In 1492, the brave Christopher Columbus opened a new path, thereby expanding the boundaries of the world. For 10 years, he made as many as four trips, which forever destroyed the idea of the globe. Neither the prejudices of that time, nor the meager scientific knowledge, nor the obstacles on the part of the church could become an obstacle to the great journey, which became the gateway to the new world.
Biography of Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus was born in Genoa in 1451 into a simple family of a weaver and a housewife. He had three brothers and one sister. One brother died in childhood, and two others accompanied Columbus on his wanderings.
From a young age, driven by the desire to learn the secrets of the world, Columbus studied maritime affairs and navigation. He had excellent knowledge of mathematics and was fluent in several foreign languages. With the help of fellow believers, Columbus was able to get into the University of Padua. Having received an excellent education, he was familiar with the teachings of the ancient Greek philosophers and thinkers, who depicted the Earth as a ball. However, in the Middle Ages, talking about it out loud was a rather dangerous occupation, since the Inquisition was rampant in Europe.
One of Columbus's friends at university was the astronomer Toscanelli. Having made his own calculations, he concluded that the closest sailing to India is to sail in the western direction. So Christopher Columbus caught fire with the dream of making a western journey, to which he will devote his whole life.
It is known that from the age of 12, young Columbus sailed on merchant ships. First along the Mediterranean, then along the ocean. From the northernmost shores of Europe to the southern coast of Africa. All the seas of the world described in Ptolemy's geography were explored by this experienced sailor and cartographer. He was always interested in the accuracy with which at that time the maps of the world were drawn. For 40 years, Columbus cut the ocean waters along all sea routes known at that time. He mapped many cities, rivers, mountains, ports and islands.
People who lived at the end of the 15th century believed that the world consists of three continents: Asia, Europe and Africa. The most studied at that time was the European continent. Africa ended where the Sahara began. The area stretching to the equator was called nothing but "scorched earth". In the East, the continent ended with the Malacca Peninsula, which Columbus tried in vain to find during his third and fourth voyages. The borders of the known world passed in China, which was discovered by the equally famous traveler Marco Polo. The latter wrote about India as an amazing land, endless and full of wonders. The East has always amazed Columbus's imagination. He dreamed of going around the world, but also, being a merchant, he dreamed of the East, where, in his opinion, all the riches of the world were located: gold, precious stones, spices. But all this was inaccessible to him, since the trade routes that had connected Europe and Asia for many centuries were closed. And Constantinople, the capital of Byzantium, fell under the pressure of the Ottoman Empire.
In the 70s, Columbus married Felipe Moniz, who came from a wealthy Portuguese family. Felipe's father was also a navigator. From him, Columbus inherited nautical charts, diaries and other important documents, according to which he studied geography. Christopher Columbus read a lot and thoughtfully. From the comments he left in the margins of the books, it is clear that he wanted to understand the shape of the world. He studied the works of ancient and modern scientists. He writes down, draws, counts. Columbus was planning an expedition on a globe drawn by the German cartographer Martin Beheim. He wanted to go to the Far East through the West.
In 1475, Columbus calculated a route that would allow him to get to India. Several times he turned with his proposal to the monarchs of different countries, but was refused, since the scientific councils more than once proved the incorrectness of his calculations. For several years, Columbus fought. He was criticized, humiliated, considered insane, but the brave navigator did not lose heart.
But in the end, he managed to convince the Spanish monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella to support his project. He received three caravels at his disposal and was appointed admiral of the sea and ocean and representative of the Spanish crown. On August 3, 1492, he set out on his maiden voyage to the New World on the ships Ninha, Pinta and Santa Maria. The crew consisted of 86 fortune seekers.
4 naval expeditions of Columbus
The first voyage of Columbus (1492-1493) opened a new route across the Atlantic Ocean. Columbus became the first navigator to swim across the Sargasso Sea, where seaweed covers thousands of square kilometers of the Atlantic. After a 33-day voyage, the travelers saw the island. He declared the islands to be the property of the Spanish crown and named them San Salvador, Fernandina and Santa Maria de la Concepcion. These islands are now part of the Bahamas archipelago. Then Columbus went to about. Cuba, which, according to local Indians, is the place where gold and spices are transported. Columbus thought that this is the fabulous place to which he so dreamed of swimming. But having sailed even further south, Columbus saw another populous island, calling it Hispaniola (about. Haiti and the Dominican Republic). Fort La Navidad was built on the island, where 39 Spaniards were left. Columbus set off, but off the coast of Hispaniola, exhausted sailors demanded to return to Spain. The Spanish monarchs embraced Columbus as a hero.
Five months later, the second expedition was prepared (1493-1496). In September 1493, 17 ships left the port of Cadiz in an attempt to colonize the New World. They carried priests, soldiers, peasants and their livestock. Columbus led his fleet southwest through the Antilles. Returning to Fort Navidad, Columbus found that the Spaniards left there were killed in a bloody incident. All the problems of the local Indians began with gold, as the Europeans were driven by greedy impulses.
In 1494, the first colony of the New World was founded. Columbus has always wanted his countrymen and Indians to live in peace. The conflict that erupted over the administration of the colony tarnished the image of Columbus in the eyes of the Spaniards. The admiral left Hispaniola, which he still believed to be Japan, and continued his exploration of the continent.
Third expedition (1498-1500). Columbus set off on a journey that ran at equatorial level, at the head of 6 ships. On July 31, he dropped anchor off the South American continent, thinking that he had arrived in India. Columbus wrote about the new places he discovered as about paradise. Doubts arose in his head about what he had discovered. It was the abundance of fresh water that pushed him to the idea of discovering an earthly paradise. This darkened the consciousness of Columbus.
When Columbus returned to about. Hispaniola, he was greeted by a riot. The admiral was arrested and sent in shackles to Spain. Humiliated and offended, Columbus went to the Franciscans. Until the end of his days, he will wear a monastic robe.
Despite the fact that Columbus remained out of favor with the monarchs, he still managed to convince them one last time to provide him with ships for the next fourth expedition (1502-1504). On August 14, 1502, Columbus landed on the shores of Honduras. For 48 days, he sailed along the coast until his ship was hit by a hurricane. He gave the order to drop anchor off the coast of Panama. He was sure that he had found his strait, and another ocean lay behind a piece of land. However, he did not find the strait there. But intuition did not disappoint the navigator, and 400 years later, the Panama Canal will be opened in that very place. Columbus's dreams were shattered. Leaving two ships in the Gulf of Panama, they hit the road and in the Caribbean Sea again fell into a violent storm. The ships were forced to land on the shores of Jamaica and stay there forever. For a whole year they remained prisoners of the island. They were saved by a passing ship. Columbus returned home as a terminally ill, unhappy and broken man by failures. In 1506, Columba died in a small town in Spain.
Descendants of Christopher Columbus
According to the biography of Christopher Columbus, written by his son, he was married twice. From two marriages, Columbus had two sons: Diego (married to Filipe Moniz) and Fernando (from Beatriz Henriquez de Arana).
Fernando not only was with his father on the expedition, but also wrote a biography of his famous father. Diego became the fourth Viceroy of New Spain and Admiral of India. In recognition of Columbus's invaluable contribution to the discovery of new lands, the Spanish monarchs bestowed many honorary titles and riches on his descendants.
