"May the Lord bear witness! Sir Alonso, was it you who persuaded Captain Juan de la Cosa to take the Santa Maria and join this voyage?..."
"Blessed be the Virgin! Father Talavera, this was Juan's own decision. Of course, I did indeed speak with him beforehand. The peninsula's Crusader holy war has ended, and if the huge loans the Crown owes to the Church of Rome and the Republic of Venice are to be repaid... opening a new Atlantic sea route may perhaps be one way to solve it!..."
"Sir Alonso, the royal council already examined the last proposal for the voyage. A new Eurasian route across the Atlantic is far more than four or five thousand kilometers—it is four times that distance! Such a distant, unfathomable new route could never be opened in a short time! And to support Columbus's voyage, the Crown would have to put up roughly 5,000 gold Ducats, a full 2,000,000 copper Maravedi..."
"Ahem! Father Talavera, you understand. Compared with the 500,000 gold Ducats the kingdom owes, 5,000 gold Ducats are not worth mentioning at all. Besides, we do not need to produce any cash. We can directly requisition ships, manpower, and supplies from the coastal towns... Many towns have not finished paying the increased taxes for the Crusader holy war, and truly cannot produce ready money..."
Brilliant light fell from the gorgeous dome like radiance bestowed by God. Yet under that radiance, the many nobles and priests of the kingdom were not discussing sacred faith, nor the missionary work of opening new routes... They were sunk deep in the mire and desire of money, arguing over figure after figure without the slightest attempt to hide their hunger for wealth.
At this time, the royal house of Castile was likewise like a traveler who had