Christopher Columbus - born Genoa, Italy? Christopher Columbus - born Genoa, Italy? Christopher Columbus, if indeed he was born in Genoa, would have been called at birth "Cristoforo Colombo". His birth is postulated at between August and October of 1451. Today Genoa is part of Italy, but in 1451 it was an independent city-state, and the richest city in the western Mediterranean. The native language of Genoa at that time was Ligurian. Columbus spoke several languages by the time he was an adult, including Latin, Portuguese, Spanish, and perhaps Catalan. So it is difficult to tie down his nationality from the languages he spoke in later life. The Columbus documents available today include more than 2,500 notes penned in the margins of books he owned; some 80 letters, notes and memorials; copies of the log from his first New World voyage; volumes he compiled; and his will. Most of the books and manuscripts are in Spain, but there are important Columbus materials in Italy, France, and the United States. The Provincial archive in Genoa has a Sala Colombiana, a small room that holds many original Columbus family documents.

They have survived the events of five centuries, including Louis XIV's 1684 naval bombardment of Genoa. More than 60 documents recount the story of the Columbus family, beginning with the youth of Domenico Colombo. He was apprenticed to a Flemish weaver at the age of 11 and become a master weaver. Domenico Colombo married Susanna Fontanarossa. Their first child was Cristoforo, in 1451; later came Giovanni Pellegrino, Bartolomeo, Giacomo, and daughter Bianchinetta. Christopher worked with his father. He first appears in the notarial record of September 1470; later that year, at "greater than nineteen years of age". By 1472 Columbus had learned his father's trade, for in that year he is called LANAIOLO, a worker in wool. It is not clear when he became a sailor, or why.

"From a very early age," he states in a 1501 letter, "I entered sailing upon the sea and have continued it until today." The Assereto document, named for the man who in 1904 recognized its importance, involves a 1479 lawsuit over a sugar transaction on the Atlantic island of Madeira. In it young Christopher swore that he was a 27-year-old Genoese citizen resident in Portugal and had been hired to represent the Genoese merchants in that transaction. This showed that he was living in Portugal in 1479 Historian Samuel Eliot Morison, in his book "Admiral of the Ocean Sea", notes that existing legal documents demonstrate the Genoese origin of Columbus. On page 14, Morison writes: Domenico had a brother Antonio, like him a respectable member of the lower middle class in Genoa. Antonio had three sons: Matteo, Amigeto and Giovanni, who was generally known as Giannetto, the Genoese equivalent of "Johnny." Johnny like Christopher gave up a humdrum occupation to follow the sea.

In 1496 the three brothers met in a notary's office at Genoa and agreed that Johnny should go to Spain and seek out his first cousin "Don Cristoforo de Colombo, Admiral of the King of Spain," each contributing one third of the traveling expenses. This quest for a job was highly successful. The Admiral gave Johnny command of a caravel on the Third Voyage to America, and entrusted him with confidential matters as well. Columbus himself alludes to his birthplace. In 1502 he wrote from Spain to directors of Genoa's Bank of San Giorgio, offering an endowment to relieve the city's poor of the tax on food and wine. "Even though my body walks here," he wrote poignantly, "my heart is always there." Christopher Columbus appears to have donated one-tenth of his income from his discovery of the Americas to the Bank of San Giorgio in Genoa for the relief of taxation on foods. Christopher Columbus, son Ferdinand says of his father: "He learned his letters at a tender age and studied . . . at the University of Pavia. The University of Pavia has no record that Christopher Columbus ever studied there.

But it has been suggested that he may have attended a monestary school in a district of Genoa called Paverano, thus giving rise to the word "Pavia". Fernando wrote in his biography of his father Columbus, that he was Genoese; and his Genoese origin was also asserted by a family friend Bartolomé de Las Casas. Other evidence of Columbus's Genoese origin include his will of February 22, 1498, in which Columbus wrote "yo nacio en Genoba" (I was born in Genoa). This will mentions a Genoese merchant who is also mentioned in the 1479 lawsuit mentioned above However we can note: The Genoese ambassadors present in Barcelona in 1493 on Columbus' return don't refer to him as a fellow citizen; In the 16th century, there were no claimants from Genoa for Columbus' fortune (although there was one from Cuccaro, north of Genoa).

Columbus' royal patrons never referred to his nationality, as was done with other foreigners (such as Amerigo Vespucci); Columbus' first biographer, his son Hernando, indicated that Columbus wanted to leave his origins in obscurity (although the original Spanish version of the biography has been lost, and some historians think the early chapters were written by someone else). What Are Some Facts About Christopher Columbus? He went by Cristóbal Colón after he moved to Spain in 1485. His parents' names were Domenico Colombo, a wool weaver, and Susanna Fontanarossa. He had three brothers - Bartolomeo, Giovanni Pellegrino and Giacomo - and a sister named Bianchinetta. His family was not wealthy; so, he did not receive the education of the wealthy. He supported himself by selling maps and charts early on in his life. He was only 14 years old when he began working on ships. Education Since Christopher Columbus was born in the port city of Genoa, it is not surprising that he became a navigator . Although he was largely self-taught through reading, he attended Prince Henry's School of Navigation in Portugal.

Family Life In 1479 he married Felipa Perestrello e Monis, the daughter of a wealthy Portuguese family. They had one child together: a boy named Diego. His wife died of consumption only six years after they were married. In 1487 he took a mistress in Spain named Beatriz Enriquez de Arana. She was a 20-year old orphan. She and Columbus had a son, but never married. Travels In 1470, at the age of 19, he played a prominent role on a Genoese sailing ship that had the goal of conquering Naples. In 1474, at the age of 23, he was hired as a sailor on a ship going to the island of Khíos in the Aegean Sea . He spent a year on the island and came back to Italy financially independent. After that, he received a lot of experience navigating the Atlantic Ocean sailing out of Lisbon, Portugal. Columbus Goes to the Americas His claim to fame is a series of voyages that made Europeans aware of the Americas, which led to colonization .

Bartholomew, his brother the map maker, inspired him to make the famous voyage to the Americas by sailing west across the Atlantic instead of the more traditional land route to Asia. All four of the voyages of Christopher Columbus were across the Atlantic Ocean to Central and South America and the islands of the Caribbean. The voyages were funded by the Catholic King and Queen of Spain who wanted to colonize the New World and establish profitable trade routes to Asia. Voyage #1 - Columbus and the Passage to the West King John II of Portugal refused a request from Columbus to support his journey westward, feeling that the distance involved had been underestimated by Columbus. After two years of negotiations, Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile (both were kingdoms of Spain) agreed to provide half of the financing Columbus needed to search for a route to the East, even though they also felt that he had underestimated the distance. He had already gotten half of what he needed from private Italian investors. Columbus had miscalculated the distance for the new western passage. He thought that only 2,300 miles separated the Canary Islands from Japan, which would allow for sufficient provisions to be carried on the ship.

The actual distance is closer to 12,000 miles. Part of the bargain he struck with the Spanish court was: If he discovered any islands or lands, he would be richly rewarded when he returned. He would be given the rank of Admiral of the Ocean Sea. He would be made Viceroy and Governor of all the new lands. He would receive 10% of any revenues the lands produced. If any industries were established, he would be allowed to purchase a 1/8 interest and receive 1/8 of the profit. Getting a crew together was very difficult, since people thought that the Earth was flat and they were sure they would sail off of the end of the world. This first voyage of Columbus as the captain began on August 3, 1492 and ended in 1496. He left from Spain with three ships, the Pinta, Nina, and Santa Maria. Columbus and about 40 men manned the Santa Maria, with between 20 and 30 men on each of the other two ships.

One the day Columbus set sail he wrote in his diary I should not proceed by land to the East, as is customary, but by a Westerly route, in which direction we have hitherto no certain evidence that any one has gone. They did not take soldiers, priests, or settlers because this was primarily a voyage of exploration. Columbus took enough provisions for a year including: Water Pearls Spices After seven days he had sailed to the Canary Islands and stopped for provisions and repairs. On September 6th he set out for the Indies. At 2 o’clock on the morning of October 12, 1492 a lookout on the Pinta named Rodrigo de Triana shouted, “Tierra, Tierra” which translates as “Land, Land.” The trip had taken 36 days and the weary crew stepped foot on a new land. Soon, the natives that lived there greeted Columbus and his crew. It is not certain which island Columbus landed on in the Bahamas, but most think it was San Salvador or Samana Cay. The natives were eager to trade and the Spaniards, thinking they had found the Indies, called the natives Indians. He also explored some of Cuba, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic.

On Christmas Day 1492, the Santa Maria ran aground and was abandoned. Columbus went back to Spain on January 15, 1493, leaving 39 men in the settlement he founded which he called La Navidad. When he got back to Spain, he gave Ferdinand and Isabella some gold nuggets and jewelry and told them he thought he had found islands that were close to Japan or China. Voyage #2 - Columbus and Dominica Columbus set out later that same year, 1493, with instructions from the King and Queen to establish friendly relations with the native people. He arrived at Dominica on November 3, 1493 and after exploring for a while, went on to the Greater Antilles, landing in Puerto Rico. On November 22, Columbus traveled to La Navidad to find that his men, who he had left their eleven months before, had been killed. He established a new settlement on the coast of Hispaniola called Isabella. Later he revisited Cuba and explored Jamaica. In 1495, Columbus enslaved 560 people against the wishes of the King and Queen. He shipped them to Spain.

Around 200 died on the trip and half of the rest were ill. They arrived in Spain in 1496. This was the beginning of slavery for the Spanish in the New World. Voyage #3 - Columbus and Trinidad and South America Christopher Columbus believed his voyages were taking him to China but where they took him was not even close. His third voyage started in 1498 and ended in 1500. He landed in Trinidad on July 31, 1498. He went on the explore South America and some of the islands. He returned to Hispaniola in 1500 to find the settlers there were not happy because they felt he lied to them about the abundance of riches. Columbus had been appointed Viceroy and Governor of the Indies but he was not able to handle the post, partly because of bad health. He asked for help in governing and Bobadilla was appointed. Because of complaints, Bobadilla arrested Columbus in 1500 and soon sent him back to Spain. He was jailed for six weeks before he was released.

Voyage #4 - Columbus and Martinique and Central America Columbus landed in Martinique on June 15, 1502 but soon continued on because a hurricane was coming. He was denied port at Santo Domingo and went on to the mouth of the Jaina River. Soon he explored the islands off the coast of Honduras and later, went on to Honduras, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Panama. He and his men became stranded in Jamaica and stayed there a year because the governor of Hispaniola would not help him. Columbus and his men then returned to Spain on November 7, 1504. Christopher Columbus went to the Americas and back to Spain four times between 1492 and 1504. These trips marked the beginning of exploration and colonization of the American continents by the people of Europe. During all four voyages, Christopher Columbus continued to believe that the islands of the Caribbean were part of the Asian continent. He believed that it was only a matter of time before he found the passage to Asia. It is possible that because he refused to accept that these lands were not part of Asia, that they were named for Amerigo Vespucci and not him.

Controversy: Value of Columbus' Discoveries There is a controversy about the value of Christopher Columbus' discovery of the Americas. Some people contest that he destroyed what was already happening in America at the time, while others will say that he brought new life and prosperity to the land. The controversy hinges over these factors: Columbus created untrue impressions - Many researchers think that Christopher Columbus was to blame for establishing the idea that the Native Americans were barbaric. Columbus was not the first European to reach the American continent - Norse Vikings had traveled throughout northern Africa, eastern Europe, and the Middle East in the 900s. In 986, Bjarni Herjolfsson was sailing from Norway to Iceland and then on to Greenland. On the way, a storm blew him off track and he saw a land with hills and forests. Word of the new land spread, so in the year 1000, Leif Eriksson set out with 35 men to sail to this new land. They made it to northeastern Canada and spent the winter there before returning home. They discovered North America, but their discovery did not lead to colonization like Columbus’ discovery did.

Columbus went down in history and didn’t even do what he had intended to do. Columbus was not the first man to chart the American continent - The man for whom the continent was named - Amerigo Vespucci - charted the area and landed here right around the same time as Columbus. Columbus had harsh methods - When he arrived, he started to control all of the land. He wanted to shape the Americas into a European society, and he did not want to necessarily integrate many of the Native American practices into his new society. In fact, he would kill - or have his men - kill the Natives if he felt that they were being too unruly. Columbus forced Christianity upon the peoples. They claim that the people did not need Christianity, and they were fine with their tribal religions that they had practiced for many, many years. Those who see Columbus as a hero believe that: Columbus found land previously unknown to the Europeans - When Columbus came to the Americas, he found land that had been previously unknown to many of the Europeans. Whether or not he "discovered" America, does not necessarily affect what else he did for this country.

Columbus introduced European ideas to the Americas - Had Columbus not landed in the Americas, a number of European innovations, ideas, and theories would not have arrived here at the time that they did. Of course, one could argue that they would have arrived at some other time. However, if that were so, we might not be as advanced as we are today, if these ideas and achievements did not appear for another few hundred years or so. Columbus brought Christianity with him - No matter how much the comparatively small group of non religious people want to fight it, the United States was built upon the ideals of the Judeo-Christian tradition. Therefore, Columbus brought over tenets that would strongly influence the history of the country. Columbus introduced technology - Before Columbus arrived, there had been little change in America for thousands of years. People were primarily hunters and gatherers, traveling across the scope of the land and often engaging in bloody wars with one another. Columbus brought the technologies, achievements, and innovations of people such as Aristotle , Newton , and Galileo .

Facts, Opinions and Recognition for Columbus A famous rhyme says "In fourteen hundred and ninety two/the history books all say/Columbus sailed the ocean blue/and discovered Americay-ya-yay/and discovered Americay!" Columbus was not the first person to say that the Earth was not flat. The credit of that theory belongs to Aristotle. Columbus was addicted to opium. No authentic portrait of Christopher Columbus exists. Columbus Day is observed on October 12 in Spain and other some places in the Americas. In the United States, it is observed on the second Monday in October. Many streets and cities have been named after Columbus, and many monuments have been built in his honor. In 1893, 400 years after his first voyage, Columbus’ likeness was placed on a U.S. postage stamp. Quotes By prevailing over all obstacles and distractions, one may unfailingly arrive at his chosen goal or destination. Riches don't make a man rich, they only make him busier.

I should be judged as a captain who went from Spain to the Indies to conquer a people numerous and warlike, whose manners and religion are very different from ours, who live in sierras and mountains, without fixed settlements, and where by divine will I have placed under the sovereignty of the King and Queen our Lords, an Other World, whereby Spain, which was reckoned poor, is become the richest of countries. Final Years As Columbus aged, he became extremely religious. Columbus died in Spain at the age of 55 of Reiter's Syndrome . For a time perspective of the details of Christopher Columbus' life, check out the Christopher Columbus Timeline on YourDictionary. Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus ï¿½ Birth of an Explorer Christopher Columbus was born in 1451 in beautiful Genoa, Italy. He was raised in the shadows of medieval gates behind him and the open sea in front of him -- the perfect backdrop for a boy looking for adventure. Christopher's father was a respectable middle-class man who made a career of weaving wool. But Columbus had bigger plans than spending his life working with sheep fur. He had heard the call of the ocean, the lure of the sea.

Christopher Columbus set about learning his trade as a teenager, traveling the trade routes across Europe and becoming an expert in navigation. He may have also helped with a bit of ï¿½privateeringï¿½ in the war against the Moors. Christopher Columbus ï¿½ A Bold Proposal Although Christopher Columbus reached his goal of becoming a sea captain, he was not content to simply follow the traditional trade routes and make a nice living. No, he had big plans, and he was willing to risk everything to make them a reality. During this period, land trade between India, China, and Europe dwindled, because the Muslims had effectively created a blockade of the trade routes, including the famous Silk Road. Many Europeans were wondering, "How do we solve this trade problem?" Along comes a mathematician named Paolo Toscanelli, toiling away quietly at a cathedral in Florence, Italy, who proposes a new theory of reaching the East by sailing west. Then along comes Christopher Columbus, who believes he's called by God to find a new trade route, and help fulfill the Great Commission. However, before Christopher Columbus could set sail, he needed official sponsorship from a throne. So around the year 1485, Columbus came up with a bold proposal.

Christopher Columbus ï¿½ A Difficult Pitch Christopher Columbus spent 20 years traveling through Europe trying to meet with any royalty who would listen to his pitch. He presented his concept to the king of Portugal, possibly as early as 1471, then years later, to England and France. Every time he was rejected. Columbus, often traveling with his son Diego, was rejected on multiple occasions in Spain in the 1490s. His idea was too extreme, too risky, and the timing was just wrong. Columbus was out of options. What he needed was a miracle. A monastery seemed like a good place to find one. When Christopher Columbus knocked on the doors of La Rabida near Palos, Spain, he was at the lowest point of his entire life. He was penniless, hungry, and couldn't even afford food to eat with his young son, Diego in tow. The two had been all over Europe, speaking before kings, looking for money to fund his voyage, to no avail. It was two monks from La Rabida who took him in, fed him, and took care of him. But little did Columbus know that these two monks weren't your normal monks.

They had friends in high places. One of the monks, Father Juan Perez, became a friend and supporter of Columbus. Columbus explained that his last resort was going to be one more meeting with the King of France. But Father Perez decided it was time to use his connections. Conveniently, one of Father Perez's duties was to hear the confessions of the Queen of Spain. Christopher Columbus was allowed into the royal court of Spain where he made his big pitch to the monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabella. But this time, things were different. After 700 years of Islamic domination in Spain, Ferdinand and Isabella had successfully defeated the Muslims, called the Spanish Moors, in a recent battle. They had driven the Moors out of the key port city of Granada in the south. Spain was now unified and peace was now the norm. The monarchs were in a mood to expand. Christopher Columbus ï¿½ A Monumental Voyage Christopher Columbus got virtually everything he had hoped and prayed for. He had found royal patrons, which took care of the financing he needed for ships, supplies, and crews.

He had even asked for "a piece of the action." If he discovered gold or other riches, he would get a percentage of everything, along with getting the naming rights and becoming the ruler of any new lands he discovered. On August 3, 1492, Christopher Columbus and some 90 other mariners boarded their ships in the Spanish town of Palos de la Frontera and set sail in the three famous boats, the "Nina," the "Pinta," and the "Santa Maria." It was here that Columbus gathered most of his crew, including the Pinzon brothers, local men famous for their navigational skills who would captain the "Nina" and "Pinta." Of course, Christopher Columbus captained the ship named after Saint Mary, the mother of Jesus, who was central figure at the monastery of Juan Perez, where Columbus ultimately found hope. Learn More! WHAT DO YOU THINK? - We have all sinned and deserve God's judgment. God , the Father, sent His only Son to satisfy that judgment for those who believe in Him.

Jesus , the creator and eternal Son of God, who lived a sinless life, loves us so much that He died for our sins, taking the punishment that we deserve, was buried , and rose from the dead according to the Bible . If you truly believe and trust this in your heart, receiving Jesus alone as your Savior , declaring, " Jesus is Lord ," you will be saved from judgment and spend eternity with God in heaven. What is your response? Christopher Columbus Biography | Famous Explorers An engraving of Christopher Columbus by Johann Theodor de Bry. Credit: Library of Congress A man of convictions, Christopher Columbus used his strong personality to persuade rulers and scholars to overlook the accepted theories about the size of the Earth to search out a new route to Asia. Although he wasn't the first European to find the American continent (that distinction goes to Viking Leif Ericson), his journeys opened up the trade of goods and ideas between the two lands. Born by the sea Born in 1451 to Domenico and Susanna (Fontanarossa), young Christopher grew up in Genoa, Italy. While living in Spain in later years, he went by Cristóbal Colón rather than his given name of Cristoforo Colombo.

He was the oldest of five, and worked closely with his brothers in adulthood. Located on the northwest coast of Italy, Genoa was a seaport city. Columbus completed his formal education at an early age and began sailing on trading trips. In 1476, he traveled to Portugal, where he set up a mapmaking business with his brother, Bartholomew. In 1479, he married Felipa Perestrello Moniz, the daughter of the governor of a Portguese island. Their only child, Diego, was born in 1480. Felipa died a few years later. His second son, Fernando, was born in 1488 to Beatriz Enriquez de Arana. Round Earth and a route to Asia In the 1450s, the Turkish Empire controlled northern Africa, blocking Europe's easiest access to the valuable goods of the Orient, such as spices. In a search for an alternative to the dangerous and time-consuming land route, many countries turned their eyes to the sea. Portugal in particular made great strides in finding a route around the southern tip of Africa, eventually rounding the Cape of Good Hope in 1488.

Rather than circling the southern-stretching continent, Columbus began a campaign to reach Asia by traveling west. Educated people knew that the world was round; the looming question was, just how large was the planet? The Greek mathematician and astronomer Eratosthenes first calculated its size around 240 BCE, and subsequent scholars had refined the number, but it had never been proven. Columbus argued that the numbers most scholars agreed on were too large, and that the vast land mass of Asia would further shrink the amount of sea travel necessary. His calculations set the world at 66 percent smaller than previous estimates—estimates that were actually impressively close to the Earth's true size . Columbus first presented his plan to Portugal in 1483, where it was rejected. He went on to Spain, ruled jointly by the monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella. The royal pair were engaged in driving the Muslims from Granada but granted him a salary and a position in the Spanish court. Spain gained control of the southern province in January 1492; in April of the same year, Columbus' plan received approval. He began to plan for his voyage.

Niña, Pinta and Santa Maria Columbus set sail from the Canary Islands in September 1492. He captained the caravel (a type of Portuguese ship) known as the Santa Maria. Two other ships, the Niña and the Pinta, traveled with him, carrying 90 crew members. On Oct. 12, 1492, they landed on a small island in the Caribbean Sea that Columbus called San Salvador. (This day of his discovery is celebrated as Columbus Day in the United States on the second Monday of October; other countries in the Americas also celebrate it under various names.) Certain that he had arrived in the East Indies, Columbus dubbed the natives he met Indians. Described by the Italian captain as gentle and primitive, the people were quickly mistreated by the Europeans. Leaving San Salvador, the crew traveled along the coast of Cuba and Hispaniola (where the present-day countries of Haiti and the Dominican Republic) are located. On Christmas Eve, the Santa Maria crashed into a reef off of Haiti. Forty men remained at a hastily built fort to hunt for gold when Columbus took the Niña and Pinta back to Spain to announce his success.

Several captive natives were taken to prove he had achieved his goal, though a number of them did not survive the rough sea voyage. Columbus wasn't the first European to land in the New World. Vikings had reached the land several hundred years previously. But their journeys were scattered, and word of them never spread enough for most of Europe to learn about it. After Columbus' voyage, goods, people, and ideas were traded between the two continents. Three more trips Columbus made three more journeys to the New World over the remainder of his life, searching for the mainland of Asia. On his return, he led 17 ships with about 1,500 men back to the islands where he had been appointed governor. They found no sign of the men they had left behind only a few short months before. Columbus settled his company along several smaller forts along the coast of Hispaniola. Problems quickly erupted as the colonists and investors realized that the easy gold Columbus had promised did not exist. Within a short span of time, a dozen of the ships, filled with discontent voyagers, returned to Spain.

Relationships with the native Taino people became more challenging, as they resisted efforts by the Spanish to force them into searching for gold. With criticism of his management of the colony reaching the ears of the monarchs, Columbus returned to Spain and managed to successfully defend himself from the complaints. In 1498, Columbus took six ships to search for the Asian mainland south of the area he had already explored. Instead, he found the coast of Venezuela. When he returned to Hispaniola, he gave land to the settlers and permitted the enslavement of the Taino people to work it. Complaints still trickled back to Spain, and eventually the monarchs sent a commissioner to investigate. Shocked by conditions at the colony, the commissioner arrested Columbus and his brothers and sent them back to Spain for trial. The brothers were released by the king and queen, but Columbus was removed from his position as governor of Hispaniola. In 1502, Columbus made a last-ditch effort to find the bulk of Asia. He set sail with his son Ferdinand. The company traveled along the coasts of Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama.

Two ships were beached on the northern coast of Jamaica due to leaks, and the crew was stranded for nearly a year before being rescued and returning home. Columbus returned to Spain in 1504. He died two years later , on May 20, 1506, still believing he had found a water route to Asia. Related Articles: Christopher Columbus dies - May 20, 1506 - HISTORY.com Christopher Columbus dies Publisher A+E Networks On May 20, 1506, the great Italian explorer Christopher Columbus dies in Valladolid, Spain. Columbus was the first European to explore the Americas since the Vikings set up colonies in Greenland and Newfoundland in the 10th century. He explored the West Indies, South America, and Central America, but died a disappointed man, feeling he had been mistreated by his patron, King Ferdinand of Spain. Columbus was born in Genoa, Italy, in 1451. Little is known of his early life, but he worked as a seaman and then a sailing entrepreneur.

He became obsessed with the possibility of pioneering a western sea route to Cathay (China), India, and the fabled gold and spice islands of Asia. At the time, Europeans knew no direct sea route to southern Asia, and the route via Egypt and the Red Sea was closed to Europeans by the Ottoman Empire, as were many land routes. Contrary to popular legend, educated Europeans of Columbus’ day did believe that the world was round, as argued by St. Isidore in the seventh century. However, Columbus, and most others, underestimated the world’s size, calculating that East Asia must lie approximately where North America sits on the globe (they did not yet know that the Pacific Ocean existed). With only the Atlantic Ocean, he thought, lying between Europe and the riches of the East Indies, Columbus met with King John II of Portugal and tried to persuade him to back his “Enterprise of the Indies,” as he called his plan. He was rebuffed and went to Spain, where he was also rejected at least twice by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. However, after the Spanish conquest of the Moorish kingdom of Granada in January 1492, the Spanish monarchs, flush with victory, agreed to support his voyage.

On August 3, 1492, Columbus set sail from Palos, Spain, with three small ships, the Santa Maria, the Pinta, and the Nina. On October 12, the expedition sighted land, probably Watling Island in the Bahamas, and went ashore the same day, claiming it for Spain. Later that month, Columbus sighted Cuba, which he thought was mainland China, and in December the expedition landed on Hispaniola, which Columbus thought might be Japan. He established a small colony there with 39 of his men. The explorer returned to Spain with gold, spices, and “Indian” captives in March 1493, and was received with the highest honors by the Spanish court. He was given the title “admiral of the ocean sea,” and a second expedition was promptly organized. Fitted out with a large fleet of 17 ships, with 1,500 colonists aboard, Columbus set out from Cadiz in September 1493 on his second voyage to the New World. Landfall was made in the Lesser Antilles in November.

Returning to Hispaniola, he found the men he left there slaughtered by the natives, and he founded a second colony. Sailing on, he explored Puerto Rico, Jamaica, and numerous smaller islands in the Caribbean. Columbus returned to Spain in June 1496 and was greeted less warmly, as the yield from the second voyage had fallen well short of its costs. Isabella and Ferdinand, still greedy for the riches of the East, agreed to a smaller third voyage and instructed Columbus to find a strait to India. In May 1498, Columbus left Spain with six ships, three filled with colonists and three with provisions for the colony on Hispaniola. This time, he made landfall on Trinidad. He entered the Gulf of Paria in Venezuela and planted the Spanish flag on South America. By the scope of the Orinoco River in Venezuela, he realized he had stumbled upon another continent, which Columbus, a deeply religious man, decided after careful thought was the outer regions of the Garden of Eden. Returning to Hispaniola, he found that conditions on the island had deteriorated under the rule of his brothers, Diego and Bartholomew.

Columbus’ efforts to restore order were marked by brutality, and his rule came to be deeply resented by both the colonists and the native Taino chiefs. In 1500, Spanish chief justice Francisco de Bobadilla arrived at Hispaniola, sent by Isabella and Ferdinand to investigate complaints, and Columbus and his brother were sent back to Spain in chains. He was immediately released upon his return, and Ferdinand and Isabella agreed to finance a fourth voyage in which he was to search for the earthly paradise and the realms of gold said to lie nearby. He was also to continue looking for a passage to India. In May 1502, Columbus left Cadiz on his fourth and final voyage to the New World. After returning to Hispaniola against his patron’s wishes, he explored the coast of Central America looking for a strait and for gold. Attempting to return to Hispaniola, his ships, in poor condition, had to be beached on Jamaica. Columbus and his men were marooned, but two of his captains succeed in canoeing the 450 miles to Hispaniola. Columbus was a castaway on Jamaica for a year before a rescue ship arrived.

In November 1504, Columbus returned to Spain. Queen Isabella, his chief patron, died less than three weeks later. Although Columbus enjoyed a substantial revenue from Hispaniola gold during the last years of his life, he repeatedly attempted (unsuccessfully) to gain an audience with King Ferdinand, whom he felt owed him further redress. Columbus died on May 20, 1506, without realizing the great scope of his achievement: He had discovered for Europe the New World, whose riches over the next century would help make Spain the wealthiest and most powerful nation on earth. Related Videos | In 1492: 25 facts about Christopher Columbus and his disputed holiday | Deseret News In 1492: 25 facts about Christopher Columbus and his disputed holiday By Jackie Hicken , Deseret News Published: Oct. 13, 2013 8:02 p.m. Comments Wikipedia For schoolchildren, Columbus Day likely means revisiting the old rhyme, "In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue," and discussing the role the explorer played in the discovery of the New World.

Beyond the grade-school classroom, however, Columbus Day is a holiday despised by some, celebrated by others and a hot topic of debate for many. Was Columbus a bad person? Was he responsible for the decimation of the natives in the lands he discovered, both through disease and warfare? Did he discover America? Is his place in history that of a man of myth or a man of legend? Here's a look at the famed navigator, the voyage to the New World, the history of today's holiday and other interesting facts that have helped drive the conversations and controversy surrounding Christopher Columbus. Wikipedia Christopher Columbus was born in 1451 in Genoa, Italy, and spent the years leading up to 1492 at sea, participating in trading voyages and expeditions to Africa. Because Muslim domination of land trade routes made travel to India and China difficult, Columbus came up with a plan to sail west in order to reach the East, according to biography.com . Columbus and his contemporaries did not believe the world was flat ; rather Columbus believed its circumference was much smaller than it actually is, which helped him develop his west-to-East plan.

Wikipedia Columbus estimated that Asia lay between 2,300 and 2,400 miles west, although the true distance is actually 10,000 nautical miles, according to Yahoo , or 12,200 statue miles, according to biography.com . "(The king and queen) directed that I should not proceed by land to the East, as is customary, but by a westerly route, in which direction we have hitherto no certain evidence that anyone has gone," Christopher Columbus wrote in 1492. Wikipedia Columbus originally approached King John II of Portugal to obtain funding for his proposed voyage, but the king rejected the request. According to biography.com , Columbus was also rejected in Genoa and Venice. Years after the original request was made, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain agreed to sponsor the voyage. Associated Press Reasons for undertaking the journey into the unknown varied for all interested parties, the Encyclopedia Britannica entry on Columbus states.

For Columbus, the voyage was about improving his status in life and gaining the ability to "style myself 'Don' and be high admiral of the Ocean Sea and viceroy and perpetual governor of the islands and continent which I should discover." For the king and queen, the voyage was built on the hopes of improving their status and gaining power. Religion also played a role for the king and queen, Columbus and Franciscan brethren looking to fuel religious fervor to finance a crusade to the Holy Land, the encyclopedia entry said. Associated Press The three ships Columbus used on his voyage were named the Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria. According to Columbus's own writings , "I left the city of Granada on Saturday, the 12th day of May, 1492, and proceeded to Palos, a seaport, where I armed three vessels, very fit for such an enterprise, and having provided myself with abundance of stores and seamen, I set sail from the port on Friday, the 3rd of August, half an hour before sunrise and steered for the Canary Islands." Wikipedia The Pinta ran into trouble on the way to the Canary Islands when the rudder became loose.

"It was believed that this happened by the contrivance of Gomez Rascon and Christopher Quintero, who were on board the caravel, because they disliked the voyage," an extract from the Columbus journal suggests. "The admiral says he found them in an unfavorable disposition before setting out." After staying for nearly a month at the Canary Islands, where the Pinta underwent repairs and changes to her rigging, the three ships left on September 6, 1492. Wikipedia As the leader of the venture, Columbus was not entirely honest with his crew, as extracts from his logbook show. "Sunday, 9 September. Sailed this day nineteen leagues, and determined to count less than the true number, that the crew might not be dismayed if the voyage should prove long," an extract, posted at fordham.edu , says.

This pattern of underreporting progress held true throughout the journey, with notes in the logbook stating things like: — "Steered west and sailed, day and night, above fifty leagues; wrote down only forty-seven" — "Continued this course west and sailed day and night in calms, fourteen leagues; reckoned eleven." — "Continued their course west and sailed twelve miles an hour, for two hours, then eight miles an hour. Sailed till an hour after sunrise, twenty-three leagues; reckoned to the crew eighteen." Associated Press On September 25, a Tuesday, Martin Alonzo called out that he saw land. Martin Alonzo Pinon was the captain of the Pinta and was hailed in Columbus's logbook as a man "of courage and capacity." The logbook extract on Fordham.edu continues: "The admiral says, when he heard him declare (that he saw land), he fell to his knees and returned thanks to God, and Martin Alonzo with his crew repeated Gloria in excelsis Deo, as did the crew of the admiral. Those on board the Nina ascended the rigging, and all declared they saw land.

The admiral also thought it was land, and about 25 leagues distant." Associated Press By October 10, the men sailing with Columbus had not landed anywhere, and had "lost all patience and complained about the length of the voyage," the logbook says. However, Columbus was able to calm the men with promises of profit and reminders that they had come too far to turn back. On October 12, Columbus, Martin Alonzo Pinzon of the Pinta and Yincent Yanez Pinzon, captain of the Nina, stepped onto the shores of the new world. "The admiral bore the royal standard, and the two captains each a banner of the Green Cross, which all the ships carried; this contained the initials of the names of the king and queen each side of the cross, and a crown over each letter," the journal extracts say. "They saw trees very green, many streams of water and diverse sorts of fruit.

The admiral called upon the two captains and the rest of the crew who landed, as also to Rodrigo de Escovedo notary of the fleet, and Rodrigo Sanchez, of Segovia, to bear witness that he before all others took possession (as in fact he did) of that island for the king and queen his sovereigns." Associated Press According to the Encyclopedia Britannica , the place of the first Caribbean landfall "is hotly disputed," but San Salvador Island, or Watlings Island, is "generally preferred." Columbus and his crew pressed on, landing in Cuba on Oct. 28 and then turning southward—away from Florida and the land of the future United States—and arriving in Hispaniola (Haiti) on December 6. He posted 39 men in a stockade they built, using parts of the Santa Maria as materials after the ship ran aground. Then, with the small stockade built, Columbus and his two remaining ships headed back for Spain in January 1493. Wikipedia A second voyage was planned after gold, parrots, spices and people from the new lands were presented in Barcelona, the Encyclopedia Britannica says.

On this second voyage, Columbus led at least 17 ships out on September 25, 1493. Associated Press The men on this second voyage found the Hispaniola stockade destroyed and those they had left behind dead, and proceeded to exact revenge by capturing slaves. They also rebuilt, with fortifications and a city springing up on the island. Other exploring parties headed to the Cuban coastline and Jamaica, but decided to focus their efforts on Hispaniola. "The following year (Columbus) began a determined conquest of Hispaniola, spreading devastation among the Taino," the encyclopedia entry states. "There is evidence, specially in the objections of a friar, Bernardo Buil, that Columbus's methods remained harsh." In 1496, Columbus headed back to Spain and began to press King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella for a third voyage as soon as he arrived. Wikipedia The third voyage to the New World left in May 1498 and consisted of six ships. On this third voyage, Columbus focused on finding a strait from Cuba to India, and stopped in Trinidad and Venezuela.

"By August 15, he knew by the great torrents of fresh water flowing into the Gulf of Paria that he had discovered another continent—'another world,'" the Encyclopedia Britannica entry states. Wikipedia When Columbus returned to Hispaniola, where his two brothers had been ruling, all three of the Columbus brothers were sent back to Spain in chains. Complaints against the harsh methods they had employed during their leadership helped lead to their arrests. The charges against Columbus were dropped, biography.com reports, but he lost his governorship of Hispaniola and much of the riches he had made during his time exploring the New World. Associated Press While Columbus was a prisoner returning from the Indies, he sent a letter to the nurse of Prince Don John of Castille, discussing new discoveries and his role in the exploration, and saying that, "I take my oath that I cannot understand why I am made prisoner." "They judge me over there as they would a governor who had gone to Sicily, or to a city or town placed under regular government and where the laws can be observed in their entirety without fear of ruining everything; and I am greatly injured thereby," Columbus wrote .

"I ought to be judged as a captain who went from Spain to the Indies to conquer a numerous and warlike people, whose customs and religion are very contrary to ours; who live in rocks and mountains, without fixed settlements, and not like ourselves; and where, by the divine will, I have placed under the dominion of the king and queen, our sovereigns, another world, through which Spain, which was reckoned a poor country, has become the richest." Wikipedia Columbus began his fourth and final journey to the New World on May 9, 1502, and because he was forbidden from returning to Hispaniola, he was tasked with exploring the "other world" he had found earlier and finding a path to India. After being turned away from Hispaniola (attempting to visit despite being told not to go there), Columbus explored Jamaica, Cuba, Honduras and Nicaragua. He also sailed southward along Costa Rica, the Encyclopedia Britannica reports, and sailed around the Chiriqui Lagoon in Panama. The return voyage to Hispaniola ended badly, with the crew and Columbus becoming stranded in Jamaica in 1503. They were not rescued until the next year, in June of 1504.

Columbus died in Spain in 1506. Associated Press In the Encyclopedia Britannica article written by Valerie I.J. Flint, G.F. Grant Professor of History at the University of Hull in England, Flint argues that while Columbus's entry into the New World ushered in an era of exploration, disease, death and suppression, the pendulum of blame that rests on his back may "have swung too far." "Columbus has been blamed for events far beyond his own reach or knowledge, and too little attention has been paid to the historical circumstances that conditioned him," Flint wrote . "His obsessions with lineage and imperialism, his zealous religious beliefs, his enslaving of indigenous peoples, and his execution of colonial subjects come from a world remote from that of modern democratic ideas, but it was the world to which he belonged. The forces of European expansion, with their slaving and search for gold, had been unleashed before him and were quite beyond his control; he simply decided to be their vanguard." Associated Press According to history.com , the first Columbus Day celebration was held in 1792, which was the 300th anniversary of the explorer's arrival in the New World.

Tammany Hall, or the Columbian Order — a New York political organization — held the event. In 1892, President Benjamin Harrison proclaimed that Friday, Oct. 21, would be set aside for the celebration of the 400th anniversary "of the discovery of America by Columbus." "On that day let the people, so far as possible, cease from toil and devote themselves to such exercises as may best express honor to the discoverer and their appreciation of the great achievements of the four completed centuries of American life," the proclamation said. Associated Press According to opensecrets.org , the Knights of Columbus group, which "selected its name partially because it was seen as a symbol of Italian and Catholic immigrants," lobbied Congress and President Franklin D. Roosevelt to make Columbus Day a federal holiday in 1937.

Although Roosevelt created the first federal observance, Richard Nixon established the holiday as we know it with a presidential proclamation , stating "Now, therefore, I, Richard Nixon, President of the United States of America, do hereby designate Monday, October 9, 1972, as Columbus Day; and I invite the people of this nation to observe that day in schools, churches and other suitable places with appropriate ceremonies in honor of the great explorer." Associated Press Parades around the nation will mark Columbus Day in what is seen by many as a celebration of Italian heritage in the United States. Parades are held in places like New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Colorado and San Francisco. Wikipedia Some states and cities do not officially celebrate Columbus Day, choosing instead to establish holidays or days of observance that focus on other, more localized, things, or honor the natives who lived in the Americas when Columbus landed.

For example, Hawaii celebrates Discoverers' Day "in recognition of the Polynesian discoverers of the Hawaiian Islands," and South Dakota celebrates Native American Day, which is "dedicated to the remembrance of the great Native American leaders who contributed so much to the history of our state." The California city of Berkeley replaced Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples Day in 1992, after the Berkeley Resistance 500 Task Force reported that "Columbus's expedition was not a scientific 'voyage of discovery,' but a scouting mission for a scheme of imperialism and conquest," the ipdpowwow.org website states. Associated Press Columbus Day is celebrated in the United States, but many nations home to, visited and/or explored by Christopher Columbus also celebrate the holiday in their own ways. October 12 is known as the Dia de la Raza, or National Day of Spain, as well as the Dia de la Hispanidad — Hispanic Day — in Spain and Latin America. Argentina marks October 12 as the Day of Respect for Cultural Diversity and the Bahamas celebrate Discovery Day, "which commemorates the first landfall of the great navigator Christopher Columbus," Bahamas.com states.

Virgin Islands-Puerto Rico Friendship Day is also celebrated on Columbus Day, and was created "to recognize the unique relationship between Virgin Islanders and Puerto Ricans," a virginislandsdailynews.com article said. Associated Press Columbus tends to be credited with discovering America, but that assertion is not historically true, Christopher Wanjek wrote for CBS News Thursday. "Yes, let's ignore the fact that millions of humans already inhabited this land later to be called the Americas, having discovered it millennia before," Wanjek wrote. "And let's ignore that whole Leif Ericson voyage to Greenland and modern-day Canada around 1000 C.M.E. If Columbus discovered America, he himself didn't know. Until his death he claimed to have landed in Asia, even though most navigators knew he didn't." So why does the U.S. celebrate Columbus? Wanjek argues that because the U.S. was fighting with England in the early years of the nation's existence, colonists chose to discount John Cabot's discovery of Newfoundland around 1497 and go with Christopher Columbus as their heroic explorer instead.

According to the Encyclopedia Britannica , Leif Ericson (or Eriksson) is "widely held to have been the first European to reach the shores of North America." Wikipedia Ever heard the phrase "the Columbian exchange?" Like him or hate him, Christopher Columbus bears responsibility for that phrase, which was developed to explain the period of exchange and trade between the New and Old Worlds after Columbus's 1492 landing. "In 1491, the world was in many of its aspects and characteristics a minimum of two worlds — the New World, of the Americas, and the Old World, consisting of Eurasia and Africa," historian Alfred W. Crosby said in an interview with smithsonianmag.com . "Columbus brought them together, and almost immediately and continually ever since, we have had an exchange of native plants, animals and diseases moving back and forth across the oceans between the two worlds.

A great deal of the economic, social and political history of the world is involved in the exchange of living organisms between the two worlds." In a post at gilderlehrman.org , Crosby writes that the exchange included things like wheat, barley, rice, turnips, maize, sweet potatoes, horses, cattle, sheep, and germs carrying diseases like smallpox, measles, influenza, malaria and yellow fever. Associated Press According to history.com and Smithsonian.com , Washington, D.C., or the District of Columbia, was named after both George Washington and Christopher Columbus. The city was founded in 1791 as the permanent capital of the United States of America, and is unique because it is not a state or part of any state. History.com explains that the city was named for Washington — who picked the location — while Columbus's name was chosen to be included as the District of Columbia portion of the designation. Where was Christopher Columbus Born? Was he really from Genoa? Posted by Christine Sawyer | 0 comments Could Columbus Actually be Polish King Władysław III’s Son? That is what Manuel Rosa, a Portuguese historian who has spent 20 years researching the life of Columbus, suggests in his third book on the topic – “ Colon.

La Historia Nunca Contada ” (Columbus: The Untold Story) – published in 2010. According to Rosa, King Władysław III, who was supposedly slain in the Battle of Varna in 1444, actually survived the battle, fled to live in exile on the island of Madeira where he was known as “Henry the German” and married a Portuguese noblewoman. Columbus was their son, and his true origins would have been hidden to protect the identity of his father. His royal origins would also explain how Columbus was able to himself marry Filipa Moniz Perestrelo, the daughter of a Portuguese noble, governor of Madeira, at a time when it was uncommon for nobility to marry outside their class. Intriguing theory but refuted by the eminent American historian Samuel Eliot Morison who believes that this is “no great mystery” in the fact that Columbus could marry Filipa Perestrelo.

She was “already about 25 years old,” her mother was a widow “with slender means,” and “was glad enough to have no more convent bills to pay, and a son-in-law […] who asked for no dowry.” However Rosa also mentions other evidence supporting his Polish origin theory, including the similarity of Columbus’s coat of arms with that of Władysław III, a painting of Columbus housed in the Alcazar in Seville in which a crown is hidden on his sleeve, and Columbus “reddish-hair, fair skin and blue eyes” physical traits commonly found in Poland. For more on this theory, read the Telegraph article “ Christopher Columbus was son of Polish king “. Indeed the origins of Christopher Columbus, the discoverer and explorer of the Americas, have been a subject of speculation for some time, but most historians still believe he was the son of Domenico Colombo, a wool weaver from Genoa, Italy, and later lived in Savona. Others have claimed however that he was of Catalan, Greek, or Portuguese origin, or even a Spanish Jew.

The Wikipedia page “ Origin theories of Christopher Columbus ” is a very well-referenced article which goes into extensive details of the various theories about where Christopher Columbus was born. To summarize the article, the historians who believe he was from Genoa, Italy, mention several notarial acts who establish the Genoese origin of Columbus, and confirm that the Genoese Christopher Columbus is indeed the same person as Cristóbal Colón, Admiral of the Ocean Sea, living in Spain: The conviction of Domenico Colombo and his son Christopher, dated 22 September 1470, for a debt toward a certain Girolamo del Porto. In his will, Admiral Christopher Columbus remembers this old debt. The act drawn in Genoa on 25 August 1479 by a notary, Girolamo Ventimiglia. Known as the Assereto document, after the scholar who found it in the State Archives in Genoa in 1904, it involves a lawsuit over a sugar transaction on the Portuguese Atlantic island of Madeira. In this act, Columbus swears he is 27 years old, citizen of Genoa, Portuguese resident, representing Genoese merchants in Madeira.

This is seen as the proof he relocated to Madeira, Portugal and is seen as an authentic document due to the fact that, in 1904, acceptable facsimiles were impossible to do. An act dated 11 October 1496 which says: Giovanni Colombo of Quinto, Matteo Colombo and Amighetto Colombo, brothers, acknowledge that Giovanni must go to Spain to see Christopher Columbus, Admiral of the King of Spain, and that any expenses that said Giovanni must occur during this trip must be paid by all three brothers, and that they all agree. A fourth notarial act, drawn in Savona on 8 April 1500, where a certain Sebastiano Cuneo, requests that Christopher and Giacomo (called Diego), the sons and heirs of Domenico Colombo, be sentenced to pay the price for two lands located in Legine. This document confirms Christoforo and Diego’s absence from the Republic of Genoa. A fifth notarial act, drawn in Savona on 26 January 1501, is even more explicit.

A group of Genoese citizens, under oath, say that Christopher, Bartholomew and Giacomo Columbus, sons and heirs of Domenico, have for a long time been absent from the city and the jurisdiction of Savona, and that they reside in the area of Spain. The Wikipedia article also points to the fact that several ambassadors had acknowledged the origin of Christopher Columbus, when he discovered America: In 1498, Pedro de Ayala, Spanish ambassador to the English court, mentioned John Cabot, “the discoverer, another Genoese, like Columbus”, In April 1501, Nicolò Oderico, ambassador of the Genoese Republic, calls the explorer “our fellow citizen”, In 1501, Angelo Trevisan, diplomat from Venice (a rival city of Genoa) calls Columbus “Genoese” and so does another Venice diplomat, Gasparo Contarini, in 1525. The Wikipedia article finally explains other theories at length: In 2008, Charles J.

Merrill, a Doctor in medieval literature and associate professor of foreign languages, published a book titled: “ Colom of Catalonia: Origins of Christopher Columbus Revealed “, where he claims that Columbus was Catalan. According to Merrill, Columbus’s handwriting and phonetic mistakes in Castilian are “most likely” those of a Catalan. He would be the illegitimate son of a prominent Catalan seafaring family, and not the Genoese Cristoforo Colombo, a “modest wool carder and cheese merchant with no maritime training and whose age does not match the one of Columbus“. In 1943, Seraphim G. Canoutas, a Greek-American lawyer and independent scholar, suggested that Columbus was Greek. According to Canoutas, Dishypatos, scion of an ancient Byzantine noble family, and Columbus were noble kinsmen and longtime sailing companions where they were both young, and accepting such fact helps to reconcile the accepted account of Columbus’s early life as a wool-worker’s son with his later life as a nobleman and Admiral. Other researchers have claimed Columbus was a Spanish Jew, concealing his Judaism to avoid persecution. No question that Christopher Columbus’ origins seem to highlight the passions.

Where do YOU believe Christopher Columbus was actually born? Which of these theories would you favor? Columbus reaches the New World - Oct 12, 1492 - HISTORY.com This Day in History: 10/12/1492 - Columbus Set Sail On this day in 1942, after sailing across the Atlantic Ocean, Italian explorer Christopher Columbus sights a Bahamian island, believing he has reached East Asia. His expedition went ashore the same day and claimed the land for Isabella and Ferdinand of Spain, who sponsored his attempt to find a western ocean route to China, India, and the fabled gold and spice islands of Asia. Columbus was born in Genoa, Italy, in 1451. Little is known of his early life, but he worked as a seaman and then a maritime entrepreneur. He became obsessed with the possibility of pioneering a western sea route to Cathay (China), India, and the gold and spice islands of Asia. At the time, Europeans knew no direct sea route to southern Asia, and the route via Egypt and the Red Sea was closed to Europeans by the Ottoman Empire, as were many land routes.

Contrary to popular legend, educated Europeans of Columbus' day did believe that the world was round, as argued by St. Isidore in the seventh century. However, Columbus, and most others, underestimated the world's size, calculating that East Asia must lie approximately where North America sits on the globe (they did not yet know that the Pacific Ocean existed). Lead Story Columbus reaches the New World Share this: Columbus reaches the New World Author Columbus reaches the New World URL Publisher A+E Networks After sailing across the Atlantic Ocean, Italian explorer Christopher Columbus sights a Bahamian island, believing he has reached East Asia. His expedition went ashore the same day and claimed the land for Isabella and Ferdinand of Spain, who sponsored his attempt to find a western ocean route to China, India, and the fabled gold and spice islands of Asia. Columbus was born in Genoa, Italy, in 1451. Little is known of his early life, but he worked as a seaman and then a maritime entrepreneur. He became obsessed with the possibility of pioneering a western sea route to Cathay (China), India, and the gold and spice islands of Asia.

At the time, Europeans knew no direct sea route to southern Asia, and the route via Egypt and the Red Sea was closed to Europeans by the Ottoman Empire, as were many land routes. Contrary to popular legend, educated Europeans of Columbus’ day did believe that the world was round, as argued by St. Isidore in the seventh century. However, Columbus, and most others, underestimated the world’s size, calculating that East Asia must lie approximately where North America sits on the globe (they did not yet know that the Pacific Ocean existed). With only the Atlantic Ocean, he thought, lying between Europe and the riches of the East Indies, Columbus met with King John II of Portugal and tried to persuade him to back his “Enterprise of the Indies,” as he called his plan. He was rebuffed and went to Spain, where he was also rejected at least twice by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. However, after the Spanish conquest of the Moorish kingdom of Granada in January 1492, the Spanish monarchs, flush with victory, agreed to support his voyage.

On August 3, 1492, Columbus set sail from Palos, Spain, with three small ships, the Santa Maria, the Pinta, and the Nina. On October 12, the expedition reached land, probably Watling Island in the Bahamas. Later that month, Columbus sighted Cuba, which he thought was mainland China, and in December the expedition landed on Hispaniola, which Columbus thought might be Japan. He established a small colony there with 39 of his men. The explorer returned to Spain with gold, spices, and “Indian” captives in March 1493 and was received with the highest honors by the Spanish court. He was the first European to explore the Americas since the Vikings set up colonies in Greenland and Newfoundland in the 10th century. During his lifetime, Columbus led a total of four expeditions to the New World, discovering various Caribbean islands, the Gulf of Mexico, and the South and Central American mainlands, but he never accomplished his original goal—a western ocean route to the great cities of Asia.

Columbus died in Spain in 1506 without realizing the great scope of what he did achieve: He had discovered for Europe the New World, whose riches over the next century would help make Spain the wealthiest and most powerful nation on earth. Related Videos

Question: In which city was Christopher Columbus born?
Answer: GENOA