Chapter 29. Scholars
Present day. Bristol, England.
One of the professors seated in the front row raised his hand.
“Yes, Jim?” asked Winston.
“Charlie, we’ve heard these conspiracy theories before. While I agree with you that the Waldseemüller Map is puzzling, where is the evidence that Vespucci stole Cabot’s maps?”
“Well, Jim, we know from ship logs that Vespucci accompanied de Hojeda on his voyage to the New World in 1499. In August 1499, de Hojeda reached the Gulf of Coquibacoa, or what we now know as the Gulf of Venezuala, and it is here that de Hojeda's ship logs reveal that they encountered 'certain Englishmen.' Since John Cabot and his crew were the only Englishmen at that time cruising around South America, we can be relatively sure that the Englishmen which were encountered were John Cabot and his crew.
“The next piece of evidence is the Juan de la Cosa Map from 1500, which many of you have seen before.” Charlie Winston hit the air mouse and a new green and tan colored map appeared on the screen. “Juan de la Cosa was the cartographer on de Hojeda’s ship. The Juan de la Cosa 1500 Map shows the eastern coastline of the present-day United States, and all along the coastline, there are English flags. We actually have the de la Cosa Map because it was rescued by Napoleon from the Vatican Archives, where it had been hidden for over three hundred years. But the pressing question is: How did Juan de la Cosa know about the Northern English settlements in 1500 when none of the Spaniards had ever been there before? How did he know about those settlements when the only person who could have known about them was John Cabot? There is only one reasonable explanation. De Hojeda captured Cabot’s ship, and then de Hojeda, Juan de la Cosa, and Amerigo Vespucci took Cabot’s maps.
“And then we come to the documents recently discovered in Seville. There are two pieces of evidence there which are relevant. The first is a page of a shipping log written by Amerigo Vespucci, which seems to corroborate the theory that de Hojeda murdered Cabot.” Winston clicked the air mouse again. “In this log, Vespucci writes:
‘Today we encountered an English ship piloted by Zuan Chabotto, a Venetian. As he was Italian, I acted as interpreter. After frank discussions with Captain de Hojeda, the Englishman graciously gave us copies of all of his charts and maps, for which we are profoundly grateful. Chabotto’s ship and crew looked quite ragged, and I would not be surprised if they never made it back to English port.’
“And then several days later there is this entry:
‘Today we reached the Island of Boyuca in the Bay of Veragua. One of the men became ill in the mind and jumped overboard. Unfortunately, we were unable to save him.’
“Really? Cabot just turned over all his navigational maps, just like that, to his Spanish competitor? And what were these frank discussions with de Hojeda? De Hojeda was many things, but an orator and a diplomat he was not. He knew one thing, and that was violence. And what about this mysterious crewman, never named, who suddenly goes insane and jumps overboard? Really? Does that sound believable to you? The more likely story is that de Hojeda killed Cabot’s crew, stole his maps, and then dumped Cabot overboard.
“But the final clincher is the August 1499 Cabot Map, part of our discoveries in Seville.” Winston clicked the air mouse. “This is the Cabot Map. We have carbon-dated the document and experts have performed a handwriting analysis. It is genuine. This handwritten map was written by John Cabot in August 1499. And as you can see, for the very first time, we have the word ‘AMERICA’ written on the North American coastline, scribbled from Florida to North Carolina, as well as on the South American continent. And down at the bottom of the map, there is this dedication:
‘With all allegiance to R.C.O. R. Ameryk, patron of the Matthew.’
“R.C.O. stands for Royal Customs Officer. Richard Amerike, also spelled Ameryk, was a Royal Customs Officer. The Matthew was the name of John Cabot's principal ship which was used to sail to the New World. We now have affirmative proof that America was not named after the schemer Amerigo Vespucci. In fact, as our Antiquarian friend Alfred Hudd suggested over a century ago from the halls of this very society, America was named after the Bristol fish merchant and Royal Customs Officer Richard Amerike. And you will also all note that this 1499 map also shows the Pacific Ocean on the western side of Panama and South America, proving once and for all that John Cabot, and not Balboa, discovered the Pacific Ocean.”
One of the scholars raised his hand.
“Charlie, what is your theory as to how these maps got behind the wall of the Alcazar?”
“Amerigo Vespucci was obviously pulling a fast one on the monk Waldseemüller. He didn’t want the monk to see the original of the Cabot Map, or that might expose him as a liar. So he took the 1499 Cabot Map, the Vespucci ship logs, and other important documents and entrusted them to his nephew Juan Vespucci, who hid them. At the time of Juan Vespucci, John Cabot’s son Sebastian was on trial for dereliction of duty. If he was acquitted, he might be returned to his post as Piloto Major, and, as such, would have the right to review all charts and maps, as well as the original of the Padrón Real. Juan Vespucci knew that Sebastian Cabot would be most interested in learning the part that his father John Cabot had played in the naming of America, his discovery of the Pacific Ocean, and his death at the hands of de Hojeda and Juan Vespucci’s uncle. If Sebastian Cabot got his hands on those records, his uncle would be exposed for the map thief and fraud that he was. And Cabot, the foreigner, instead of his uncle, would get the credit for naming the New World. So Juan Vespucci had the records hidden, behind a painting that he commissioned. And they have remained behind that wall for over five hundred years.”
Another scholar raised his hand.
“Yes, Manny?”
“Charlie, your theory obviously relies upon the notion that Vespucci was, at the very least, untrustworthy. Do we have any evidence in the record that Vespucci was less than trustworthy?”
“Yes, Manny, plenty of evidence. We know from Vespucci’s book as well as de Hojeda ship logs that Vespucci went along with de Hojeda in 1499 and visited Hispaniola, Trinidad, and Venezuala, all of which had been previously visited before by Columbus. There was nothing special about this trip in terms of discovery. But Vespucci sent letters back to Florence, falsely claiming that the 1499 voyage had been two years earlier, in 1497, a blatant lie which was intended to give him credence as one of the early discovers of land in the New World. However, his lie was exposed when the bloodthirsty pirate captain, de Hojeda, admitted under interrogation that Vespucci was lying. That's pretty sad when even the murdering pirate is more honest than you. Other claimed voyages by Vespucci were also shown to be exaggerated or complete forgeries. For example, of the four supposed voyages of Vespucci to the New World, Vespucci tells us in his book that two were under a Spanish flag and two were under a Portuguese flag. For the two voyages under the sponsorship of Portugal, there is not a single mention of any of the voyages of Vespucci in any of the Portuguese archives. One historian noted that in the 82,902 chronological records and in the 6,095 chest-records, there is not a single reference in the Portuguese records to a voyage of Vespucci. So he was lying about those voyages. With that kind of credibility record, is it any wonder that he lied to the German monk and hoodwinked him into telling the world that America was intended to stand for Amerigo Vespucci?"
The same professor in the audience spoke up again. “Charlie, what do you make of Waldseemüller’s later map in 1516? That one omits the name America and calls the territory Terra Nova and Terra de Cuba. And the Pacific Ocean is omitted. South America is shown joined to Asia. That is a pretty big reversal by the monk in nine years. What do you think happened?” Winston had an answer for that, too.
"To give him credit, the monk Waldseemüller appears to have later figured out that Vespucci was an exaggerator. As Manny correctly notes, the monk made a new map in 1516. This map omits the name 'America,' calling the lands Terra Nova and Terra de Cuba, which I believe was an attempt to strip Vespucci of naming rights. In the writings accompanying the 1516 map, Waldseemüller appears as though he has seen the error of his ways and is correcting the earlier map. We can see what happened here. Waldseemüller was probably made aware that Vespucci was not giving him the whole story and was exaggerating his role in different discoveries. Believing, then, that everything Vespucci had shown him--even the part about the Pacific Ocean-- had been false, Waldseemüller 'corrects' the map and tries to eliminate the errors, not realizing, of course, that the part about the Pacific Ocean was actually correct.
"And although Waldseemüller tried to blot out his error, since so many copies of the first map had already been published, the name ‘America’ had stuck in the public lexicon. And forever more, the two continents would be known as America.
"But in our history books, we never see anything about this treachery of Vespucci and his blatant attempt to steal the naming of America away from John Cabot and the cod merchant Amerike, and that's because Vespucci was successful in getting history re-written to suit his own selfish purpose. Are there any other questions?”
There were no other questions. Waithe took the podium again and thanked Winston.
"Very well then, I can see that our ancestor Alfred Hudd was finally proved by history to be correct. I encourage you all to review all the materials and give us your comments." Waithe stepped down from the podium and went down to greet each of the professors who had attended the meeting.
The scholars each went to the main table to pick up their zip drives. Each had brought a laptop and was given space at a long table to review electronic copies of the documents which were on display in the cases. After about an hour of review, the parties broke for lunch, and the Antiquarian Club served--appropriately--Bristol cod. Winston chatted about the new discoveries with excitement as the scholars munched on cod, a vinaigrette salad, and green beans.
After lunch, as Winston was mulling around shaking hands, he was greeted by UCLA Professor John Morse. Morse had thinning gray hair, a salt and pepper beard, and kind brown eyes. Morse handed Winston a Georgia peach. Winston looked at his hand, perplexed, and then looked back at Morse with a quizzical expression.
“My son says you are fond of fruit!” joked Morse.
Winston made the connection. “Ahhh, John Morse in the flesh! You know, when your son Zach is awake in class, he is pretty smart. Must take it from the old man,” Winston laughed. “I read with great interest your Nostradamus book. Did all of that really happen?”
“You know what they say,” said Morse. “Truth is stranger than fiction. Like your discovery of those logs in the Alcazar. What an exciting discovery.”
“I guess we both have a little Indiana Jones in us,” said Winston. “By the way, did your son tell you that he and I had a ‘rap-off’ in class? I think I won, but Zach is plotting his revenge.”
“He drives me crazy with those things,” said Morse.
“Well, the boy has talent,” said Winston, laughing.
“Charlie, I was thinking of taking Zach with me on another adventure, and I wondered if you would be interested in tagging along.”
“Oh really, what kind of adventure?”
“Well, I got the idea after reading some of the material discovered in Seville. I would rather not go into it here. Can we have dinner tonight and discuss it?”
“Well, sure. But you can’t leave me hanging until dinner, John. Give me a hint. What’s this all about?”
Morse smiled like a happy grandfather about to give his grandson a Christmas present. “I can’t tell you here. But it is every bit as interesting as the naming of America.”
Winston was intrigued. “OK. Let me get my coat.”