![]() ![]() Thanks to his prestige as a shipowner and expert sailor and his fame throughout the Tinto- Odiel region, he was able to enlist an appropriate crew. Īs a strong sign of his commitment to Columbus's plan, Pinzón put up half a million ( "medio cuento") maravedís in coin toward the cost of the voyage, half of the amount that had been put up by the monarchy. According to Fernández Duro, de las Casas says Columbus offered Pinzón equal honors in the voyage and half the profits, and Diego Pinzón Colmenero testified the same in the pleitos colombinos Francisco Medel testified that he heard him offer Pinzón "whatever he asked for and desired". ![]() However, we do have the writings of Fray Bartolomé de las Casas and the testimony of some witnesses. There is no record of any written agreement between Columbus and Pinzón, and the terms of any agreement are lost to history. Pinzón's friend Pero Vázquez de la Frontera, a very respected old mariner in the town, also had an important influence on Pinzón deciding to support the undertaking, not only morally but also economically. The Franciscans of the Monastery of La Rábida put Columbus in touch with Pinzón. Pinzón family house in Palos, now Casa Museo de Martín Alonso Pinzón.Īt about this time, Pinzón returned from a routine commercial voyage to Rome. Opposition or indifference to Columbus's project was general. ![]() The venture-risky and, above all, of uncertain profit-did not present great attractions. Independent of their greater or lesser credence in his ideas, the men of Palos found it difficult to support the Genovese sailor if he was not accompanied by a mariner known and respected in the town. The sailors of Palos had no confidence in embarking on this adventure with Columbus, who was largely unknown to them. On a royal provision was read out to the residents of Palos, by which the Catholic Monarchs Isabella and Ferdinand ordered that certain residents deliver two caravels to Columbus and travel with him on his voyage that he was making "by command of Their Highnesses" ( "por mandado de Sus Altezas") and that the town should respect the royal decision. Preparations for the voyage of discovery It is probable that even while in Portugal before coming to Spain, Columbus was aware of Martín Alonso, because he was known for his participation in the war, as well as for his incursions into the Afro-Atlantic waters in the wake of the Portuguese, traveling to the Canary Islands and Guinea, with their rich fisheries and the commercial possibility of trade in gold, spices, and slaves. He was also famous for his battles against the Portuguese in the War of the Castilian Succession. His nautical experience and his leadership remained patent in the 1508–1536 lawsuits known as the pleitos colombinos ("Columbian lawsuits"), where the witnesses indicated him as the leader of the comarca (a region comparable to a shire). No indisputable written records remain, however, to support this early claim to discovery. Pinzon is known to have displayed a remarkable confidence in guiding Columbus in his discovery of the New World. Back in Dieppe, Pinzón left Cousin in a dispute, and is claimed to have left for Spain, from where he advised Columbus on his westward sail. Ī French tradition holds that Alonso Pinzón sailed to the New World with the navigator Jean Cousin, and that together they discovered the continent in 1488, four years before Columbus. Leonor, the youngest, suffered frequent attacks of what was then called " gota coral" and would now be called epilepsy. They had five children: two boys-Arias Pérez and Juan, who participated in several expeditions to the Americas-and three girls-Mayor, Catalina, and Leonor. Martín's family contracted a marriage with a resident of the locality named María Álvarez. His home, now the Casa Museo de Martín Alonso Pinzón, was on the old royal road to the Monastery of La Rábida. Life īorn in Palos around 1441, it appears that at quite a young age Pinzón shipped out on a locally based caravel as a grumete (cabin boy). His father was a sailor named Martín Pinzón his mother was named Mayor Vicente. His grandfather was a sailor and diver known as Martín it is not clear whether that was a first or last name, and whether in his generation Pinzón was a surname or an epithet. There are several conflicting theories about the origin of the family and of their name ( see Pinzón family). The Pinzón family was among the leading families of Palos de la Frontera in the late 15th century. Main article: Pinzón brothers § The Pinzón family of Palos ![]()
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