Alonso Sánchez

According to the Duchess, the international political situation of the second half of the 15th century was not favourable to the Catholic Monarchs, who before 1492 would have faced strong opposition to any claim over the newly found lands, especially from Portugal, France and the Holy See, the latter two at war with the Kingdom of Aragon.

The Duchess believed Alonso Sánchez to be the true discoverer, offering several stories, contemporary records and weak proofs for her claims.

According to the tale reported in 1609 by Garcilaso in his book Comentarios Reales de los Incas, Alonso Sánchez used to sail quite often between the Canary Islands, Madeira and Spain, engaged in some sort of triangular commerce.

In 1484 (or a year more or less), while on passage between the Canary Islands and Madeira, he was surprised by a fierce storm that blew his ship drastically off-course into unknown waters of the mid-Atlantic.

Later chroniclers narrated instead that Sánchez and his crew continued along the unknown coast until they encountered signs of human habitation, and, at long last, disembarked at a coastal village where they were hospitably received.

Others believe that Alonso Sánchez never existed, and that he was simply part of an attempt by the Pinzón brothers to discredit Columbus' skills as a navigator.