No. V. men. BIRTH-PLACE OF COLUMBUS. THERE has been much controversy about the birth-place of Columbus. The greatness of his renown has induced various places to lay claim to him as a native, and from motives of laudable pride, for nothing reflects greater lustre upon a city than to have given birth to distinguished The original and long established opinion was in favour of Genoa; but such strenuous claims were asserted by the states of Placentia, and in particular of Piedmont, that the Academy of Sciences and Letters of Genoa was induced, in 1812, to nominate three of its members, Signors Serra, Carrigu and Piaggio, commissioners to examine into these pretensions. The claims of Placentia had been first advanced in 1662, by Pietro Maria Campi, in the ecclesiastical history of that place, who maintained that Columbus was a native of the village of Pradello, in that vicinity. It appeared probable, on investigation, that Bartolino Colombo, great grandfather to the admiral, had owned a small property in Pradello, the rent of which had been received by Dominico Colombo of Genoa, and after his death by his sons Christopher and Bartholomew. Admitting this assertion to be correct, there was no proof that either the admiral, his father, or grandfather had ever resided on that estate. The very circumstances of the case indicated, on the contrary, that their home was in Genoa. The claim of Piedmont was maintained with more plansibility. It was shown that a Dominico Colombo was lord duke of Veragua, in 1578, the great grandson, and last legitimate male descendant of the admiral. The council of the Indias decided against this claim to relationship.. Some account of the law-suit will be found in another part of this work. This romantic story, like all others of the nobility of his parentage, is at utter variance with the subsequent events of his life, his long struggles with indigence and obscurity, and the difficulties he endured from the want of family connexions. How can it be believed, says Bossi, that this same man, whom, in his most cruel adversities, they did not cease to reproach with the obscurity of his birth, should not reply to this reproach, by declaring his origin, if he were really descended from the Lords of Cuccaro, Conzano and Rossignano? a circumstance which would have obtained him the highest credit with the Spanish nobility*. The different families of Colombo which lay claim to the great navigator, seem to be various branches of one tree, and there is little doubt of his appertaining remotely to the same respectable stock. It appears probable, however, that Columbus sprang immediately from a line of humble but industrious citizens, which had existed in Genoa, even from the time of Giacomo Colombo the wool carder, in 1311, mentioned by Spotorno; nor is this in anywise incompatible with the intimation of Fernando Columbus, that the family had been reduced from high estate to great poverty, by the wars of Lombardy. The feuds of Italy, in those ages, had broken down and scattered many of the noblest families; and while some branches remained in the lordly heritage of castles and domains, others were confounded with the humblest population of the cities. Dissertation, &c. No. V. men. BIRTH-PLACE OF COLUMBUS. THERE has been much controversy about the birth-place of Columbus. The greatness of his renown has induced various places to lay claim to him as a native, and from motives of laudable pride, for nothing reflects greater lustre upon a city than to have given birth to distinguished The original and long established opinion was in favour of Genoa; but such strenuous claims were asserted by the states of Placentia, and in particular of Piedmont, that the Academy of Sciences and Letters of Genoa was induced, in 1812, to nominate three of its members, Signors Serra, Carrigu and Piaggio, commissioners to examine into these pretensions. The claims of Placentia had been first advanced in 1662, by Pietro Maria Campi, in the ecclesiastical history of that place, who maintained that Columbus was a native of the village of Pradello, in that vicinity. It appeared probable, on investigation, that Bartolino Colombo, great grandfather to the admiral, had owned a small property in Pradello, the rent of which had been received by Dominico Colombo of Genoa, and after his death by his sons Christopher and Bartholomew. Admitting this assertion to be correct, there was no proof that either the admiral, his father, or grandfather had ever resided on that estate. The very circumstances of the case indicated, on the contrary, that their home was in Genoa. The claim of Piedmont was maintained with more plausibility. It was shown that a Dominico Colombo was lord of the castle of Cucarro in Monferrat, at the time of the birth of Christopher Columbus, who, it was asserted, was his son, and born in his castle. Balthazar Colombo, a descendant of this person, instituted a law-suit before the council of the Indias for the inheritance of the admiral, when his male line became extinct. The council of the Indias decided against him, as is shown in an account of that process given among the illustrations of this history. It was in proof that Dominico Colombo, father of the admiral, was resident in Genoa both before and many years after the death of this lord of Cucarro, who bore the same name, The three commissioners appointed by the Academy of Science and Letters of Genoa to examine into these pretensions, after a long and diligent investigation, gave a voluminous and circumstantial report in favour of Genoa. An ample digest of their inquest may be found in the History of Columbus by Signor Bossi, who, in an able dissertation on the question, confirms their opinion. It may be added, in farther corroboration, that Peter Martyr and Bartholomew Las Casas, who were contemporaries and acquaintances of Columbus, and Juan de Barros, the Portuguese historian, all make Columbus a native of the Genoese territories. There has been a question fruitful of discussion among the Genoese themselves, whether Columbus was born in the city of Genoa, or in some other part of the territory. Finale, and Oveglia, and Savona, towns on the Ligurian coast to the west, Boggiaseo, Cogoleto, and several other towns and villages, claim him as their own. His family possessed a small property at a village or hamlet between Quinto and Nervi, called Terra Rosa ; in Latin, Terra Rubra ; which has induced some writers to assign his birth to one of those places. Signor Bossi says that there is still a tower between Quinto and Nervi which bears the title of Torre dei Colom bi*. Bartholomew Columbus, brother to the admiral, styled himself of Terra Rubra, in a Latin inscription on a map which he presented to Henry VII of England, and Fernando Columbus states, in his history of the admiral, that he was accustomed to subscribe himself in the same manner before he attained to his dignities. Cogoleto at one time bore away the palm. The families there claim the discoverer and preserve a portrait of him. One or both of the two admirals named Colombo, with whom he sailed, are stated to have come from that place, and to have been confounded with him so as to have given support to this ideat. Savona, a city in the Genoese territories, has claimed the same honour, and this claim has recently been very strongly brought forward. Signor Giovanni Battista Ballero, an advocate of Savona, has strenuously maintained this claim in an ingenious disputation, dated May 12th, 1826, in form of a letter to the baron du Zach, editor of a valuable astronomical and geographical journal, published monthly at Genoat. Signor Ballero claims it as an admitted fact, that Dominico Colombo was for many years a resident and citizen of Savona, in which place one Christopher Columbus is shown to have signed a document in 1472. He states that a public square in that city bore the name of Platea Columbi, toward the end of the 14th century; that the Ligurian government gave the name of Jurisdizione di Colombi to that district of the republic, under the persua * Bossi. French translation. Paris, 1824, p. 69. † Idem. Correspondence Astronom. Geograph. &c. de Baron du Zach, vol. 14, cabier 6, lettera 29. Genes. 1826. |