1492: Conquest of Paradise

Of all the words my father wrote, and there were many,

I remember these 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 the New World didn't exist.

The sun set in the west, on an ocean 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.

And 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 will be heard at Salamanca University.

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 were not 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 the route to 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! 2 minutes...

and already you're a bad man.

For telling the truth? Yes.

They're burning people for less.

The man you're about to confront

have no emotions.

You must learn to control your passion.

Passion is something one can't 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 this, is as 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?

Yes, yes, yes, I repent.

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 real life.

Uh... 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, Señor Columbus that is precisely where our opinions differ.

You're familiar with Aristotle? Eratosthenes? Ptolemeus?

I am, Your Eminence.

So you can't 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.

Toscanelli...

and the French Cardinal D'Ailly, both think De Tyr

is accurate in his calculations.

And therefore the ocean can be crossed.

Silence!

Gentlemen, are we here to examine this man's proposal, or not?

Let's suppose for the moment...

Marin de Tyr is right. Señor Columbus In your opinion,

how long would the voyage be?

Seven weeks.

Six, during the summer months.

De Tyr is wrong.

He's contradicted by the finest...

geographers.

Your voyage, Señor Columbus, 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 will bring these people to the word of God

and make them subjects of Castile and Aragon.

Instead of a realm,

Spain will become an Empire!

If God intended our proximity to Asia

do you believe 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 honors us with his presence.

The State has it's reasons to be interested in this man's proposition, Your Eminence.

With all due respect, the judgment is ours.

Why naturally.

And what if he were right?

I've always found such independent minds dangerous.

If the man had wings, no doubt he would return from the skies,

and tell us the heavens are empty.

I'd deplore the loss of such a potential opportunity for Spain.

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 can be given so effortlessly,

can so easily be taken away.

And therefore nothing could justify the participation of your Majesty's

in a venture that relies on 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.

- Don't give in. You must wait. — Wait?

I've waited 7 years already, how much longer do you want me to wait?

If God intends you to 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 are full of assumptions!

Just lies!

All of it lies!

All of it lies!

Father?

You mustn't speak to a man,

doing penance.

Then what can you do?

Nothing. That's the point, Fernando.

Fernando!

Señor Columbus?

I have 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?

Just my luck.

Listen, I'll do the talking for both of us.

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.