1492: A Novel of Christopher
Columbus
1. What inspired me to write 1492? Reading my client's present of two
volumes on the Columbus family's litigation to enforce Columbus' contract with
Ferdinand and Isabella (which entitled him to one-eighth of North, South and
Central America), I realized this contract was signed the same time the King
and Queen of Spain signed their decree expelling from Spain, on 90 days'
notice, all Jews though Jews lived in that land for over a thousand
years. As a lawyer, it had been my experience that leaders of large
organizations didn't sign such major documents at the same time without there
being a connection between them. So, the question was: what was the
connection between Columbus' contract and the expulsion of the Jews? And
another question was: how could it be that people who had lived and
prospered and been accepted for so many years be so cruelly treated?
From these initial questions, the
rest fell into place. I visited the main New York Public Library on Fifth
Avenue and found that the first letter Columbus wrote when he returned to
Europe, even before he wrote to Queen Isabella, was a report he sent to the
financial backer of his voyage of exploration, Don Luis de Santangel, the
Jewish-Converso banker who financed his voyage, telling his investor, in
essence, "we did it." Don Luis' nephew, Vicente de Santangel,
assassinated one of the Inquisitors for torturing his family. Don Luis'
deal with Queen Isabella was that he would put up all the money for the voyage
but the Queen would not have to pay him back unless the voyage was successful.
But he also hoped he King and Queen would spare the life of his nephew.
That bet, he lost. Vicente was executed though the rest of the Santangel
family was spared.
From these two discoveries, plus
encouragement from a book written by Simon Wiesenthal on the subject, and many,
many other works on the influence of Arabs, Jews and Christians on Columbus, I
went to work. Eight years later,
after living in Israel and Spain and visiting Italy, 1492 was done.
2. What is 1492 about? 1492 is the story behind the discovery of
America by Christopher Columbus. It weaves the Jewish, Christian, Arab
influences on the discovery and also describes the life and times that, in many
respects, were not so different from today. When I started my work, the
Arab oil embargo threatened the prosperity of the West just as Arab control of
the trade routes to the East threatened the prosperity of the West in Columbus'
time. The challenge then and now: how can the West reach the East
and not be thwarted by Arab control of the oil and trade routes. Columbus'
answer was to sail to the West by first sailing South, and when he reached
Africa, then sail ing West. To return he would first sail North, and
then, catching the winds that blow due East there, sail back to Europe.
So, getting around the Arab
blockade, as it were, was the initial challenge then and now. And the
came the Inquisition by the Church into the bona fides of Jews who converted to
Christianity to save themselves and their families from being tortured and
burned at the stake. But it quickly became clear that religious purity
was not on the Inquisitors' minds. Rather it was convicting Jews,
confiscating their property and finaing the Christians' war against the
Arabs. As with today, the East was on one side, the West was on the other
side, and Jews were in the middle.
3. What do I think will be the everlasting thoughts
for readers who finish my book?
I hope they will realize that the magical event of discovering America emerged
from a nightmare. I hope they also will realize that after a thousand
years of living together through difficult times and good times,
Christians, Jews and Arabs were torn apart and destroyed by the hatred sewn by
greedy, fanatical leaders. Yes, Columbus was successful in discovering
America, but no, Spain and Portugal did not succeed either. After a brief
period of wealth and power from looting the gold of the Incas and the Aztecs,
both countries went into decline. In destroying, torturing and expelling the
Jews they eliminated their urban middle class with its doctors, lawyers and
businessmen. Likewise, in destroying and expelling the Arabs, they
eliminated mathematicians, scientists and craftsmen, not to mention
traders. It took Spain and Portugal 525 years from 1492, but finally each
country has just passed laws admitting their mistake in persecuting and
expelling Jews. They have now offered all the descendants of the Jews
citizenship.
4. What advice to I have for writers? Persevere. When I left law
practice after I built a firm with my two partners into a 16 man Washington
success, I hoped to write historical novels. I saved every penny so I
could support my wife and children over what I thought would be a long haul,
but I didn't realize the hail would be quite so long. I'm happy recognition
has at last arrived. The Shakespeare Mask has been awarded the Benjamin
Franklin Gold Medal for best historical novel. 1492 had been described by
Publisher's Weekly as "captivating and extraordinarily vivid," and
translated in Spanish and Dutch as well as published in America But be
prepared to struggle and always remember the real success comes every day when
you get up, sit down at your computer and write. Two of my four
grandchildren have announced to Grandpa that they are writing historical novels,
too.
5. Where do I think the book publishing industry is heading? I wish I
knew, but it doesn't look good. It seems to me people spend more time
looking at television than reading books. I hope I'm wrong. My son
and daughter and their spouses and children read intensely. They also put
limits on the childrens' watching tv as my wife and I did. But I
don't know about other people. Bookstores seem empty. Maybe peoole
browse via Amazon and Goodreads. I hope so. Martha and I try to
buy books from Bookstores to keep them alive.
6. What challenges did I have in writing my book? For 1492, and for
The Shakespeare Mask, too, the biggest obstacle is peoples' willingness to
believe in myths rather than seeing the truth. Re 1492, people actually
believed that Queen Isabella pawned her jewels to finance the proposal of a
nice young fellow from Genoa when there was absolutely no evidence for
that. It just sounded sweet. If they had only known Queen Isabella
was not "sweet" and the money was put up by a Jewish-Converso banker
desperate to save his nephew and the rest of his family from burning at the
stake, they might have been open to the truth. As it was, it took
publishers years to accept the truth.
The same goes for The Shakespeare
Mask. The myth that an uneducated young man could write the most
sophisticated works of literature in the English language without any knowledge
of Latin, Greek, Spanish, French and Italian when so the plays the poems of
Shakespeare required such knowledge as well as travel to the countries
where they were spoken boggles the mind. Five U.S. Supreme Court Justices
believe, as I and thousands of others do, that the Earl of Oxford wrote the
works of Shakespeare, "beyond a reasonable doubt," and yet much of
the academic community stonewalls the idea. It's only a matter of time
before younger scholars who have not made a career based on the acceptance of
the myth take over universities and publishing houses but, until then. many
wallow in the myth.
7. If
people can buy only one book this month, why should it be mine? 1492 is very timely because the historical events it describes
are applicable to what we see happening all around us now, the same struggles
and challenges exist even today, and it reminds us that those who cannot
remember the past are condemned to repeat it.
Newton Frohlich is the award-winning author of 1492:
A Novel of Christopher Columbus, the Spanish Inquisition & a World at the
Turning Point. A former lawyer in Washington, D.C., he devoted eight years
to the research and writing of 1492. He has lived in Washington, D.C.,
the south of France, and Israel and now makes his home on Cape Cod with his wife,
Martha, a musicologist. For more information please newtonfrohlich.com
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