Russian Historical Library
Columbus Christopher a brief biography
Christopher Columbus briefly
Content:
The origin of Columbus and his dream to open a Western route to India
The Discovery of America by Columbus (briefly)
New expeditions of Columbus (briefly)
The Death of Columbus
A MORE DETAILED biography of the great traveler is given in the article Columbus.
Read also illustrated articles The first voyage of Columbus, the Second Voyage of Columbus, the Indians in the time of Columbus, The History of the discovery of America, The Conquest of Mexico by Cortez, the Conquest of Peru by Pizarro, The Voyage of Magellan
The origin of Columbus and his dream to open a Western route to India
Christopher Columbus (in Spanish – Cristobal Colon), was born in 1446 in Genoa, was originally engaged in his father's weaving craft and undertook sea voyages on trade affairs, went to England, to Portugal, in 1482 was in Guinea.
In the same year, Columbus married in Lisbon the daughter of a noble Italian sailor and then went with his wife to the estate of his father in law, to the island of Porto Santo, lying northeast of Madeira.
Here he found nautical charts belonging to his father in law, from which he got the first information about the islands and lands lying to the west of Europe.
From time to time, the sea washed up on the shores of Porto Santo, then the trunks of a strange tree species, then a mighty reed, then the corpse of an unfamiliar human race.
Unaware of the existence of a vast continent unknown to Europeans, Columbus saw in these signs the confirmation of the testimony of ancient writers Aristotle, Seneca and Pliny that India lies on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean and that it is possible to travel there from Cadiz in a few days.
Portrait of Christopher Columbus.
Artist S. del Piombo, 1519
So Christopher Columbus matured a plan to open the shortest and most direct route to India, without skirting Africa.
With his project, he turned (in 1483) to the Portuguese King John, but was appointed by the king, a commission of scientists recognized the idea of Columbus as a fantasy devoid of foundation.
The failure did not disarm Columbus, and after the death of his wife, he went to Spain to get the necessary funds for the implementation of his idea there.
In Spain, Columbus was not refused, but the equipment of the expedition was constantly postponed.
After staying in Spain for about 7 years, Columbus had already decided to look for patrons in France, but on the way he met the confessor of Queen Isabella in a monastery.
He was very sympathetic to Columbus ' bold idea and convinced the queen to put three ships at his disposal.
On April 17, 1492, Christopher Columbus signed a treaty with the crown, by virtue of which he was granted broad powers and rights of the viceroy in the lands that he would discover on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean.
The Discovery of America by Columbus (briefly)
[For more information, see the articles The First Voyage of Columbus and the First Voyage of Columbus briefly]
On May 28, 1492, three ships, "Santa Maria", "Pinta" and "Niña", with 120 crew members, left the Palos harbor and headed for the Canary Islands, from there they sailed in a straight westerly direction.
The long voyage was beginning to inspire the sailors with distrust of the feasibility of Columbus ' idea.
However, the surviving diary of Columbus does not mention anything about the mutiny of the crew, and the story about it seems to belong to the field of fiction.
On October 7, the first signs of the proximity of land appeared, and the ships headed southwest towards the land.
On October 12, 1492, Columbus landed on the island of Guanagani, solemnly declared it, under the name of San Salvador, the possession of the Spanish crown and proclaimed himself its viceroy.
Further navigation in search of gold bearing lands, which were reported by the natives of San Salvador, led to the discovery of Cuba and Haiti.
On January 4, 1493, Christopher Columbus made a return trip to Spain to personally report on the success of the enterprise.
On March 15, he arrived in Palos.
The journey from Palos to the royal residence, Barcelona, was a real triumphal procession, and the same brilliant reception awaited Columbus at court.
Columbus before Kings Ferdinand and Isabella.
Painting by E. Leutze, 1843
New expeditions of Columbus (briefly)
[For more information, see the article The Second Voyage of Columbus, the Second Voyage of Columbus briefly, the Third Voyage of Columbus briefly, the Fourth Voyage of Columbus briefly]
The government hastened to equip a new expedition with Columbus, consisting of 17 large ships with a detachment of 1,200 soldiers and horsemen and numerous colonists attracted by general rumors about the fabulous wealth of new countries.
On September 25, 1493, Columbus set sail, after 20 days of sailing, he reached the island of Dominica, on the way he discovered the islands of Maria Galante, Guadeloupe, Puerto Rico and others.
Having laid a new fort in Haiti instead of the fortress he had previously built, destroyed in his absence by the natives, he headed further west to reach India, which he considered very close.
Having met a dense archipelago on the way, Columbus decided that he was near China, since Marco Polo says that a group of islands of many thousands lies to the east of China; then he postponed for a while further searches for a way to India in order to establish more firmly management in the open lands.
Meanwhile, the unhealthy climate of some inhabited islands, which caused great mortality, the natural failures of the first settlers who followed Columbus with the most ardent dreams, finally, the envy of many for the high position occupied by a foreigner, and the harsh temper of Columbus, who demanded strict discipline, created many enemies for Christopher Columbus in the colony and in Spain itself.
The discontent in Spain took such proportions that Columbus found it necessary to go to Europe for personal explanations.
He again met with a warm welcome at the court, but the belief in the wealth and convenience of the new lands was undermined in the population, no one was eager to go there anymore, and when equipping a new expedition (May 30, 1498), Columbus had to take exiled criminals with him instead of voluntary colonists.
During the third voyage, Columbus discovered the islands of Margarita and Cubagua.
After the departure of Columbus from Spain, a party hostile to him managed to gain the upper hand at court, it managed to denigrate the brilliant traveler even in the eyes of Isabella, who more than others sympathized with the great enterprise.
Columbus ' personal enemy, Francis Bobadilla, was sent to audit the affairs in the new lands.
Arriving in August 1499 in the New World, he arrested Columbus and his brothers, Eigo and Bartholomew, ordering them to be put in chains, and the man who prepared the subsequent power of it, who rendered invaluable service to the whole Old World, was returning to Spain in chains.
Ferdinand and Isabella, however, could not allow such a disgrace, and when Columbus was approaching Spain, they ordered him to take off his chains; nevertheless, Columbus was refused a request for the return of all his rights and privileges.
In 1502, Christopher Columbus undertook his fourth and last journey across the ocean and, having reached the Isthmus of Panama, had to give up the desire to penetrate into the Indian Ocean, with which, as he thought, the Caribbean Sea connects.
The Death of Columbus
On November 26, 1504, Columbus arrived in Spain and settled in Seville.
All his requests for the return of lost rights and income in the countries he discovered remained unsatisfied.
With the accession of the new king Philip to the throne, Columbus's position did not change, and on May 21, 1506, he died in Valladolid, without seeing the fulfillment of his desires and at the same time not realizing the true significance of his discoveries.
He died in the belief that he had discovered a new way to India, and not a new part of the world that was unknown until that time.
After his death, Christopher Columbus was buried in a Franciscan monastery in the city of Valladolid.
In 1513, his body was transferred to Seville, and between 1540-59, according to the dying wish of Columbus himself, his remains were transported to the island of Haiti.
In 1795, with the annexation of Haiti to the French crown, Columbus ' body was transferred to Havana and buried in the Havana Cathedral.
Statues to him have been erected in Genoa and Mexico.
Columbus left behind a diary of his first trip, published by Navarrette.
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