Posted on 05/20/2006 2:47:22 PM PDT by freepatriot32
MADRID, Spain - Scientists said Friday they have confirmed that at least some of Christopher Columbus' remains were buried inside a Spanish cathedral, a discovery that could help end a century-old debate over the explorer's final resting place.
DNA samples from 500-year-old bone slivers could contradict the Dominican Republic's competing claim that the explorer was laid to rest in the New World, said Marcial Castro, a Seville-area historian and high school teacher who devised the study that began in 2002.
However, some of Columbus' remains also could have been buried in the Dominican Republic, he said.
The announcement came a day before the 500th anniversary of Columbus' death in the Spanish city of Valladolid.
A forensic team led by Spanish geneticist Jose Antonio Lorente compared DNA from bones buried in a cathedral in Seville with DNA from remains known to be from Columbus' brother, Diego, who also is buried in the southern Spanish city.
"There is absolute matchup between the mitochondrial DNA we have studied from Columbus' brother and Christopher Columbus," Castro said in a telephone interview.
Mitochondria are cell components rich in the genetic material.
Juan Bautista Mieses, the director of the Columbus Lighthouse _ a cross-shaped building several blocks long that the Dominican government built to house the explorer's remains _ dismissed the researchers' findings. He insisted that Columbus is buried in the Dominican Republic.
"The remains have never left Dominican territory," Bautista said.
Castro and his colleagues say they had tried in vain for years to persuade the Dominican Republic to open up the monument to compare the remains inside with those of Diego Columbus.
"Now, studying the remains in the Dominican Republic is more necessary and exciting than ever," Castro said.
Although his team is convinced the bones in Seville are from Columbus, he said, that does not necessarily mean the ones in Santo Domingo are not. Columbus' body was moved several times after his death, and the tomb in Santo Domingo might conceivably also hold part of the explorer's body.
"We don't know what is in there," Castro said.
Mieses said he would not allow the remains to be tested.
"We Christians believe that one does not bother the dead," Mieses said.
Christopher Columbus arrived in the New World in 1492, landing at the island of Hispaniola, which today comprises the Dominican Republic and Haiti.
Historians have been debating for more than 100 years whether Spain or the Dominican Republic has legitimate bragging rights to the remains of Columbus
i hope my tax dollars aren't paying for this 'find'.
ping
I am betting he is still dead.
From the Kennebec Journal (Maine) of January 4, 1861.
REMOVAL OF THE REMAINS OF COLUMBUS
It is stated from Havana that the remains of Christopher Columbus, the discoverer of the New World, are again to be removed to a new and splendid cemetery, soon to be opened near that city. They are to be deposited in a silver urn, upon which will be inscribed in letters of gold the most remarkable events of his great enterprise. A bronze statue is to be erected over them, representing the great discoverer in the attitude of revealing the great mission of his wonderful life.
Columbus died Ascension day, the 20th of May, 1506, in about the 70th year of his age. His obsequies were celebrated with great pomp at Valladolid, and his body deposited in the Convent of San Francisco. Then, nine years after, in the year 1513 [sic? their date], it was removed to the Carthusian monastery of Seville, where likewise was deposited the body of his son, Diego. Twenty-three years after, in the year 1539, the body of both the admiral and his son were removed, with appropriate pomp and ceremonies, to the New World he had discovered, and interred in the principal chapel of Santa Domingo, Hispaniola. There they remained undisturbed for the period of 250 years.
In the year 1805 [sic, should be 1795, I think], however, at the close of the war between France and Spain, all the Spanish possessions in the island of Hispaniola were ceded to France, whereupon a request was preferred to the French Governor to have the remains of Columbus removed to Cuba. The request was granted, and on the 20th of December, 1795, the vault in the cathedral of San Domingo was for the first time in nearly two hundred years opened. "Within," says the record of the event, "were found the fragments of a leaden coffin, a number of bones, and a quantity of mould [sic], evidently the remains of a human body. These were carefully collected and put into a case of gilded lead, about a half an ell in length and breadth, and a third in height, secured by an iron lock, the key of which was delivered to the Archbishop. The case was enclosed in a coffin, covered with black velvet, and ornamented with lace and gold.
After appropriate funeral ceremonies, the body was taken on board the ship San Lorenzo and taken to Havana, where it arrived on the 15th of January, 1796. It was received in the most solemn manner, with all the honor given to a sovereign. "On arriving at the mole, the remains were then met by the Governor of the Island, accompanied by his generals and military staff. The coffin was then conveyed between the files of soldiery which lined the streets to the obelisk, in the Place d'Armes, where it was received in a hearse prepared for the purpose. Here the remains were formally delivered to the Governor and Captain General of the island, the key given to him, the coffin opened and examined, and the safe transportation of its contents authenticated."
The ceremony concluded, the solemn rites of the dead were performed by the archbishop, and the remains of the great discoverer were again deposited in the wall, on the right side of the Cathedral of Havana, where they have ever since remained, the object of reverence to all visitors of the island.
Ah, in 1898 Columbus' bones were transferred from Cuba to Spain -- they are the bones tested for DNA, I think.
Source Please... (snark)
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I thought Madurra the bastard Moor reported the grave was in Moracco.
"
The Velvet Doublet", James Street...... a very best favorite book.
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