Martín Alonso Pinzón

Statue of Martín Alonso Pinzón in Palos de la Frontera

Martín Alonso Pinzón (* 1441 in Palos de la Frontera ; † March 31, 1493 ibid) was a Spanish navigator and participant in the first Columbus voyage. He had two brothers, Vicente Yáñez Pinzón and Francisco Martín Pinzón ; Vicente commanded the Niña caravel on the first voyage , and Francisco accompanied him on the Pinta .

Life

Martín Alonso Pinzón was captain of the Caravel Pinta, one of the two escort ships of the flagship, the carrack Santa Maria of Christopher Columbus on its first voyage.

On the way there, Pinzón was separated from Columbus for six weeks. The reason for this is still unknown, but Columbus accused him of treason. When Pinzón was returning to Spain , his ship was again separated from Columbus during a storm, but he and Columbus reached the port of Palos de la Frontera at the same time on March 15, 1493 .

Martín Alonso Pinzón was one of the most important personalities on Christopher Columbus ' voyage of discovery to America . Pinzón was business magnate and sailors at the same time and went as one of the most determined promoters of Columbus and at the same time as one of his most determined opponent in the history of one. Pinta and Niña were made available by the Pinzóns for this expedition . This support was also provided for economic reasons.

As the head of a wealthy merchant family, Pinzón had great influence in Palos because, as the ship owner, he was the breadwinner of many local seafarers. He was prepared to take the risk of a voyage west, infected by Columbus' certainty, who spoke verbatim about the riches of India and the treasures so easily obtained there. When the descendants of Columbus were to be deprived of their “privileges” in the pleitos , the court cases for his inheritance, Pinzón was given a decisive influence on the discovery of America . They went so far as to point out Pinzón as the real “discoverer of America”. Even if he was unduly brought into focus, he was one of the company's most important driving forces, without whom the equipment and manning of the fleet would not have been so easy. Otherwise the first trip might not have taken place at all. A testimony reported that Martín Alonso had tried so hard to bring a team over and encourage people, as if everything that was hoped to be discovered would fall to himself and his children.

Rating

Pinzon wanted to benefit from the discovery of the sea route to India. Perhaps this led to tension with the captain general of the Columbus company, not least because Columbus was given the title viceroy by the Spanish crown .

literature

• Louis-Théodule Begaud: Le premier Capitaine au long cours, Martín Alonso Pinzón, associé de Christophe Colomb; Organizer and animator de l'expédition de 1492. Paris 1944.
• Adám Szászdi: El descubrimiento de Puerto Rico in 1492 by Martín Alonso Pinzón. In: Revista de historia. San Juan, Año 1 (1985), No. 2, pp. 9-45.
• Domingo Gómez: Vindicación del piloto de la carabela "Pinta", Martín Alonso Pinzón. In: Mundi hispánico. Madrid, Año 21 (1968), no.241.
• Francisco Morales Padrón: Las relaciones entre Colón y Martín Alonso Pinzón. In: Actas. Lisboa, Vol. 3 (1961), pp. 433-442.
• Urs Bitterli : The "savages" and the "civilized". 3. Edition. Munich 2004, ISBN 3-406-35583-8 .
• Urs Bitterli: Old World - New World. dtv, Munich 1992, ISBN 3-423-04569-8 .
• Urs Bitterli: The discovery of America. 4th edition. Munich 1992, ISBN 3-406-35467-X .
• Urs Bitterli: The knowledge of both "Indians" in early modern Europe. Oldenbourg, Munich 1991, ISBN 3-486-55896-X .

Further literature under Christopher Columbus