Was Columbus

a Lithuanian prince? 

Historian unmasks Columbus’ true identity.

Will Lithuanians be able to add another page to their already epic history? Will the National Lithuanian American Hall of Fame (NLAHF) have yet one more candidate for induction? Daine Jablonskyte-Marquez and Jon Platakis, members of the NLAHF, tracked down historian Manuel Rosa at his job at Duke University, to enlighten us on his 20 plus years of research into the identity of Christopher Columbus.

Confidently, and with primary source documents to verify his assertions, Rosa states, “Columbus was a royal prince, son of a Portuguese noble lady and exiled King Wladyslaw III (a direct descendent of one of Europe’s greatest ruling dynasties, Lithuania’s Gedeminian dynasty).  He was hiding his identity from the public at large but the courts of Europe knew who he was.”  Pointing to documentation in his new book, COLON. La Historia Nunca Contada (COLUMBUS. The Untold Story) recently published in Spain, and to be published May 2012 in Poland, that Columbus’ marriage in 1479 to a Portuguese noblewoman, who was a member of the Portuguese military order of Santiago, required the approval of the King of Portugal, a procedure reserved only for someone of major importance. “This new Portuguese document alone,” stated Rosa, “makes the entirety of Columbus’ Italian history false.”  Rosa’s evidence appears irrefutable that Columbus, who had been housed in the palaces of the nobility, had access to royal courts, and married into nobility, could not be, as our history books tell us, the son of a poor weaver from Genoa.

So, who was Christopher Columbus, if not a poor weaver’s son from Genoa? Rosa believes that his true identity was Prince Segismundo Henriques which was concealed in order to protect his father. All of Rosa’s evidence points to Wladyslaw III, king of Poland and Lithuania as being the father of Christopher Columbus. Rosa suggests that there is proof the king survived the Battle of Varna in 1444 against the Ottomans and lived in exile on the island of Madeira under the name of “Henrique the German,” married to a Portuguese noblewoman.

Is this just another nutty conspiracy theory?  Not according to leading historians based at the University of Lisbon, and St. Joseph’s University. Rosa utilized medieval documents and chronicles from multiple kingdoms to cross-reference historical events and personalities, plus ancient genealogy and heraldry.  In addition, Rosa’s mastery of Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese, allowed him a more accurate interpretation of these primary source documents.

Members of the National Lithuanian American Hall of Fame, lament the fact that there seems to be little interest from American, and our own Lithuanian historians and researchers, to either accept or contradict Rosa’s findings.  According to Rosa, he has not yet had any success in finding a U.S. publisher for this history altering book.

It appears a certainty that Christopher Columbus was not the poor weaver’s son from Genoa.  However, in the near future, it is hoped that Polish authorities will open the tomb of King Wladyslaw II, (Jogaila) the Lithuanian King of Poland, to obtain DNA evidence to prove that Christopher Columbus is a son of Lithuania who hid his royal lineage to protect the secret that his father had survived the Battle of Varna.