Discovery of America by Christopher Columbus. What did Christopher Columbus discover? Discoveries of Christopher Columbus In what year did the Europeans discover America?

What Christopher Columbus did, you will learn from this article.

What did Christopher Columbus discover? Discoveries of Christopher Columbus

The navigator is the most mysterious person of the era of the Great Geographical Discoveries and travels. His life is full of mysteries, dark spots, inexplicable coincidences and deeds. And all because mankind became interested in the navigator 150 years after his death - important documents have already been lost, and Columbus's life remained fanned with speculation and gossip. Plus, Columbus himself hid his origin (for unknown reasons), the motives of his actions and thoughts. The only thing that is known is 1451 - the year of his birth and the place of birth - the Republic of Genoa.

He made 4 expeditions, which were supplied by the Spanish king:

The first expedition - 1492-1493.
The second expedition - 1493-1496.
The third expedition - 1498 - 1500.
The fourth expedition - 1502 - 1504.

During four expeditions, the navigator discovered many new territories and two seas - Sargasso and Caribbean.

Lands discovered by Christopher Columbus

It is interesting that all the time the navigator thought that he had discovered India, and behind it he would find rich Japan and China. But it wasn't. He owns the discovery and exploration of the New World. The islands discovered by Christopher Columbus are the Bahamas and Antilles, Saman, Haiti and Dominica, the Lesser Antilles, Cuba and Trinidad, Jamaica and Puerto Rico, Guadeloupe and Margarita. He is the discoverer of the lands of Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, as well as the northern coast of South America and the Caribbean part of Central America.

Discovery of America by Christopher Columbus

But the most important thing is that during his expedition Christopher Columbus discovered America. It happened on October 12, 1492, when he landed on the island of San Salvador.

And it all started like this: on August 3, 1492, the expedition of the European navigator, consisting of the ships Santa Maria, Nina and Pinta, set out on a long journey. In September, the Sargasso Sea was discovered. They walked along German for three weeks. On October 7, 1492, the Columbus team changes its course to the southwest, believing that they missed Japan, which they so wanted to discover. After 5 days, the expedition stumbled upon an island named by Christopher Columbus in honor of the savior of Christ San Salvador. This date - October 12, 1492 is considered the official day of the discovery of America.

A day later, Columbus landed and hoisted the Castilian banner. Thus, he formally became the owner of the island. Having explored the nearby islands, the navigator sincerely believed that these were the vicinity of Japan, India and China. At first, the open lands were called the West Indies. Christopher Columbus returned to Spain on March 15, 1493 on the ship Nina. As a gift to King Ferdinand II of Aragon, he brought gold, natives, plants unprecedented to Europeans - potatoes, corn, tobacco, as well as bird feathers and fruits.

We hope that from this article you have learned what discoveries of Christopher Columbus became famous all over the world.

As everyone is probably well aware, such a process as the discovery of the continent of America is a very extensive topic, but this article will talk about the discovery of America briefly, laying out the main essence.

The discovery of America is one of the most important events in the world history of mankind, as a result of which the Old World, that is, Western Europe, learned about the existence of a new, huge continent called America.

Expeditions of Christopher Columbus - discovery of a new continent

Great Navigator Christopher Columbus in 1492 year went on a sea voyage to find a shorter route to the rich country of India.

The King and Queen of Castile and Aragon sponsored this expedition with three ships.

12 October same year Christopher Columbus reached the current Bahamas and this day is considered the date of the discovery of a new continent. After that, they discovered a number of islands. In March 1493 Columbus returned to Castile. Thus ended his first of four expeditions to the Americas he had discovered.

The second expedition already had a fairly large number of ships and people. If in the first it was only three ships and a crew of less than a hundred people, then already in the second expedition - seventeen ships and more 1 thousand people on board. The most important achievement of this expedition can be considered conquest of Haiti. After that, Columbus in 1496 returns to Spain again.

scope third expedition which started in 1498 year, was much smaller - only six ships. The discovery of South America began with the third expedition. This expedition has been cancelled. in 1500 year for the reason that Columbus was arrested and sent to Castile, but when he arrived there, he was completely acquitted.

Already at that moment, a huge number of those people appeared who wanted to appropriate the brilliant discovery of Christopher Columbus. AT 1502 Columbus struggles to get sponsored again for yet another search for a short, sea route to India. During this expedition, he discovered the shores of modern Honduras, Costa Rica, Panama etc. But in 1503 year, Columbus's ship was wrecked, which forced him to stop the expedition in 1504 year, returning to Castile.

After that, Christopher Columbus never returned to America.

However, as further study of history showed, it was not Christopher Columbus who first set foot on the lands of a new continent, this was done long before his birth.

And yes, in general, humanity began to populate America only in 30 thousand years BC e.

And they opened it for the first time, although they did not know that it was a whole continent, none other than the masters of the seas - Vikings, back in the tenth century.

The discoverer should be considered Leif Eriksson. Leif is the son of Eric the Red, a Viking and navigator who discovered Greenland.
This fact is confirmed by traces of a Viking settlement found in L'Ans-o-Meadows (the current territory of Newfoundland and Labrador (which is in Canada)).

As for the travel of Columbus, he himself believed that he discovered not a new continent, but the shores of Asia. And only in his last years, he realized that he had discovered a new continent.

The open continent was named after one of the main explorers of the New World - Amerigo Vespucci. This memorable event took place in 1507 year, from that moment the continent was considered independent.

There are also several hypotheses in history that other navigators could have discovered America. The most popular hypotheses are:
- in the fourth century BC. e. it could have been discovered by the Phoenicians;
- in the sixth century AD. e. it could be the Irish monk Brendan;
- approximately in 1421 the Chinese navigator Zheng He;

However, there is no confirmation of this yet.

(1492-1493), consisting of 91 people on the ships Santa Maria, Pinta, Nina, left Pálos de la Frontera on August 3, 1492, turned west from the Canary Islands (September 9 ), crossed the Atlantic Ocean in the subtropical zone and reached the island of San Salvador in the Bahamas, where Christopher Columbus landed on October 12, 1492 (the official date of the discovery of America). On October 14-24, Christopher Columbus visited a number of other Bahamas, and on October 28-December 5, he discovered and explored a section of the northeast coast of Cuba. On December 6, Columbus reached Fr. Haiti and moved along the north coast. On the night of December 25, the flagship Santa Maria landed on a reef, but people escaped. Columbus on the ship "Nina" on January 4-16, 1493 completed the survey of the northern coast of Haiti and on March 15 returned to Castile.

2nd expedition

The 2nd expedition (1493-1496), which Christopher Columbus led already in the rank of admiral and in the position of viceroy of the newly discovered lands, consisted of 17 ships with a crew of over 1.5 thousand people. On November 3, 1493, Columbus discovered the islands of Dominica and Guadeloupe, turning to the North-West, - about 20 more Lesser Antilles, including Antigua and the Virgin Islands, and on November 19 - the island of Puerto Rico and approached the northern coast of Haiti. On March 12-29, 1494, Columbus, in search of gold, made an aggressive campaign into Haiti, and crossed the Cordillera Central ridge. On April 29-May 3, Columbus with 3 ships passed along the southeastern coast of Cuba, turned from Cape Cruz to the South, and on May 5 discovered about. Jamaica. Returning on May 15 to Cape Cruz, Columbus walked along the southern coast of Cuba to 84 ° west longitude, discovered the Jardines de la Reina archipelago, the Zapata Peninsula and the island of Pinos. On June 24, Christopher Columbus turned east and surveyed the entire southern coast of Haiti on August 19-September 15. In 1495 Christopher Columbus continued the conquest of Haiti; March 10, 1496 left the island and June 11 returned to Castile.

3rd expedition

The 3rd expedition (1498-1500) consisted of 6 vessels, 3 of which Christopher Columbus himself led across the Atlantic Ocean near 10 ° north latitude. On July 31, 1498, he discovered the island of Trinidad, entered the Gulf of Paria from the south, discovered the mouth of the western branch of the Orinoco Delta and the Paria Peninsula, marking the beginning of the discovery of South America. Having then left for the Caribbean Sea, Christopher Columbus approached the Araya Peninsula, discovered Margarita Island on August 15, and on August 31 arrived in the city of Santo Domingo (on the island of Haiti). In 1500, Christopher Columbus was arrested on a denunciation and sent to Castile, where he was released.

4th expedition

4th expedition (1502-1504). Having obtained permission to continue searching for a western route to India, Columbus with 4 ships reached the island of Martinique on June 15, 1502, and the Gulf of Honduras on July 30, and discovered from August 1, 1502 to May 1, 1503 the Caribbean coast of Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama to Uraba Bay. Turning then to the North, June 25, 1503 was wrecked off the island of Jamaica; help from Santo Domingo came only a year later. Christopher Columbus returned to Castile on November 7, 1504.

Candidates for pioneers

The first people who settled in America are the native Indians, who crossed there about 30 thousand years ago from Asia along the Bering Isthmus.
In the 10th century, around 1000, the Vikings led by Leif Eriksson. L'Anse aux Meadows has the remains of a Viking settlement on the continent.
In 1492 - Christopher Columbus (Genoese in the service of Spain); Columbus himself believed that he opened the way to Asia (hence the name West Indies, Indians).
In 1507, the cartographer M. Waldseemüller proposed that the discovered lands be named America in honor of the explorer of the New World Amerigo Vespucci - this is considered the moment from which America was recognized as an independent continent.
There are good reasons to believe that the continent was named after an English philanthropist. Richard America from Bristol, who financed John Cabot's second transatlantic expedition in 1497, and Vespucci took his nickname after the already named continent. In May 1497, Cabot reached the shores of Labrador, becoming the first officially registered European to set foot on American soil, two years earlier than Vespucci (we are talking about North America). Cabot mapped the coast of North America from Nova Scotia to Newfoundland. In the Bristol calendar for that year we read: "... on the day of St. John the Baptist, the land of America was found by merchants from Bristol, who arrived on a ship from Bristol with the name "Matthew" ("metik").

Hypothetical

In addition, hypotheses were put forward about visiting America and contact with its civilization by seafarers before Columbus, representing various civilizations of the Old World (for more details, see Contacts with America before Columbus). Here are just a few of these hypothetical contacts:

in 371 BC. e. - Phoenicians
in the 5th century - Hui Shen (a Taiwanese Buddhist monk who traveled to the country of Fusang in the 5th century, identified in different versions with Japan or America)
in the VI century - St. Brendan (Irish monk)
in the XII century - Madog ap Owain Gwynedd (a Welsh prince, according to legend, visited America in 1170)
there are versions according to which, at least from the 13th century, America was known to the Knights Templar
in 1331 - Abubakar II (Sultan of Mali)
OK. 1398 - Henry Sinclair (de St. Clair), Earl of Orkney (c. 1345 - c. 1400)
in 1421 - Zheng He (Chinese explorer)
in 1472 - Juan Corterial (Portuguese)

Also known is Thor Heyerdahl's version of the Egyptians visiting America. As part of the evidence, there were expeditions on boats Ra and Ra-2, built according to ancient technologies. The first boat failed to reach the Caribbean, but was only a few hundred kilometers short. The second expedition reached its goal.

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Notes

Literature

Bakless D. America through the eyes of the discoverers / Per. from English. 3. M. Kanevsky. - M.: Thought, 1969. - 408 p.: ill.
Magidovich I.P. History of discovery and exploration of North America. - M .: Geografgiz, 1962.
Magidovich I.P. History of discovery and exploration of Central and South America. - M .: Thought, 1963.
John Lloyd and John Mitchinson. The book of general delusions. - Phantom Press, 2009.



Before Columbus

great maritime discoveries

conquistadors

Mapping

An excerpt characterizing the Discovery of America

As long as Boris continued to make the figures of the mazurka, he never ceased to be tormented by the thought of what kind of news Balashev brought and how to find out before others.
In the figure where he had to choose the ladies, whispering to Helen that he wanted to take Countess Pototskaya, who, it seems, went out onto the balcony, he, sliding his feet on the parquet, ran out the exit door into the garden and, noticing the sovereign entering with Balashev on the terrace , paused. The Emperor and Balashev were heading for the door. Boris, in a hurry, as if not having time to move away, respectfully pressed himself against the lintel and bent his head.
The sovereign, with the excitement of a personally offended person, finished the following words:
- Without declaring war, enter Russia. I will make peace only when not a single armed enemy remains on my land,” he said. As it seemed to Boris, it was pleasant for the sovereign to express these words: he was pleased with the form of expression of his thoughts, but was dissatisfied with the fact that Boris heard them.
- so that no one knows anything! added the sovereign, frowning. Boris realized that this was referring to him, and, closing his eyes, tilted his head slightly. The emperor again entered the hall and stayed at the ball for about half an hour.
Boris was the first to learn the news of the crossing of the Neman by the French troops, and thanks to this he had the opportunity to show some important people that he knows a lot that is hidden from others, and through this he had the opportunity to rise higher in the opinion of these persons.

The unexpected news that the French had crossed the Neman was especially unexpected after a month of unfulfilled expectations, and at the ball! The emperor, in the first minute of receiving the news, under the influence of indignation and insult, found that, which later became famous, a saying that he himself liked and fully expressed his feelings. Returning home from the ball, at two in the morning the sovereign sent for Secretary Shishkov and ordered him to write an order to the troops and a rescript to Field Marshal Prince Saltykov, in which he certainly demanded that words be placed that he would not reconcile until at least one an armed Frenchman will remain on Russian soil.
The next day the following letter was written to Napoleon.
Monsieur mon frere. J "ai appris hier que malgre la loyaute avec laquelle j" ai maintenu mes engagements envers Votre Majeste, ses troupes ont franchis les frontieres de la Russie, et je recois a l "instant de Petersbourg une note par laquelle le comte Lauriston, pour cause de cette agression, annonce que votre majeste s "est consideree comme en etat de guerre avec moi des le moment ou le prince Kourakine a fait la demande de ses passeports. Les motifs sur lesquels le duc de Bassano fondait son refus de les lui delivrer, n "auraient jamais pu me faire supposer que cette demarche servirait jamais de pretexte a l" agression. En effet cet ambassadeur n "y a jamais ete autorise comme il l" a declare lui meme, et aussitot que j "en fus informe, je lui ai fait connaitre combien je le desapprouvais en lui donnant l" ordre de rester a son poste. Si Votre Majeste n "est pas intentionnee de verser le sang de nos peuples pour un malentendu de ce genre et qu" elle consente a retirer ses troupes du territoire russe, je regarderai ce qui s "est passe comme non avenu, et un accommodement entre nous sera possible. Dans le cas contraire, Votre Majeste, je me verrai force de repousser une attaque que rien n "a provoquee de ma part. Il depend encore de Votre Majeste d "eviter a l" humanite les calamites d "une nouvelle guerre.
Je suis, etc.
(signe) Alexandre.
[“My lord brother! Yesterday it dawned on me that, despite the frankness with which I observed my obligations in relation to Your Imperial Majesty, Your troops crossed the Russian borders, and only now received a note from Petersburg, which Count Lauriston informs me about this invasion, that Your Majesty considers yourself in hostile relations with me since the time when Prince Kurakin demanded his passports. The reasons on which the Duke of Bassano based his refusal to issue these passports could never have led me to suppose that my ambassador's act was the occasion for the attack. And in fact, he had no order from me to do so, as he himself announced; and as soon as I found out about this, I immediately expressed my displeasure to Prince Kurakin, ordering him to fulfill the duties entrusted to him as before. If Your Majesty is not disposed to shed the blood of our subjects because of such a misunderstanding, and if you agree to withdraw your troops from the Russian possessions, then I will ignore everything that has happened, and an agreement between us will be possible. Otherwise, I will be forced to repel an attack that was not initiated by anything on my part. Your Majesty, you still have the opportunity to save humanity from the scourge of a new war.
(signed) Alexander. ]

On June 13, at two o'clock in the morning, the sovereign, having called Balashev to him and read his letter to Napoleon to him, ordered him to take this letter and personally hand it over to the French emperor. Sending Balashev, the sovereign again repeated to him the words that he would not reconcile until at least one armed enemy remained on Russian soil, and ordered that these words be conveyed to Napoleon without fail. The sovereign did not write these words in the letter, because he felt with his tact that these words were inconvenient to convey at the moment when the last attempt at reconciliation was being made; but he certainly ordered Balashev to hand them over to Napoleon personally.
Leaving on the night of June 13-14, Balashev, accompanied by a trumpeter and two Cossacks, arrived at dawn in the village of Rykonty, at the French outposts on this side of the Neman. He was stopped by French cavalry sentries.
A French hussar non-commissioned officer, in a crimson uniform and a shaggy hat, shouted at Balashev, who was approaching, ordering him to stop. Balashev did not immediately stop, but continued to move along the road at a pace.
The non-commissioned officer, frowning and muttering some kind of curse, moved his horse's chest towards Balashev, took up his saber and rudely shouted at the Russian general, asking him: is he deaf that he does not hear what they say to him. Balashev named himself. The non-commissioned officer sent a soldier to the officer.
Paying no attention to Balashev, the non-commissioned officer began to talk with his comrades about his regimental affairs and did not look at the Russian general.
It was extraordinarily strange for Balashev, after being close to the highest power and might, after a conversation three hours ago with the sovereign and generally accustomed to honors in his service, to see here, on Russian soil, this hostile and, most importantly, disrespectful attitude of brute force towards himself.
The sun was just beginning to rise from behind the clouds; the air was fresh and dewy. On the way, the herd was driven out of the village. In the fields, one by one, like bubbles in water, the larks burst up with a chuckle.
Balashev looked around him, waiting for the arrival of an officer from the village. The Russian Cossacks, and the trumpeter, and the French hussars silently looked at each other from time to time.
A French hussar colonel, apparently just out of bed, rode out of the village on a handsome, well-fed gray horse, accompanied by two hussars. On the officer, on the soldiers and on their horses there was a look of contentment and panache.

Dioscoro Pueblo. "The Landing of Columbus in America" (1862 painting)

Discovery of America- an event as a result of which a new part of the world became known to the inhabitants of the Old World - America, consisting of two continents.

Expeditions of Christopher Columbus

1st expedition

The first expedition of Christopher Columbus (1492-1493), consisting of 91 people on the ships Santa Maria, Pinta, Nina, left Pálos de la Frontera on August 3, 1492, turned from the Canary Islands to West (September 9), crossed the Atlantic Ocean in the subtropical zone and reached the island of San Salvador in the Bahamas, where Christopher Columbus landed on October 12, 1492 (the official date of the discovery of America). On October 14-24, Christopher Columbus visited a number of other Bahamas, and on October 28-December 5, he discovered and explored a section of the northeast coast of Cuba. On December 6, Columbus reached Fr. Haiti and moved along the north coast. On the night of December 25, the flagship Santa Maria landed on a reef, but people escaped. Columbus on the ship "Nina" on January 4-16, 1493 completed the survey of the northern coast of Haiti and on March 15 returned to Castile.

2nd expedition

3rd expedition

The 3rd expedition (1498-1500) consisted of 6 vessels, 3 of which Christopher Columbus himself led across the Atlantic Ocean near 10 ° north latitude. On July 31, 1498, he discovered the island of Trinidad, entered the Gulf of Paria from the south, discovered the mouth of the western arm of the Orinoco River Delta and the Paria Peninsula, marking the beginning of the discovery of South America. Then leaving for the Caribbean Sea, Christopher Columbus approached the Araya Peninsula, discovered the island of Margarita on August 15, and on August 31 arrived in the city of Santo Domingo (on the island of Haiti). In 1500, Christopher Columbus was arrested on a denunciation and sent to Castile, where he was released.

4th expedition

Candidates for pioneers

The first people who settled in America are the native Indians, who crossed there about 30 thousand years ago from Asia along the Bering Isthmus.
In the 10th century, around 1000, the Vikings led by Leif Eriksson. L'Anse aux Meadows has the remains of a Viking settlement on the continent. This historical and archaeological site (L'Anse-au-Meadows) is recognized by scientists as evidence of transoceanic contacts that took place before the discovery made by Columbus.
In 1492 - Christopher Columbus (Genoese in the service of Spain); Columbus himself believed that he opened the way to Asia (hence the name West Indies, Indians).
In 1507, the cartographer M. Waldseemüller proposed that the discovered lands be named America in honor of the explorer of the New World Amerigo Vespucci - this is considered the moment from which America was recognized as an independent continent.
There are good reasons to believe that the continent was named after the English patron Richard America from Bristol, who financed the second transatlantic expedition of John Cabot in 1497, and Vespucci took his nickname in honor of the already named continent [ ] . In May 1497, Cabot reached the shores of Labrador, becoming the first officially recorded European to set foot on the North American continent. Cabot mapped the coast of North America from Nova Scotia to Newfoundland. In the Bristol calendar for that year we read: “... on St. John the Baptist was found in the land of America by merchants from Bristol, who arrived on a ship from Bristol with the name "Matthew" ("metik").

Hypothetical

in 371 BC. e. - Phoenicians
in the 5th century - Hui Shen (a Taiwanese Buddhist monk who traveled to the country in the 5th century

Christopher Columbus is a medieval navigator who discovered the Sargasso and Caribbean seas, the Antilles, the Bahamas and the American continent for Europeans, the first famous traveler to cross the Atlantic Ocean.

According to various sources, Christopher Columbus was born in 1451 in Genoa, in what is now Corsica. Six Italian and Spanish cities claim the right to be called his homeland. Almost nothing is reliably known about the childhood and youth of the navigator, and the origin of the Columbus family is just as vague.

Some researchers call Columbus an Italian, others believe that his parents were baptized Jews, Marranos. This assumption explains the incredible level of education at that time that Christopher, who came from a family of an ordinary weaver and a housewife, received.

According to some historians and biographers, Columbus studied at home until the age of 14, while he had brilliant knowledge in mathematics, knew several languages, including Latin. The boy had three younger brothers and a sister, all of whom were taught by visiting teachers. One of the brothers, Giovanni, died in childhood, sister Bianchella grew up and married, and Bartolomeo and Giacomo accompanied Columbus on his wanderings.

Most likely, Columbus was given all possible assistance by fellow believers, rich Genoese financiers from the Marranos. With their help, a young man from a poor family got into the University of Padua.

Being an educated person, Columbus was familiar with the teachings of ancient Greek philosophers and thinkers who depicted the Earth as a ball, and not a flat pancake, as was believed in the Middle Ages. However, such thoughts, like the Jewish origin during the Inquisition, which raged in Europe, had to be carefully hidden.

At the university, Columbus became friends with students and teachers. One of his close friends was the astronomer Toscanelli. According to his calculations, it turned out that to the cherished India, full of untold riches, it was much closer to sail in a westerly direction, and not in an eastern one, skirting Africa. Later, Christopher made his own calculations, which, being incorrect, confirmed Toscanelli's hypothesis. Thus was born the dream of a western journey, and Columbus devoted his whole life to it.

Even before entering the university, at the age of fourteen, Christopher Columbus experienced the hardships of sea travel. The father arranged for his son to work on one of the trading schooners to learn the art of navigation, trade skills, and from that moment the biography of Columbus the navigator started.

Columbus made his first voyages as a cabin boy in the Mediterranean Sea, where trade and economic routes between Europe and Asia intersected. At the same time, European merchants knew about the riches and gold placers of Asia and India from the words of the Arabs, who resold them wonderful silks and spices from these countries.

The young man listened to extraordinary stories from the mouths of eastern merchants and was inflamed with a dream to reach the shores of India in order to find her treasures and get rich.

Expeditions

In the 70s of the 15th century, Columbus married Felipe Moniz from a wealthy Italo-Portuguese family. The father-in-law of Christopher, who settled in Lisbon and sailed under the Portuguese flag, was also a navigator. After his death, he left sea charts, diaries and other documents that were inherited by Columbus. According to them, the traveler continued to study geography, at the same time studying the works of Piccolomini, Pierre de Ailly,.

Christopher Columbus took part in the so-called northern expedition, in which his path passed through the British Isles and Iceland. Presumably, there the navigator heard the Scandinavian sagas and stories about the Vikings, Erik the Red and Leyve Eriksson, who reached the coast of the "Great Land" by crossing the Atlantic Ocean.

The route that made it possible to get to India by the western route was compiled by Columbus in 1475. He presented an ambitious plan to conquer the new land to the court of the Genoese merchants, but did not meet with support.

A few years later, in 1483, Christopher made a similar proposal to the Portuguese king João II. The king assembled a scientific council, which reviewed the Genoese project and found his calculations incorrect. Frustrated, but resilient, Columbus left Portugal and moved to Castile.

In 1485, the navigator requested an audience with the Spanish monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabella of Castile. The couple received him favorably, listened to Columbus, who tempted them with the treasures of India, and, just like the Portuguese ruler, convened scientists for advice. The commission did not support the navigator, since the possibility of a western path implied the sphericity of the Earth, which was contrary to the teachings of the church. Columbus was almost declared a heretic, but the king and queen had mercy and decided to postpone the final decision until the end of the war with the Moors.

Columbus, who was driven not so much by a thirst for discovery as by a desire to get rich, carefully hiding the details of the planned trip, sent messages to the English and French monarchs. Charles and Henry did not answer the letters, being too busy with domestic politics, but the Portuguese king sent an invitation to the navigator to continue discussing the expedition.

When Christopher announced this in Spain, Ferdinand and Isabella agreed to equip a squadron of ships to search for a western route to India, although the impoverished Spanish treasury had no funds for this enterprise. The monarchs promised Columbus a title of nobility, the title of admiral and viceroy of all the lands that he had to discover, and he had to borrow money from Andalusian bankers and merchants.

Four Expeditions of Columbus

The first expedition of Christopher Columbus took place in 1492-1493. On three ships, the Pinta caravels (the property of Martin Alonso Pinson) and Nina and the four-masted sailing ship Santa Maria, the navigator passed through the Canary Islands, crossed the Atlantic Ocean, opening the Sargasso Sea along the way, and reached the Bahamas. On October 12, 1492, Columbus set foot on the island of Saman, which he named San Salvador. This date is considered the day of the discovery of America.
The second expedition of Columbus took place in 1493-1496. In this campaign, the Lesser Antilles, Dominica, Haiti, Cuba, Jamaica were discovered.
The third expedition refers to the period from 1498 to 1500. A flotilla of six ships reached the islands of Trinidad and Margarita, marking the beginning of the discovery of South America, and ended in Haiti.
During the fourth expedition, Christopher Columbus sailed to Martinique, visited the Gulf of Honduras and explored the coast of Central America along the Caribbean Sea.

Discovery of America

The process of discovering the New World dragged on for many years. The most amazing thing is that Columbus, being a convinced discoverer and an experienced navigator, believed until the end of his days that he had opened the way to Asia. He considered the Bahamas, discovered in the first expedition, to be part of Japan, after which wonderful China was to open, and after it, the cherished India.

What did Columbus discover and why did the new continent get the name of another traveler? The list of discoveries made by the great traveler and navigator includes San Salvador, Cuba and Haiti, belonging to the Bahamas, the Sargasso Sea.

Seventeen ships, led by the flagship Maria Galante, went on the second expedition. This type of ship with a displacement of two hundred tons and other ships carried not only sailors, but also colonialists, livestock, and supplies. All this time, Columbus was convinced that he had discovered the Western Indies. At the same time, the Antilles, Dominica and Guadeloupe were discovered.

The third expedition brought the ships of Columbus to the continent, but the navigator was disappointed: he never found India with its gold placers. From this journey, Columbus returned in shackles, accused of a false denunciation. Before entering the port, the fetters were removed from him, but the navigator lost the promised titles and titles.

The last journey of Christopher Columbus ended with a crash off the coast of Jamaica and a serious illness of the leader of the campaign. He returned home sick, unhappy and broken by failures. Amerigo Vespucci was a close associate and follower of Columbus, who undertook four voyages to the New World. A whole continent is named after him, and one country in South America is named after Columbus, who never reached India.

Personal life

According to the biographers of Christopher Columbus, the first of whom was his own son, the navigator was married twice. The first marriage with Felipe Moniz was legal. The wife gave birth to a son, Diego. In 1488 Columbus had a second son, Fernando, from a relationship with a woman named Beatriz Henriques de Arana.

The navigator equally took care of both sons, and even took the youngest with him on an expedition when the boy was thirteen years old. Fernando was the first to write a biography of the famous traveler.

Christopher Columbus with his wife Felipe Moniz

Subsequently, both sons of Columbus became influential people and took high positions. Diego was the fourth Viceroy of New Spain and Admiral of the Indies, and his descendants were titled Marquesses of Jamaica and Dukes of Veragua.

Fernando Columbus, who became a writer and scientist, enjoyed the favor of the Spanish emperor, lived in a marble palace and had an annual income of up to 200,000 francs. These titles and wealth went to the descendants of Columbus in recognition of his services to the crown by the Spanish monarchs.

Death

After the discovery of America from the last expedition, Columbus returned to Spain a terminally ill, aged man. In 1506, the discoverer of the New World died in poverty in a small house in Valladolid. Columbus used his savings to pay the debts of the members of the last expedition.

Tomb of Christopher Columbus

Soon after the death of Christopher Columbus, the first ships began to arrive from America, loaded with gold, which the navigator so dreamed of. Many historians agree that Columbus knew that he had discovered not Asia or India, but a new, unexplored continent, but did not want to share glory and treasures with anyone, to which there was one step left.

The appearance of the enterprising discoverer of America is known from photos in history books. Several films have been made about Columbus, the last film being co-produced by France, England, Spain and the USA “1492: The Conquest of Paradise”. Monuments to this great man were erected in Barcelona and Granada, and his ashes were transported from Seville to Haiti.