Journey to Spain

Christopher Columbus: Overview

Aspect Details Full Name Christopher Columbus Birth Date Between August 25 and October 31, 1451 Birthplace Genoa, Republic of Genoa (present-day Italy) Exploration Period Late 15th century (1492-1504) Famous Voyages 1. First Voyage (1492) – Discovery of the Americas 2. Second Voyage (1493-1496) – Colonization of Hispaniola 3. Third Voyage (1498-1500) – Exploration of Trinidad and Orinoco River 4. Fourth Voyage (1502-1504) – Exploration of Central America Significance Initiated European exploration and colonization of the Americas Legacy Controversial figure due to impact on indigenous populations Death Date May 20, 1506 Death Place Valladolid, Crown of Castile (present-day Spain)...

Early Life of Christopher Columbus

Christopher Columbus was born in 1451 in the Republic of Genoa, present-day Italy. Born to Domenico Colombo, a middle-class wool weaver, and tavern keeper, and Susanna Fontanaros, culturally well connected and being born in the port district exposed young Christopher to the daily life of a sailor and trader. Though his schooling was certainly minimal, his father educated him in the ways of the sea and the promise of the far-off seashore. In 1855, he went into business with his father, studying manufacturing assumptions and learning the ropes as a sailor and a navigator....

Journey to Spain

He later married Filipa Moniz Perestrello, and in 1480 his son Diego was born. The family stayed in Lisbon until 1485 when Columbus’ wife Filipa died. The father and son decided to move to Spain. In Spain, Columbus began trying to obtain a grant to explore western trade routes. He believed that because the earth was a sphere, a ship could reach the Far East and set up trading routes in Asia by sailing west.   For many years, Columbus tried proposing plans to Portuguese and Spanish kings but was turned down each time. After the expulsion of Moors from Spain, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella reconsidered his requests. Columbus promised to bring back gold, spices, and silk from Asia, to spread Christianity, and to explore China. In return, he asked to be made admiral of the seas and governor of discovered lands....

First Voyage: 1492-1493 CE

With the sponsor from catholic monarchs of Spain, Columbus departed from Palos de la Frontera, Spain on 3rd August, 1942 with three ships: the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria. He started sailing across the Atlantic ocean with a mission in mind, which was to find a shorter western sea route to Asia focusing on extension of the route of commerce. The voyage was long and it lasted for two months....

Second Voyage – 1493-1496 CE

After the success of his first voyage,Christopher Columbus embarked on his second expedition in 1493. Unlike the former trips, this one was not an exploration but a colonization. This time it consisted of 17 ships and about 1,500 people. Included on this voyage, for the first time, were European domesticated animals such as pigs, horses, and cattle. The aim was to expand the settlement on Hispaniola and convert its population to Christianity....

Third Voyage – 1498-1500 CE

In 1498, Christopher Columbus set sail on his third voyage, obsessive with the idea of discovering a western route to the wealth of Asia. But this time his fleet had grown to six ships and a more varied crew, including colonists and administrators. Their journey this time would not lead them to a direct path westwards, but rather to the south, to Trinidad and the Paria Peninsula in present-day Venezuela. This change was motivated by a rapidly growing perspective that the Indies might lay more toward the south than they had originally anticipated....

Fourth Voyage: 1502-1504 CE

Although the Europeans had now firmly established themselves in the New World, Columbus had yet to find a way through the islands he had so far visited and reached Cathay. The final attempts of Christopher Columbus in 1502 were those of a man becoming increasingly desperate to make a name for himself. This journey was significantly less grand, with just four vessels and the Spanish crown’s accusation in the rear of it all....

Facts About Christopher Columbus

Christopher Columbus began a career as a seafarer at the age of 14 but later had to support himself by selling maps and charts. Columbus was not the first European to cross the Atlantic Ocean. His voyage did contribute to a better understanding of the Earth’s geography. He never actually set foot on the Mainland of North America. Columbus was born in Italy, but he studied in Spain. Columbus was owed 10% of all revenues derived from The New World. Christopher Columbus didn’t discover that the earth is round. Columbus was sent back to Spain in chains and stripped of his governorship. It took six years for Queen Isabella to agree on funding Columbus’s voyages. Three countries; Portugal, England, and France refused to back Columbus’s voyage....

Conclusion

Christopher Columbus’s voyages were crucial events that transformed the world’s geography, economy, and cultures. Despite this fame, however, Columbus was not the first to visit the Americas. Long before Columbus, various Indigenous peoples had settled and explored different areas of the Americas as he encountered america and not discovered it. Leif Ericson is believed to have been the first European to visit the area and set up a settlement in the northern portion of Canada 500 years before the arrival of Columbus....

FAQs – Christopher Columbus

How did Christopher Columbus impact history?...