Recall that not only Columbus and Cortez had Jewish officers, Magellan and others did as well. Finally, is it a coincidence that Columbus set sail in 1492 the same year as the first Spanish Inquisition? Will Durant wrote of this 75 years ago.
ping
Columbus had just about given up (so the story goes) on getting Spanish support for his voyage west to reach the east idea, when he was summoned to court and told he had his money. The Reconquista had finally been completed (old reckoning Jan 2, 1492), meaning that the Moors were finally driven out of Iberia, and Ferdie and Izzy had some room in the budget.
There's a persistent story that Columbus was Jewish (can be seen in the fun paperback "The Jewish Connection"), or that his parents had converted to Christianity while retaining some Jewish beliefs here and there, passed down to Columbus. I'm 99 per cent that isn't true.
Columbus did travel to Iceland to gather information about the pre-Little Ice Age Norse voyages to the lands west, which Columbus presumed were Asia or parts thereof.