In the final episode of the Columbus biographical series, we focus on some of the controversial issues regarding the navigator's legacy, with an emphasis on the painful subject of slavery. The roles played by the Catholic Monarchs, Isabel of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon, are presented, considering the morals of the time and the historical context.
With my next series, we say goodbye to Columbus, but we remain in the zone of exploration to meet Amerigo Vespucci and delve into the fascinating field of cartography. So stay tuned!
Photo credits:
1. Consuelo Varela by Belén Vargas in Diario de Sevilla www.diariodesevilla.es/2018/02/25/rastrodelafama/Consuelo-Varela-ka-entrevista_1221788315_81277993_667x843.jpg
2. Ilaria Luzzana Caraci from www.ilariacaraci.com/about
Selected sources:
1. Consuelo Varela - “Columbus and the Casa de la Contratación”;
2. Helen Nader - “Desperate Men, Questionable Acts: The Moral Dilemma of Italian Merchants in the Spanish Slave Trade”;
3. Luciano Gallinari - “Christopher Columbus and the Confederate Generals versus Native Peoples? The struggle of memories amid removal, replacement and resignification of their monuments”;
4. Luzanna Caraci - “Per lasciare di me qualque fama. Vita e viaggi di Amerigo Vespucci”;
5. Mario B. Mignone - “Columbus and Vespucci: Two Quincentenaries in Conflict”;
6. Pius Onyemechi Adiele - “The Popes, the Catholic Church and the Transatlantic Enslavement of Black Africans 1418-1839”.
7. William D. Phillips, Jr. - “Isabel of Castile and the Opening of the Atlantic” (in “A Companion to the Queenship of Isabel la Católica - Hilaire Kallendorf).