Despite the fact that the famous navigator was able to discover America with the help of the Spanish king, he himself was from Italy. The young years of the life of Christopher Columbus fell on his stay on the Apennine Peninsula. He was born in Genoa in 1451, and received his education at the University of Pavia. From birth, he lived near the sea and decided to devote himself to travel. The fact is that the years of life of Christopher Columbus fell on the era of geographical discoveries, when the Europeans left the Mediterranean Sea and began to look for a way to India.
The beginning of seafaring
Christian governments funded mariners to gain access to expensive resources. Before Columbus, Portuguese explorers traveled east along the shores of Africa. In the 70s, Christopher decided to find a way to a distant country in the western way. According to his calculations, one should go in this direction along the latitude of the Canary Islands, after which it will be possible to reach the coast of Japan.
At this time he lived in Portugal, which was the center of all European shipping. He participated in an expedition to Guinea, where in 1481 the fortress of Elmina was built. At the same time, an ambitious researcher visited England, Iceland and Ireland, where he learned about local legends about Vinland. So in the old days the Vikings called the land they discovered. These were the shores of North America. Due to the fact that in the Middle Ages there were no strong ties between pagan Scandinavia and Christian Europe, this discovery went unnoticed.
Travel West
Many years of Christopher Columbus’s life were spent on convincing various governments or merchants to fund the expedition he had conceived to the west. At first he tried to find a common language with the merchants from his native Genoa, but they refused to risk their money. In 1483, the project was laid on the table of the Portuguese king Juan II. He also rejected the risky venture.
After this failure, Christopher went to Spain. There he managed to enlist the support of the local dukes, who brought him to the king and queen. Formally, Spain did not yet exist. Instead, there were two states - Castile and Aragon. The marriage of their rulers (Ferdinand and Isabella) made it possible to combine the two crowns into one. The couple gave an audience to the mariner. A commission was appointed to assess the costs and how justified it was for the treasury. The first results were disappointing for Columbus. He was refused and offered to revise the project. Then he tried to negotiate with the king of England and Portugal (once again).
Treaty with Spain
In 1492, Spain captured Granada and ended the Reconquista - the expulsion of Muslims from the Iberian Peninsula. The king and queen were again freed from political issues and engaged in the Columbus expedition. The final word was said by Isabella, who even agreed to lay all her personal treasures and jewelry in order to provide ships and provisions. The mariner was promised that he would become vice-king of all the lands that he would open. Also, he was immediately given the title of a nobleman and Admiral of the Sea-Ocean.
In addition to the authorities, Columbus was assisted by shipowner Martin Alonso Pinson, who proposed one of his ships (Pinta). The first expedition also involved the karaka “Santa Maria” and the ship “Nina”. In total, a team of one hundred people was involved.
First expedition
The years of life of Christopher Columbus were not wasted. He could finally realize his old dream. Many details of his first trip to the west are known to us thanks to the ship's journal, which he kept every day. These priceless records were preserved due to the fact that the priest Bartolome de las Casas made a copy of the papers a few years later.
On August 3, 1492, ships left the Spanish harbor. On September 16, the Sargasso Sea was discovered. On October 13, an unknown land appeared on the way of the ships. Columbus entered the island and hoisted the flag of Castile on it. It was named San Salvador. Here the Spaniards first saw tobacco, cotton, maize and potatoes.
With the help of Aboriginal people, Columbus learned about the existence of a large island, which was located somewhat south. It was Cuba. Then the expedition still believed that it was somewhere in East Asia. Pieces of gold were discovered in some Aboriginal people, which inspired the team to continue the search for treasures.
Further discoveries
On December 6, the island of Haiti was discovered , which was then called Espanyola. Even before that, one of the Pinta’s ships got out of Columbus’s control, and his captain set off to look for another island that allegedly had treasures.
December 25, "Santa Maria" came across a reef, after which her crew remained in Haiti with reserves for a year and weapons for self-defense. Columbus on the last ship "Nina" went to Europe. On the way, he met the Pinta, with which he continued his voyage home.
Return to Europe
In March, the expedition returned to Spain, where the discoveries of Christopher Columbus finally became known. This was a real miracle for the Europeans, who first saw the Indians taken from the islands aboard the Niny. The expedition of Christopher Columbus brought with him numerous unprecedented gifts of a distant nature - new plants, fruits, etc. News about the success of the Spaniards led to a diplomatic scandal. Already in the middle of the 15th century, Portugal received from the Pope the right to subjugate lands discovered outside the African Cape Bohador. Since it was believed that the open islands are part of India, negotiations began between the two powers on their legal status.
In 1494, with the mediation of the Pope, the Tordesillas Treaty was signed , according to which the possessions of these countries were delimited by the latitude of the Cape Verde.
Second expedition
Even before this, the second journey of Christopher Columbus began. This time there were already 17 ships under his command. This is not surprising, because the admiral now enjoyed the great mercy of the king, queen and numerous Spanish feudal lords, who willingly began to give him money for travel.
The second journey of Christopher Columbus was different from the first and the composition of the team. This time the ships were not only sailors. To them were added monks and missionaries in order to christen the local peoples. Also, officials and nobles took their place, who were supposed to organize the life of a permanent colony in the west.
After only 20 days of travel, Dominica and Guadeloupe were discovered, where the Caribbean lived, distinguished by an aggressive attitude towards their peaceful neighbors. The first encounter with them occurred on the shores of the island of Santa Cruz. Then the Virgin Archipelago and Puertro Rico were opened.
Island colonization
The team wanted to get to the sailors left in Haiti during the first expedition. At the place of the fort, only corpses and remains were found. At the same time, the forts of La Isabella and Santo Domingo were founded. Meanwhile, in Spain, the government decided to transfer the exclusive rights of Columbus to another sailor - Amerigo Vespucci. Christopher, learning about this, went to Europe to prove his innocence. At the royal court, he declared that he had already reached Asia (in fact, it was Cuba). Also, Christopher Columbus briefly talked about what exactly there is gold and now in new expeditions you can use the labor of prisoners for great economic benefit.
Third expedition
Thus began the third expedition of Christopher Columbus. In 1498, his ships circled Haiti and went south, where, according to the captain, there should have been gold mines. So the island of Trinidad was discovered , as well as the mouth of the Orinoco River in present-day Venezuela. Having completed this voyage, the expedition returned to Haiti (Hispaniola), where the local colonists had already managed to make a riot. They did not like that they were given little land. Then it was decided to allow the local Indians to be enslaved and to increase personal allotments.
However, this did not solve the main problem that was set for himself by the discoveries of Christopher Columbus. Gold has still not arrived in Spain. Meanwhile, the Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama was able to reach real India. In accordance with the agreement with Castile, he circled Africa and ended up in the long-awaited country. From there he brought to Portugal expensive spices that were not in Europe. They were worth its weight in gold.
The Spanish authorities, realizing that they were losing the ocean race to their neighbor, decided to withdraw Columbus' monopoly on research. He himself was returned to Europe in chains.
Fourth Expedition
The story of Christopher Columbus could have ended very badly if he had not made a lot of influential friends during his successful expeditions - magnates and nobles. They persuaded King Ferdinand to give the seafarer one more chance and set off on his fourth journey.
This time, Columbus decided to go strictly west, bypassing the numerous islands. So he discovered the coast of modern central America - Honduras and Panama. It became clear that the Atlantic Ocean is closed by some huge territory. September 12, 1503. Columbus forever left the islands he discovered and returned to Spain. There he fell seriously ill.
Death and the significance of discoveries
From that moment on, other navigators took up the discoveries, not Christopher Columbus. America has become a magnet for many adventurers and those who want to get rich. The life of Christopher Columbus, meanwhile, was complicated by the disease. He died on May 20, 1506 at the age of 54. This loss went almost unnoticed in Spain. The value of Columbus’s discoveries became clear only a few decades later, when the conquistadors discovered gold in America. This allowed Spain to enrich and become the most influential European monarchy for several centuries.