Christopher Columbus’ Journeys

“A fortuitous error” led to the discovery of America. Christopher Columbus set out in 1492 to explore the westward path of the Indies, based on the notion that the globe is round and that the Atlantic Ocean separates Europe from the Far East. He ended up in America without recognizing it.

Christopher Columbus was born between August 26 and October 31 1451 into a Genoese family of weavers who also maintained a wine merchant’s business, according to records newly found in the Genoese archives.So he didn’t have noble forebears, great university studies, scientific culture, intellectual contacts, or the “40 years” of marine expertise that he would later boast about. He made a few excursions to the Mediterranean as a sailor and took part in an expedition to England after following his father’s profession for a while, then stayed in Lisbon, where he and his brother Bartholomew made a fortune duplicating marine charts and where he married.His interest in the Portuguese discoveries, which were making steady progress, drew him to Portuguese Guinea. Many maps depicting the existence of islands in the uncharted ocean verified the claims of sailors who claimed to have seen wood sculptures, gigantic reeds, and timber unknown in Europe floating in the water west of the Azores. Christopher Columbus, on the other hand, was aware with the map and letter delivered to a Portuguese priest in 1474 by the famed Florentine physician and astronomer Paolo Toscanelli.”This island is wealthy in gold, pearls, and valuable stones; the temples and palaces are coated in pure gold,” the preserved letter says of a trip to the Indies and the island of Cipangu (Japan). Columbus’ idea that by drifting west, he would “find Cipangu and other unknown islands” was encouraged by Toscanelli’s indications, which lowered the circumference of the world by a third.

Columbus requested three ships from King John II of Portugal in 1483, each with a year’s worth of provisions. John II rejected on the recommendation of his advisors. Columbus made the same request to the King of England and the King of France through his brother Bartholomew, but both were denied. He subsequently moved to Spain, where he was protected by Duke Medina Celi and other royal officials. His suggestion was presented before a commission, and all of the members unanimously rejected it. Isabella received Columbus despite his confessor’s interference and accepted his demands following the fall of Granada.

Columbus was given the practically royal title of Admiral, the viceregal title of all nations he could find, and a tenth of the earnings of commerce with these countries by the Santa Fe Convention.

Columbus set off from Palos with three ships and 120 men on August 3, 1492; the ship on which Christopher Columbus was aboard was named Santa Maria, while the others were named Nina and Pinta. He ventured off into the unknown after arriving at the Canary Islands. The ships were traveling so swiftly, buffeted by a favorable breeze, that the sailors glimpsed a strip of land on the horizon at daybreak on October 12th. Columbus believed they were off the coast of Cipang. He was really off the coast of the Bahamas, which now looks like this:

A few days later, he discovered the island of Cuba, which he named Cipangu, and then the island of Haiti, which he dubbed Espanola because of its Spanish-like climate. Brown inhabitants lived on all of these islands, virtually naked but ornamented with gold artifacts. Columbus, convinced that he had arrived in the Indies, dubbed them Indians. Columbus ordered his return after constructing the first Spanish camp in Haiti from the wreckage of one of his ships, and on March 15, 1493, he landed in Spain with two Haitians and a few gold samples, believing that he had discovered the country of gold.

Columbus returned to America three more times. He discovered a series of islands in the Lesser Antilles group inhabited by savage but clever Caribs during the second (September 1493-June 1496); he then reached Espanola, where he found the wooden fort demolished and the garrison murdered; then on his approach to Cuba, he discovered Jamaica. He returned to Cadiz, convinced that he had arrived on the Asian continent in Cuba.

The third trip (May 1498 — November 1500) carried him to the mouth of the Orinoco River, allowing him to set foot on the new continent for the first time, and the fourth journey (May 1502 — November 1504) took him to the coast of Central America, where he met the Yucatan Mayan civilization.

Columb is immune to the hopes that Spaniards have placed on him. Colonists who discovered the country have not found the comorile of aur that they were looking for. Ei have started to believe in themselves and have filed complaints against Columb in Spain. To put an end to these conflicts, amiralul insuşi has asked reginei Isabella to appoint a comisar to investigate any complaints filed against him. Comisarul stuffed Columb into a suitcase and shipped him to Europe. Regina l-a liberat, although she has not yet relinquished control over the discovered countries. Columb also lost corbiile on the Central American shore and became ill in Spain on the last mission (1504).El died in 1506, almost forgotten, without knowing that he had given Castiliei a New Light.

Amerigo Vespucci is the first to report the discovery of a new continent to the world. Vespucci, a native of Florence, came in Spain in 1490 as an agent for the Medici Bank. In 1498, Polo set out towards the northeast coast of South America, which he dubbed Venezuela, or “Little Venice,” because of the Indians’ floating homes. Vespucci believed that the territory he explored belonged to a new continent in his travel accounts. The German humanist Ringmann advocated that the New World described by Vespucci be called America after the explorer, and posterity agreed. In the mid-16th century, this name became popular.