Cuba Past and Present

by Richard Davey

Quite recently, three papers, enriched with the signatures of Columbus and his father, were unearthed in the State archives of the city of Genoa (L'Archivio di Stato). From them we gather that, in 1470, Domenico Colombo, either because his affairs were going badly, or because he perceived a better chance for himself and family elsewhere, determined to leave Genoa and establish himself in Savona. He was then in the debt of a certain Geronimo da Porto, to the amount of 25 lire, or 117 francs modern money, and evidently could not pay him. Da Porto must have heard of his intention to leave the city. He summoned him and his eldest son Christopher before the tribunal, for non-payment of the debt in question. The judge decided that Domenico and Christopher Colombo should pay the amount within a year from that date. Whether they eventually paid or not is doubtful, for, in a codicil to Columbus' will, made some thirty years later, he leaves "to the heirs of Geronimo da Porto, of Genoa, the father of Benito da Porto, 20 ducats"—which is nearly double the amount originally claimed, and leads one to think that it includes interest for a long period.

In these documents, Domenico Colombo is invariably described as "Dominicus Columbus, lanerius de Janua, habitator in Saone,"—"a wool-weaver, living in Savona." In addition to the evidence already given that Columbus was born in Genoa, I will recall the facts that he himself, three times in his biography, repeats that he was a native of that town—"where I lived, and whence I came"—and that Andreo Bemaldez, curate of Los Pallacios, who was his intimate friend, informs us that he told him he was born in Genoa. His contemporaries, Agostino Giustinani, Antonio de Herrera, and Antonio Gallo, the Chancellor of the Bank of St George, who corresponded with Columbus, repeat the same assertion. Then, again, it is to the city of Genoa that the dying Columbus leaves the breviary given him by Pope Alexander VI. Where is it? Certainly not in Genoa.

Genoa in 1451 presented an aspect different from that which it wears now, although the street in which Columbus was born, and its neighbourhood, have not sustained many changes. The ancient houses still tower up six and eight stories on either side of the narrow and picturesque thoroughfare of the Portorio, some of them preserving traces of Gothic windows and doors, and of a sort of Moorish decoration, running just below the projecting roof, which is peculiar to Genoa. This street has been known as the Portorio, or Porta Aurea, for centuries. It leads up the hill from the outer wall of the city, and the characteristic church of San Stefano, with its black and white marble façade, which gives its name to the suburb, to the inner gate of St Andrea, and the second ring of walls, now destroyed. This gate is a noble specimen of feudal architecture, recently somewhat over-restored. A few years ago it was ten times more picturesque than now, with the quaint, old houses clinging to its rough walls like barnacles on a ship's side. These have been removed, and the grand proportions of the arch, formerly attached on either side to stern and lofty walls, built in 1155 to resist the attacks of Barbarossa, have been displayed. In front of this ancient gate is a little platform, surrounded by tall and irregular houses, coeval with the gate itself. No. 37, lately occupied by a tinman, is the house in which Columbus was born, and spent his childhood and youth. I believe, with Mr Harrisse and the Marquis Staglieno, that he was born in the front room—the best bedroom—of the first floor, between October 1446 and October 1451. The date must remain uncertain, because, although the important paper I have mentioned described him as being nineteen years of age in 1470, it must be remembered that nineteen was the legal age of manhood under the old Genoese law, which was identical with the ancient Roman code. The fact that he was of age—that is nineteen—would never have been specified, if he had not been a very young man at the time. He might perhaps have been twenty-three or even twenty-four, but the probability is that he had just come of age. In 1886 the Municipality of Genoa purchased this house for 36,000 francs, and it is to be kept intact in memory of Columbus for ever. Over the door is this inscription:—

Nulla. Domus. titulo, dignior
Heic
Paternis : in : ædibus.
Christophorus : Columbus.
Pueritium
Primioque . juvantam . trasegit.

I think, with Mr Harrisse, that "Forsam natus" might with propriety be added.

The great Gothic arch of the stern old gate frowned down on the modest dwelling, and the child Columbus must often have been told the story of the chains, which in my own boyhood I remember to have seen, hanging on the grim walls on either side of the arch. They were courteously restored in 1862 to the Pisans (from whom they had been captured in 1290) in honour of Italian unity.

Not very far off stood, until quite the end of the last century, a curious old house, with a figure of St Christopher painted upon it, which doubtless had a lamp constantly burning before it. Possibly it was in honour of the saint here represented that the future Discoverer of the New World was christened Christopher. On entering the city proper, through the arch of St Andrea, the prospect, in the days of Columbus' youth, was by no means cheerful. The houses, like those of Edinburgh, rose seven and even eleven storeys, making the narrow courts and passage-like streets look not unlike dark openings in a Californian cañon. The hilly position of the town, however, lent itself admirably to picturesque effects, and the brilliance of the deep blue sky above, and of the broad streaks of sunlight falling on the squares and little piazza, brightened what might otherwise have been exceedingly gloomy and depressing. The palaces of the nobility looked more like fortresses than civic residences, with scarcely a window on the street. Each possessed a tall, turreted watch-tower of red brick, picked out with marble, the finest specimen of which, now existing, is that of the Imbriaci. The churches and oratories were amazingly numerous, but they were nearly all exactly alike, built in very plain Gothic architecture, with façades streaked with alternated layers of black and white marble. A few have escaped the vandalistic restorations of the 17th and 18th centuries, and of these the best remaining specimens are the Cathedral, San Matteo Doria, Santa Maria del 'Orto (desecrated), San Cosmo, San Donate, San Stefano, and Sant Agostino (desecrated).

But in the 15th century they were to be met with at every turn of the street, giving a very peculiar appearance to the city. The finest palaces bordered the Ripa by the port, and these were so beautifully decorated with frescoes and gilding that Petrarch declared that "nothing could be imagined more magnificent." The Strade Nuova, Nuovissima, and Balbi, with their splendid Renaissance palaces, did not come into existence until late in the 16th and 17th centuries. The Cathedral was in much the same condition as at present, and the Bank of St George, now in process of restoration, was considered one of the wonders of the world.

If the architecture of the city was picturesque, its population was indescribably so. The streets teemed with life and colour. There were men in armour, sailors from all parts of the world, guardsmen in the Doge's liveries striped scarlet and white, ladies of rank proceeding to church attended by their women, and escorted by little negro pages bearing their trains, or screening them from the ardour of the sun with immense, crimson silk parasols. Rich dames, lolling in litters hung with painted Cordova leather, were carried to and fro on the shoulders of stalwart African slaves. Veiled women of the people, with their children clinging round them, sitting outside their doors, not infrequently engaged in a hair hunt. Priests, monks, and nuns, in every imaginable kind of ecclesiastical costume, mingled with herculean porters from the quays, with soldiers and nobles, Levantines and Jews, each in their own peculiar costume, so that if the houses were sombre, the streets were ablaze with brilliant and varied dresses. At night, however, the city looked desolate. Only the lamps burning before the images of the Madonna and Saints lit up the gloomy thoroughfares and darksome piazzas. At "Ave Maria," in winter time, everybody was indoors saying the Rosary. Three times a day, as the "Angelus" tolled, the whole population stopped and repeated the angelic salutation. This pious custom lasted until quite late into the first half of the present century.

Unlike Venice, Genoa was no city of pleasure. On the other hand, its population dearly loved pageantry. Religious processions of the utmost splendour were of such everyday occurrence that people scarcely noticed them. The Doge went about attended by at least a hundred officers and servants. On great festivals the balconies were hung with brocades and wreaths of fresh flowers, while half the town preceded the Host or the images of the Madonna and Saints, to the admiration of the other half, crowding the sidewalks and the overhanging balconies.