A reply to /u/PicturesofBilly

This is a very good example of the problem in relying on Wikipedia to study history. That particular page was created by one user, who has essentially written all the content, and cites a seemingly credible old history book (Washington Irving's "A history of the life and voyages of Christopher Columbus", written in 1828), which in and by itself has been questioned in its veracity.

Regardless, if you searched within the book itself, available on many free online depositories as its copyright has expired, there is no coverage of de Moxica's background. So how can we know where the claims that "he Spanish expeditions in India and the Middle East to establish connections with Indian merchants the Ottoman Empire in 1481-1483 and 1485-1488."

Which is to say, I really don't know what to say, but something doesn't seem right. I don't say that it's a fantastical claim, but Vasco da Gama only reached Calicut in India on 20 May 1498. De Moxica died in 1499. We can safely say he wasn't on da Gama's voyage.

If de Moxica had reached India previously, this is not impossible, but it must have been largely a land voyage I've never heard of. I have not heard of a voyage to the Ottomans either.