"500 years ago, Spain was a nation gripped by fear and superstition, ... ruled by the crown and a ruthless inquisition... that persecuted men for daring to dream." "One man challenged this power." "Driven by his sense of destiny, he crossed the Sea of Darkness... in search of honor, gold and the greater glory of God." "Of all the words my father wrote, and there were many." "I remember these the most:" ""Nothing that results from human progress, is achieved with unanimous consent. "" ""And those who are enlightened before the others..." ""... are condemned to pursue that light in spite of others. "" ""There was a time when the New World didn't exist. "" ""The sun set in the west on a notion, where no man had dared to venture. "" ""And beyond that, infinity!"" "Look!" "Now, half of the hull has gone." "Good." "And now?" "Now, I only see the mast." "Close your eyes." "And don't cheat!" "I'm watching." "Open them when I tell you." "Once I asked my father where he wanted to go." "He replied:" ""I want to travel all over the seas. "" ""I want to get behind the weather. "" "Now." "It's gone." "What does it tell you?" "It's round, like this." "Round!" "Come on, lad!" "Good morning, Father." "Diego!" "Kiss your brother, Diego." "I have something for you." "You'll be heard at the University of Salamanca." "God!" "That's in a week!" "That's what it says." "How did you manage it?" "With some difficulty." "I had to promise them, you weren't a total fool." "Marco Polo said he found Earthly Paradise off the coast of China." "Do you believe this?" "I believe in Paradise and Hell." "And I do believe that both can be earthly." "Now, let's go through this again." "Why do you wish to sail west?" "To open a new route to Asia." "Asia is the richest Kingdom." "The land of spices and gold." "At the moment there are only two ways of reaching it." "By sea, sailing around the African continent the journey takes a year or by land." "But the Turks have closed this route to all Christians." "There is a third way by sailing west across the ocean sea." "The distance is unknown." "It's said to be infinite." "Superstition!" "I believe the Indies are no more than 750 leagues west of the Canary Islands." "How can you be so certain?" "The calculations of Toscanelli, Marin de Tyr..." " ..." "Esdras..." " Esdras is a Jew!" "So was Christ!" "Two minutes and already you're a dead man." " For telling the truth?" " Yes!" "They're burning people for less." "The men you're about to confront have no emotions." "You must learn to control your passion." "Passion is something one cannot control." "You need the blessing of this commission." "If they say no you would have to give up, my son." "I will not give up." "Is it ambition?" "We've been told lies for so long they said that this was flat as this table that monsters guard the edge of the world!" "I will not be told what to be afraid of and what not to be afraid of!" "I want to find out for myself." "I just hope your passion will be contagious, my son." "Look, father!" "Fernando!" "Do you repent your sins in the name of the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit?" "Burnings in the square!" "They agreed to see me in a week in Salamanca." "If my project is accepted, I could be gone for years." "I know!" "I haven't given you much of a life." "That's true, I have a child by a man who won't marry me!" "Are you going to argue?" "I'd love to argue with you more often, but you're never here." "Unfortunately, Senor Colombus, that is precisely where our opinions differ." "You're familiar with Aristotle?" "Eratosthenes?" "Ptolemeus?" "I am, Your Eminence." "Then you cannot ignore that according to their calculations, the circumference of the Earth is approximately 22,000 leagues or more which makes the ocean uncrossable." "But you may have found new evidence proving these great men of knowledge are totally mistaken!" "Your Excellencies are aware of Marin de Tyr?" "We are!" "Then you are also aware that his theories contradict Ptolemeus." "De Tyr believes the ocean to be only 750 leagues." "DifferentiaToscanelli and the French Cardinal D'Ailly, both think that Marin De Tyr is accurate in his calculations." "And therefore that the ocean can be crossed." "Silence!" "Gentlemen, are we here to examine this man's proposal, or not?" "Let's suppose for the moment that Marin de Tyr is right." "Senor Colombus, in your opinion then, how long would the voyage be?" "Seven weeks." " Six, during the summer months." " Marin de Tyr is wrong!" "He's been corrected many times, over the centuries by the world's finest geographers." "Your voyage, Senor Colombus, would take a year." "Suppose you cross this ocean and suppose you reach Asia what would Spain do there?" "Trade, Your Excellency!" "According to Marco Polo, the Kingdom of China is one of the richest of the world." "Even the meanest buildings are roofed with gold." "Is that all that interests you?" "Gold?" "No!" "I'll bring these people to the world of God and make them subjects of Castille and Aragon!" "Instead of a Realm Spain will become an Empire!" "If God intended our proximity to Asia do you believe that he would have waited for you to show it to the world?" "He chose a carpenter's son to reveal Himself to the world!" "So you consider yourself "The Chosen One"?" "Asia can be found to the west and I will prove it!" "The Treasurer of Spain honours us with his presence." "The State has its reasons to be interested in this man's proposition, Your Eminence." "With all due respect, the judgement is ours." "Why not?" "And what if he were right?" "I've always found such independent minds dangerous." "If the man had wings, no doubt, he'd return from the skies tells the heavens are empty!" "I'd deplore the loss of such a potential opportunity for Spain, though." "Especially over this point of geography." "It's not a point of geography." "It's a point of reality." "This man is a mercenary." "States often use mercenaries if it is to the benefit, the stability of Spain, no?" "It should be as much your concern as it is mine." "Am I to understand, that you would use your influence to assist this heretic?" "Well, you know, Your Eminence, the fascinating thing about power is that, what could be given so effortlessly so easily be taken away!" "And therefore nothing could justify the participation of Your Majesties in a venture that relies upon such feeble assumptions and which any man of knowledge would take to be impractical, if not impossible." "They didn't listen." "They don't want to listen." " You mustn't give way to despair, you must wait." " Wait?" "I've waited seven years already, how much longer do you want me to wait?" "If God intends you to go, you will go!" " Damn God!" " Christopher!" "Damn all of you!" "You all sit at your desks, concocting theories based on what?" "You never leave the protection of your gardens." "Go out find out what the world is about and then tell me something I can accept." "These don't mean anything, they are full of assumptions!" "Just lies!" "All of it, lies!" "All of it, lies!" "Father?" "You must not speak to a man doing penance." "And what can you do?" "Nothing." "That's the point, Fernando." "Fernando!" "Senor Colombus?" "I've been looking all over Sevilla for you." "Never expected to find a sailor in a monastery." "My name is Pinzon." "Martin Alonzo Pinzon." "I'm a ship owner from Palos." "Is he a spy?" "What is it?" "Are you a trappist?" "Vow of silence?" "Penance?" "It's just my luck." "Listen, I'll do the talking for both of us." "You just nod, agreed?" "Just as I do with the wife." "I know that the commission turned you down, right?" "What do you expect?" "You're just a foreigner." "And I want to help you." "You wonder why I believe in you?" "I'm a seaman, too." "We don't like to be told where to go or not to go." "I don't look like much but I have friends important friends!" "A banker, for example." "He finances me." "He's name is Santangel." "Have you heard of him?" "He can get you in audience with the Queen." "You know why?" "She owes him money." "That's for it is." "You, me, the Queen, the world and its mysteries!" "Everybody owes somebody something." "What do you say?" " Where can I meet this man?" " Here, right there!" "May I ask you a question, Don Luis?" "Yes!" "Why do you want to help me?" "Faith hope charity!" "But greater than all these is banking." "Wait, Senores!" "The Moors built Granada centuries ago." "Now, we've taken it back." "But it's a tragic victory for us." "We're losing a great culture." "But I suppose there's a price to be paid for every victory." "Isn't there Senor Colombus?" "Don Luis de Santangel to see Don Gabriel Sanchez." "Luis!" "Senor Columbus, Senor Pinzon." "Rise!" "Come forward!" "I should not even be listening to you since my Council has said no." "Santangel tells me you're a man of honour and sincerety." "Sanchez, you're not completely mad." "No more than the woman who said she would take Granada from the Moors." "They believe the ocean is uncrossable, Senor Columbus." "What did they say about Granada, before today?" "That it was impregnable!" "I cannot ignore the verdict of my Council." "Surely you can do anything you want." "How little you know!" "Why should I believe in you, Senor Colombus?" "May I speak freely?" "You show no inclination to speak otherwise." "I know what I see." "I see someone who doesn't accept the world as it is." "Who's not afraid." " I see a woman who thinks what if..." " A woman?" "Forgive me but you're the only Queen I know." "Then that makes us equal, you're the only navigator that I know." "How old are you, Senor Colombus?" "Thirty-nine, Your Majesty." "And you?" "I'm forty." "You will be informed of our decision." "Actually, I thought you were younger than I." "The cost would be ruinous." "No more than the cost of two state banquets." "Two banquets, for new lands and spices and gold!" "What are you saying, Sanchez?" "Only that if he's right, we have everything to gain." "And if he's wrong we've so little to lose." "Tell me what he says." "He demands to be made a Knight with the right to wear the Golden Spurs and that he will receive the title "Don Christopher Colombus" which will be extended to his descendants." "So, what else?" "He'll be named "Great Admiral of the Ocean Sea" Viceroy of the West Indies Governor of all islands or lands discovered or as will be discovered by him..." "The highest titles of nobility, Your Excellency to an immigrant sheltered by monks!" "Furthermore he'll receive one tenth of all wealth or monies precious gems, pearls, metals, spices and other lucrative sources acquired under his jurisdiction." "You worry too much, Francisco!" "This man will have to lower his demands." "Believe me!" "He will!" "I won't!" "So we have considered your proposal very carefuly, Senor Columbus." "It is excessive." " The responsibility is equally excessive." " If you consider of the contract..." " I have given you that!" " No!" " No?" " No!" "No!" "And I thought he was an idealist." "Idealism and ambition are not incompatible." "I've fought too hard." "Now you expect me to take all the risks..." " ... while you take the profit?" " No!" " I'm not a servant..." " Senor Colombus you are in no position to bargain with me." "I'm not bargaining." "Then you are too ambitious." "And were you never ambitious?" "Or, is ambition only a virtue among nobles, a fault for the rest of us?" "If you won't accept this proposal, we can simply find someone who will." "If you can do that, Excellency I'll become a monk!" "Your Majesty!" "He'll become a monk!" "It would be a pity, wouldn't it?" "Call him back!" "She said "yes"." "If I ever come back, I swear..." "I'm not asking you to swear to anything." "I don't want you to wait for me." "That's something you can't decide for me." "Forgive me Father, I have sinned." "I am listening, my son." "Father..." "I have betrayed my family I betrayed my men and I betrayed you." "I lied!" "The journey will be longer than I said." "How long?" "I'm not sure." "How could anyone know." "It could be twice the distance." "You must tell them." " You must tell your men." " If I tell them, they wouldn't follow me." "You know I'm right, father." "You must trust me." "You must speak to them." "If you don't, I will!" "You are bounded by an oath." "May God forgive you." "I believed in you." "Give me absolution." "Give me absolution, Father!" "I absolve you of your sins!" "Enter!" "Mendez!" "Sit down!" "Some wine?" "What is it, Mendez?" "Speak!" "They wonder how you know our position since we've no sight of land days ago." "And what do you think, Mendez?" "I know you're navigating by the stars like the Moors do but I don't know how?" "Take this quadrant, Mendez." "Find the North Star." "Steady yourself!" "Keep the plumbline vertical." "And don't move!" "A mistake of one degree and we'll be off 600 leagues." "What do you read?" "28." " That's it!" "28th parallel!" "And we'll follow it until we reach land." "How do you know that we'll find land on the 28th parallel?" "I don't!" "Mark!" " Mark 26, Sir!" " Mark!" "Mark 27, Sir!" "Mark!" "Mark 28!" "Mark!" "Mark 29!" "629." "629!" "629, Sir?" "I heard." "Captain, I don't understand." "I think I do." "We should've seen land." "We've been at sea nine weeks, Alonzo." "Can't be that far." "Can't be that near." "Also I don't like the smell of this sea around here." "Smells like a whore!" "'Course it does." "That's why sailors take to the sea." "And why does that one take to the sea?" "Nobody knows!" "Never says a word." "Captain Pinzon requests permission to board." "You misled me." "You lied to me." "We are way past 750 leagues." " Six days ago, yes." " You must be mad!" "Keep your voice down, Pinzon!" " We're in the verge of a mutiny, Colombus!" " You think I don't know that?" "We're lost!" " The land is there, I know it." " No, you don't know anything!" "Listen Colombus, these are my ships, right?" "So I'm telling you we are turning back." "And then what?" "Half of the water has gone, the rest is nearly putrid!" "I shouldn't have listened to you." "You bloody..." "Listen!" "Pinzon, Pinzon!" "All we can do is go forward." "The land is there..." "The land is close!" "You tell them that." "You say that to them!" "God doesn't want us to cross this ocean." "This voyage is cursed." "We set sail for greed." "God has abandoned us." "The voyage is cursed." "There are signs." "Juanito has the voice of an angel." "What comes out of his mouth is blessed, Alonzo, what comes out of yours is cursed." "Listen to me!" "Every man is afraid who does something for the first time." "But those who overcome their fears will rightly earn their rewards." "I don't know if it's God will that we should cross this ocean." "But I am certain it is you who puts fear into our hearts." "We cannot be lost as long as we keep faith in God and in ourselves." "In time they will talk about the courage of the first men who crossed this ocean, and returned." "And then you will be able to say to them I was on the Pinta I was on the Nina and the Santa Maria." "This jacket to the first man who sights land." "And 10,000 maravedis a year for life!" "I wanna man aloft day and night!" "Alonzo don't let this wind escape us!" "Lucky bastard!" "Mendez!" "Mendez!" "Land!" "25 fathoms!" "24 fathoms!" "23!" "22!" "21!" "20!" "19!" "18!" "17!" "16!" "15!" "14!" "13!" "There!" "Land ho!" "Drop anchor!" "Don Christopher!" "Excellencia!" "By the by the Grace of God!" "In the name of their Gracious Majesties of Castilla and Aragon!" "By all the powers vested in me I claim this island and name it San Salvador!" "Don Christopher!" " Muskets!" " No!" "October 21st, 1492." "I think we have returned to Eden." "Surely this is how the world was in the beginning of time." "If the natives are to be converted to our ways then it will be by persuasion and not by force." "I believe no man will ever see this land again as we do, for the first time." "We come in peace and with honour." "They are not savages, neither will we be." "Treat them as you would your own wives and children." "Respect their beliefs." "Pillage will be punished by the whip." "Rape, by the sword." "You!" "Utapan!" "Utapan?" "Colombus!" " Co..." "Columb..." " Colombus!" "Co..." "lombus!" "Where did you find this?" "Cuba!" "Thanks!" "I've got a river of gold to piss." "Here!" " Is it gold?" " No, no!" "No good, no." "Utapan!" "Utapan!" "Alonzo!" "Alonzo!" "Help him!" "Help him!" "Do something!" "Pray for him!" "Pray for him!" "With Alonzo's death, I realise how vulnerable we are in these islands." "How much we have to learn!" "On every island the natives welcome us with great generosity and trust." "Because of our appearance we have been mistaken for gods and are treated accordingly." "Despite the compliance of the Indians we have not found gold in quantity except for the few artefacts they gave us as a sign of their submission." "You will speak first." "Tell him, we thank him for his hospitality." "He knows." "Tell him, some of my men are staying here to build a fort." "I want them to be well treated." "Tell him we'll come back." "Many of us." "He said, how many?" "As many as the leaves on that tree." "And many more will follow." "Why?" "To bring the word of God." "He said he has a God." "And also to bring medicine." " He said, he..." " He has medicine!" "Tell him we admire his people." "He knows you like his women and gold." "Pinzon is ill eaten up by a fever that refuses to leave his body." "We must return to Spain." "39 men have volunteered to stay behind to build a fort." "I name it, La Navidad!" "After 7 months, I haven't seen any sign of civilisation that compares with Marco Polo's descriptions." "No cities, no bridges, no temples roofed with gold." "The mainland still escapes me but I know it's there." "My ships are not filled with the spices and gold that I was hoping for but this land intoxicates my senses and my soul." "And all I can think of is to return to this untamed land." "This unexplored Eden." "This is a chance for a new beginning." "It won't be easy to get rid of your prophet now." "On the contrary it seems to me the man is preparing his own cross." "Let the palate enjoy the flavour of the tobacco." "Try!" "You say this is an Indian vice?" "I don't see the pleasure that would make this is sin." "The Indians have no such word, Moxica." "Have they such thoughts?" "They come and go as naked as God created them." "God?" "Which God?" "Nature is their God." "It's as if God and Nature were one." "They see him in a leaf, in a stone in a shell." "The islands are covered with trees." "Forgive me, Don Cristobal!" "What about gold?" "It's not the purest metal I've ever seen." "Is there more?" "We are more than gratified, Christobal." "Excellent!" " You defende yourself well." " For a commoner?" "So your second expedition, hm?" "17 ships and 1.500 men?" "Thanks to you." "Don Christopher Colombus!" "Don Francisco de Bobadilla!" "He can be extremely valuable to you." "This man is very well acquainted with our laws." "I heard that you soon be appointing Governors for the Islands and I thought you might consider my application." "Forgive me, Don Francisco." "Those positions are already taken." "May I ask by whom?" "By two very competent men." "I trust they're men of quality." "Francisco is qualified for high administration." "Well we do lack notaries." "You should contact my administration." " Francisco is a judge." " Good!" "We also need judges except, there are no crimes of people!" "I see I was mistaken." "Colombus has no need for my services, Sanchez." "You have a special talent for making enemies." "Why do I have so many already?" "Don't you think to rise so high in so short a time is a dangerous occupation?" "Beatrix!" "I can arrange for the Queen to take Fernando and Diego into her service." "It's a great honour, Beatrix." "We couldn't hope for anything better." "Anything better?" "Better than to stay with his mother?" "It's not what I meant." " Then, what do you mean?" " I'll be gone for several years." "I have enemies at the courts, powerful enemies!" "The boys bear my name and now my titles." "This way they'll be untouchable." "And you'll be free to see them whenever you please." "You don't realize what you're asking." "I do!" "I wish I could have offered you another life." "I am sorry!" "Don't say you're sorry, because you're not!" "You lead a life you chose for yourself and I chose you!" "You might have given us a choice, for Christ's sake!" "I'm a map maker!" "And now you're Lieutenant-General of the West Indies congratulations, Bartolome!" "He's just out of seminary he's hardly used the sword." "I've never touched the sword!" "You have plenty of time to learn." "What are you complaining about?" "You both have a chance to live the way we can only dream of." "I never shared those dreams!" "Do you refuse to help me?" "To help your brother?" "Are you going to desert me?" "You bastard!" "You always had your own way." " I have always been here to support you." " I know." " I went to Portugal to help you..." " Yes, I know!" " I'm the eldest!" " How could we ever forget?" "Haven't you said it enough?" "Come on, let me show you something." "Excellency!" "It's about my son!" "See?" "Now, you tell me, who can I trust?" "We're brothers." "A bloodline." "I need you." "Both of you!" "Admiral!" "The horses have arrived." "Here is the magnificent pair!" " Send them Back!" " What?" "They look like mules!" "I hope you have better luck with personal!" "Who did we take on today?" "30 blacksmiths. 28 halberdiers." "20 carpenters." "100 farmers." "20 miners." "And Doctor Chanca, the Royal surgeon." "Then we can count on royal health!" "Fire!" "Fire again!" "Where are they?" "Drummers, sound the advance!" "Almirante!" "Juanito!" "Is this your New World, Almirante?" "These animals wish to learn savagery, we shall teach them!" "Three heads for every life taken." "No mercy before God!" "Vamonos!" "No Moxica, no!" "There will be no revenge." "These were our cousins our friends, our countrymen." "But you say no revenge?" "We will wash this in blood and now!" "If you want to keep your head on your shoulders, you'll do as I say." "I lost friends, too." "39 brave men who trusted me." "You want war?" "Fine." "We are 1000." "They outnumber us by 10." "Who will you kill?" "Which tribe?" " We don't need to know." " Moxica!" "Try to remember who you are talking to." "We came here to stay, not to start a crusade." "So, we will swallow our anger." "And in the name of those who died we will accomplish what we came for." "They're here." "There!" "Guarionex!" "Ricardo!" "Arquebuses!" "Preparen!" "Ask him!" "What happened to my men?" "Warriors come from the sea." "Caribes." "Guarionex says all fled to the hills." "When they came back all the Spaniards had gone." "God's mercy on them all." "The monkey's lying." "Colomb, you talk too much." "Here they are." "We should kill them." "No!" "You'll do it my way." "Tell him we will not harm his people." "Even though we have the power to do it." "I'm prepared to believe him." "We will work with his people and we want peace." "Ask if he understands." "He understands." "Will he help?" "He says, you know the answer!" "Moxica..." "I need your horses." "My horse does no work." "We all have to work, Moxica." "Not my horse!" "Forgive me, Moxica." "But it was your horse I was talking about." "Thank you, Moxica." "Now!" "Heave!" "Heave!" "My dear sons in unbearable heat, we are building the first city of the New World." "I brought the plans of a Florentine architect Leonardo, da Vinci." "God willing, we will establish his ideal city." "We are trying to adapt to the Indian diet." "Meat is only a memory for us." "But in less than a week, the mill will be ready to produce our first flour." "Soon, we'll be eating our own bread." "Never again will I underestimate its taste or the simple comfort of home." "You are always in my thoughts." "Forever, your Father." "You want her?" "Then you can have her." "To the New World, my friend." "To the Governor of the mosquitos!" "She's a good cook." "What kind of meat is this?" "Iguana!" "What's wrong with it?" "It's an Indian dish." "Well, I'm not an Indian." "You know Christopher, I think Giacomo is right." "We can't live on corn and pepper." "The Indians can't take the heavy plantation work, we need black slaves." "Besides, everything rots in the ground before it can be harvested." "Have you noticed?" "The horses and pigs multiply." "I can't keep them from mounting each other." "May be it's the heat." "Well, I must confess that the heat has a similar effect on me." "You're both right." "But the fort must be completed before the rains begin." "We must rely on our strengths." "What exactly do you mean?" "Every able man must work!" "All of us!" "Including the nobility." "They're exempt, Christopher!" "Well, now they won't be!" "Next!" "Name?" " Name?" " Colpa." "What's he saying?" "He has not found any." "Why?" "Ask him why!" "Stop him!" "Bring him back!" "He says he hasn't found any." "He's lying." "Tell him to put his hand on the table." "Like this." "Tell them I know they are hiding the gold from us." "Tell them this is how we treat thieves and liars." "Don Adrian, you cannot do this thing!" "I can't?" "I can!" "In one act of brutality you have created chaos." "All the tribes are now joining forces against us." "All of that because of your criminal savagery." "Savagery, is what monkeys understand." "You should have done the same a long time ago, Don Cristobal." "Your ways, they don't work!" "You'll be held in detention, deprived of your privileges until you are sent back to Spain, where you'll be judged." "Have anything to say?" "For four years now we are here." "We stayed here four years because we believed your promises." "But we find neither gold, nor your earthly paradise!" "You and your brothers you have failed Senor, Colombo!" " Don Giacomo, you will come at once!" " What's happening?" "In the mine!" "Get Don Christopher!" "Cut him down!" "Cut the ropes!" "Cut the ropes!" "Moxica's right!" "Your ways don't work!" "We have to find them." "Did you hear me?" "You have to find them!" "You see what they did?" "You did the same to your God." "You know them?" "Charge!" "Stop!" "Fire!" "Moxica!" "You know, what will be said about this in Spain don't you?" "You are nothing!" "Your bastards will never inherit your titles, no!" "We we are everything!" "We are immortal!" "Bastard!" "Don Christopher I wish to return to Spain." "I have no desire to remain in this Godless place." "They are criminals." "They have a debt towards the people of Spain." "Moxica paid, they will have to pay too!" "I do not understand you, Don Christopher." "You treat Christians equally with heathen savages." "And what do you offer in return?" "A New World, Buyl!" "No one wants one, only you!" "Not only me!" "Look at these people." "They could go back to Spain to see their families." "But they stay." "They want something new." "A new world!" "I'll be leaving on the next ship." "You may leave if you please, but your departure won't help me make this place more Godly." "Perhaps hope only exists in the journey, Giacomo." "At the beginning, everything's possible." "Every expectation, every dream." "No one ever expected this to be easy, Christopher!" "This is not how I imagined it to be." "Marchena was right, Bartolome." "Paradise and Hell both can be earthly." "We carry them with us wherever we go." "Utopan!" "Speak to me!" "You never learned how to speak my language." "Your Majesty, here are the true facts concerning the island of Hispaniola." "The activity of your servant Christopher Columbus Admiral of the ocean sea and Governer of that island the truth he now presides over a state of chaos of degradation and madness." "From the beginning Colombus proved himself..." "He appointed his brothers very important positions and so doing, injuring the pride and dignity of nobles." "He, then promised to build a city." "City of Isabel, named after Your Majesty." "A group of huts all in the wrong place swept away by the rains and mud." "He, then promised gold, evidently not finding the easy quantities he promised." "He has since commanded each Indian to pay a tax a monthly tribute of gold." "Most being unable to, we find, have been punished or massacred." "Columbus forced nobility to hard labour he treated them equally with Indians." "He reduced them into his slaves." "When the noble man Adrian de Moxica protested against this treatment he was executed." " Is this true, Brother Buyl?" " Yes, Your Excellency." "These are all true, all of it." "I saw it with my own eyes." "Well he promised a Paradise." "He failed!" "He must be replaced, immediately!" "And who would you think of for such a task?" "I am thinking of a man." "A man devoted to Your Majesties." "A man extremely motivated." "Excellency, I'm sorry!" "Don Francisco de Bobadilla." "Yes, I remember." "My letters of appointment." "I am the new Viceroy of the Indies." "Congratulations!" "Then I am free to search for the mainland?" "The mainland was discovered weeks ago, by another Italian." "Amerigo Vespucci, Excellency." "How far?" "I'm not a seaman, but I heard it's no more than a week at sea." "I hope you are not too disappointed." "How could I be?" "The mainland has been found exactly as I said it would." "I'm afraid this isn't the worst news." "Diego?" "Father!" "Fernando!" "Oh, my God!" "A man!" "How did this happen?" "Diego, Diego!" "Don't worry we're going to get you out of here." " Santangel's going to see the Queen." " Good!" "Good, good!" "I'll go back as soon as they'll free me." "This time with me." "In your present state it is madness, Father." "Nobody is forcing you to come with us." "Diego!" "Oh, Diego!" "Rise, please." "Now I do look older than you." "I have looked for a reason why I should allow you to go back." "And though I tried, I could not find one." "Help me find one." "All my life I have dreamed of reaching the continent." "I thought my dreams, grandiose!" "But reality was beyond my expectations, far beyond." "And now I want to explore that land before I die!" "I allow you to undertake another voyage." "Thank you!" "But without your brothers!" "Nor you to return to Santo Domingo or any of the other colonies." "The New World is a disaster." "And the old one, an achievement?" "I know, I shouldn't tolerate his impertinence." "Then why?" "Because he's not afraid of me." "Sanchez!" "You're a dreamer." "Look out there." "What do you see?" "I see towers I see palaces, I see steeples I see civilisation!" "And I see spires that reach to the sky!" "All of them created by people like me." "No matter how long you live, Sanchez there's something that will never change between us." "I did it you didn't!" "You're so beautiful!" "I can't believe no other man has never taken you away from me." "They tried, but I didn't let them." "They took everything." "Not everything." "Do you think I care?" "I'm a free man again." "Riches don't make a man rich, they only make him busier." "Oh, God!" "How much I've missed you!" "By the Grace of God and Your Beneficient Majesty!" "A new continent has now been found and claimed in the name of the Spanish Crown in the year 1492." "As Your Majesty is well aware, the University of Salamanca has always defended the theory of the existence of unknown territories to the west." "The surest route to the new continent has now been firmly established." "West by south-west for 750 leagues to Santo Domingo." "From there west-north-west leading San Juan to the north reaching the island of Hispaniola on the northen Cape of San Raphael." "Then onto the mainland at Cape Gracias A Dios." "Spain, by Your Majesty's grace has now confirmed for all humanity, the existence of a New World." "To the unknown lands!" "This continent was first discovered by a mariner commissioned by Your Majesty." "His name Amerigo Vespucci!" "Sanchez!" "What a tragedy." "What a waste of a life." "A waste?" "Well, if your name or mine is ever remembered it will only be because of his!" "It's Diego, he's is at court with Santangel." "He says they hope to get your priveleges restored, maybe the house." "But how is he?" "Diego is thinking of starting a pearl trade in Santo Domingo." "He says he received many letters for you, mostly from your men." "He sent some of them." " This one's from Mendez." " Mendez?" "What does he say?" "He asks to come and visit you." "He left his address." "He never had one." "Except aboard my ships." "I want you to tell me everything you remember, Father." "I wouldn't know where to start, Fernando." "Tell me the first thing that comes to your mind." "I remember..." "In 1502, Columbus sailed with Fernando on his last voyage to the New World." "They landed in Panama where the Indians revealed to them... the existence of a new sea - the Pacific Ocean." "The biography that Fernando wrote about his father... restored the name of Columbus to its place in history." "In 1992, his descendant Christopher Columbus... is an Admiral in the Royal Spanish Navy." ""Life has more imagination than we carry in our dreams...""