Years of life of Christopher Columbus: biography, travel, discoveries

Despite the fact that the famous navigator was able to discover America with the help of the Spanish king, he himself came from Italy. The young years of Christopher Columbus's life fell on a visit to the Apennine peninsula. He was born in Genoa in 1451, and received his education at the University of Pavia. Since birth, he lived near the sea and decided to devote himself to travel. It's also the fact that the years of Christopher Columbus's life fell on the era of geographical discoveries, when Europeans left the Mediterranean and began to seek a way to India.

The beginning of navigation

Christian governments funded seafarers in order to gain access to expensive resources. Even before Columbus, Portuguese explorers went east along the coasts of Africa. In the 70s, Christopher decided to find a way to a distant country in a western way. According to his calculations, it was necessary to go in this direction along the latitude of the Canary Islands, after which it will be possible to reach the shores of Japan.

At this time he lived in Portugal, which was the center of all European navigation. He participated in an expedition to Guinea, where in 1481 the Elmina fortress was built. At the same time an ambitious researcher visited England, Iceland and Ireland, where he learned about local legends about Vinland. So in earlier times the Vikings called the land they discovered. These were the shores of North America. Because of the fact that in the Middle Ages there were no strong ties between pagan Scandinavia and Christian Europe, this discovery went unnoticed.

Organization of the trip to the west

Many years of Christopher Columbus's life were spent trying to convince different governments or merchants to finance the expedition he planned to the west. At first he tried to find a common language with the non-giants from his native Genoa, but they refused to risk their money. In 1483, the project was laid on the table of the Portuguese King João II. He also rejected the risky venture.

After this failure, Christopher left for Spain. There he was able to enlist the support of the local dukes who brought him down with the king and queen. Formally, Spain did not exist yet. Instead, there were two states - Castile and Aragon. The marriage of their rulers (Ferdinand and Isabella) allowed to unite the two crowns into one. The couple gave an audience to the seafarer. A commission was appointed, which was to assess the costs and how much it is justified for the treasury. The first results were disappointing for Columbus. He was refused and suggested to revise the project. Then he tried to negotiate with the king of England and Portugal (again).

Contract with Spain

In 1492, Spain captured Granada and finished the Reconquista - the expulsion of Muslims from the Iberian Peninsula. The King and Queen again freed themselves from political questions and engaged in the Columbus expedition. The decisive word was said by Isabella, who agreed to even lay down all her personal treasures and decorations in order to provide ships and provisions. The seafarer was promised that he would become the viceroy of all the lands he would open. He was immediately given the title of nobleman and Admiral of the Sea-Ocean.

In addition to the authorities, Columbus was helped by the ship owner Martin Alonso Pinson, who offered one of his ships ("Pinta"). The first expedition also involved the caraca "Santa Maria" and the vessel "Ninja". In total, a team of 100 people was involved.

The first expedition

The years of Christopher Columbus's life were spent in vain. He could finally realize his old dream. Many of the 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 Bartolomé de las Casas in a few years made a copy of the papers.

On August 3, 1492, the ships left the Spanish harbor. On September 16, the Sargasso Sea was discovered. October 13 on the way of the ships was an unknown land. Columbus entered the island and hoisted the banner of Castile on it. It was called San Salvador. Here the Spaniards first saw tobacco, cotton, maize and potatoes.

With the help of the Aborigines, Columbus learned of the existence of a large island, which was somewhat to the south. It was Cuba. Then the expedition still believed that it was somewhere in East Asia. Some aborigines have found pieces of gold, which inspired the team to continue searching for treasure.

Further discoveries

On December 6, the island of Haiti was discovered , which was then called Hispaniola. Even before that, one of the Pint ships had escaped Columbus's control, and his captain had gone to look for another island on which supposedly there were treasures.

On December 25, "Santa Maria" came across a reef, after which her crew remained in Haiti with supplies for a year and a weapon for self-defense. Columbus on the last ship "Ninja" went to Europe. On the way, he met the "Pinta", with whom 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 Nigny. The expedition of Christopher Columbus brought with her numerous unprecedented gifts of a far nature - new plants, fruits, etc. News about the success of the Spaniards led to a diplomatic scandal. In the middle of the XV century, Portugal received from the Pope the right to subjugate the lands discovered outside the African cape of Bohador. Since it was believed that the open islands are part of India, negotiations began between the two powers about 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 in the latitude of the Cape Verde Islands.

The second expedition

Before that, the second journey of Christopher Columbus began. This time under his command there were already 17 ships. This is not surprising, because the admiral now enjoyed the great favor of the king, the queen and the 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 on the ships were not only sailors. To them were added monks and missionaries in order to baptize the local peoples. Also, their place was taken by officials and noblemen, who were to organize the life of a permanent colony in the west.

Within 20 days of the journey, Dominic and Guadeloupe were discovered, where the Caribs lived, distinguished by an aggressive attitude towards peaceful neighbors. The first encounter with them occurred on the shores of the island of Santa Cruz. At the same time, the Virgin Islands and the Puerto Rico were opened.

Colonization of the islands

The team wanted to get to the sailors left in Haiti during the first expedition. On the site 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 Columbus' exclusive rights to another sailor - Amerigo Vespucci. Christopher, upon learning of this, went to Europe to prove his case. At the royal court, he said that he had already reached Asia (in fact it was Cuba). Also Christopher Columbus briefly told that there is definitely gold there and now it is possible to use the work of prisoners for new economic expeditions in new expeditions.

The third expedition

So began the third expedition of Christopher Columbus. In 1498, his ships skirted Haiti and went to the south, where, according to the captain, there should have been gold mines. This was the opening of the island of Trinidad, as well as the mouth of the Orinoco River in present-day Venezuela. Having completed this voyage, the expedition returned to Haiti (Hispaniola), where local colonists had already made 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 task that the discoveries of Christopher Columbus were putting before him. Spain still did not receive gold. Meanwhile, the Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama was able to reach the real India. In accordance with the treaty with Castile, he rounded Africa and found himself in a long-awaited country. From there he brought to Portugal expensive spices, which were not in Europe. They were worth their weight in gold.

The Spanish authorities, realizing that they are losing the ocean race to their neighbor, decided to withdraw Columbus' monopoly right to research. He himself was returned to Europe in chains.

The fourth expedition

The history of Christopher Columbus could have ended very badly if he had not acquired many influential friends - tycoons and nobles - during his successful expeditions. They persuaded King Ferdinand to give the seafarer another chance and go on the fourth journey.

This time, Columbus decided to go strictly to the west, bypassing the numerous islands. So he opened 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 they discovered and returned to Spain. There he fell seriously ill.

Death and significance of discovery

Since that moment other seafarers have taken up their discoveries, not Christopher Columbus. America has become a magnet for many adventurers and those who want to enrich themselves. The life of Christopher Columbus, meanwhile, was complicated by illness. He died on May 20, 1506, at the age of 54. This loss has remained almost unnoticed in Spain. The value of the discoveries of Columbus became clear only after several decades, when the conquistadors discovered gold in America. This allowed Spain to enrich itself and for several centuries become the most influential European monarchy.