Historical Figure: Christopher Colombus

Christopher Columbus, the Fabulators

In the life of the famous Admiral Columbus, there are few clear facts and many dark uncertainties. Even today, historians dispute his place of origin. Catalans, Genoese, and Corsicans, primarily, continue to argue over the birthplace of the discoverer, who was able to obscure his family background due to his Jewish origins. It is also not entirely certain that he was the first to arrive in America, as recent discoveries place Viking navigators on the coast of Labrador as early as the 9th century. There are even indications of Chinese maritime voyages in the 15th century.

The only point on which all historians seem to agree is in listing a series of character traits that align with the description of an Enneatype E7. Christopher Columbus was "a man animated by the exploratory impulse typical of this character, and the first to put into practice navigation guided by the stars."

He was not the kind of person who lived in the clouds; rather, he was a man of action, not a thinker—practical, earthy, adventurous, and somewhat impulsive. Yet, his interpretation of his own actions was fanciful. Not only did he believe he had reached the coast of Asia, but even more surprisingly, he seemed to have no problem enslaving Indians whom he sincerely wished to convert to Christianity.

Although the utilitarianism and practicality of Columbus are beyond doubt, there are solid reasons to think that the admiral must also have been a fanciful charlatan—one who believed his own fantasies, albeit well-reasoned ones. This trait must have been especially useful to him when the sailors of the Pinta, the Niña, and the Santa María began to have serious doubts about finding land as the Discovery adventure progressed. "Columbus deceived the crew every day about the miles traveled."

Speculating on the cordial and egalitarian treatment the admiral might have given his subordinates in those moments of tension would be futile. Even more so considering that the Enneatype E7 (Self-Preservation subtype) tends to be egalitarian toward those hierarchically above but usually exhibits a certain authoritarian and even despotic inclination (perhaps influenced by Enneatype One) toward subordinates. Columbus had the opportunity to demonstrate his authoritarianism during his long tenure as Captain General of the newly discovered lands. However, in 1499, he was returned to Spain in chains due to his abuses and corruption in office.

Before addressing this matter, let us return to the days leading up to October 12, 1492. When the situation became untenable on board and the sailors had begun a mutiny, the admiral made a bold prediction: they would reach the Indies in three more days of sailing. He made this claim on October 9. During those three days, Columbus managed to maintain peace on board, and miraculously, he was right—perhaps another example of a special predisposition for planning, so typical of this character, especially in the scheming, controlling, and pragmatic Self-Preservation 7.

What Happened During the Journey to America?

The Catholic Monarchs had promised a reward of ten thousand maravedís to whoever first spotted land. In this regard, Columbus's dishonesty and greed must also be noted, as he falsely claimed to be the first to glimpse American land. In reality, Rodrigo de Triana was the lookout who had this privilege and to whom the prize should have gone.

Taking credit for others' achievements seems to have been a constant in the life of this cunning opportunist, who managed to monopolize voyages to the Indies and exploit his public image long after that date. Sometimes, he did so through theatrical displays, such as

when he crossed the Peninsula as a penitent to be received by the Catholic Monarchs, who had withdrawn his privileges.

However, before continuing with his opportunistic tendencies, let us examine his nature as a charlatan. In Columbus's case, this trait reached the level of mystification and megalomania, displaying a narcissism mechanically aimed at fostering a personal legend built on plagiarism, exaggeration, and half-truths.

Even during his return voyage from his first sea expedition—when he was only twenty-four years old—he began attributing to himself marine adventures that he had likely overheard from crew members. "Columbus began to attribute to himself marine adventures, surely overheard by some of the crew members on that voyage and others he made," says historian Cardona. Why did Columbus behave this way? For vanity? More likely due to his own frustrations and to boost his self-esteem.

We should also add that he sought to construct an image that better suited his narcissism. Rather than being remembered as a daring cabin boy climbing the poles to mend sails, he wished to erase his past as a simple passenger guarding fabric bundles woven in his father’s house.

The Opportunist and the Myth-Maker

However, greater opportunities for adventure awaited him. In 1476, Columbus embarked on what would be his second sea voyage—this time to distant England. Once again, he was tasked with guarding his father’s merchandise. But this time, the threat of corsairs was real, and the ship was well armed with culverins, bombards, and falconets.

Imagine the excitement the young and dreamy Christophoro must have felt when, rounding Cape St. Vincent, the trading ship he was on encountered corsairs under the command of Guillaume Casanave de Coullon, in service to the King of France. The battle was fierce, and the galley in which Columbus traveled began to take on water. In a daring act, the young man leaped into the sea and clung to a piece of wood. After long hours of anguish, he reached a fishermen’s beach, where he was taken in and cared for.

It was from these people that he learned he had just fought against his "uncle" Coullon. His "uncle," indeed—for some strange reason, attributable to the mythomania typical of his Enneatype, young Christophoro had imagined since childhood that he was the nephew of the famous pirate. Since the fishermen praised the feats of the French corsair, Columbus kept quiet about his Genoese origins and instead spun the tale that he had been serving under his "uncle," taking part in various bloody battles. He told this hoax to anyone who would listen, thus weaving his own legend.

And there’s more.

The previous year, in Chios, he had also claimed to have commanded a ship owned by King René of Naples—after learning that a certain Columbus (probably an Aragonese) had been on that ship. He further asserted that he had sailed under Colombo the Younger in 1459. The fact that he would have been less than ten years old at the time hardly mattered. Who was going to verify the accuracy of his claims?

Columbus was determined to forge an interesting marine and military history for himself, recounting his dreamlike adventures with charm and confidence—qualities that, as a good Mediterranean (whether Genoese, Corsican, or Catalan), he did not lack. Convinced that deception and theatricality would be crucial in his life, he resolved to use them for his benefit—though, notably, never to harm others [italics added].

Thus, for instance, when he later demanded grand titles to undertake his daring expeditions, he remained silent about his early profession with his father, as well as the real reasons for his first voyages. He claimed to have commanded a galley for King René in 1473 (which he wrote as "Reinel") and to have fought in the battle of Cape St. Vincent, as well as in engagements with Colombo the Younger, who had attacked four Venetian galleys returning from Flanders.

What a treasure this young Columbus was: a true fraud... Arrogant and vain, Christopher Columbus preferred to go down in history as a fearsome and feared corsair rather than as a vulgar fabric and brocade merchant. To this day, there is still speculation about these adventures of Columbus that he himself was responsible for propagating. As one fanciful historian speculates:

Is it not possible that Christopher Columbus, in that early period of his life—of which hardly anything is known—had embarked on a Viking ship and, under the orders of some chief worshiper of the god Thor, such as Erik the Red, had already reached the shores of the continent that would later be called America?

Legends, mysteries, enigmas... This is the life of Christopher Columbus. There are those who doubt that, as he wrote in his own handwriting, he visited the island of Thule (modern-day Iceland). The great Salvador de Madariaga gave credibility to this story since Father Bartolomé de las Casas, who accompanied Columbus on his American adventure, provided this testimony:

In some notes that [Columbus] made on how all the five zones are habitable, proving it by experience of his navigations, he says as follows: I sailed in the year four hundred and seventy-seven in the month of February, ultra Thule, island one hundred leagues, whose southern part is far from equinoctial 73° and not 63° as some say, and is not within the line

that includes the west, as Ptolemy says, but much more western, and to this island, which is as large as England, the English go with merchandise, especially from Bristol.

Columbus's text contains some true data, such as trade with Bristol, but at the same time, he makes blunders regarding latitudes, which again opens the field to doubt and the suspicion of mystification.

Columbus knew how to sell himself very well in his time, but not everyone bought his speech so easily. Columbus was not heard at the Portuguese court of John II. The Portuguese king was surrounded by highly experienced sailors, before whom Columbus was only capable of contributing vagueness, half-words, and mysterious stories about the possibility of reaching Cipango by sailing west. His only proof was his visionary faith, which, in the end, turned out to be founded on something more than fantasies.

The half-planner, half-visionary, and fanciful character of Columbus also comes to the fore in the description of him by his friend and ardent admirer Bartolomé de las Casas:

He conceived in his very Christian heart the confidence of finding what he sought as if this orb had been placed in his ark. But because, according to what I understand, when he was determined to look for a prince who would help him and turned his back, he was already certain that he would discover lands and peoples, as if he had personally been there.

However, King John II, "despite paying attention to him, asked him to give specifics and not vagueness." The historian Salvador de Madariaga defends Columbus, arguing that "it must have been a real torment for him to have to remain before the king muttering the degrees and widths of the sea in full confusion, when there within his soul he felt as much clarity, decision, and fire as the sun."

The king, much more stubborn, gave Columbus a firm no because, among other things, he considered that the navigator's requests far exceeded what was reasonable and violated the rights of the Crown:

In effect, Columbus requested to carry out the expedition with the title of Grand Admiral of the Ocean Sea, the honorary and effective title of viceroy of all the lands he discovered, and a title that granted him ten percent of all the fabulous treasures that, according to him, he would find in said land.

It is very common for an E7 with a Self-Preservation instinct to hang pompous medals. Like magpies, they are attracted to the shine of metal, especially when it comes to money.

Faced with this snub, and surely fearing being involved in a process due to the strange and sudden death of the castaway Alonso Sánchez—whom Columbus had picked up from the sea and who is speculated to have given him valuable information on navigation to the

West—Columbus decided to secretly leave Portugal. It is also possible that the reason for his departure was debt.

Before leaving, he copied the Toscanelli map, a forgotten chart on which he placed all his faith for his expedition. With this map, he was able to appear before the Catholic Monarchs to defend his plans. He did it behind the back of King John II who, had he known, would have considered him a traitor.

When, on October 12, 1492, Columbus arrived in America, he believed he had reached Cipango. For a long time, he continued to cling to the idea of being in Asia, and his fantasy led him to conclude, in his exploration of the Paria Peninsula, that he had found the Terrestrial Paradise and that the Orinoco River descended from it. Though earthy and practical as a good Conservationist, Columbus was also guided by dreams, as a good E7. Proof of this is the fact that he was always focused on finding the passage to the Pacific Ocean in order to finally reach the East Indies, his long-awaited initial objective.

His facet as a charlatan and swindler is clear if we pay attention to the fact that Columbus promised the Catholic Monarchs and anyone who would listen to him a colonization of the newly discovered lands based on obtaining easy riches, which he predicted with great zeal and which ultimately were not fulfilled, unleashing strong mistrust and resentment towards the admiral.

Again, in his relationship with money and power, Columbus turned out to be a lousy administrator and even an embezzler. His management of the viceroyalty ended up being disastrous. The family aspect of the E7 was powerfully developed in him. Nepotistically, his brothers Bartolomé and Diego were promoted, bypassing any hierarchy. In a short time, the discoverer turned Hispaniola into a fiefdom of Columbus. During his viceroyalty, his appointments of relatives to high positions continued to arouse great suspicion against him. Combined with his authoritarian and embezzler traits, this led to a series of riots that Columbus tried to repress violently, ultimately costing him his privileges in the Indies.

Not content with his excesses as governor and failing to secure the expected riches, Columbus attacked the indigenous people and sold some as slaves, thus disobeying the orders of Isabella the Catholic, who had made clear her wish that the indigenous people be treated as subjects of Castile.

In conclusion, Columbus acted in a pseudo-social way before the authority of the Catholic Monarchs but then did as he pleased when their authority—something he did not recognize in his inner heart—was muffled by distance. A very typical attitude of E7, but even more so of the Self-Preservation instinct, with its proverbial lack of moral scruples.

Abounding in the family aspect, Columbus seemed to despise all who were not of his tribe. "Suspicious and very distrustful, he only trusted the men of his clique, who were not very good, with the exception of Antonio de Torres."

Columbus was often noted for his cunning, as in the famous episode where he used an old adventure novel trick. On his fourth trip to the New World, he remembered that the Regiomontanus Calendar announced a total lunar eclipse for February 22, 1504. So, posing as a magician, he told the indigenous people that he would take away the moon if they did not provide sustenance for him and his crew. The act worked flawlessly, and the terrified indigenous people begged him to return the moon, which he theatrically did, demonstrating his mastery of deception.

His pride was that of a nobleman, a musketeer, a narcissist who built a heroic, self-sacrificing, and reckless self-image, lie by lie, fantasy by fantasy, through suggestion, luck, and, above all, self-suggestion.