Martín Alonso Pinzón, (; Palos de la Frontera, Huelva; c. 1441 – c. 1493) was a Spanish mariner, shipbuilder, navigator and explorer, oldest of the Pinzón brothers. He sailed with Christopher Columbus on his first voyage to the New World in 1492, as captain of the Pinta. His youngest brother Vicente Yáñez Pinzón was captain of the Niña, and the middle brother Francisco Martín Pinzón was maestre (first mate) of the Pinta.
The Pinzón family of Palos
The Pinzón family was among the leading families of Palos de la Frontera in the late 15th century. There are several conflicting theories about the origin of the family and of their name (see Pinzón family). His grandfather was a sailor and diver known as Martín; it is not clear whether that was a first or last name, and whether in his generation Pinzón was a surname or an epithet. His father was a sailor named Martín Pinzón; his mother was named Mayor Vicente.
Life Born in Palos around 1441, it appears that at quite a young age Pinzón shipped out on a locally based caravel as a grumete (cabin boy). His home, now the Casa Museo de Martín Alonso Pinzón, was on the old royal road to the Monastery of La Rábida. Martín's family contracted a marriage with a resident of the locality named María Álvarez. They had five children: two boys—Arias Pérez and Juan, who participated in several expeditions to the Americas—and three girls—Mayor, Catalina, and Leonor. Leonor, the youngest, suffered frequent attacks of what was then called "gota coral" and would now be called epilepsy.
A French tradition holds that Alonso Pinzón sailed to the New World with the navigator Jean Cousin, and that together they discovered the continent in 1488, four years before Columbus. Back in Dieppe, Pinzón left Cousin in a dispute, and is claimed to have left for Spain, from where he advised Columbus on his westward sail.The English Rediscovery and Colonization of America by Marie A. Shipley p.5 A savage mirror: power, identity, and knowledge in early modern France Michael Wintroub p.21 Pinzon is known to have displayed a remarkable confidence in guiding Columbus in his discovery of the New World. No indisputable written records remain, however, to support this early claim to discovery.
His nautical experience and his leadership remained patent in the 1508–1536 lawsuits known as the pleitos colombinos ("Columbian lawsuits"), where the witnesses indicated him as the leader of the comarca (a region comparable to a shire). He was also famous for his battles against the Portuguese in the War of the Castilian Succession.Relevant passages from the pleitos colombinos are cited in and quoted in the notes for the article Pinzón brothers. One witness said of him "neither on sea nor land the King had no other man so valiant nor brave as him". It is probable that even while in Portugal before coming to Spain, Columbus was aware of Martín Alonso, because he was known for his participation in the war, as well as for his incursions into the Afro-Atlantic waters in the wake of the Portuguese, traveling to the Canary Islands and Guinea, with their rich fisheries and the commercial possibility of trade in gold, spices, and slaves.
Preparations for the voyage of discovery On 23 May 1492 a royal provision was read out to the residents of Palos,Real Provisión de los Reyes Católicos que mandaron a Diego Rodríguez Prieto y a otros compañeros, vecinos de la villa de Palos, para que tuvieran preparadas dos carabelas al servicio de Cristóbal Colón. Texto completo, Granada, 30 April 1492. Archivo General de Indias. Sección: Patronato. Signatura: PATRONATO, 295, N.3. (Castellano antiguo) by which the Catholic Monarchs Isabella and Ferdinand ordered that certain residents deliver two caravels to Columbus and travel with him on his voyage that he was making "by command of Their Highnesses" ("por mandado de Sus Altezas") and that the town should respect the royal decision. The locals did not comply. The sailors of Palos had no confidence in embarking on this adventure with Columbus, who was largely unknown to them. Independent of their greater or lesser credence in his ideas, the men of Palos found it difficult to support the Genovese sailor if he was not accompanied by a mariner known and respected in the town. The venture—risky and, above all, of uncertain profit—did not present great attractions. Opposition or indifference to Columbus's project was general. The link is to archive.org.
At about this time, Pinzón returned from a routine commercial voyage to Rome. The Franciscans of the Monastery of La Rábida put Columbus in touch with Pinzón. Pinzón's friend Pero Vázquez de la Frontera, a very respected old mariner in the town, also had an important influence on Pinzón deciding to support the undertaking, Online on Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes. not only morally but also economically. On the website of the Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes.
There is no record of any written agreement between Columbus and Pinzón, and the terms of any agreement are lost to history. However, we do have the writings of Fray Bartolomé de las Casas and the testimony of some witnesses. According to Fernández Duro, de las Casas says Columbus offered Pinzón equal honors in the voyage and half the profits, and Diego Pinzón Colmenero testified the same in the pleitos colombinos; Francisco Medel testified that he heard him offer Pinzón "whatever he asked for and desired".. The original of the quoted phrase is "quanto pidiese y quisiese" heard his say he would treat him like a brother
As a strong sign of his commitment to Columbus's plan, Pinzón put up half a million ("medio cuento") maravedís in coin toward the cost of the voyage, half of the amount that had been put up by the monarchy. Thanks to his prestige as a shipowner and expert sailor and his fame throughout the Tinto-Odiel region, he was able to enlist an appropriate crew. Signing on, he dismissed the vessels that Columbus had already seized based on the royal order and also dismissed the men he had enrolled, supplying the enterprise with two caravels of his own, the Pinta and the Niña, which he knew from his own experience would be better and more suitable boats.. The actual ownership of the Niña is in some question; quite possibly Pinzón had a lease on it, rather than outright ownership. Furthermore, he traveled through Palos, Moguer and Huelva, convincing his relatives and friends to enlist, composing of them the best crew possible. According to testimony in the pleitos colombinos, he "brought such diligence to secure and animate the people as if what were discovered were for him and his sons." Online on Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes. Among those he recruited were Cristóbal Quintero from Palos and the Niño brothers from Moguer.
At this time, Pinzón and Columbus seemed quite close. In the pleitos colombinos, witness Alonso Gallego from Huelva remembered hearing Columbus say, "Mister Martín Alonso Pinzón, we are going on this voyage which, if we go on with it and God reveals new lands to us, I promise by the Royal Crown to treat you as a brother."Señor Martín Alonso Pinçón, vamos an este viage que, si salimos con él y Dios nos descubre tierras, yo os prometo por la Corona Real de partir con vos como un hermano. Pleitos colombinos. Testimonio de Alonso Gallego en las probanzas de 1515, en Palos. Archivo General de Indias. Sección: Patronato. Signatura: PATRONATO, 12, N.2, R.23. See also for another quotation of similar import, this from Columbus's son and heir Diego Colón.
Voyage with Columbus
The voyage out On 3 August 1492, the Santa María, Pinta, and Niña left Palos on their voyage of discovery. Admiral Columbus captained the flagship Santa María, Pinzón was captain of the Pinta; his middle brother Francisco was master. It was from the Pinta that Rodrigo de Triana would be the first to sight land in the Americas.Diario de a bordo del primer viaje de Cristóbal Colón: texto completo (complete text of the Ship's diary of Columbus's first voyage, as assembled by Fray Bartolomé de las Casas. Hereafter, "Ship's Diary") 11 October "And because the caravela Pinta had more sail and went ahead of the Admiral, it found land and made the sign the Admiral had ordered. This land was seen first by a sailor named Rodrigo de Triana." "Y porque la carabela Pinta era más velera e iba delante del Almirante, halló tierra e hizo las señas que el Almirante había mandado. Esta tierra fue vista primero por un marinero que se decía Rodrigo de Triana"
During the voyage, Pinzón demonstrated on several occasions his gifts as an expert mariner and as a leader. When the tiller of the Pinta broke en route to the Canary Islands, Columbus, who could not get close enough to help from the Santa María: When, between 6 and 7 October 1492 Columbus was unable to reestablish discipline among the tired and discouraged crew of the Santa María, Martín Alonso with his gift of command managed to resolve the situation. As the Hernán Pérez Mateos would testify over forty years later: At that time, Pinzón suggested to Columbus the change of course on 6 October 1492.Ship's Diary: This change brought the expedition to landfall on Guanahani on 12 October 1492.
These and other acts by Pinzón and by his brothers, especially Vicente, have led historians to see the brothers as "co-discoverers of America",, in that without their help, support, and courage, Columbus probably could not have achieved his enterprise of discovery, at least not in that time and place.José María Asensio quoted in At one point during the pleitos colombinos, a royal prosecutor argued that Pinzón had played a more important role in the discovery of the Indies than Columbus himself.
Separation in the Caribbean All evidence—the remarks in Columbus's diary, the testimony in the pleitos colombinos—is that on the outward voyage, relations between Columbus and Pinzón remained positive. Once among the Caribbean islands, that began to change.
On 21 November 1492, off the coast of Cuba, Pinzón failed to follow a direct order of Columbus to change course.José María Asensio quoted in He probably sailed off on his own trying to make individual discoveries and to find treasure, although Cesáreo Fernández Duro argues that the initial separation may have been accidental, a matter of missed signals. (Asensio takes Fernández Duro strongly to task for not adequately explaining the length of the separation;José María Asensio quoted in In this passage, Fernández Duro is quoting Asenio quoting Fernández Duro himself. Fernández Duro responds that Pinzón simply continued the prior course, and if Columbus wanted, he should have had a pretty fair idea where to find him over the next several days., especially p. 91) During his separate travels he discovered new land; while all of the island geography of the first voyage is open to question,McElroy, John W. (1941) The Ocean Navigation of Columbus on His First Voyage. The American Neptune, I 209-240.Peck, Douglas T. (1993) Christoforo Colombo, God's Navigator, Columbus, WI: Columbian Publishers.Marden, Luis. (1986) The First Landfall of Columbus. National Geographic, 170 (November) 572-577.Goldsmith, Roger A. and Philip L. Richardson, (1992). Numerical Simulations of Columbus' Atlantic Crossings. Woods Hole Oceanog. Inst. Tech. Rept., WHOI-92-14, February 1992.Pickering, Keith A. The Transatlantic Tracks of Columbus. Society for the History of Discoveries lecture, Cody, Wyoming September 11, 2004 it is believed that the land was Haiti.