Alessandro Geraldini

Alessandro Geraldini (1455 – 1525) was a Renaissance humanist scholar at the Spanish court of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. He is known for his support of Christopher Columbus. He served as tutor to the royal children and later accompanied the Infanta Catharine of Aragon to England, as her confessor. In 1519, at 64 years of age, he traveled to the Spanish settlements in the New World, and became Bishop of Santo Domingo.

Biography

Geraldini was born in Amelia, Italy. As a young man, he went to Spain, where he served against the Portuguese in 1475/1476. He entered the Church, and was entrusted with the education of the princesses of the royal family. While at court he supported Columbus, who had come to present to the sovereigns of Castile and Aragon his plan for discovering a new world. In 1520 he was appointed bishop of Santo Domingo and embarked at Seville. Geraldini wrote a great many works on theology, letters, poetry, a biography of Catharine of Aragon, treatises on politics and education, and an important account of his voyage to the Antilles. Geraldini died in Santo Domingo.

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