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00:00Christopher Columbus celebrated everywhere
00:05as the brave explorer who found the new world.
00:08But for all his fame, Columbus had a hidden past.
00:12Who was he really?
00:15There are loads of gaps in his life,
00:18and he appears to have wanted it to be like that.
00:21Some think he was a mercenary,
00:24a pirate, an enemy of the state.
00:28Why hide his true identity?
00:33Historian Professor Charles Merrill is determined to find out.
00:37Along with a world-renowned scientific team,
00:40he goes on an unprecedented journey.
00:45They will exhume and analyze the remains of Christopher Columbus
00:49to separate fact from fiction.
00:52If we can get DNA out of these bones,
00:54we could finally find out who Christopher Columbus is.
00:59Can the latest scientific techniques
01:01unearth the ancient secrets of Columbus's real-life story?
01:061476.
01:11Just off the Portuguese coast,
01:15a fierce sea battle is taking place.
01:18Five Genoese merchant vessels are under attack by a flotilla of pirates.
01:25A young man called Christopher Columbus is caught in the thick of it.
01:41History records he's a crew member defending his Genoese merchant ship.
01:46But the ship catches fire,
01:49and Columbus is forced to leap overboard
01:52and swim for his life.
01:55According to this account,
01:57he swims two leagues to get to the coast.
02:01Now, two leagues is about six miles at least,
02:04and therefore this would be a very great exploit indeed.
02:07The history books say this was a key moment in Columbus's life,
02:12the turning point that pushed him to become the man we now celebrate.
02:16But was this in fact the moment Columbus decided to become a new man?
02:22Did this event allow him to conceal his identity
02:25and spin a web of deceit that gave him access to the Spanish court?
02:30Columbus claimed that God saved him because he had a quest to fulfill,
02:35to discover a new world.
02:39But other records, thought to have been written by Columbus's own son,
02:44tell a very different story.
02:47These report Columbus was fighting for the other side,
02:51as a mercenary, an enemy of his eventual royal patrons.
02:56Surviving his leap into the water became a chance to invent a new identity,
03:00a way to leave behind a very dangerous past.
03:05Professor Charles Merrill is an expert on Christopher Columbus.
03:09He's convinced that when it comes to this explorer, the books are wrong.
03:14He believes the accepted story that Columbus was a poor weaver's son
03:18who came from the Italian town of Genoa makes no sense.
03:21His theory is that history has stumbled onto a case of mistaken identity.
03:26They invented Christopher Columbus or Colombo in Genoa,
03:29but he wasn't the same man who discovered America.
03:32Merrill is determined to find out what Columbus was really hiding.
03:36He's faced with many hypotheses.
03:39Some believe the Mariner's reasons to hide were less suspicious than a mercenary's past.
03:44He could have been born a Jew.
03:47The rule and cruelty of the Spanish Inquisition forced many to hide at that time.
03:54Other researchers believe the truth may reside behind a scandal, the stigma of illegitimacy.
04:00Could Columbus have been hiding from his family's indiscretions?
04:05Seville, Spain.
04:08A group of scientists has received special permission to exhume the remains of Christopher Columbus.
04:14Merrill is collaborating with the team, led by Professor José Antonio Lorente.
04:20DNA analysis may be their best bet to help unearth the ancient secrets of Columbus's past life.
04:27Forensic anthropology, linguistic analysis, and psychological profiling are also being used to help reveal more about the adventurer's true history.
04:41The main cathedral in Seville.
04:44Christopher Columbus's remains are here.
04:47After years of bureaucratic red tape, scientist José Lorente and his team have finally been granted permission to examine them.
04:55Their findings could literally change history.
05:02Annunziata Colon is one of Columbus's direct descendants.
05:06She's here to witness this historic event.
05:09She too wants some definite answers about her famous ancestor's past.
05:14A past full of secrets that she believes science can finally reveal.
05:20The scientific analysis is important because there are unclear facts surrounding the life and death of Columbus.
05:31It's been centuries since the casket was closed.
05:35Precise measurements are taken, recording every detail of this historic occasion.
05:40But no one really knows what, if anything, is in there.
05:47If there are no physical remains, Columbus's history will continue to be shrouded in mystery.
05:53The casket is finally opened.
06:03The last remains of the great explorer are now just small fragments of bone and dust.
06:10Even though the remains were sealed in a casket, they were still exposed to air and normal temperature fluctuations.
06:16Bacteria that caused decomposition used the bones as a source of nutrients, digesting them and causing their breakdown.
06:30After over 500 years, only small fragments have survived.
06:35So when we opened the box and I saw the bones in there, I knew that it was going to be difficult.
06:44I was expecting to find some more larger fragments of bones.
06:48But anyway, we have to try to find the truth about this so important person, about Christopher Columbus.
06:57Professor Charles Merrill has been studying the question of Columbus's origins for decades.
07:02He's convinced Columbus's drive and passion did not come from humble Italian beginnings.
07:09The history books of all countries and of all times have said that Christopher Columbus was from Genoa.
07:14There were no documents about his birth at the time or about his youth or childhood.
07:20So the lack of documents didn't stop historians from repeating what little was known.
07:26The explorer himself appears to have chosen to keep his roots a secret.
07:30During his lifetime, he didn't tell anyone the details of his childhood, not even his own son, who spent years chronicling his father's life.
07:40He wished to live in obscurity, all that pertained to his birthplace and family.
07:46But why did Columbus hide his past?
07:49What dark secret forced him to lie to his own son?
07:52Christopher Columbus is one of the world's most famous figures.
08:06Yet little is known about this legendary explorer's personal history.
08:10Did he hide his origin to try and escape a dark and dangerous past?
08:14Professor Charles Merrill is convinced that current historical records do not tell the true story.
08:23He's teamed up with scientists who are examining Columbus's remains in the hope of finally unearthing the adventurer's ancient secret.
08:32But what was he hiding?
08:35Columbus only once recorded where he was from.
08:38From Genoa I came, and therein was I born.
08:43Even this record is questionable though.
08:45The document is a copy of a long-lost original, and experts suspect it to be a forgery.
08:52Other documents that could reveal the crucial clues to his identity have vanished.
08:57But how could the records of such a high-profile figure disappear?
09:04Greed, power, and recognition provide the answer.
09:09Even today, Columbus's legacy has some value.
09:13His original quest entitled him to 10% of the riches from the New World.
09:18A staggering income.
09:20For centuries, his descendants were embroiled in family feuds over the rights to his titles and wealth.
09:27Many records were destroyed or lost.
09:31Some intentionally, and some not.
09:34Without the records, once Columbus died, separating fact from fiction became even more difficult.
09:41Then, in the 19th century, the Italian city of Genoa produced over 70 documents claiming that he came from their town.
09:50It was convincing evidence, and is now generally accepted as fact.
09:54The overwhelming consensus is that Columbus is Genoese.
09:59And this is because, up to now, virtually all the documentary evidence say that he was.
10:11Professor Charles Merrill has studied the explorer's origins with care.
10:14He's traveled to Genoa to challenge the belief that Columbus was born here.
10:20In the 1450s, this humble weaver's cottage was occupied by Domenico Colombo and Susana Fontana Rosa.
10:29Many experts believe that Columbus was their son, and that this is where he grew up.
10:34He came from not a very large family by the standards of the time, but a normal one with four brothers and sisters.
10:43History currently records that Columbus was in his early twenties when he left the textile business for a life at sea.
10:49He became a crew member of a Genoese trading ship and left Italy for good.
11:01Four years later, in 1476, he was involved in a sea battle that would almost take his life and motivate him to win riches and fame as the adventurer, Christopher Columbus.
11:12But Professor Merrill believes history may have stumbled onto a case of mistaken identity.
11:24The Christopher Columbus in Genoa might not be the famed explorer.
11:29The man that we know as the discoverer of America did not have many of the characteristics that the Christopher Columbus of the Genoese documents had.
11:37The man that Christopher Columbus or Colombo in general, maybe he wasn't the same man who discovered America.
11:45The scientific investigation into Columbus's remains may finally help Charles Merrill prove his theory.
11:52The science team only has six days to conduct their tests.
11:57Then Columbus's remains must be returned to their tomb.
12:00While here, they'll undergo an intense examination using two completely different scientific techniques.
12:08Jose Lorente, an expert in DNA analysis, will examine the unique genetic code from Columbus's bones.
12:15It was emotional for me because these are supposed to be the bones of one of the main person in Spanish history.
12:22Professor Miguel Batalla is an expert in forensic anthropology.
12:28His analysis could reveal crucial information about the age of Columbus at the time of his death.
12:33The results of these tests could turn history upside down.
12:42Charles Merrill is examining a crucial document in Genoa's Naval Museum.
12:46Experts credit this record as being the proof that Columbus came from this city.
12:53Written by the explorer himself, the document has traditionally been interpreted as saying,
12:59Although my body is here, my heart is in general.
13:03But the professor's careful scrutiny reveals a key detail on the page.
13:08Could a single sheet of paper change everything the world believes about Columbus?
13:13Professor Charles Merrill is in Genoa, examining the document that historians have generally accepted as proof that Christopher Columbus came from this Italian city.
13:31But a careful review uncovers an unexpected detail.
13:35There's a line in it that says, Although my body is here, my heart is there.
13:39Sometimes that's translated as, although my body is here, my heart is with you in Genoa.
13:45But that's not the words that are actually used.
13:48The letter never specifically mentions Genoa.
13:53Merrill's hypothesis that Columbus's Genoese origins might not be genuine is strengthened.
13:59There's also another aspect of Columbus's life that does not appear to fit the Mariner's own writings.
14:04From a very small age, I went sailing upon the sea.
14:09Records show that Columbus only went to sea when he turned 20.
14:15Columbus's statement supports Merrill's idea that the evidence found for a Genoese sailor is pointing to the wrong Christopher Columbus.
14:23A man who was the son of a weaver and shared the same name as the explorer, but who suffered a completely different fate.
14:30He had an extensive maritime experience that he must have had from the age of childhood, whereas the Christopher Colombo of Genoa never sailed at all until he was at least 20.
14:45Even his descendants question whether Columbus really was a Genoese weaver's son.
14:49There is a lot of information that leads us to it and makes us believe it, but there are other aspects that do not fit into the puzzle.
15:01An element of the explorer's story that historians find baffling is Columbus's marriage to Philippa Moniz, a Portuguese noblewoman.
15:07They married in 1478, well before Columbus achieved fame and fortune.
15:16Philippa belonged to a noble Portuguese family. How could someone coming from a humble class, how could he marry a woman from a noble family?
15:25The specialists in Portuguese social history tell me that this kind of marriage at that time would have been impossible.
15:31If Philippa couldn't marry outside her social class, then is it possible that Columbus actually came from a noble family?
15:40Charles Merrill is building his case to prove that Columbus was not a weaver's son.
15:47If his theory is correct, then who was Christopher Columbus?
15:51Science may hold the key to solving the riddle behind the famous explorer's past.
16:00A battery of scientific tests carried out at Granada University might shed light on Christopher Columbus's true origins.
16:08Forensic anthropologist Miguel Botaya has been examining the bones of Columbus.
16:13With so few bones left, he must examine each fragment in minute detail.
16:21It's slow, meticulous work, but it pays off.
16:27He finds something unexpected, a tiny cut on one of the skeletal fragments.
16:33On the only jaw fragment that has been conserved, there is a cut.
16:38This cut corresponds to a mark that probably means a loss of flesh.
16:43It suggests to Botaya that Columbus's corpse underwent a gruesome mortuary practice, defleshing.
16:56Defleshing could entail everything from removing what remains within the actual body cavity and the brain to essentially butchery.
17:04That's going to involve, first of all, removing the head, sawing off the arms and legs, removing the muscles, sinews and all the other ligaments.
17:16But why put Columbus's remains through such a gruesome process?
17:21At a time when refrigeration was not available and traveling took time, discarding the flesh and keeping the bones was the only way that bodies could be transported long distances.
17:34When Columbus died in 1506, he had one wish.
17:38He asked his family to make sure he'd be buried in his beloved Hispaniola, the modern-day Dominican Republic.
17:44This was the island of his historical landing in 1492.
17:50Columbus's daughter-in-law arranged the journey.
17:53Under cover of night, Columbus's casket was camouflaged and put on a ship bound for Santo Domingo.
18:00The disguise was necessary because medieval sailors were superstitious and feared traveling with the dead.
18:07The great fear was partly that they might actually come back.
18:11Behind every such superstition, there can quite often be a kind of practical explanation.
18:18If you're locked up in a tiny medieval ship for a long voyage, one thing you're going to be afraid of is contagion.
18:24Columbus's remains returned to Spain over three centuries later.
18:29But some people claim that his bones are still in the Dominican Republic.
18:33Professor Botaya's discovery showing that the body was defleshed is great news for the scientific team.
18:42This technique was only used on nobility, and as Columbus was an important noble by the time he died,
18:49this find adds evidence to the belief that these are indeed the genuine remains of the great explorer.
18:54They were not left or wholly replaced in Hispaniola.
18:59With the bone analysis well underway, DNA expert Professor Jose Lorente selects a few fragments from the remains already examined.
19:07He begins the process of DNA extraction.
19:10The bones are seriously degraded.
19:15With so few samples to work with, extracting DNA will be challenging for the scientists.
19:21Any contaminants and fragments of DNA from other sources are removed.
19:26The procedure destroys the bones, but the scientists have no choice.
19:32They grind the precious fragment into a powder.
19:35It's a huge responsibility.
19:39When you deal with one sample of Christopher Columbus in the lab and you're grinding,
19:44you know that this is the last shot that you have on this sample.
19:49As the remains have moved from their original resting place,
19:53the scientists' first task is to prove that these bones actually belong to Christopher Columbus.
19:59They must compare this DNA to that of a close relative whose identity is established.
20:05The two of Columbus' relations are exhumed, his brother Diego and his son Hernando.
20:13Hernando was his father's first biographer.
20:16Professor Merrill has been scouring his records in search of clues about Columbus' life.
20:22But even Hernando admits that his father's past was a mystery.
20:27My father was a very capable and talented man for the great enterprise.
20:30But he kept his homeland and origins a secret.
20:36Hernando even travelled to Italy to try and trace his father's origins without finding a single relative.
20:43According to the biography he wrote, after the death of his wife, Columbus moved to Spain to a region called Castile.
20:50Here begins the story of the explorer as the world today knows it.
20:58The unknown adventurer arrives at the court of King Ferdinand of Aragon and Queen Isabella of Castile, a reinvented man.
21:05He is educated, versed in cartography and the science of astronomy.
21:13And he has a clear purpose, gaining their confidence and help for his mission.
21:18But what was the famous explorer hiding?
21:24What dark secret was he so fearful of that he felt unable to share it with his own son or with his royal patron, the Queen?
21:32Christopher Columbus' story is known across the world.
21:46But the famous adventurer has a hidden past.
21:52Evidence suggests he was not born a humble weaver's son in Genoa.
21:57But why would he hide it?
21:59Columbus expert Professor Charles Merrill is determined to find out.
22:07Dr. Harold Burstein is a psychological profiler.
22:11Professor Merrill has asked him to search for a motive behind Columbus' cover-up.
22:16For someone to obscure their identity must mean that they're either being driven by fear, they're afraid of something.
22:24They're being driven by shame, they're ashamed of something.
22:29They're driven by desire, they want something.
22:33The commonly accepted theory is that Columbus hid his humble beginnings out of shame, afraid that these might interfere with his plan to raise capital for his ambitious voyage.
22:44But Dr. Burstein thinks it's unlikely for one crucial reason.
22:50Columbus did not hide his family.
22:53He kept his brothers close to him throughout his lifetime.
22:55If he had been a member of a poor Genoese family and wanted simply to forget about it, it's more likely that he would not have wanted to keep his brothers close to him as he rose to power.
23:07Usually under those circumstances, the people who are considered to be lower class are left behind.
23:12In 1492, he set sail on his most famous voyage into the unknown, the first of four trips to the Americans.
23:23On his later journeys, his two brothers went with him, suggesting they were still very close.
23:28But if Columbus was not a poor weaver's son from Genoa, then where did he come from?
23:38Professor Charles Merrill has traveled to Barcelona in Spain.
23:42He's here to investigate an extremely controversial theory that Columbus is not an Italian at all, but a Spaniard, specifically a Catalan.
23:51He has arranged a meeting with Francesc Albadane, a Columbus enthusiast.
24:00Albadane is the research director of a society dedicated to proving that Columbus comes from this area.
24:06Professor Merrill thinks the evidence that's been collected for this theory is convincing.
24:13They visit the home once owned by a noble family called Colom of Barcelona.
24:17The Catalan theory claims that Columbus was a member of this family.
24:22This was a very rich, noble and famous family here. They were bankers.
24:28They belonged to this bourgeoisie of merchants that traded all around the Mediterranean.
24:36So the tradition of this family was already of a sailor.
24:41And during his lifetime, Columbus was actually called Cologne.
24:45The original form of Columbus's name was Colom, C-O-L-O-M, which is a Catalan word.
24:50He'd never called Colombo or Columbus in Spain.
24:56As a member of the Colom family, Columbus fits the profile of the explorer.
25:01He would have been educated, his family were mariners, and they were aristocrats.
25:07But then why would Columbus hide his past?
25:11The explorer's writings may hold crucial clues.
25:15In a letter, he made an extraordinary claim.
25:18He said he captained a ship during the Catalan civil war against King Ferdinand's family,
25:24the very monarchy that financed his voyage of discovery.
25:27Having that background of warfare against the family, which was the family that both Isabelle and Ferdinand came from,
25:35it would have been impolitic for him to have insisted on his own identity when he came to the court in 1484 asking for favors.
25:42Researchers that claim Columbus was Spanish believe he was indeed involved in a battle off the coast of Portugal.
25:52But their theory has Columbus fighting on the opposite side.
25:57According to them, he wasn't a crew member of a Genoese merchant ship, but he was one of the mercenaries that attacked the convoy.
26:03There's even evidence suggesting the Admiral of the Corsairs that attacked the Genoese fleet came from the Colom family of Barcelona.
26:12Columbus sailed with Guillaume de Casanova Colom because he was his relative.
26:19And no record of an Italian Columbus ever sailing with the Genoese merchants has so far been found.
26:25At the end of the 19th century, an Italian historian discovered all the list of persons that were with the five boats of Genova,
26:35and Colombo was not there.
26:42But for Charles Merrill, there are problems with the Catalan theory.
26:46There is no record of a Christopher Columbus born in this region.
26:51How could this be?
26:52Francesc Albertani believes it's because Columbus was an illegitimate son.
26:59You cannot study illegitimate persons because they don't appear nowhere.
27:05In the inheritance documents, they are not there.
27:10The final answer to Columbus's identity question may rest with Professor Lorente's DNA tests.
27:16If a clear result can be extracted, it should be possible to prove whether Columbus came from an Italian or Spanish family.
27:30But some historians think Columbus was hiding an altogether different past.
27:34A secret heritage that might have easily cost him his life.
27:41Professor Charles Merrill is investigating the controversial theories surrounding Christopher Columbus's roots.
27:57Was he the son of a poor Italian weaver or a Spanish nobleman who served as a corsair attacking royal ships?
28:06His remains are undergoing a number of scientific tests.
28:10But over five centuries have gone by and the samples are very badly degraded.
28:14Extracting the necessary data is proving difficult.
28:19The first test on the bones produces disappointing results.
28:25The team are unable to extract a pure DNA sample.
28:28The scientists must begin again.
28:32The scientists must begin again.
28:35They crush another of Columbus's precious bones in the hope this one will still contain enough of the biological material they need.
28:43Their work on the remains of Columbus's son, Hernando, is more successful.
28:49They extract his mitochondrial DNA.
28:52This is genetic material that has passed down the generations through the mother's side of the family.
28:59Unfortunately, it won't prove Hernando is directly related to Columbus, but it's an important first step.
29:05Lorente needs a different kind of DNA to make the link between father and son, but it's like finding a needle in a haystack.
29:13They need DNA from the Y chromosome, the genetic material which determines the sex of a person.
29:18He has to share with his father the Y chromosome, but it is much, much more difficult.
29:25It is actually the main challenge of the whole project.
29:28Professor Merrill is seeking evidence for the idea that Columbus originally came from Spain rather than Italy.
29:36He's having the adventurer's handwriting analyzed.
29:39Handwriting varies greatly from person to person.
29:42Each person will write in a very individual way, displaying unique characteristics.
29:48This can reveal a lot about the writer.
29:51Father Gabriel Roura, professor of paleography, has been asked to compare the handwritings of Columbus to the 15th century Catalan texts in his archive.
30:01Will Father Roura's findings provide evidence to support the idea that Columbus was Spanish?
30:07Professor Merrill also wants to look into another theory that he has come across.
30:14One that would easily explain why Columbus wanted to keep his past a secret.
30:191492 wasn't just the year that saw Columbus land in the New World.
30:25It was also the year religious persecution gripped Barcelona.
30:28The Spanish Inquisition was increasingly powerful and ruthless.
30:34King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella's rule had a dark side.
30:40In Barcelona, an entire community is forced from their homes.
30:45They are Jews.
30:47Some are banished.
30:49Others are burned alive.
30:51Columbus saw it all.
30:54Could he have been scared by what he witnessed?
30:56Was he a Jew himself who felt compelled to hide his origins?
31:02At that moment, when Columbus arrived in the presence of the kings,
31:06persons were burned alive in Catalonia.
31:10So it's better to hide any possible relation with the Jewish world.
31:16The DNA research may suggest a Jewish identity, but so far the ancient bones have not given up any of their secrets.
31:23With only a few bones left, Professor Lorente has decided to take a dramatic step.
31:31In his shoulder bag, he is carrying Columbus across the Atlantic one more time.
31:37The bones of Christopher Columbus have arrived back in America.
31:43They've come to a cutting-edge DNA laboratory in Dallas, Texas.
31:50It's kind of unreal, actually, when you think that you receive bones in your laboratory that are possibly from Christopher Columbus.
31:57It's very exciting for us to think that we could get results on those bones and provide a lot of history.
32:04The lab specializes in developing new DNA identification techniques.
32:11Here, there's some of the latest equipment to be found.
32:14Professor Lorente is pinning his hopes on this new technology.
32:18Will the Dallas laboratory finally succeed in extracting DNA?
32:22And could this DNA reveal Columbus was hiding his origins because he feared the Spanish Inquisition?
32:31Was he Jewish by birth?
32:36The Jewish theory comes from clues contained in the Book of Prophecies.
32:41A book written by Columbus himself in his last years of life.
32:45A time when he became very religious.
32:47Within it, he speaks of his ambition to use his fortune to resurrect a second Temple of the Mount,
32:54the holiest structure of ancient Jerusalem.
32:59Columbus said that with the money that he was going to get from the Indians,
33:04he was going to rebuild a second temple, just as King Solomon had done in his time.
33:10This is an idea which is evidently not Christian.
33:14It's a Jewish idea.
33:15That comes to confirm in my judgment the theory that Columbus was a Jew.
33:22To find out if Columbus has Jewish ancestry, Professor Merrill will have to wait for the DNA results.
33:29But he has found one piece of evidence that makes it unlikely the famous explorer was born and raised in Italy.
33:37Is this the key that he needs to change the records of history?
33:42Professor Charles Merrill has been studying Christopher Columbus for over a decade.
34:00He believes he's found evidence that the explorer was not the son of a poor Italian weaver, as history currently records.
34:06He believes Columbus was Spanish, and one piece of evidence seems to give his theory some extra weight.
34:14Columbus could not write in Italian.
34:17Even his letters to his brothers and to his bankers in Genoa are written in Spanish.
34:22He never wrote in Italian to anyone, even when he wrote to other Italians.
34:27When he wrote to his brother, he wrote in Spanish.
34:29It doesn't seem possible that he would have completely forgotten his language,
34:33because the Colombo from Genoa that's spoken of in the documents didn't leave the city until his 20s.
34:37To test the theory Columbus was Spanish, Charles Merrill turns to a technique currently used in criminal investigations.
34:46He meets with Professor Izaguiri, an expert in linguistic engineering.
34:52He can analyze Columbus's writings with a system called lexicometry.
34:56He'll set up his computers to identify features of Columbus's mother tongue and to look for any linguistic mistakes.
35:02As Professor Izaguiri begins his analysis, the scientific team has reached the end of its investigation.
35:10What secret was Columbus trying to hide?
35:13Was he a Catalan mercenary?
35:15Could he have been Jewish?
35:17Or was he the son of a Genoese weaver, as the history books say?
35:21Charles Merrill hopes the results will confirm his theory that Columbus was not the son of a weaver from Genoa.
35:27Forensic anthropologist Miguel Botaya is the first to report his findings.
35:34He has identified the age of Columbus's brother Diego at the time of his death.
35:40The age we have estimated for the death of this person is around 56 years old.
35:47We could conservatively estimate his death to be between 52 and 58 years.
35:52The city of Genoa's documents record that Columbus's brother died before he turned 48.
36:01Professor Botaya's findings reveal that Diego is older than the Genoese records show.
36:07This supports Merrill's theory that Columbus and his brother were not from the Genoese weaver's family.
36:13But is there any proof that he was from Barcelona?
36:16Merrill hopes Father Roura's investigation will reveal something about Columbus's past.
36:24We are within what we call cursive Gothic writing.
36:31There are some details which we can find in other Catalan scripts.
36:36And this Catalan characteristic, it's typical from around here?
36:42Yes, it's normal.
36:45As well as finding a clear Catalan influence on Columbus's writing,
36:49he's also found something about the explorer's education.
36:53We can clearly deduct that Columbus had education and culture.
36:59People who have limited education write slowly choosing their words.
37:03But a person who has a good education is used to writing fluidly.
37:06Father Roura's evidence points to Columbus coming from a noble family.
37:14As in the 15th century, education was a luxury reserved for the upper classes.
37:19Will the lexicometric data support these findings?
37:23Professor Merrill hopes for more evidence linking Columbus to a Catalan mother tongue.
37:28So you have some results of your linguistic studies now?
37:32The mother tongue of Columbus could be Catalan.
37:37These don't exclude other languages.
37:40And is it possible to tell anything about which type of Catalan is spoken?
37:46This is only in Central Catalan.
37:49Professor Izaguiri's analysis supports the theory that Columbus comes from Spain.
37:53Most of the evidence Professor Merrill is compiling points to a Catalan,
37:59a well-educated one, possibly even a nobleman.
38:02Was Columbus a member of the Colom family from Barcelona?
38:07Did he fight as a mercenary against the royals who sponsored his voyage of discovery?
38:12Maybe DNA analysis can provide the final confirmation.
38:16The results from the American study are finally in.
38:19The DNA tests are inconclusive.
38:24They can't confirm or disprove Merrill's theory.
38:28Professor Lorente has found a short sequence of mitochondrial DNA from the remains believed to be Columbus,
38:36but it is impure.
38:38We couldn't get a clean sequence of mitochondrial DNA from Christopher Columbus.
38:43So, in some extent, we are stuck here. We cannot move further.
38:49Whether the bones in Seville Cathedral are definitely those of Columbus is unproven.
38:56But the undisputed remains of Columbus' son, Hernando, have given the team DNA that is very closely related to that of the Mariner.
39:04Could this solve at least part of the mystery?
39:09Was Columbus hiding his past because he was Jewish?
39:13Did fear of the ruthless Spanish Inquisition force him to bury his roots?
39:19It's a preliminary information, but it looks pretty much like a regular Caucasian DNA.
39:25One mystery appears to be solved.
39:29Christopher Columbus was not hiding Jewish origins.
39:33But Professor Lorente's research is not entirely over.
39:37There are a few bone fragments left over from the scientific tests.
39:42He carefully places them into storage in the hope that advances in DNA technology may one day prove or disprove Merrill's theory about Columbus' origins.
39:52Professor Charles Merrill is not disappointed.
40:00The many tests done have confirmed his belief that current history does not tell the whole story when it comes to Columbus' past.
40:08They have also helped unearth a great deal of new information about this famous figure.
40:13Linguistic investigations have shown that Catalan is a likely candidate for the native language of Columbus.
40:24And the handwriting analysis shows that he learned to write at an early age and that he was from a noble family and that he was well educated.
40:35It makes me feel that it's not a question that's been closed as many of the traditional or orthodox historians have insisted.
40:42Professor Merrill believes that he has helped reopen the debate about Columbus' origins.
40:56The evidence shows that it is possible that this explorer could have been the illegitimate son of a noble Spaniard.
41:02Maybe Columbus was a Catalan mercenary after all, and maybe he did fight against the very monarchs that fifteen years later financed his voyage of discovery.
41:16Perhaps if he had not hidden his past, he would have never made his historic journey.
41:21For five hundred years, Christopher Columbus has kept his past a secret, but in time he may have wanted his true identity revealed.
41:31The words of his personal motto are inscribed on his tomb in Seville Cathedral.
41:37They read,
41:39Let me not be confused forever.