Do Columbus' letters reveal that he was a Marrano?

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Accepted answer

While there are some not very widely supported theories out there that postulate some somehow Jewish origin for Columbus (esWP: Cristóbal Colón, Origen, Hipótesis secundarias, enWP: Catalan-Jewish hypothesis) this even if 'true' is not saying much about his beliefs and writing practices.

The claim to investigate here says very explicitly:

At the top left-hand corner of all but one of the 13 letters written by Columbus to his son Diego contained the handwritten Hebrew letters bet-hei, meaning b'ezrat Hashem (with God's help).

And he did mark his letters in a peculiar way:

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Christopher Columbus autograph letter written to his son Diego on 5th February 1505

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— to Diego December 1st, 1504

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— to Diego December 13, 1504

Most clearly seen in this version (to Diego, 18th January 1505)

enter image description here — (Beth and hei in the top left-hand margin.) On a site that promotes to see the matter as settled: 'Columbus being from Ibiza'

Or another take on his handwriting
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Columbus Manuscript: In this manuscript, enscribed Cadiz, Spain, November 20, 1493,

So, in Hebrew the letters supposedly used are Aramaic/quadratic script:
ה ב

and in the letters (many facsimiles in The authentic letters of Columbus, 1895) we see this:

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How much this resembles Hebrew lettering?

https://happytruelife.wordpress.com/2012/06/25/kabbalah-weekly-tune-up-thought-into-action/kaballah-hei-bet-mem/

In cursive handwriting (albeit quite modern)

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/cb/e2/da/cbe2dac061ab75c358091c68080c9681.gif

Wikipedia has a handwriting style for cursive Hebrew letters including in Spain and those dated 1480:

enter image description here

The above may also be compared to Solitreo and Ladino scripts that use these alphabets for perhaps a Judeo-Spanish hand

A modern letter using the acronym at the top of a letter (note that it is top right though):
enter image description here

But the question asks for "see with own eyes"…
Therefore I will refrain from judging the theories of origin for Columbus, here, or whether it is indeed the claimed letter combination. Just that using a certain symbol, even if it should be the claimed one, is not and cannot be the 'final proof that he was a Jew', or somehow of Jewish Origin. At best, this might add a little detail for some circumstantial evidence.

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