Columbus

(from the journal of Columbus)

Whereas, Most Christian, High, Excellent, and Powerful Princes, King and Queen of Spain and of the Islands of the Sea...

...this present year 1492, after your Highnesses had terminated the war with the Moors reigning in Europe...

...having been brought to an end in the great city of Granada...

...I saw the royal banners of your Highnesses planted by force of arms upon the towers of the Alhambra...

...the Moorish king come out at the gate of the city and kiss the hands of your Highnesses...

...So after having expelled the Jews from your dominions... ordered me to proceed... to the said regions of India...

...and for that purpose
granted me great favors
and ennobled me
that thenceforth I might call myself Don
and be
High Admiral of the Sea
perpetual Viceroy and Governor
in all the islands and continents which I might discover
and acquire...
...and that this dignity should be inherited by my eldest son
and thus descend
from degree to degree
forever...

...Hereupon I left the city of Granada, on Saturday, the twelfth day of May, 1492, and proceeded to Palos, a seaport...

(from the journal of Columbus)

All the great stories start in Spain.
All of them sad, and all of them true.

technorati tags: digital art | Spain | Columbus | Granada | Alhambra | Moors | Jews | Christians | ship | block wave | tragedy