Epigraph
Arroba
In Spanish-speaking countries, a weight of about 25 pounds.
In Portuguese-speaking countries, about 32 pounds.
Aught
Anything whatever.
Bartholomew Columbus
Brother of Christopher Columbus.
Cacique
Title for an Indian chief in the Spanish West Indies.
Ca da Mosto or Cadamosto
Alvise Ca’ da Mosto, (1432-1488) Venetian explorer and trader who wrote
early accounts of western African exploration.
Caonabo
Cacique (chief) who destroyed Columbus’s first garrison at La Navidad.
Cave of Adullam
About 13 miles west of Bethlehem where David gathered “every one that
was in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one that was
discontented” (1 Sam. 22:2).
Cosmography
Study of the universe, including geography and astronomy.
Diego Columbus
Son of Columbus and Donna Felipa
Don Diego Columbus
Brother of Columbus
Donna Felipa Munnis Perestrelo
Wife of Christopher Columbus. Daughter of the first governor of Porto
Santo. Only issue was Diego.
Dragon’s blood
Thick red liquid from a palm (Daemonorops draco) in tropical Asia;
formerly used in varnishes and lacquers.
Encomienda
A grant entitling Spaniards to land plus the Native American inhabitants
of that land. The land and its inhabitants.
Fernando Columbus
Son of Christopher Columbus and Beatrice.
Friesland
Located in Europe on the North Sea between the Scheldt and Weser rivers.
Now a province of the northern Netherlands.
Galliot
Light, swift galley.
Gyve
Shackle for the leg.
Las Casas Bartlome de las Casas is the chief source of information about the islands after Columbus arrived. Other historians overlooked the Indian slave trade, begun by Columbus; Las Casas denounced it as “among the most unpardonable offenses ever committed against God and mankind.”
Machiavelli: Nicolo Machiavelli (1469-1527) Political philosopher, author of The Prince, that focuses on problems of a monarch, the foundation of political authority and how to retain power, rather than pursue ideals.
Provence
Province of southeast France bordering on the Mediterranean.
Pinzon, Martin Alonzo
Chief shipowner of Palos. Accompanied Columbus as a captain.
Paria, Gulf of
Between Trinidad and Venezuela.
Repartimiento
Spanish, from repartir, to divide.
Distribution of slaves or assessment of taxes.
Tagus
River on the Iberian Peninsula flowing westward
through central Portugal into the Atlantic.
Ultima Thule
Ancient name for northern-most region of the habitable world.