and public-spirited Genoese physician". On page xv, Keen wrote:
On page xxiv, the 25 April 1571 dedication by Giuseppe Moleto states:
Fernando Colón died at Seville
in 1539.
Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus was an explorer, colonizer, and navigator, born in the Republic of Genoa, in northwestern Italy. Under the auspices of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, he completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean that led to general European awareness of the American continents in the...
. His mother was Beatriz Enriquez de Arana
Beatriz Enríquez de Arana
Beatriz Enríquez de Arana or Doña Beatriz Enriquez de Arana was the mistress of Christopher Columbus.-Biography:The history of the relationship of Beatriz and Columbus starts with the reason why Christopher Columbus was in Córdoba in 1487 at the Spanish monarchs' Alcazar. In 1479 Columbus had...
, whom his father never married, but who was Columbus' constant companion in later life.
Biography
Fernando was born in CórdobaCórdoba, Spain
-History:The first trace of human presence in the area are remains of a Neanderthal Man, dating to c. 32,000 BC. In the 8th century BC, during the ancient Tartessos period, a pre-urban settlement existed. The population gradually learned copper and silver metallurgy...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, and spent his early years there with his mother. After Columbus
Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus was an explorer, colonizer, and navigator, born in the Republic of Genoa, in northwestern Italy. Under the auspices of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain, he completed four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean that led to general European awareness of the American continents in the...
's triumphant return from his first voyage, Fernando was appointed a page to the Spanish crown prince Don Juan, but transferred to the service of Queen Isabella
Isabella I of Castile
Isabella I was Queen of Castile and León. She and her husband Ferdinand II of Aragon brought stability to both kingdoms that became the basis for the unification of Spain. Later the two laid the foundations for the political unification of Spain under their grandson, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor...
following the young prince's death.
Between the ages of 13 and 15, Fernando was a crew member on Columbus' fourth voyage to the New World. After his father's death, Fernando accompanied his older half-brother Diego
Diego Colón
Diego Columbus was the 2nd Admiral of the Indies, 2nd Viceroy of the Indies and 3rd Governor of the Indies. He was the firstborn son of Christopher Columbus and wife Filipa Moniz Perestrelo, and was born in 1479/1480 in Porto Santo, Portugal or 1474 in Lisbon, Portugal. He died February...
to the New World in 1509 upon Diego's appointment as governor of Hispaniola
Hispaniola
Hispaniola is a major island in the Caribbean, containing the two sovereign states of the Dominican Republic and Haiti. The island is located between the islands of Cuba to the west and Puerto Rico to the east, within the hurricane belt...
. But Fernando preferred a more settled life, and returned to Spain a few months later.
Library
As an adult, Fernando was known as a scholar. He had a generous income from his father's New World demesneDemesne
In the feudal system the demesne was all the land, not necessarily all contiguous to the manor house, which was retained by a lord of the manor for his own use and support, under his own management, as distinguished from land sub-enfeoffed by him to others as sub-tenants...
, and used a sizeable fraction of it to buy books, eventually amassing a personal library of over 15,000 volumes. This library was patronized by educated people in Spain and elsewhere, including the Dutch philosopher Erasmus.
Apart from its size, the library was unique in several ways. First, Fernando personally noted each and every book that he or his associates acquired by listing the date of purchase, the location and how much was paid. Secondly, he sought to take advantage of a recent technological development by devoting the bulk of his purchases to printed books instead of manuscripts. As a result, the library acquired a sizeable number (currently 1,194 titles) of incunabula (singular: incunabulum
Incunabulum
Incunable, or sometimes incunabulum is a book, pamphlet, or broadside, that was printed — not handwritten — before the year 1501 in Europe...
) or books printed between the years 1453-1500. Third, he employed full-time librarians who, as the scholar Klaus Wagner noted, were required to live on the premise in order to ensure that their top priority would be the library itself. After his father's death, Fernando inherited Columbus' personal library, and what remains of these volumes contains much valuable information on Columbus, his interests, and his explorations.
Provisions were made in his will to ensure that the library would be maintained after his death, specifically that the collection would not be sold and that more books would be purchased. Despite this precaution, the ownership of the library was contested for several decades after Fernando's death until it passed into the hands of the Cathedral in Seville
Seville Cathedral
The Cathedral of Saint Mary of the See , better known as Seville Cathedral, is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Seville . It is the largest Gothic cathedral and the third-largest church in the world....
, Spain.
During this time of disputed ownership, the size of the library was reduced to about 7,000 titles. However the library, renamed the Biblioteca Colombina, has been well maintained by the Cathedral and today it is accessible for consultation by scholars, students and bibliophiles alike.
Father's biography
Fernando wrote a biography of his father, (in SpanishSpanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
and translated into Italian), Historie del S. D. Fernando Colombo; nelle quali s'ha particolare, & vera relatione della vita, & de fatti dell'Ammiraglio D. Cristoforo Colombo, suo padre: Et dello scoprimento ch'egli fece dell'Indie Occidentali, dette Mondo Nuovo (The life of the Admiral Christopher Columbus by his son Ferdinand). http://www.liberliber.it/biblioteca/c/colombo_fernando/
In the first paragraph of page 3 of Keen's translation, Fernando dismissed the fanciful story that the Admiral descended from the Colonus mentioned by Tacitus. However, he refers to "those two illustrious Coloni, his relatives". According to Note 1, on page 287, these two "were corsairs not related to each other or to Christopher Columbus, one being Guillame de Casenove, nicknamed Colombo, Admiral of France in the reign of Louis XI". At the top of page 4, Fernando listed Nervi, Cugureo, Bugiasco, Savona, Genoa and Piacenza (all inside the former Republic of Genoa) as possible places of origin. He also stated:
Colombo ... was really the name of his ancestors. But he changed it in order to make it conform to the language of the country in which he came to reside and raise a new estate.
The publication of Historie has been used by historians as providing indirect evidence about the Genoese origin of the Discoverer. Fernando's manuscript was eventually inherited by his nephew Luis, the playboy grandson of the Discoverer. Luis was always strapped for money and sold the manuscript to Baliano de Fornari, "a wealthy and public-spirited Genoese physician". On page xv, Keen wrote:
In the depth of winter the aged Fornari set out for Venice, the publishing center of Italy, to supervise the translation and publication of the book.
On page xxiv, the 25 April 1571 dedication by Giuseppe Moleto states:
Your Lordship [Fornari], then, being an honorable and generous gentleman, desiring to make immortal the memory of this great man, heedless of your Lordship's seventy years, of the season of the year, and of the length of the journey, came from Genoa to Venice with the aim of publishing the aforementioned book ... that the exploits of this eminent man, the true glory of Italy and especially of your Lordship's native city, might be made known.
Fernando Colón died at Seville
Seville
Seville is the artistic, historic, cultural, and financial capital of southern Spain. It is the capital of the autonomous community of Andalusia and of the province of Seville. It is situated on the plain of the River Guadalquivir, with an average elevation of above sea level...
in 1539.