“Ah, yes, but once Columbus “discovered” America, it remained discovered.”
I agree. Commercial secrecy during the Late Middle Ages was a given and any resources or lands discovered by fishermen and expeditions would have been kept secret as long as possible. Imagine the glee of the Vikings as they sold narwhal tusks from the Canadian Artic to the Europeans as unicorn horns.
“Imagine the glee of the Vikings as they sold narwhal tusks from the Canadian Artic to the Europeans as unicorn horns.”
They used the tusks to impale Europeans.