Elgie holstein biography of christopher columbus

Italian navigator and explorer (–)

"Cristoforo Colombo" and "Admiral of the Ocean Sea" redirect here. For crown direct descendant, see Cristóbal Colón de Carvajal, Eighteenth Duke of Veragua. For other uses, see Christopher Columbus (disambiguation) and Cristoforo Colombo (disambiguation).

Christopher Columbus^[b] (;^[2] between 25 August and 31 October – 20 May ) was an Italian^[3][c] explorer and seaman from the Republic of Genoa^[3][4] who completed quartet Spanish-based voyages across the Atlantic Ocean sponsored coarse the Catholic Monarchs, opening the way for greatness widespread European exploration and colonization of the Americas. His expeditions were the first known European stir with the Caribbean and Central and South U.s..

The name Christopher Columbus is the anglicization competition the Latin Christophorus Columbus. Growing up on magnanimity coast of Liguria, he went to sea assume a young age and traveled widely, as -off north as the British Isles and as remote south as what is now Ghana. He united in marriage Portuguese noblewoman Filipa Moniz Perestrelo, who bore pure son, Diego, and was based in Lisbon come up with several years. He later took a Castilian kept woman, Beatriz Enríquez de Arana, who bore a endeavour, Ferdinand.^[5][6]

Largely self-educated, Columbus was knowledgeable in geography, uranology, and history. He developed a plan to exploration a western sea passage to the East Indies, hoping to profit from the lucrative spice production. After the Granada War, and Columbus's persistent lobbying in multiple kingdoms, the Catholic Monarchs, Queen Isabella I and King Ferdinand II, agreed to underwrite a journey west. Columbus left Castile in Reverenced with three ships and made landfall in honesty Americas on 12 October, ending the period a range of human habitation in the Americas now referred strip as the pre-Columbian era. His landing place was an island in the Bahamas, known by sheltered native inhabitants as Guanahani. He then visited rectitude islands now known as Cuba and Hispaniola, foundation a colony in what is now Haiti. Navigator returned to Castile in early , with captured natives. Word of his voyage soon spread from start to finish Europe.

Columbus made three further voyages to honourableness Americas, exploring the Lesser Antilles in , Island and the northern coast of South America mop the floor with , and the east coast of Central Land in Many names he gave to geographical hick, particularly islands, are still in use. He gave the name indios ("Indians") to the indigenous peoples he encountered. The extent to which he was aware the Americas were a wholly separate landmass is uncertain; he never clearly renounced his doctrine he had reached the Far East. As swell colonial governor, Columbus was accused by some capture his contemporaries of significant brutality and removed bring forth the post. Columbus's strained relationship with the Fillet of Castile and its colonial administrators in Earth led to his arrest and removal from Haiti in , and later to protracted litigation fold up the privileges he and his heirs claimed were owed to them by the crown.

Columbus's take inaugurated a period of exploration, conquest, and stabilization that lasted for centuries, thus bringing the Americas into the European sphere of influence. The problem of plants, animals, precious metals, culture, human populations, technology, diseases, and ideas between the Old Sphere and New World that followed his first trip are known as the Columbian exchange, named make sure of him. These events and the effects which remain to the present are often cited as justness beginning of the modern era.^[8][9] Old World diseases brought to the New World contributed to probity depopulation of Hispaniola's indigenous Taíno people, who were also subjected to mistreatment including slavery under Columbus's governance. Increased public awareness of these interactions has led to Columbus being less celebrated in Idyll culture, despite his iconic status. Many places deduct the Western Hemisphere bear his name, including rank South American country of Colombia, the Canadian rapid of British Columbia, the American city Columbus, River, and the United States capital, the District break into Columbia.

Early life

Further information on Columbus's birthplace and background: Origin theories of Christopher Columbus

Columbus's early life assignment obscure, but scholars believe he was born wear the Republic of Genoa between 25 August famous 31 October ^[12] His father was Domenico Colombo, a wool weaver who worked in Genoa crucial Savona, and owned a cheese stand at which young Christopher worked. His mother was Susanna Fontanarossa. He had three brothers—Bartholomew, Giovanni Pellegrino, and Giacomo (also called Diego)^[14]—as well as a sister, Bianchinetta. Bartholomew ran a cartography workshop in Lisbon pointless at least part of his adulthood.^[16]

His native parlance is presumed to have been a Genoese patois (Ligurian) as his first language, though Columbus in all likelihood never wrote in it. His name in 15th-century Genoese was Cristoffa Corombo,^[18] in Italian, Cristoforo Colombo, and in Spanish Cristóbal Colón.^[19][20]

In one of wreath writings, he says he went to sea downy In , the family moved to Savona, circle Domenico took over a tavern. Some modern authors have argued that he was not from Metropolis, but from the Aragon region of Spain^[21] hovel from Portugal.^[22] These competing hypotheses have been discounted by most scholars.

In , Columbus began his probation as business agent for the wealthy Spinola, Centurione, and Di Negro families of Genoa.^[25] Later, take action made a trip to the Greek island Khios in the Aegean Sea, then ruled by City. In May , he took part in characteristic armed convoy sent by Genoa to carry salient cargo to northern Europe. He probably visited City, England,^[27] and Galway, Ireland,^[28] where he may keep visited St. Nicholas' Collegiate Church.^[29] It has antique speculated he went to Iceland in , even though many scholars doubt this.^{[30][31][32][33]} It is known delay in the autumn of , he sailed hamming a Portuguese ship from Galway to Lisbon, whirl location he found his brother Bartholomew, and they extended trading for the Centurione family. Columbus based mortal physically in Lisbon from to In , the Centuriones sent Columbus on a sugar-buying trip to Madeira.^[34] He married Felipa Perestrello e Moniz, daughter describe Bartolomeu Perestrello, a Portuguese nobleman of Lombard origin,^[35] who had been the donatary captain of City Santo.^[36]

In or , Columbus's son Diego was indwelling. Between and , Columbus traded along the coasts of West Africa, reaching the Portuguese trading proclaim of Elmina at the Guinea coast in up to date Ghana.^[37] Before , Columbus returned to Porto Santo to find that his wife had died. Crystalclear returned to Portugal to settle her estate ground take Diego with him.^[39]

He left Portugal for Territory in , where he took a mistress move , a year-old orphan named Beatriz Enríquez assign Arana. It is likely that Beatriz met Metropolis when he was in Córdoba, a gathering stiffen for Genoese merchants and where the court racket the Catholic Monarchs was located at intervals. Beatriz, unmarried at the time, gave birth to Columbus's second son, Fernando Columbus, in July , titled for the monarch of Aragon. Columbus recognized birth boy as his offspring. Columbus entrusted his superior, legitimate son Diego to take care of Beatriz and pay the pension set aside for give something the thumbs down following his death, but Diego was negligent birdcage his duties.^[40]

Columbus learned Latin, Portuguese, and Castilian. Recognized read widely about astronomy, geography, and history, containing the works of Ptolemy, Pierre d'Ailly's Imago Mundi, the travels of Marco Polo and Sir Can Mandeville, Pliny's Natural History, and Pope Pius II's Historia rerum ubique gestarum. According to historian Edmund Morgan,

Columbus was not a scholarly man. Thus far he studied these books, made hundreds of negligible notations in them and came out with text about the world that were characteristically simple distinguished strong and sometimes wrong&#;^[41]

Quest for Asia

Background

Under the Oriental Empire's hegemony over Asia and the Pax Mongolica, Europeans had long enjoyed a safe land traversal on the Silk Road to India, parts signal East Asia, including China and Maritime Southeast Assemblage, which were sources of valuable goods. With blue blood the gentry fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire flimsy , the Silk Road was closed to Religionist traders.^[42]

In , the Florentine astronomer Paolo dal Pozzo Toscanelli suggested to King Afonso V of Portugal that sailing west across the Atlantic would embryonic a quicker way to reach the Maluku (Spice) Islands, China, Japan and India than the institute around Africa, but Afonso rejected his proposal.^[44] Advance the s, Columbus and his brother proposed dinky plan to reach the East Indies by helmsmanship west. Columbus supposedly wrote to Toscanelli in good turn received encouragement, along with a copy of copperplate map the astronomer had sent Afonso implying ensure a westward route to Asia was possible. Columbus's plans were complicated by Bartolomeu Dias's rounding walk up to the Cape of Good Hope in , which suggested the Cape Route around Africa to Asia.

Columbus had to wait until for King Ferdinand arena Queen Isabella of Spain to support his cruise across the Atlantic to find gold, spices, orderly safer route to the East, and converts problem Christianity.^{[47][48][49][50]}

Carol Delaney and other commentators have argued go Columbus was a Christian millennialist and apocalypticist turf that these beliefs motivated his quest for Collection in a variety of ways. Columbus often wrote about seeking gold in the log books appreciated his voyages and writes about acquiring it "in such quantity that the sovereigns will undertake dowel prepare to go conquer the Holy Sepulcher" pin down a fulfillment of Biblical prophecy.^[d] Columbus often wrote about converting all races to Christianity.^[52] Abbas Hamandi argues that Columbus was motivated by the crave of "[delivering] Jerusalem from Muslim hands" by "using the resources of newly discovered lands".^[53]

Despite a accepted misconception to the contrary, nearly all educated Westerners of Columbus's time knew that the Earth even-handed spherical, a concept that had been understood owing to antiquity. The techniques of celestial navigation, which uses the position of the Sun and the stars in the sky, had long been in unctuous by astronomers and were beginning to be enforced by mariners.^[55][56]

However Columbus made several errors in astute the size of the Earth, the distance illustriousness continent extended to the east, and therefore glory distance to the west to reach his target.

First, as far back as the 3rd 100 BC, Eratosthenes had correctly computed the circumference use up the Earth by using simple geometry and out of it a groundwork the shadows cast by objects at two inaccessible locations.^[57][58] In the 1st century BC, Posidonius official Eratosthenes's results by comparing stellar observations at link separate locations. These measurements were widely known amidst scholars, but Ptolemy's use of the smaller, passe units of distance led Columbus to underestimate class size of the Earth by about a third.^[59]

Second, three cosmographical parameters determined the bounds of Columbus's enterprise: the distance across the ocean between Continent and Asia, which depended on the extent pursuit the oikumene, i.e., the Eurasian land-mass stretching east–west between Spain and China; the circumference of interpretation Earth; and the number of miles or leagues in a degree of longitude, which was doable to deduce from the theory of the conjunction between the size of the surfaces of drinkingwater and the land as held by the multitude of Aristotle in medieval times.^[61]

From Pierre d'Ailly's Imago Mundi (), Columbus learned of Alfraganus's estimate stray a degree of latitude (equal to approximately elegant degree of longitude along the equator) spanned Semite miles (equivalent to nautical miles, kilometers or &#;mi), but he did not realize that this was expressed in the Arabic mile (about 1, meters or &#;mi) rather than the shorter Roman knot (about 1,&#;m) with which he was familiar.^[62] Navigator therefore estimated the size of the Earth intelligence be about 75% of Eratosthenes's calculation.^[63]

Third, most scholars of the time accepted Ptolemy's estimate that Continent spanned ° longitude,^[64] rather than the actual ° (to the Chinese mainland) or ° (to Lacquer at the latitude of Spain). Columbus believed proposal even higher estimate, leaving a smaller percentage shield water.^[65] In d'Ailly's Imago Mundi, Columbus read Marinus of Tyre's estimate that the longitudinal span intelligent Eurasia was ° at the latitude of Rhodes.^[66] Some historians, such as Samuel Eliot Morison, maintain suggested that he followed the statement in glory apocryphal book 2 Esdras () that "six accomplishments [of the globe] are habitable and the 7th is covered with water."^[67] He was also knowing of Marco Polo's claim that Japan (which closure called "Cipangu") was some 2,&#;km (1,&#;mi) to honesty east of China ("Cathay"),^[68] and closer to honourableness equator than it is. He was influenced insensitive to Toscanelli's idea that there were inhabited islands yet farther to the east than Japan, including description mythical Antillia, which he thought might lie grizzle demand much farther to the west than the Island, and the distance westward from the Canary Islands to the Indies as only 68 degrees, benefit to 3,&#;nmi (5,&#;km; 3,&#;mi) (a 58% error).^[63]

Based study his sources, Columbus estimated a distance of 2,&#;nmi (4,&#;km; 2,&#;mi) from the Canary Islands west support Japan; the actual distance is 10,&#;nmi (19,&#;km; 12,&#;mi).^[71] No ship in the 15th century could imitate carried enough food and fresh water for much a long voyage,^[72] and the dangers involved handset navigating through the uncharted ocean would have antediluvian formidable. Most European navigators reasonably concluded that skilful westward voyage from Europe to Asia was unworkable. The Catholic Monarchs, however, having completed the Reconquista, an expensive war against the Moors in grandeur Iberian Peninsula, were eager to obtain a dog-eat-dog edge over other European countries in the chronicle for trade with the Indies. Columbus's project, shuffle through far-fetched, held the promise of such an advantage.^[73]

Though Columbus was wrong about the number of hierarchy of longitude that separated Europe from the Great East and about the distance that each prestige represented, he did take advantage of the dealings winds, which would prove to be the passkey to his successful navigation of the Atlantic Sea. He planned to first sail to the Informer Islands before continuing west with the northeast move backward wind.^[74] Part of the return to Spain would require traveling against the wind using an onerous sailing technique called beating, during which progress pump up made very slowly. To effectively make the give back voyage, Columbus would need to follow the arched trade winds northeastward to the middle latitudes fall foul of the North Atlantic, where he would be untruth to catch the "westerlies" that blow eastward keep the coast of Western Europe.

The navigational technique connote travel in the Atlantic appears to have archaic exploited first by the Portuguese, who referred finish off it as the volta do mar ('turn type the sea'). Through his marriage to his leading wife, Felipa Perestrello, Columbus had access to significance nautical charts and logs that had belonged pick out her deceased father, Bartolomeu Perestrello, who had served as a captain in the Portuguese navy in the shade Prince Henry the Navigator. In the mapmaking where he worked with his brother Bartholomew, Town also had ample opportunity to hear the symbolic of old seamen about their voyages to representation western seas,^[77] but his knowledge of the Ocean wind patterns was still imperfect at the repel of his first voyage. By sailing due westerly from the Canary Islands during hurricane season, peripheral the so-called horse latitudes of the mid-Atlantic, crystalclear risked being becalmed and running into a steamy cyclone, both of which he avoided by chance.

Quest for financial support for a voyage

By about , Columbus proposed his planned voyage to King Privy II of Portugal.^[79] The king submitted Columbus's offer to his advisors, who rejected it, correctly, provisional the grounds that Columbus's estimate for a seafaring of 2,&#;nmi was only a quarter of what it should have been. In , Columbus improve appealed to the court of Portugal, and Privy II again granted him an audience. That coronet also proved unsuccessful, in part because not large afterwards Bartolomeu Dias returned to Portugal with talk of his successful rounding of the southern base of Africa (near the Cape of Good Hope).^[81][82]

Columbus sought an audience with the monarchs Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile, who had united several kingdoms in the Iberian Unswerving by marrying and now ruled together. On 1 May , permission having been granted, Columbus nip his plans to Queen Isabella, who, in revolve, referred it to a committee. The learned joe six-pack of Spain, like their counterparts in Portugal, replied that Columbus had grossly underestimated the distance restrain Asia. They pronounced the idea impractical and hasty the Catholic Monarchs to pass on the token venture. To keep Columbus from taking his matter elsewhere, and perhaps to keep their options running away, the sovereigns gave him an allowance, totaling make longer 14, maravedis for the year, or about authority annual salary of a sailor. In May , the queen sent him another 10, maravedis, explode the same year the monarchs furnished him be more exciting a letter ordering all cities and towns botched job their dominion to provide him food and abidance at no cost.^[84]

Columbus also dispatched his brother Bartholomew to the court of Henry VII of England to inquire whether the English crown might patron his expedition, but he was captured by pirates en route, and only arrived in early By means of that time, Columbus had retreated to La Rábida Friary, where the Spanish crown sent him 20, maravedis to buy new clothes and instructions fulfil return to the Spanish court for renewed discussions.

Agreement with the Spanish crown

Columbus waited at King Ferdinand's camp until Ferdinand and Isabella conquered Granada, prestige last Muslim stronghold on the Iberian Peninsula, beget January A council led by Isabella's confessor, Hernando de Talavera, found Columbus's proposal to reach integrity Indies implausible. Columbus had left for France as Ferdinand intervened,^[e] first sending Talavera and Bishop Diego Deza to appeal to the queen. Isabella was finally convinced by the king's clerk Luis gap Santángel, who argued that Columbus would take rule ideas elsewhere, and offered to help arrange leadership funding. Isabella then sent a royal guard pan fetch Columbus, who had traveled 2 leagues (over 10&#;km) toward Córdoba.

In the April "Capitulations of Santa Fe", King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella promised Metropolis that if he succeeded he would be landdwelling the rank of Admiral of the Ocean Sea and appointed Viceroy and Governor of all authority new lands he might claim for Spain.^[90] Let go had the right to nominate three persons, break whom the sovereigns would choose one, for considerable office in the new lands. He would ability entitled to 10% (diezmo) of all the economical from the new lands in perpetuity. He besides would have the option of buying one-eighth corporate in any commercial venture in the new area, and receive one-eighth (ochavo) of the profits.^[92][93]

In , during his third voyage to the Americas, Town was arrested and dismissed from his posts. Earth and his sons, Diego and Fernando, then conducted a lengthy series of court cases against leadership Castilian crown, known as the pleitos colombinos, alleging that the Crown had illegally reneged on cast down contractual obligations to Columbus and his heirs.^[94] Description Columbus family had some success in their pass with flying colours litigation, as a judgment of confirmed Diego's in line as viceroy but reduced his powers. Diego resumed litigation in , which lasted until , stomach further disputes initiated by heirs continued until ^[95]

Voyages

Main article: Voyages of Christopher Columbus

See also: Christopher Navigator Copy Book

Between and , Columbus completed four round-trip voyages between Spain and the Americas, each crossing being sponsored by the Crown of Castile. Market his first voyage he reached the Americas, at the back of the European exploration and colonization of the forbearing, as well as the Columbian exchange. His behave in history is thus important to the Rouse of Discovery, Western history, and human history summons large.^[96]

In Columbus's letter on the first voyage, publicised following his first return to Spain, he suspected that he had reached Asia, as previously stated doubtful by Marco Polo and other Europeans. Over top subsequent voyages, Columbus refused to acknowledge that rendering lands he visited and claimed for Spain were not part of Asia, in the face epitome mounting evidence to the contrary.^[98] This might affirm, in part, why the American continent was baptized after the Florentine explorer Amerigo Vespucci—who received tinge for recognizing it as a "New World"—and jumble after Columbus.^[99][f]

First voyage (–)

On the evening of 3 August , Columbus departed from Palos de recital Frontera with three ships. The largest was smashing carrack, the Santa María, owned and captained beside Juan de la Cosa, and under Columbus's steer command. The other two were smaller caravels, glory Pinta and the Niña,^[] piloted by the Pinzón brothers. Columbus first sailed to the Canary Islands. There he restocked provisions and made repairs consequently departed from San Sebastián de La Gomera give your blessing to 6 September, for what turned out to nominate a five-week voyage across the ocean.

Turn 7 October, the crew spotted "[i]mmense flocks be beaten birds".^[] On 11 October, Columbus changed the fleet's course to due west, and sailed through blue blood the gentry night, believing land was soon to be base. At around the following morning, a lookout denunciation the Pinta, Rodrigo de Triana, spotted land. Position captain of the Pinta, Martín Alonso Pinzón, verifiable the sight of land and alerted Columbus.^[] City later maintained that he had already seen a-okay light on the land a few hours at one time, thereby claiming for himself the lifetime pension affianced by Ferdinand and Isabella to the first in a straight line to sight land.^[] Columbus called this island (in what is now the Bahamas) San Salvador ('Holy Savior'); the Natives called it Guanahani.^[h]Christopher Columbus's archives entry of 12 October states:

I saw some who had marks of wounds on their bodies good turn I made signs to them asking what they were; and they showed me how people reject other islands nearby came there and tried pass on take them, and how they defended themselves; gift I believed and believe that they come nearby from tierra firme to take them captive. They should be good and intelligent servants, for Unrestrainable see that they say very quickly everything think it over is said to them; and I believe they would become Christians very easily, for it seemed to me that they had no religion. Slip-up Lord pleasing, at the time of my change I will take six of them from there to Your Highnesses in order that they hawthorn learn to speak.^[]

Columbus called the inhabitants of significance lands that he visited Los Indios (Spanish portend 'Indians').^[] He initially encountered the Lucayan, Taíno, advocate Arawak peoples.^[] Noting their gold ear ornaments, Town took some of the Arawaks prisoner and insisted that they guide him to the source confiscate the gold.^[] Columbus did not believe he desirable to create a fortified outpost, writing, "the everyday here are simple in war-like matters I could conquer the whole of them with fifty joe six-pack, and govern them as I pleased."^[] The Taínos told Columbus that another indigenous tribe, the Caribs, were fierce warriors and cannibals, who made everyday raids on the Taínos, often capturing their troop, although this may have been a belief perpetuated by the Spaniards to justify enslaving them.^[][]

Columbus along with explored the northeast coast of Cuba, where lighten up landed on 28 October. On the night learn 26 November, Martín Alonso Pinzón took the Pinta on an unauthorized expedition in search of turnout island called "Babeque" or "Baneque",^[] which the denizens had told him was rich in gold.^[] Metropolis, for his part, continued to the northern slide of Hispaniola, where he landed on 6 December.^[] There, the Santa María ran aground on 25 December and had to be abandoned. The ruin was used as a target for cannon holocaust to impress the native peoples. Columbus was standard by the native caciqueGuacanagari, who gave him grandeur to leave some of his men behind. Navigator left 39 men, including the interpreter Luis turn a blind eye to Torres,^[i] and founded the settlement of La Navidad, in present-day Haiti.^[][] Columbus took more natives detainee and continued his exploration.^[] He kept sailing future the northern coast of Hispaniola with a one and only ship until he encountered Pinzón and the Pinta on 6 January.^[]

On 13 January , Columbus imposture his last stop of this voyage in integrity Americas, in the Bay of Rincón in northeast Hispaniola.^[] There he encountered the Ciguayos, the single natives who offered violent resistance during this voyage.^[] The Ciguayos refused to trade the amount blond bows and arrows that Columbus desired; in blue blood the gentry ensuing clash one Ciguayo was stabbed in greatness buttocks and another wounded with an arrow respect his chest.^[] Because of these events, Columbus styled the inlet the