Columbus cleared of importing syphilis from America after skeletons from two centuries earlier show signs of disease

Christopher Columbus and his crew have long been blamed for syphilis back from the Americas to Europe after their historic first voyage.

A syphilitic skull with the tell-tale indentations on the forehead

In 1493 they returned to Spain bringing news of lands across the Atlantic and the first cases of the potentially deadly disease thanks to their exploits abroad, it was believed.

But now scientists have found evidence that the disease existed in Europe long before Columbus was even born.
A new discovery in London may prove that syphilis exists ed in Europe far earlier than previously thought


Skeletons unearthed in a cemetery at a church in East London show signs of the disease up to two centuries before the explorer first set sail.

Archaelogists excavating bones from St Mary Spital in East London found rough patches on skulls and limbs of some of the skeletons, telling evidence of syphilis.

Brian Connell, an expert from the Museum of London who studied the bones, said he had no doubt that the skeletons were buried before Columbus’ voyage. Radiocarbon dating of the samples is estimated to be 95 percent accurate.

Previous findings of early syphilitic bones have been inconclusive.

Mr Connell said: ‘We’re confident that Christopher Columbus is simply not a feature of the emergence and timing of the disease in Europe,’ he told The Times.

‘This puts the nail in the coffin of the Columbus theory.’

Two of the syphilitic skeletons unearthed at St Mary Spital are from 1200 - 1250 while the other five are from 1250 – 1400. They were buried with coins and other objects that helped the experts corroborate the radiocarbon dating results.

The site was named after the hospital nearby in the City of London and the skeleton were probably victims of the disease who were patients there.

One of the skeletons belong to a child who would have been blind, bald and had teeth that grew at a 45 degree angle through its jaw because of the disease.


Mr Connell said: ‘IT would have had gross facial disfigurement, which would have been very distressing for the child, who was about 10 years old when it died.

‘The skull, which should have been smooth, looks like a lunar landscape. It caused a bit of a stir when it was found because the symptoms are so obvious.’

Syphilis causes serious damage to the heart, brain, eyes and bones and if untreated can be fatal. It is carried by the bacterium Treponema palladium.

In an era hundreds of years before the discovery of antibiotics, syphilis quickly spread and was soon the scourge of every major city.

Ever since the first recorded case in Europe took place in 1495 - three years after Columbus's first voyage to the New World - doctors have argued over its origins.

Some have claimed that it existed in Europe in ancient times. But others have claimed it was the price of those early and often violent visits to Latin America.

Columbus was once credited with being the first European to reach the Americas, but it is now thought that the Vikings made the journey several centuries earlier.

Soon after syphilis crossed the Atlantic, the Europeans were quick to blame each other. It was called the French, the Naples and the Venetian disease.

But across the Atlantic, diseases carried from Europe were causing far greater havoc. Millions of Native Americans died of measles, flu and smallpox exported from Europe.

By Niall Firth