Note 17 — INTRODUCTION.
Richard Henry Major translation
The following remark by Mr. George Sumner was kindly supplied to me by that gentleman in 1847, as an interesting item connected with this period of the history of Columbus:—
From the brilliant description given by Irving and Prescott of the arrival of Columbus at Barcelona, and of his reception there by the Catholic sovereigns, it seemed to me as probable that some contemporary account of this arrival and reception, as well as of the sojourn of Columbus, might be found at Barcelona; and, while there in the spring of 1844, I searched the admirably arranged archives of Aragon, and also those of the city of Barcelona, for such notice, but without any success. I could not so much as find a mention of the name of Columbus.
The Dietaria, or day book, of Barcelona, notices the arrival of ambassadors, the movements of the king and queen, and even records incidents of as trifling note as those which in our day serve to fill the columns of a court journal; yet not a word appears in regard to Columbus.
How account for this silence? Is it another evidence of the old feeling of jealousy between the Aragonese and Castilians, of which the student of Spanish history meets so many proofs? Such was the opinion to which I was forced, and such I found also was the interpretation given to it by the intelligent Archevero, who had himself gone over this ground a few years since at the request of Navarrete. The voyage of Columbus was undertaken at the expense and for the benefit of the crown of Castile. It was not to Aragon, but to Castilla and Leon, that Columbus gave a new world, and as the Aragonese did not profit directly by this gift, they saw fit to treat it and its donor with scornful silence.
In one of the notes to the great work of Capmany,—Memorias sobre la ciudad de Barcelona, 1789—he gives a list of distinguished men who have enjoyed the hospitality of the city, and among them places the name of Columbus, making no allusion however to any contemporary account of his sojourn there.
In the Dietaria of Barcelona, under date 15th November 1492, is the following entry:—“The king, queen, and primogenito, entered to-day the city, and lodged in the palace of the bishop of Urgil in the Calle Ancha.” This is followed by a description of the festivities which followed. “1493, 4th February.—King and queen went to Alserrat. 14th—King and queen returned to Barcelona.”
As there appears no notice of the king having changed his abode after taking possession of the palace in the Calle Ancha, it was probably there that Columbus recounted to Isabella his adventures and his success. The American pilgrim may still, in the beautiful Alcazar of the Moorish kings, recall the figure of the discoverer of his land, standing in the presence of the Catholic sovereigns of Spain;—in the cotton-spinning town of Barcelona the besom of modern improvement has long since swept away the palace of the bishop of Urgil.