CNN - Everybody knows the story of Columbus, right? He was an Italian explorer from Genoa who set sail in 1492 to enrich the Spanish monarchs with gold and spices from the orient. Not quite.
For too long, scholars have ignored Columbus's grand passion: the quest to liberate Jerusalem from the Muslims. During Columbus's lifetime, Jews became the target of fanatical religious persecution. On March 31, 1492, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella proclaimed that all Jews were to be expelled from Spain. The edict especially targeted the 800,000 Jews who had never converted, and gave them four months to pack up and get out...Two of his wishes -- tithe one-tenth of his income to the poor and provide an anonymous dowry for poor girls -- are part of Jewish customs. He also decreed to give money to a Jew who lived at the entrance of the Lisbon Jewish Quarter.
First thought: "wow CNN must be desparate for pageviews if they're trudging out this kinda crap for headlines."
But then...it's not that ridiculous. I mean, think about it. This guy basically wrangled the single biggest venture capital round of all time, convincing Spanish Royalty to just give him a bunch of ships, pay for his crew/slaves, undoubtedly hundreds of barrels of limes and lemons to fight off scurvey (I don't know what scurvey is, never bothered to look it up, but I can tell you that I picture hunchbacks), and presumably a few common whores to keep the guys from getting all rape-y on each other. All that, and for what? So he could sail to a new land no one was sure even existed? That's a hell of a lot more difficult than some kid pitching a VC firm on some new app that lets people connect socially, albeit with some slight difference from the dozens of other apps that already do that. Basically if you say the words "I have this app" you're gauranteed a couple million dollars of seed money. It wasn't that easy for Columbus, I'll tell you that much.
I mean, there was a solid chance that ole Cristobal was going to take those ships, slaves, citrus fruits, and whores, reach the edge of the ocean, and just plummet off the face of the earth. The negotiating skills involved in convincing a King and Queen to go right along with that would definitely require someone with serious expertise and history in convincing people they're making the best choice with their money...in short, it probably would have taken a Jew.
