Chris Columbus the son of a Polish King?

A Portuguese historian who has spent twenty years researching the legendary navigator Christopher Columbus believes he has discovered the mystery of the explorer's origins. In short, he is convinced that Columbus was the son of a Polish king.

Historian Manuel Rosa expands on this theory in his latest book, Columbus: The Untold Story, (Colon: La Historia Nunca Contada") which was published in Spain last month. According to Rosa, who is a researcher at Duke University, North Carolina, Columbus was the son of King Ladislas III (Wladyslaw Warnenczyk) who was previously believed to have been killed at the Battle of Varna in 1444, during which a combined Polish and Hungarian army was annihilated by the Turks.

According to the new theory, King Ladislas survived the battle and took up residence in exile on the isle of Madeira. There he married a Portuguese noblewoman, who gave birth to a gaggle of kiddies, including "Christopher Columbus".

Previously, it had been claimed that the explorer was of Greek, Spanish, Jewish, French, Portuguese or Scottish descent. Manuel Rosa now intends to petition Wawel Cathedral in Cracow for a DNA sample of King Ladislas's father, Ladislas II. However, curiously enough, many Polish historians believe that Columbus's hypothetical Dad was actually a homosexual.