In 1451, on October 27, in Genoa, a boy was born into the family of a simple shertobit. Little is known about his childhood - after all, no one could have thought that this child would one day glorify his name for centuries. The boy's name was Christopher Columbus.
Some researchers believe that he was educated in Pavia, but others report just as confidently that he was a self-taught genius. There is also a legend that before his discoveries, Columbus pirated in the Mediterranean Sea, but there is no documentary evidence of this. The only fact known for certain is that at the age of eighteen, Columbus became interested in the riches of India. His interest was far from speculative! Columbus suggested that you can get to this country not only by circumnavigating Africa and going east, but also by getting there much more shortcut- across the Atlantic Ocean, moving west. Although Columbus experienced financial difficulties, he managed to collect a rich collection of navigational charts and spent time with them great job. True, he made mistakes in his calculations, believing that India was literally a few weeks away.
Perhaps all these ideas of the young ambitious person would have sunk into oblivion, but one day Columbus met Felipa Muniz, the daughter of a Portuguese captain. The young people fell in love with each other and got married very quickly.
At his wife's house, Columbus gained access to his father-in-law's nautical charts, diaries, and impressions. Freezing, he listened to the stories of the experienced captain and his friends about amazing and strange finds in the Atlantic Ocean near the Azores. It was there that the sailors found pieces of wood with carvings and designs that were completely different from African, Asian and, especially, European art. One day, on an island belonging to the Azores archipelago, two dead people, clothes and faces strikingly different from everyone else famous peoples.
Columbus also read the latest books on geography. Thus, he very carefully read the works of Pierre de Ailly (“The Image of the World”) and Silvio Piccolomini (by the way, in 1458 this famous Italian poet and humanist took the throne of the Vatican under the name Pius II). Of course, Columbus also studied the travel notes of the then famous traveler Marco Polo. The margins of the pages of these books are dotted with many comments from Columbus - somewhere he saw confirmation of his ideas, and somewhere the exact opposite own ideas.
It should be noted that the idea western route It was not new to India. It was expressed by ancient thinkers - Eratosthenes, Aristotle and Protagoras. Columbus was especially shocked by Aristotle's idea that from Spain to the territory of India, when moving west, there were only a few days' journey. Another factor pushing Columbus to realize his ideas was purely economic. The fact is that the traditional routes to India through Asia in the 15th century were blocked by the powerful Ottoman Empire. Overnight, Europe was cut off from the flow of substances for dyeing fabrics, oriental incense, and most importantly, spices. Pepper, cloves, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg have risen sharply in price. But the main problem was the lack of black pepper. In those days, pepper was often used as a means of payment - to purchase land, to pay off debts, and even as a dowry (a bride who brought two or three kilograms of pepper with her to the groom was desired even by the most dignitaries). And this is without mentioning that silk fabrics, carpets and other luxury items have disappeared! The new route to India led not only to geographical discoveries, but also to enormous wealth. However, to obtain this wealth, financial expenses were necessary.
Columbus relied on purely economic interest kings to their enterprise. But Joan, King of Portugal, when asked to provide Columbus with ships to search for the Japanese island of Sipago, doubted the applicant’s arguments and did not give money. However, behind Columbus's back, Joan entrusted the verification of the idea itself to exclusively experienced, in his terms, experts - two cosmographers and a bishop. The conclusion that such an authoritative commission made is quite clear - Columbus’s project was declared an empty fantasy. The trip of Bartolomeo, Columbus's brother, to England was also useless - the royal court of Britain did not support the idea. For a long time he was deaf to the requests of Christopher Columbus and spanish king. He, like Joan, ordered that the crazy idea be analyzed. In general, all the experts spoke quite in the spirit of that time and rejected the possibility of reaching India by traveling west, citing the writings of St. Gregory, St. Augustine and, mainly, the Gospel. By the way, they gave a very interesting argument, recognizing that the Earth is round, according to the sages of that time round form The earth formed a huge mountain in front of the ship, and no wind, even the strongest, could have overcome it.
However, Columbus believed in his lucky star, and he finally got lucky. In 1492, eight hundred years of Moorish rule in Spain ended. At the beginning of the year, Columbus obtained an audience with Queen Isabella and presented her with a very simple dilemma. If his idea turns out to be unsuccessful, the royal treasury will only lose the funds spent on the expedition. If Columbus is right, then truly incalculable wealth will come to Spain.
King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella approved Columbus's voyage on April 17, 1492. In the agreement concluded with Columbus there was also a clause that said that if the expedition failed, its leader would not have any reward and would receive only the glory of the navigator. In addition, Columbus was previously appointed viceroy of all the lands he discovered and admiral. Along with these very considerable ranks, he received the right to a tenth of the goods brought from the trip. Well, just a small thing - Columbus and his descendants were elevated to the dignity of nobility.
However, this treaty did not eliminate all obstacles in Columbus's path. Even when financial issues were sorted out and three ships were selected, a problem arose with the selection of crews. The sailors did not believe Columbus and considered him slightly touched - after all normal person will never willingly go to the open ocean. The idea was put forward to crew ships from prison inmates. But the Pinsons, three sailor brothers who decided to set sail with Columbus, did not like this approach. The eldest, Martin Alonso, one of the best sea captains in Spain, made every effort and still managed to put together crews, recruiting experienced and fearless sailors.
On August 3, 1492, at dawn, three ships - the Pinta, Niña and Santa Maria - headed west to the Canary Islands.
The total number of people on Columbus's expedition is unknown. Numbers are given from ninety to one hundred and thirty people. Columbus, realizing that the journey could be extremely long, openly cheated and kept not one logbook, but two during the voyage. In one, which he did not show to anyone, they entered exact information– both about the path traveled and about all the problems. In the other, intended for the team, the most embellished data was recorded.
Assuming problems along the way, Columbus turned out to be absolutely right. For example, when the ships entered the Sargasso Sea on September 16, a long calm awaited them. Many sailors decided that there was no wind at all so far from their homeland and they would never return to Spain. Columbus showed extreme eloquence, convincing the sailors not to give in to despondency. He used two arguments especially actively: future countless treasures and mandatory God's help. By the way, Columbus himself was far from unmercenary - it was he who said that there is nothing better in the world than gold and with its help you can even redeem a soul from purgatory.
The earth appeared completely unexpectedly - when despondency completely took over the crews. On September 12, Rodrigo de Trian, a sailor of the Pinta, saw land and fired his musket. Having stepped onto the shore of the island, called Guanahani by the locals, Christopher Columbus knelt down and, shedding tears, kissed the ground. After this, the royal standard of Spain was unfurled, and the navigator raised his eyes to the sky, three times proclaiming the names of the Spanish monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella. The clerk Rodrigo de Escobedo drew up an act according to which the island, the sea around it and the local savages were declared to belong to the Spanish crown. And at the same time, the travelers renamed the island itself, calling it San Salvador.
During his first voyage, in addition to the island of San Salvador, Columbus discovered and described the islands of Haiti and Cuba. Columbus was especially delighted when gold was discovered on these islands. Plus, Columbus, trying to be honest to some extent, bought exotic goods from the local population. The navigator was absolutely sure that the islands he found belonged to the legendary 7777 islands assigned by Marco Polo to the Asian continent. He even called the local population Indians - and with his light hand this name was preserved forever.
On March 15, 1493, Columbus's expedition returned in triumph to the Spanish port of Palos. Columbus immediately went to Barcelona, where the royal couple of Spain were at that moment. The king and queen met Columbus in the cathedral and did not allow him to kneel to kiss their royal hands. They sat him down next to them and began to ask him about the vicissitudes of the journey to the New World.
Almost immediately it became clear that this expedition of Columbus could not be the last. The reason was very simple - the organization of the expedition, according to various estimates, cost the treasury in the amount of either one or two million maravedis. At the same time, the goods and gold brought exceeded the expenses of the expedition by one hundred and seventy-five times! So Columbus not only enriched himself - he made royal treasury richer by about three hundred million.
Columbus's subsequent expeditions were much longer. The second lasted three years - from September 1493 to June 1496. The third - from May 1498 to October 1500. And the last lasted from May 1502 to November 1504. Columbus discovered and described Central America, South America (north coast) and many islands. During his travels, he had to be not only a navigator, but also a scientist, a conqueror and even the ruler of the island of Hispaniola (Haiti).
His third expedition to the New World turned out to be especially unpleasant for the Spanish admiral. From there he returned to Spain in shackles. This happened because of palace intrigues and the envy of the nobility towards a man who, overnight and, as envious people believed, easily acquired fame, the favor of kings and crazy wealth. Queen Isabella saved the situation again - she ordered Columbus to be unshackled, dressed in expensive clothes, and even provided the navigator with part of her own personal guard as an honor guard. But Columbus did not forget the insult inflicted before his last days. According to the navigator's son, Ferdinand, the chains in which Columbus was shackled were constantly on his desk, and the admiral bequeathed to bury them with him.
On May 20, 1506, Christopher Columbus took his last communion and said that he was entrusting his spirit into the hands of the Lord. But even after death, the navigator did not immediately rest. At first he was buried in Seville, but later, following his will, his remains were transported to the island of Hispaniola and buried in the land he had discovered. When Hispaniola became a French colony in 1795, Columbus's ashes were moved to Cuba, and even later, in 1877, they were brought back to Seville. Here he rests to this day.
Today there is almost irrefutable evidence that Columbus was by no means the first on the American continent. The Vikings also visited America, and even before them, the Egyptians. It is possible that some Europeans reached these shores even before Columbus. However, it was Columbus's voyages that paved the way for cultural, economic and political connections between the Old and New Worlds. Without a doubt, the navigator was motivated, first of all, by the thirst for enrichment. But so what? In history this stubborn and goal-oriented person entered as the discoverer of America.
There are many accidental discoveries in history, when the discoverers sought a completely different goal. Most shining example- discovery of America by Columbus, made during his search for a sea route to India.
It all started with the idea of sailing to India along a new route - the Atlantic Ocean. Christopher Columbus first proposed it to Portugal: however, King Juan II did not approve of the navigator’s plan.
Italian by birth, Columbus went to Spain. Here, not far from Palos, in one of the monasteries, a monk he knew was found. He helped Columbus gain an audience with Queen Isabella. After listening to the navigator, she instructed the scientific council to discuss the project. The council consisted mainly of people who held clergy.
Columbus prepared a powerful report. He said that ancient scientists proved that the Earth is a ball. He showed a copy of the map compiled by the famous astronomer from Italy Toscanelli. On it, the Atlantic Ocean was covered with a mass of islands, behind which the eastern coast of Asia could be seen. He remembered the legends that there was a land beyond the ocean, from which tree trunks, clearly processed by people, sometimes floated across the sea. Columbus, who was well educated and spoke four languages, managed to win over the council members to his side.
In addition, the interest of the Spanish crown had other reasons.
In a country that had just experienced the capture of Granada and the Reconquista, the economy was in a deplorable state. There was no money in the treasury, many nobles went bankrupt. If Columbus's voyage had been successful, it might have helped change the situation. Columbus received the status of viceroy of all lands that would be discovered - and set off on his way.
First expedition
The first expedition began on August 3, 1492 in the port of Palos. The flotilla included 3 caravels (“Santa Maria”, “Pinta”, “Nina”), carrying 90 people. First, the ships went to the Canary Islands, from where they turned to the west. On the way, the Sargasso Sea was discovered, where green algae grew in amazing abundance.
2 months passed before the team saw land. On the night of October 12, 1492, at two o'clock, the watchman noticed the shore, which was illuminated by flashes of lightning. These were the Bahamas, but Columbus believed that he managed to reach India, China or Japan. Therefore, the people who met here were called Indians. And the archipelago was called the West Indies.
The island to which the travelers descended was named San Salvador, which belongs to the American continent. Officially, October 12, 1492 is considered the day of the discovery of America.
Continuing their voyage, the ships reached new islands - Cuba and Haiti. This happened on December 6, and on the 25th the ship “Santa Maria” was stranded.
The expedition returned to Spain on March 15, 1493. The natives also arrived on the ships, as well as potatoes, tobacco and corn - products then unknown in Europe. Columbus was surrounded with honor and given the title of admiral of the sea-ocean, as well as viceroy of the open lands and those that he had yet to find.
Second expedition
During his second voyage, Columbus explored most of the islands of the Caribbean. 17 ships, carrying 1,500 people, set sail.
On this journey, Guadeloupe, the islands of Dominica and Jamaica, Antigua and Puerto Rico were discovered. It was on this expedition, without knowing it, that the sailors reached the shores of a new continent, which is now called Colombia - named after Columba. On June 11, 1496, Spanish ships returned to their homeland.
Third expedition
Columbus's third voyage took place in 1498. The flotilla under his command reached the Orinoco River delta. This was the shore of a new unknown continent. 2 islands were also discovered - Trinidad and Margarita, as well as the Paria Peninsula.
In 1500, the Spanish settlers of the New World rebelled against Columbus. He was relieved of his duties as leader of the new lands. However, he received permission to go on a new journey.
Fourth expedition
Columbus's fourth voyage lasted 2 years. From 1502 to 1504, he sailed along much of the coast of the new continent, which later became known as Central America.
Four ships traveled a long distance and discovered new islands - Honduras, Costa Rica, Panama. But at the end of June 1503, the ships were caught in a storm off Jamaica and were wrecked.
The Great and the Unfortunate
Columbus himself did not suspect that he had discovered a new continent. He died confident that all expeditions led to India, and his discovery was the route to India from the west. There was no gold in the lands that he discovered, and no spices were found there. This brought neither Spain nor Columbus himself wealth.
The sailor was poor. He spent all the money he had on equipping a rescue expedition to save people on one of the caravels. He died sick and forgotten in 1506.
Who else discovered America
When the navigator and astronomer from Florence Amerigo Vespucci decided to go to the lands discovered by Columbus, he concluded that this was not India, but completely new continent. This happened during an expedition in 1501-1502. He published his thoughts, which became the basis for the creation of a new map of the world in 1507. To Europe, Asia and Africa, another continent was added, which at first bore the name of the land of Amerigo. Later it transformed into America.
This continent, as it became clear later, was discovered more than once. In 1497, a flotilla of Portuguese ships headed by Vasco da Gama (1469-1524) set off for India. 4 ships, carrying 170 people, left the Lisbon port in the direction of the Cape of Good Hope. They rounded the cape, reached the mouth of the Zambezi, went north near Africa, and then reached the harbor of Malindi. From here the ships reached the port of Calicut, where they were led by an Arab pilot. This marked the opening of the route to India, which took approximately 10 months.
The meeting in Calicut was cold. After staying there for 3 months, the Portuguese set off on their way back. The captain decided to sail along Indian Ocean, bypassing East Africa. The voyage lasted about a year, but by September 1499, the two ships returned to Lisbon, having lost most of the crew.
Christopher Columbus was a medieval navigator who discovered the Sargasso and Caribbean Seas, the Antilles, the Bahamas and the American continent for Europeans, and was the first known traveler to cross the Atlantic Ocean.
According to various sources, Christopher Columbus was born in 1451 in Genoa, in what is now Corsica. Six Italian and Spanish cities claim the right to be called his homeland. Almost nothing is known for certain about the navigator’s childhood and youth, and the origins of the Columbus family are also vague.
Some researchers call Columbus an Italian, others believe that his parents were baptized Jews, Marranos. This assumption explains the incredible level of education for those times that Christopher, who came from the family of an ordinary weaver and housewife, received.
According to some historians and biographers, Columbus studied at home until the age of 14, but had excellent knowledge of mathematics and knew several languages, including Latin. The boy had three younger brothers and a sister, all of whom were taught by visiting teachers. One of the brothers, Giovanni, died in childhood, sister Bianchella grew up and got married, and Bartolomeo and Giacomo accompanied Columbus on his travels.
Most likely, Columbus was given all possible assistance by his fellow believers, wealthy Genoese financiers from the Marranos. With their help, a young man from a poor family entered the University of Padua.
Being an educated man, Columbus was familiar with the teachings of ancient Greek philosophers and thinkers, who depicted the Earth as a ball, and not a flat pancake, as was believed in the Middle Ages. However, such thoughts as Jewish origin during the time of the Inquisition, which was rampant in Europe, it had to be carefully hidden.
At the university, Columbus became friends with students and teachers. One of his close friends was the astronomer Toscanelli. According to his calculations, it turned out that it was much closer to sail to the treasured India, full of untold riches. westward, and not in the east, skirting Africa. Later, Christopher carried out his own calculations, which, although incorrect, confirmed Toscanelli's hypothesis. Thus was born the dream of a western journey, and Columbus devoted his whole life to it.
Even before entering university as a fourteen-year-old teenager, Christopher Columbus experienced the hardships of sea travel. The father arranged for his son to work on one of the trading schooners to learn the art of navigation and trade skills, and from that moment the biography of Columbus the navigator began.
Columbus made his first voyages as a cabin boy in the Mediterranean Sea, where trade and economic routes between Europe and Asia intersected. At the same time, European merchants knew about the riches and gold deposits of Asia and India from the words of the Arabs, who resold them wonderful silks and spices from these countries.
The young man listened to extraordinary stories from the lips of eastern merchants and was inflamed with a dream of reaching the shores of India in order to find its treasures and get rich.
Expeditions
In the 70s of the 15th century, Columbus married Felipe Moniz from a wealthy Italian-Portuguese family. The father-in-law of Christopher, who settled in Lisbon and sailed under the Portuguese flag, was also a navigator. After his death he left nautical charts, diaries and other documents inherited by Columbus. Using them, the traveler continued to study geography, while simultaneously studying the works of Piccolomini, Pierre de Ailly,.
Christopher Columbus took part in the so-called northern expedition, as part of which his route passed through the British Isles and Iceland. Presumably, there the navigator heard Scandinavian sagas and stories about the Vikings, Erik the Red and Leif Eriksson, who reached the coast " Mainland", crossed the Atlantic Ocean.
Columbus drew up a route that allowed him to reach India by the western route back in 1475. He presented an ambitious plan to conquer a new land to the court of the Genoese merchants, but did not meet with support.
A few years later, in 1483, Christopher made a similar proposal to the Portuguese King João II. The king assembled a scientific council, which reviewed the Genoese’s project and found his calculations incorrect. Frustrated, but resilient, Columbus left Portugal and moved to Castile.
In 1485, the navigator asked for an audience with the Spanish monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabella of Castile. The couple received him favorably, listened to Columbus, who enticed them with the treasures of India, and, just like the Portuguese ruler, called the scientists to a council. The commission did not support the navigator, since the possibility of a western route implied the sphericity of the Earth, which contradicted the teachings of the church. Columbus was almost declared a heretic, but the king and queen relented and decided to postpone the final decision until the end of the war with the Moors.
Columbus, who was driven not so much by a thirst for discovery as by a desire to get rich, carefully concealing the details of his planned journey, sent messages to the English and French monarchs. Charles and Henry did not respond to the letters, being too busy with domestic politics, but the Portuguese king sent the navigator an invitation to continue discussing the expedition.
When Christopher announced this in Spain, Ferdinand and Isabella agreed to equip a squadron of ships to search for a western route to India, although the poor Spanish treasury did not have the funds for this enterprise. The monarchs promised Columbus noble title, the titles of admiral and viceroy of all the lands that he had to discover, and he had to borrow money from Andalusian bankers and merchants.
Four Expeditions of Columbus
- Christopher Columbus's first expedition took place in 1492-1493. On three ships, the caravels "Pinta" (owned by Martin Alonso Pinzon) and "Nina" and the four-masted sailing ship "Santa Maria", the navigator passed through the Canary Islands, crossed the Atlantic Ocean, discovering the Sargasso Sea along the way, and reached the Bahamas. On October 12, 1492, Columbus set foot on the island of Saman, which he named San Salvador. This date is considered the day of the discovery of America.
- Columbus's second expedition took place in 1493-1496. During this campaign, the Lesser Antilles, Dominica, Haiti, Cuba, and Jamaica were discovered.
- The third expedition dates from 1498 to 1500. A flotilla of six ships reached the islands of Trinidad and Margarita, marking the beginning of the discovery South America, and ended in Haiti.
- During the fourth expedition, Christopher Columbus sailed to Martinique, visited the Gulf of Honduras and explored the coast Central America along the Caribbean Sea.
Discovery of America
The process of discovering the New World lasted for many years. The most amazing thing is that Columbus, being a convinced discoverer and experienced navigator, believed until the end of his days that he had discovered the way to Asia. He considered the Bahamas, discovered in the first expedition, to be part of Japan, followed by the discovery of wonderful China, and behind it the treasured India.
What did Columbus discover and why did the new continent receive the name of another traveler? The list of discoveries made by the great traveler and navigator includes San Salvador, Cuba and Haiti, belonging to the Bahamas archipelago, and the Sargasso Sea.
Seventeen ships headed by the flagship Maria Galante set off on the second expedition. This type of ship with a displacement of two hundred tons and other ships carried not only sailors, but also colonialists, livestock, and supplies. All this time, Columbus was convinced that he had discovered Western India. At the same time, the Antilles, Dominica and Guadeloupe were discovered.
The third expedition brought Columbus's ships to the continent, but the navigator was disappointed: he never found India with its gold deposits. Columbus returned from this trip in shackles, accused of false denunciation. Before entering the port, the shackles were removed from him, but the navigator lost the promised titles and ranks.
The last voyage of Christopher Columbus ended with a shipwreck off the coast of Jamaica and a serious illness of the leader of the expedition. He returned home sick, unhappy and broken by failures. Amerigo Vespucci was a close comrade and follower of Columbus, who undertook four voyages to the New World. An entire continent is named after him, and one country in South America is named after Columbus, who never reached India.
Personal life
If you believe the biographers of Christopher Columbus, the first of whom was his own son, the navigator was married twice. The first marriage with Felipe Moniz was legal. The wife gave birth to a son, Diego. In 1488, Columbus had a second son, Fernando, from a relationship with a woman named Beatriz Enriquez de Arana.
The navigator took equal care of both sons, and even took the younger one with him on an expedition when the boy was thirteen years old. Fernando became the first to write a biography famous traveler.
Christopher Columbus with his wife Felipe Moniz Subsequently, both sons of Columbus became influential people and took high positions. Diego was the fourth Viceroy of New Spain and Admiral of the Indies, and his descendants were titled Marquesses of Jamaica and Dukes of Veragua.
Fernando Columbus, who became a writer and scientist, enjoyed the favor of the Spanish emperor, lived in a marble palace and had an annual income of up to 200,000 francs. These titles and wealth went to the descendants of Columbus as a sign of recognition by the Spanish monarchs of his services to the crown.
Death
After the discovery of America from his last expedition, Columbus returned to Spain as a terminally ill, aged man. In 1506, the discoverer of the New World died in poverty in a small house in Valladolid. Columbus spent his savings to pay off the debts of the participants of the last expedition.
Tomb of Christopher Columbus Soon after the death of Christopher Columbus, the first ships began to arrive from America, loaded with gold, which the navigator so dreamed of. Many historians agree that Columbus knew that he had discovered not Asia or India, but a new, unexplored continent, but did not want to share with anyone the glory and treasures, which were one step away.
The appearance of the enterprising discoverer of America is known from photographs in history textbooks. Several films have been made about Columbus, the latest being a film co-produced by France, England, Spain and the USA, “1492: The Conquest of Paradise.” Monuments to this great man were erected in Barcelona and Granada, and his ashes were transported from Seville to Haiti.
Name: Christopher Columbus
State: Italy, Spain
Field of activity: Navigator
Greatest Achievement: The first to cross the Atlantic Ocean. Opened America for Europeans.
Christopher Columbus used his a strong character, to convince rulers and scientists to reconsider generally accepted concepts and theories about the size of the Earth in order to find and open a new route to Asia. Although he was not the first European to find the Americas (that honor fell to the Viking Leif Eriksson), his voyage opened up the possibility of trade between the two continents.
Born by the sea
Born in 1451 to Domenic and Susanna (Fontanarossa), Christopher grew up in Genoa, Italy. Later, while living in Spain, he was better known under the name Cristobal Colon. He was the eldest of five children in the family and mature age studied with his brothers.
Situated on the northwestern coast of Italy, Genoa was port city. Columbus completed his basic education at an early age and began traveling with merchant ships. In 1476 he visited Portugal, where he started a cartographic business with his brother Bartholomew. In 1479 he married Felippa Moniz de Palestrello, daughter of the governor of the Portuguese island.
Their only child Diego was born in 1480. Felippa died a few years later. His second son, Fernando, was born in 1488 to Beatriz Enriquez de Arana.
Christopher Columbus's voyage around the world
In the 50s of the 15th century she took control northern Africa, blocking Europeans' shortest and easiest access to valuable Asian goods such as spices. In search of an alternative to this dangerous and long journey, many countries turned their eyes to the sea. Portugal in particular made huge strides towards discovering a route around southern Africa, eventually rounding the Cape good hope in 1488.
Instead of trying to go around from the south African continent, Columbus decided to go west. Educated people knew the fact that the Earth was round, the only question that was unclear was how big it was.
The Greek mathematician and astronomer Eratosthenes first determined its size in 240 BC; later scientists improved this number, but none of these assumptions was proven. Columbus believed that the figure voiced by scientists was too high, and that the large Asian continent would reduce the need for long sea voyages.
According to his calculations, the Earth was 66% smaller than scientists thought it was. Surprisingly, his calculations were very close to the actual size of the globe.
Columbus first presented his plans to Portugal in 1483, but they fell on deaf ears. He went to Spain, which was jointly ruled by the monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella. Although Spain was at the time involved in a war with the Muslim states, it gave Columbus a job in the Spanish court. Spain took possession of the southern provinces in January 1492, and in April of that year Columbus's plan received approval. He began preparations for the trip.
"Nina", "Pinta" and "Santa Maria"
Columbus set off on his voyage from the Canary Islands in September 1492. He captained the caravel (a type of Portuguese ship) Santa Maria. Two other ships, Nina and Pinta, sailed alongside the 90 sailors on board. On October 12, 1492, they reached a small island in the Caribbean, which Columbus named San Salvador. This day is celebrated as Columbus Day in the USA every second Monday in October; Other countries also celebrate this day under different names.
Confident that he had arrived in the East Indies, Columbus called the natives Indians. According to his description, he is kind, but primitive people had to experience cruel treatment from the Europeans.
Leaving San Salvador, the team continued traveling along the coast of Cuba and Hispaniola (modern Haiti and Dominican Republic). On the evening before Christmas, the Santa Maria crashed on a reef off the island of Haiti. Forty men were forced to remain in a hastily constructed camp in search of gold while Columbus, taking the Nina and Pinta, sailed back to Spain to announce his success.
Several indigenous captives were taken on board the ship as proof of achievement, but some did not survive the arduous sea voyage.
Columbus was not the first European to set foot on the New World. The Vikings had discovered this land several centuries earlier. But their raids were sporadic, and information about them never spread throughout Europe.
After Columbus's discovery, trade in goods, people and ideas began between the two continents.
Three more trips
During the rest of his life, Columbus made three more voyages to New world in search of the Asian continent. He returned to the islands with 17 ships and 1,500 sailors, but found no traces of the people he had observed several months earlier. Columbus established his company in several small forts along the coast of Hispaniola.
But problems soon arose when the colonists realized that the gold promised by Columbus did not exist. At the same time, a dozen ships with dissatisfied crew on board returned back to Spain. Relations with the indigenous people also did not go well, as they abandoned the search for gold. When criticism of Columbus's policies reached the monarchs, he returned to Spain and successfully dispelled all rumors, protecting himself from complaints and restoring his reputation.
In 1498, Columbus took six ships and set off in search of the Asian continent south of the area he had previously explored. Instead, he arrived off the coast of Venezuela. Returning to Hispaniola, he gave the land to settlers and authorized the enslavement of Taino peoples to rule it. Complaints about Columbus's activities continued to be received by the monarchs until they finally sent a commission to verify the validity of the complaints. Shocked by the living conditions in the colony, the commission arrested Columbus and his brother and sent them to Spain for trial. They were soon released royal authorities, but Columbus lost his post as governor of Hispaniola forever.
In 1502, he made a final attempt to find the Asian continent, setting sail with his son Ferdinand. They traveled along the coasts of Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama. Two ships were forced to land at north shore Jamaica because of the holes, where their teams spent a whole year waiting for help and return to their homeland.
Columbus returned to Spain in 1504. He died two years later, on May 20, 1506, still convinced that he had found a sea route to Asia.
Christopher Columbus (1451 - 1506) - famous navigator, who made the official discovery of America. Made the first voyage from Europe across the Atlantic Ocean to the Southern Hemisphere to the shores of Central America. He discovered the Sargasso and Caribbean Seas, the Bahamas, the Greater Antilles and the Lesser Antilles, and part of the coast of South and Central America. Founded the first colony in the New World in Haiti and Saint-Domingue.
The key figure of the era of great geographical discoveries is, of course, Christopher Columbus, and it is quite natural that it was he who primarily attracted the attention of historical geographers literally from the first days that followed his discoveries. It would seem that everything connected with the life and activities of this person should have long been known and appreciated. Nevertheless, almost all the facts relating to his youth and stay in Portugal are controversial. His contribution to the cause of geographical discoveries is also assessed differently. There are polar opposite opinions, and some researchers even argue that most of the traditional stories about him are simply fiction and cannot be taken into account.
Christopher Columbus (the Spaniards called him Cristobal Colon) was born around 1451 in Genoa into the family of a wool weaver. Although the prosaic occupation of his father and relatives had nothing to do with long voyages, Columbus was powerfully attracted by the sea from childhood. Genoa was a great maritime republic, its port quarters crowded with sailors and traders from all over the world. The threads of governance of the wealthy city converged in the hands of large merchant and banking houses, which owned hundreds of merchant ships sailing from Genoa to all corners of the world.
Even in his youth, Columbus refused to follow in his father's footsteps. He became a cartographer. At approximately the age of 25, the Genoese came to Portugal. Fascinated by the bold undertakings of the Portuguese, who sought to find a new route to India bypassing Africa, he thought a lot about this, studying Italian and Portuguese maps. Columbus was familiar with ancient theories the spherical shape of the Earth and thought about the possibility of getting to India, moving not to the east, but to the west. Several happy accidents strengthened him in this idea.
In Portugal, he got married, and he received maps, sailing directions and notes from his father-in-law, an experienced sailor from the time of Enrique the Navigator, governor of the island of Porto Santo. During his stay at Porto Santo, Columbus heard stories local residents about what to west bank their islands were sometimes washed up by waves of fragments of boats unknown to Europeans and utensils with unknown ornaments. This information confirmed the idea that in the west beyond the ocean there was a land inhabited by people. Columbus believed that this was India and neighboring China.
A number of historians believe that Columbus's idea received the support of the famous Italian geographer Paolo Toscanelli. Adhering to the opinion that the Earth was spherical, Toscanelli compiled a map of the world, providing it with reasoning about the possibility of reaching India by sailing to the west. When he received a letter from the humble Italian cartographer Columbus, Toscanelli kindly sent him a copy of his map. It depicted China and India approximately where America actually is located. Toscanelli miscalculated the Earth's circumference, underestimating it, and his inaccuracy made India appear tantalizingly close to the western coast of Europe. If there are great mistakes in history, then Toscanelli’s mistake was exactly that in its consequences. She strengthened Columbus's intention to be the first to reach India, sailing the western route.
Columbus proposed his bold plan to the king of Portugal, but he rejected it. Then Columbus tried to interest the English king, but Henry VII did not want to spend money on a dubious enterprise. Finally, Columbus turned his attention to Spain.
In 1485, Columbus and his young son Diego went to Spain. And here, too, his project did not immediately find understanding. He long and unsuccessfully sought a meeting with King Ferdinand of Aragon, who at that time was besieging last stronghold Moors - Granada. Desperate, Columbus had already decided to leave Spain and go to France, but at the last moment luck smiled on the Italian: Queen Isabella of Castile agreed to accept him.
Isabella, domineering and determined woman, listened to the foreigner favorably. His plan promised new glory for Spain and untold riches for its kings if they managed to get to India and China before other Christian sovereigns. In 1492, the royal couple, Ferdinand and Isabella, signed a treaty with Columbus, according to which he received the titles of admiral, viceroy and governor, salaries for all positions, a tenth share of the income from new lands and the right to examine criminal and civil cases.
First expedition
For the first expedition, two ships were allocated, and another ship was equipped by the seafarers and shipowners, the Pinson brothers. The flotilla crew consisted of 90 people. The names of the ships - "Santa Maria", "Nina" ("Baby") and "Pinta" - are now known throughout the world, and they were commanded by: "Pinta" - Martin Alonso Pinson, and "Nina" - Vincente Yañez Pinzon. Santa Maria became the flagship. Columbus himself sailed on it.
The purpose of the expedition is now disputed by many experts, citing various arguments in favor of the fact that Columbus was not going to look for India at all. Instead, they name various legendary islands like Brazil, Antilia, etc. However, most of these considerations seem insufficiently substantiated.
August 3, 1492 from the port of Paloe to Atlantic coast Three small caravels left Spain. At the head of this expedition was an extraordinary man, obsessed with a bold dream - to cross the Atlantic Ocean from east to west and reach the fabulously rich kingdoms of India and China. His sailors set out reluctantly - they were afraid of unknown seas, where no one had been before. The crew was hostile to the foreign admiral from the very beginning.
Leaving the last stop of the ships before entering the open ocean - the Canary Islands, many feared that they would never return back. Despite the favorable weather, all subsequent days of sailing in the vast expanses of the ocean became a real test for the sailors. Several times the team tried to mutiny and turn back. To reassure the sailors, Columbus hid from them how many miles had been traveled. He kept two ship logs: in the official one he entered false data, from which it followed that the ships had not gone that far from the European coast, while in the other, secret one, he noted how much had actually been traveled.
When passing the magnetic meridian on the caravels, all the compasses suddenly broke down - their arrows danced, pointing in different directions. Panic began on the ships, but the compass needles calmed down just as suddenly. Columbus's expedition was beset by other surprises: one day at dawn, the sailors discovered that the ships were surrounded by a lot of algae and seemed to be floating not on the sea, but on a green meadow. At first the caravels walked briskly forward among the greenery, but then calm came and they stopped. Rumors spread that it was algae that entwined the keel and did not allow the ships to move on. This is how Europeans became acquainted with the Sargasso Sea.
The team was worried about the unusual situation, and in early October demands began to be made for a change of course. Columbus, who was heading west, was forced to give in. The ships turned west-southwest. But the situation continued to heat up, and the commander, with great difficulty, persuasion and promises, managed to keep the flotilla from returning.
Two months of difficult sailing across the ocean expanses... It seemed that there would be no end to the sea desert. Supplies of food and fresh water were running out. People are tired. The admiral, who did not leave the deck for hours, increasingly heard cries of discontent and threats from the sailors.
However, everyone on board the ships noticed signs of nearby land: birds flying in from the west and landing on the masts. One day the watchman saw the land, and everyone indulged in fun, but the next morning it disappeared. It was a mirage, and the team again plunged into despondency. Meanwhile, all the signs spoke of the proximity of the desired land: birds, floating green tree branches and sticks, clearly planed by a human hand.
“It was midnight on October 11, 1492. Just two more hours - and an event will take place that is destined to change the entire course of world history. No one on the ships was fully aware of this, but literally everyone, from the admiral to the youngest cabin boy, was in tense anticipation. The one who would be the first to see the land was promised a reward of ten thousand maravedi, and now it was clear to everyone that the long voyage was nearing its end... The day was drawing to a close, and in the light starry night three boats, driven by a tailwind, swiftly glided forward..."
This is how the American historian J. Bakeless describes the exciting moment that preceded the discovery of America by Columbus...
That night, Captain Martin Pinzón, on the Pinta, walked ahead of the small flotilla, and the watchman at the bow of the ship was the sailor Rodrigo de Triana. It was he who was the first to see the earth, or rather, the reflections of ghostly moonlight on the white sandy hills. "Earth! Earth!" - Rodrigo shouted. And a minute later the thunder of a gun shot announced that America was open.
All the ships removed the sails and began to impatiently wait for dawn. Finally it came, the clear and cool dawn of Friday, October 12, 1492. The first rays of the sun illuminated the mysteriously darkening earth ahead. “This island,” Columbus would later write in his diary, “is very sick and very flat, there are a lot of green trees and water, and in the middle there is big lake. There are no mountains."
The discovery of the "Western Indies" has begun. And although on that significant morning of October 12, 1492, the life of the vast American continent was outwardly undisturbed, the appearance of three caravels in warm waters off the coast of Guanahani meant that American history had entered a new, dramatic era.
Boats were lowered from the ships. Stepping ashore, the admiral planted the royal banner there and declared the open land the possession of Spain. It was a small island that Columbus christened San Salvador - “Savior” (now Guanahani, one of the islands of the Bahamas archipelago). The island turned out to be inhabited: it was inhabited by cheerful and good-natured people with dark, reddish skin. “All of them,” writes Columbus, “walk naked, in what their mother gave birth, and women too... And the people I saw were still young, all of them were no more than 30 years old, and they were well built, and their bodies and their faces were very beautiful, and their hair was coarse, just like horse hair, and short... Their facial features were regular, their expression was friendly... These people were not black in color, but like the inhabitants of the Canary Islands.”
The first meeting of Europeans with American aborigines. The first, most vivid impressions of the New World. Everything here seemed unusual and new: nature, plants, birds, animals and even people...
None of the members of Columbus's expedition had any doubt that if the island he discovered was not yet fabulous India, at least it was somewhere close. The ships headed south. Soon it was opened big Island Cuba, which was considered part of the mainland. Here Columbus hoped to meet big cities, belonging to the great Chinese Khan, which Marco Polo spoke about.
The locals were friendly and greeted the white newcomers with amazement. An exchange ensued between them and the sailors, and the natives paid for European trinkets with gold records. Columbus rejoiced: this was yet another proof that the fabulous gold mines of India were somewhere nearby. However, neither the residence of the Great Khan nor gold mines were found in Cuba - only villages and cotton fields. Columbus moved east and, having discovered another large island - Haiti, named it Hispaniola (Spanish Island).
While the admiral was exploring the open archipelago, Captain Pinzón left him, deciding to return to Spain. Soon after, the Santa Maria perished after running aground. Columbus only had the Niña, which could not accommodate the entire crew. The admiral decided to return home to immediately equip new expedition. Forty sailors remained to wait for Columbus at the fort “La Navedad” (Christmas) built for them.
Neither Columbus nor his companions yet realized the full importance of what had happened. And many years later, his contemporaries still did not realize the significance of this discovery, for a long time which did not provide the coveted spices and gold. Only subsequent generations could appreciate it. It was still a long way from America itself. On the horizon, the sailors saw only one of the islands of the continent - Guanahani, and on this journey none of the Spaniards set foot on the mainland. Nevertheless, today it is October 12, 1492 that is considered the official date of the discovery of America, although it has been proven that even before Columbus, Europeans visited the lands of the Western Hemisphere.
On open lands Columbus did not find anything that resembled India or other Asian countries. There were no cities here. The people, plants, and animals were very different from what one could read or hear from travelers about Asia. But Columbus believed so sacredly in his theory that he was absolutely confident in the discovery, if not of India, but of some poor country, but precisely in Asia. However, one could not expect anything else from him: after all, even at the most best maps At that time there was no mention of a continent on the opposite side of the globe, and the size of the Earth, although calculated back in ancient period, medieval Europe were not known.
Columbus's return to Spain on March 15, 1493 on two surviving but badly battered ships turned into a true triumph for the great navigator. The admiral was immediately demanded to court. It's here finest hour Christopher Columbus, who had no doubt that he had opened the way to India for Spain. The Genoese told his astonished listeners about the heavenly lands he had visited, showed the imported stuffed wild animals and birds, collections of plants and, most importantly, six natives taken from Hispaniola, who, naturally, were considered Indians. Columbus was showered with numerous honors and awards from the royal couple and received a firm promise of assistance in future expeditions to the “Indies.”
Of course, the real gains from the first voyage were small: a handful of pathetic trinkets made of low-grade gold, several half-naked natives, bright feathers of strange birds. But the main thing was done: this Genoese found new lands in the west, far beyond the ocean.
Columbus's report made an impression. The gold found opened up tempting prospects. Therefore, the next expedition was not long in coming. Already on September 25, with the rank of “chief admiral of the ocean,” Columbus, at the head of a flotilla of 17 ships, sailed to the west.
Second expedition
Columbus's second expedition, which set off across the Atlantic in September 1493, already involved 17 ships and more than 1,500 people. The ships were full of provisions: the Spaniards brought with them small livestock and poultry to breed them in new places. This time we took a course further south than on the first voyage and discovered the islands of Dominica, Maria Talante, Guadeloupe, Antigua, which are part of the Small group Antilles, and Puerto Rico, and on September 22, landing again in Cuba, it turned out that all the colonists guilty of robbery and violence had been destroyed by the islanders. To the east of the burned fort, Columbus built a city, named it Isabella, explored the island and reported to Spain about the discovery of a gold deposit, greatly exaggerating its reserves.
In April 1494, Columbus left Hispaniola to finally discover the “mainland of India,” but found only Fr. Jamaica. He soon returned to Cuba. A lot of trouble awaited him in the colony. The most significant thing for him was the violation of the royal treaty. Ferdinand and Isabella, considering that the income from Hispaniola was small, allowed all Castilian subjects to move to new lands if they contributed two-thirds of the gold mined to the treasury. In addition, now everyone had the right to equip ships for new discoveries. To top it all off, yielding to the dissatisfaction of the colonists with the governor, which was largely justified, the kings removed him from office and sent a new governor to Hispaniola.
On June 11, 1496, Columbus went to Spain to defend his rights. At a meeting with Their Majesties, he achieved his goal and received a promise of a monopoly for himself and his sons on discoveries, and in order to “cheap” the maintenance of the colony, he proposed to populate Hispaniola with criminals, reducing their sentences, which was done.
Third expedition
Despite the favorable outcome of the audience, Columbus managed to equip the third expedition with with great difficulty in 1498, “Indian riches” were not yet in sight, therefore there were no hunters to finance the enterprise, as well as those willing to set off. And yet, on May 30, 1498, six small ships with a crew of 300 people sailed to the west, and at about. The Hierro flotilla split up. Three ships headed to Hispaniola, and Columbus led the rest to the Cape Verde Islands with the intention of reaching the equator and then heading west.
On this voyage, the sailors encountered unprecedented heat. The supplies on the ships had deteriorated, and the fresh water had gone rotten. The torment experienced by the sailors resurrected scary stories about the Sea of Darkness and latitudes where it is impossible to live. Columbus himself, no longer a young man, suffered from gout and eye disease, and sometimes had attacks nervous disorder. And yet they reached distant lands overseas.
On this voyage, Columbus discovered the island of Trinidad (Trinity), located near the mouth of the Orinoco River, and came closest to the coast of the continent. The flow of fresh water that the sailors noticed in the ocean made Columbus think about a powerful river flowing from somewhere in the south. Apparently there was a mainland there. Columbus decided that the lands lying south of India were nothing more than Eden itself - paradise, the top of the world. From there, from this hill, all the great rivers originate. Illuminated by this insight, Columbus considered himself the first European destined to find his way to the earthly paradise, from where, according to the Bible, the ancestors of mankind, Adam and Eve, were expelled. Columbus believed that he had been chosen to once again show people the path to their lost bliss.
However, when the admiral returned to Hispaniola, he was met with reproaches and complaints from the settlers. They were dissatisfied with the conditions in which they found themselves, with the fact that their hopes for fantastic enrichment did not come true, and sent denunciations to Spain against Columbus, claiming that he had turned the colony into a “cemetery for Castilian nobles.” Ferdinand and Isabella had their own reasons for dissatisfaction with Columbus. Gold, spices, precious stones- everything that the participants of the expeditions and those who financed them so greedily strove for was not possible to obtain. Meanwhile, the Portuguese made the final push on their way to India: in 1498, Vasco da Gama circumnavigated Africa and reached his desired goal, returning with a rich cargo of spices. This was a painful blow for Spain.
On Hispaniola, Columbus was again in trouble. In 1499, the king and queen again abolished his monopoly and sent Francisco Boazillo to the colony to deal with the flow of complaints against the governor on the spot. Boazilla came to the conclusion that Columbus could not rule the country because he was a “hard-hearted” man, ordered him and his brothers to be shackled and sent to Spain. The deeply wounded admiral did not want to remove the shackles until he was heard by his sovereigns. In the metropolis, Columbus's supporters began a campaign in defense of the "admiral of all seas." Ferdinand and Isabella ordered his release and expressed sympathy, but did not restore his rights. The title of viceroy was not returned to Columbus, and by that time his financial affairs were in disarray.
Fourth expedition
And yet the humiliated admiral managed to do one more thing, last trip to find the way to South Asia south of Cuba. This time, for the first time, he came close to the coast of Central America in the area of the Isthmus of Panama (Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama), where (mainly among the Panamanian Indians) he exchanged significant amount gold.
The journey began on April 3, 1502. Having at his disposal 4 ships with a crew of 150 people, Columbus discovered about. Martinique, then the island of Benaca off northern Honduras and explored part of the mainland coast from Mosquitos Bay to Cape Tiburon, a length of about 2 thousand km. When it became clear that there was no strait ahead, as the Indians reported, two caravels (the rest were abandoned) turned towards Jamaica. The ships were in such a state that on June 23, 1503, on the northern coast of the island, they had to be grounded to prevent them from sinking, and a pirogue with three sailors had to be sent to Hispaniola asking for help. Help arrived in June 1504.
Luck completely turned away from the admiral. It took him a full month and a half to travel from Jamaica to Hispaniola. Storms battered his ship on the way to Spain. Only on November 7, seriously ill Columbus saw the mouth of the Guadalquivir. Having recovered slightly, in May 1505 he arrived at court to renew his claims to the crown. Meanwhile, it turned out that his patron, Queen Isabella, had died. The consideration of the case regarding the admiral's property claims was delayed due to the fact that the royal court and the Spanish nobility did not receive the main thing - the coveted treasures of the Chinese and Indian rulers. On May 20, 1506, the “admiral of the ocean” died in Valladolid, without having obtained from the king a determination of the amount of income, rights and privileges due to him.
The great navigator died in complete oblivion and poverty. The traveler's ashes did not soon find peace. He was first moved to Seville and then transported across the ocean to Hispaniola and buried in the Cathedral of Santo Domingo. Many years later he was reburied in Cuba, in Havana, but then returned again to Seville. Now it is not known exactly where the true grave of the great navigator is located - Havana and Seville equally claim this honor.
On the role of Columbus in history in general and in the history of development geographical representations in particular, one can speculate extremely much. Many scientific treatises and popular publications are devoted to this, but the main essence, apparently, is clearly stated by the historian-geographer J. Baker: “... he died, probably not fully imagining what he had discovered. His name is immortalized in a number geographical names in the New World, his achievements have become commonplace in history textbooks. And even if we take seriously the criticism that Columbus himself and his biographers were subjected to, he will still forever remain central figure the great era of European “overseas expansion” (“History of Geographical Discoveries and Explorations”).
Columbus's diaries are lost. All that remains is the so-called “Diary of the First Voyage” as retold by Bartolomé Las Casas. He and other documents of that time related to the discoveries of the great traveler were published in Russian translation in the collection “The Travels of Christopher Columbus (Diaries, Letters, Documents),” which was published in several editions.
Contemporaries, as often happens in history, failed to appreciate true meaning discoveries made by Columbus. And he himself did not understand that he had discovered a new continent, until the end of his life he considered the lands he discovered to be India, and their inhabitants to be Indians. Only after the expeditions of Balboa, Magellan and Vespucci it became obvious that beyond the blue expanses of the ocean lies a completely new, unknown land. But they will call it America (after Amerigo Vespucci), and not Colombia, as justice demanded. Subsequent generations of compatriots turned out to be more grateful to the memory of Columbus.
The significance of his discoveries was confirmed already in the 20-30s. XVI century, when, after the conquest of the rich kingdoms of the Aztecs and Incas, a wide stream of American gold and silver poured into Europe. What for great navigator strived all his life, and what he so stubbornly sought in the “Western Indies” turned out to be not a utopia, not the delirium of a madman, but a very real reality. Columbus is still revered in Spain today. His name is surrounded by no less glory Latin America, where is the one, the most northern country The South American continent is named Colombia in his honor.
However, only in the United States is October 12th celebrated as National holiday- Columbus Day. Many cities, a district, a mountain, a river, a university and countless streets are named after the great Genoese. Although with some delay, justice triumphed. Columbus received his share of glory and gratitude from a grateful humanity.
