The Barcelona Letter - American History, 1493-1945

Christopher Columbus to the King and Queen of Spain

1493

View the pamphlet printed letter from Christopher Columbus to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain in the resource

When Christopher Columbus set sail with his ships from Spain he did so aiming for Asia, believing that China could be quickly reached by heading west – rather than east – from Europe. Upon sighting land after six weeks his belief that he’d successfully reached Asia with this method stayed intact. Everything appeared to be as exactly as expected. Influenced by writers such as Marco Polo and John Mandeville, Columbus looked for the things promised and easily found them. There was gold, natives who were both kind and cruel and lustrous land from which riches would appear. It was, unfortunately, these riches that eventually meant he was tried in Spain for cruel treatment of the Indigenous People and the great fortunes of the new land were not enjoyed for long by the man who discovered them.

Columbus’ Barcelona letter holds more optimism for the future than this sad ending. Written in Lisbon on his return journey and sent on to both the monarchs of Spain, Isabella and Ferdinand, and other (highly debated) recipients, the letter was quickly translated and printed in both Latin and Spanish and distributed around Europe, becoming a bestseller. With no original document now in existence, there is current dispute over which versions the printed translations derive from and recent findings indicate that it was perhaps only the one copy that was circulated, with the copy belonging to the monarchs being kept private. In this collection is a Latin version, which was the more widely circulated translation. It relates Columbus’ descriptions of the lands found and his opinion on the best way to utilise them. As it was written to his benefactors, it is highly probable that Columbus adjusted his writings to appeal to those who could give him the money to set off again, as well as the power to give him a governing role over the lands. Consequently, he writes about the fruitfulness of the land (to please the merchants and developers), the naïve and friendly approach of the natives (to please the monarchs and those who would wish to limit military action), and their open attitude to being converted to Christianity (to please the church). With these people on his side, Columbus would have the ability to return and reap the rewards.

This letter successfully convinced them and he returned to colonise the islands, after settling the dispute between the Portuguese and Spanish over who had the right to them. From there, his star began to fall as he mistreated the natives and he eventually returned to Spain and died disappointed, leaving his sons to fight for what they believed he was owed. Columbus may have been disappointed with his achievements, but it was his initial forays into the colonisation of the Americas that opened the path to the rest of Europe and, more than 500 years after the event, he is now seen as one of the most influential explorers in world history.