1492:
A Novel of Christopher Columbus, the Spanish Inquisition, and a World at the
Turning Point. Newton Frohlich. Blue Bird Press. October 2016. 408 pp. ISBN#: 9780996048453.
Whether you’re a fan of history
presented precisely as it was or more engaged with a revisionist or
reinterpreted depiction of history, you will be fascinated by this story of the
forces impressing upon Queen Isabella of Spain, Christopher Columbus or
Cristoforo Colombo as he is called herein, the infamous Torquemada who headed the
Inquisition, the Santangel banking family and the Arab rulers vying for ways to
hold onto Spain and other European areas.
It’s a terrible time for Columbus to
be seeking funds for his plan to travel the seas on a new route to discover new
lands with new treasure. He’s got one
foot in Christianity as a converted Jew and one foot in the old Jewish world of
his origins. For Isabella is convinced
that it is the presence of Jews that is bringing a curse upon her nation and so
is conducting a campaign to arrest, torture and kill all Jews, even the
converted ones whom she believes are actually still conducting their Jewish
customs in secret. Rewards are dispensed
for those who spy and report on secret Jews and this in turn sets off a flurry
of “mob mentality” behavior where jealousy spawns reporting of Jewishness so
that lands and monies may be claimed as a reward.
Muslim leaders attack Spain with
astonishing brutality and lack of mercy.
However, Arab leaders do not trust each other and even begin to fight against
each other. This lack of unity will
prove to be their undoing in spite of random victories. The decimation of the Jewish population is
believed to be a sign of victory over the Muslims and indeed one wonders how
the two are tied together, if at all.
The Santangel family has Jewish
origins but are so necessary to the financial health of the Spanish kingdom
that more attention is paid to the family’s remarkable skills in investment and
savings. One son in particular doesn’t
understand this and so he becomes a viable threat to the family and therefore
kingdom’s prosperity.
Christopher Columbus’ wife, Filipa,
brings him contacts and connections that will eventually finance his famous
journey to the New World. Although he
will become a rich man, he cannot deny his Jewish background enhanced by his
friendship with Beatriz. It’s a thin
line between the two worlds but one Colombo masters and which parallels the
lives of far too many conversos in 15th Century Spain.
Newton Frohlich has crafted a
dynamic, exciting, tension-filled novel about this paramount period of European
history, a frenetic journey that was to shape not only the time covered in this
novel but the future of Europe and the New World. Well done, indeed, and highly recommended
historical fiction!
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