Genocide Project

The main argument of Jordi Bilbeny’s Brevíssima Relació de la Destrucció de la Història is that the discovery and early colonization of America was a Catalan enterprise that was systematically and intentionally erased from history by Spanish state censorship.

Bilbeny contends that historical truth was replaced by a fabricated narrative to serve the political and economic interests of the Castilian monarchy. His core arguments include:

• Systematic Censorship: Bilbeny argues that state laws in the 16th century mandated the supervision and “correction” of all books concerning America. This censorship was used to delete references to Catalonia and substitute them with “Castile” or “Spain”.
• Catalan Identity of Columbus: He asserts that Christopher Columbus (Cristòfor Colom) was a Catalan nobleman, not a Genoese commoner. Bilbeny points to frequent Catalanisms in Columbus’s writings as evidence that he was a native Catalan speaker.
• Catalan Origin of the Expedition: The author argues that the first expedition sailed from the Catalan port of Pals in Empordà, rather than Palos de Moguer in Andalusia. He also claims the funding, technical expertise, and primary participants (including the Pinzón brothers and the first missionaries) were Catalan.
• Evidence in Toponymy and Heraldry: Bilbeny highlights that early maps of America frequently featured the Catalan flag (four bars) as a sign of possession. He also argues that many original place names given by Columbus were Catalan (e.g., Isla Bella or Jamaica) and were later Castilianized.
• Appropriation of Institutions: He points out that the political titles granted to Columbus—such as Viceroy and Governor General—were established institutions in the Crown of Aragon but were non-existent in Castile at the time.

Ultimately, Bilbeny views the official history of the discovery of America as a “historical crime”—a premeditated operation to strip the Catalan people of their past and identity to facilitate their integration into a unified Spanish state.

Jordi Bilbeny’s central claim in Brevíssima Relació de la Destrucció de la Història is that the discovery and initial colonization of America was a Catalan enterprise that was systematically and premeditatedly erased by Spanish state censorship. Bilbeny argues that the historical narrative was falsified to serve the political and economic interests of the Castilian monarchy, effectively “decapitating” Catalan history.

His argument is built upon several key assertions:

• Systematic Censorship: Bilbeny claims that laws from the 16th century mandated the supervision and “correction” of all books concerning America. This state-organized conxorxa (conspiracy) deleted references to Catalonia, substituting them with “Castile” or “Spain”.
• Catalan Identity of Columbus: He asserts Christopher Columbus (Cristòfor Colom) was a Catalan nobleman. Evidence cited includes the high frequency of Catalanisms in Columbus’s writings and that his family was likely the prominent Colom-Bertran family of Barcelona.
• Origin of the Expedition: Bilbeny argues that the first expedition sailed from the Catalan port of Pals (Empordà) rather than Palos de Moguer in Andalusia. He claims “Palos” is a Castilianized substitution for “Pals”.
• Catalan Funding and Institutions: The enterprise was allegedly financed by Catalan money (ducats, not maravedisos) and directed by Catalan officials like Lluís de Santangel. Furthermore, the political titles granted to Columbus—Viceroy and Governor General—were established institutions in the Crown of Aragon but were non-existent in Castile at that time.
• Heraldry and Toponymy: Bilbeny points to early maps and gravings that feature the Catalan flag (four bars) on ships and newly discovered territories as signs of possession. He also claims many original place names were Catalan (e.g., Isla Bella) and later Castilianized.

Ultimately, Bilbeny views the official version of the discovery of America as a “historical crime” intended to strip the Catalan people of their past to facilitate their integration into a unified Spanish state.

Bilbeny uses several types of evidence to argue that the history of the discovery of America was intentionally falsified, primarily centered on systematic state censorship and linguistic or documentary inconsistencies.

Key pieces of evidence include:

• Existence of Censorship Laws: Bilbeny cites royal decrees, such as the Royal Decree of September 21, 1556, which prohibited the printing of any books concerning America without a special license from the Council of the Kingdom. He argues these laws gave censors the power to alter texts to align with the political interests of the Spanish Crown.
• Textual Contradictions: He highlights “clumsy and tendentious” changes between different editions of the same historical works. For example, he points out that early editions of Christopher Columbus’s letters often mention only King Ferdinand, whereas later “corrected” versions shift the credit exclusively to Queen Isabella and Castile.
• Catalanisms in Columbus’s Writings: As a philologist, Bilbeny identifies a high number of Catalan linguistic structures and expressions in Columbus’s diary and letters. He argues these are not “Italianisms” but evidence that the original texts were written in Catalan and then poorly translated into Castilian by censors.
• Incongruous Physical Descriptions: Bilbeny notes that descriptions in historical documents often match Catalan geography better than Castilian geography. For instance, he points out that descriptions of lush “orchards” and specific climates in the Americas are compared to the orchards of Valencia and Barcelona, which were later replaced in texts with “Castile,” a land with a different climate.
• Scientific Errors by Censors: He cites the presence of fish, plants, and birds in the documents that are specific to the Catalan Mediterranean coast (such as the “pixota” or “tonina”) but are placed in contexts that claim they were found in Castilian waters.
• Manipulation of Heraldry and Toponymy: Bilbeny identifies early maps and engravings where the Catalan flag (four bars) is clearly visible on Columbus’s ships or on the newly discovered lands. He argues these were later obscured or replaced with the Castilian coat of arms. He also claims many original place names were Catalan (e.g., “Pals” in Empordà) and were later Castilianized (to “Palos” in Andalusia).

Jordi Bilbeny’s central claim in Brevíssima Relació de la Destrucció de la Història is that the discovery and initial colonization of America was a Catalan enterprise that was systematically and intentionally erased from history by Spanish state censorship.

Bilbeny argues that historical truth was replaced by a fabricated narrative to serve the political and economic interests of the Castilian monarchy, an act he describes as a “historical crime”. His core arguments include:

• Systematic Censorship: Bilbeny contends that 16th-century state laws mandated the supervision and “correction” of all books concerning America. This censorship was used to delete references to Catalonia and substitute them with “Castile” or “Spain”.
• Catalan Identity of Columbus: He asserts that Christopher Columbus (Cristòfor Colom) was a Catalan nobleman rather than a Genoese commoner. Bilbeny points to frequent Catalanisms in Columbus’s writings as evidence that he was a native Catalan speaker whose original texts were translated and altered.
• Catalan Origin of the Expedition: The author argues that the first expedition sailed from the Catalan port of Pals in Empordà, rather than Palos de Moguer in Andalusia, claiming the name “Palos” is a Castilianized substitution.
• Catalan Institutions and Funding: Bilbeny claims the enterprise was financed with Catalan currency (ducats) and that the political titles granted to Columbus—such as Viceroy and Governor General—were established institutions in the Crown of Aragon that did not exist in Castile at the time.
• Evidence in Toponymy and Heraldry: He highlights that early maps of America frequently featured the Catalan flag (four bars) as a sign of possession. He also argues that many original place names given by Columbus were Catalan (e.g., Isla Bella or Jamaica) and were later Castilianized.

Based on the provided text of Jordi Bilbeny’s Brevíssima Relació de la Destrucció de la Història, here is a summary of the chapters:

• Introduction: “El luxe de reeditar la Brevissima 15 anys després…”: Bilbeny reflects on the 15th anniversary of the book’s first edition, noting how it sparked a movement to recover Catalan history despite initial editorial rejection and ongoing academic dismissal.
• Prologue: “De la força de la mentida al virus de la sospita”: Salvador Cardús discusses the intellectual unease created by Bilbeny’s thesis of a massive historical fraud, noting that the truth is often hidden in small, overlooked details.
• Introduction: “Una història nova per a una consciència lliure”: Bilbeny describes his initial shock at finding numerous Catalanisms in Christopher Columbus’s journals, leading him to investigate 16th-century censorship laws as the cause of this historical erasure.
• Chapter 1: “L’última voluntat del Pare Cases…”: Bilbeny argues that Bartolomé de las Casas (Casaus) delayed the publication of his work by forty years due to fear of state censorship laws enacted between 1556 and 1560.
• Chapter 2: “Una falsificació premeditada: la «carta-pròleg»”: The author highlights physical and textual evidence in Columbus’s “prologue-letter” that indicates it was a later addition or adaptation by censors.
• Chapter 3: “L’Índia contra les Índies”: Bilbeny asserts that the original goal of the 1492 voyage was to find new lands, not Asia, and that the “orientalist” narrative was a later fabrication to undermine Columbus’s legal claims.
• Chapter 4: “Cuba no és ni el Japó ni la terra ferma”: This chapter explores contradictions in historical texts regarding whether Cuba was an island or a continent, arguing these were intended to prove Columbus was confused and thus ineligible for his contracted titles.
• Chapter 5: “En Jaume Ferrer de Blanes, el gran absent”: Bilbeny argues that the Catalan cosmographer Jaume Ferrer de Blanes was the true advisor to Columbus, and his role was erased because of his Catalan identity.
• Chapter 6: “La invenció de Palos de Moguer”: The author claims Columbus actually sailed from the Catalan port of Pals in Empordà, and that “Palos de Moguer” is a fictionalized substitution.
• Chapter 7: “Mariners inventats al servei de la mentida”: Bilbeny argues that the lists of sailors on the first voyage were falsified or altered to replace Catalan participants with Andalusians.
• Chapter 8: “Els Pinçon i la revolta catalana contra En Joan II”: The Pinzón brothers are identified as the Anes-Pinson family, Portuguese revolutionaries who served the Catalan cause during its civil war against King John II.
• Chapter 9: “Sóc andalús i porto barretina”: Bilbeny provides iconographic and textual evidence that early explorers wore the barretina (a traditional Catalan cap), which was later described generically by censors as a “red cap”.
• Chapter 10: “Les joies inexistents de la reina Isabel”: The author debunks the myth of Queen Isabella pawning her jewels, noting the enterprise was largely funded by Catalan officials and institutions.
• Chapter 11: “La presa de possessió: una altra presa de pèl”: Bilbeny argues that Columbus took possession of the new lands using the Catalan flag (four bars) and the Cross of Saint Jordi, which were later obscured in historical accounts.
• Chapter 12: “Va demanar En Colom uns càrrecs polítics…”: The titles Columbus requested—Viceroy and Governor General—were established institutions in the Crown of Aragon but non-existent in Castile at the time.
• Chapter 13: “Com és que es guarda a l’arxiu de la Corona d’Aragó…”: Bilbeny points out that the original contract for the “Castilian” expedition is held in the Archive of the Crown of Aragon in Barcelona.
• Chapter 14: “Castella: paradís de les hortes”: Descriptions in Columbus’s journals of lush “orchards” are argued to be comparisons to the orchards of Valencia and Barcelona, which censors replaced with “Castile”.
• Chapter 15: “Castella o el país dels peixos”: The author identifies Catalan names for fish and birds in the journals, arguing that original Catalan texts were translated into Castilian by censors who missed these linguistic slips.
• Chapter 16: “De l’Espanya plural a l’Espanya només castellana”: Bilbeny argues that the concept of “Spain” used in early documents was a plural one (Castile and Aragon), which was later narrowed to mean only Castile.
• Chapter 17: “Catalunya i els mòbils més que confessables d’una fingida exclusió”: This chapter challenges the idea that Catalans were legally excluded from the Americas, arguing it was a myth created to support Castilian appropriation.
• Chapter 18: “Totes les evidències de la interpolació de «Castella»…”: Bilbeny provides a comparative analysis of Columbus’s journals to show where the word “Castile” was systematically inserted.
• Chapter 19: “Un fals Colom genovès que vivia a Barcelona”: The author argues Columbus was part of the prominent Colom-Bertran family of Barcelona and that his “Genoese” origin was a label meaning “foreigner” in Castile.
• Chapter 20: “La catalanitat amagada dels primers missioners”: Bilbeny highlights that the first missionaries, led by Bernat Boïl, were Catalan, and many were baptized in Barcelona.
• Chapter 21: “Els qui ens diuen que la nostra història és la d’ells”: This chapter explores how Castilian chroniclers intentionally appropriated Catalan military and political achievements as their own.
• Chapter 22: “El gran imperi mediterrani castellà”: The author argues that early descriptions of “Castile” as an imperial sea power actually referred to the Crown of Aragon’s Mediterranean empire.
• Chapter 23: “El corsari Colom a les ordres del rei Reiner de Catalunya”: Evidence is presented that Columbus served as a corsair for René of Anjou, who was king of the Catalans during the civil war.
• Chapter 24: “La castellanització i l’adulteració de la toponímia”: Bilbeny claims that many original place names in America were Catalan (e.g., Jamaica from “Jaume”) and were systematically Castilianized.
• Chapter 25: “Es va patrocinar una empresa… amb moneda exclusivament catalana?”: The author notes that the first expedition was funded in ducats (a currency not yet used in Castile) and mentions of “maravedisos” were later additions.
• Chapter 26: “Sevilla per Barcelona: l’estocada final”: Bilbeny argues that the second expedition departed from Barcelona, not Seville/Cadiz, and that historical records were altered to move the center of activity to Andalusia.
• Chapter 27: “En Bartomeu de Cases o Casaus…”: The author concludes by arguing that Bartolomé de las Casas was actually the Catalan Bartomeu de Casaus, whose identity was Castilianized by history.