![]() He then approached the Spanish monarchy in 1486, who showed some interest but rejected the idea because they were in a war with the Muslims. In search of a sponsor for the voyage, he took his idea to Portuguese King John II in 1484, then to Genoa and Venice, Italy, but was rejected all three times. But, Columbus had a different idea, believing that sailing west to reach the East would be quicker and safer. Portuguese explorers solved this problem by sailing south along the West African coast and around the Cape of Good Hope. Travel to India and China at the time was not only long and arduous but also dangerous due to the Muslim domination of the trade routes through the Middle East. named Fernando, who was born out of wedlock in 1488.Ĭolumbus then participated in several expeditions to Africa where he gained knowledge of the Atlantic currents flowing east and west from the Canary Islands. There, he would sire a second son with Beatriz Enriquez de Arana. Soon afterward his wife died and Columbus moved to Spain. Afterward, he made his way to Lisbon, Portugal, where he eventually settled and married Felipa Perestrello, with whom he would have one son, Diego, in 1480. When his ship was burned, he was forced to swim to the Portuguese shore. In 1476, he nearly lost his life when his ship was attacked by French privateers off the coast of Portugal. He first went to sea as a teenager participating in several trading voyages in the Mediterranean and Aegean seas. As a child, he evidently had little or no education as he didn’t learn to read and write until he was an adult. established a Federal Holiday recognizing Columbus in 1934, despite the fact he wasn’t the first European on the American Continent.Ĭolumbus was born in 1451 in the Republic of Genoa, Italy. ![]() After making four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean his efforts initiated European colonization of the New World. Christopher Columbus by Detroit Publishing, 1908Ĭhristopher Columbus was an Italian explorer, navigator, and colonizer who has historically been credited with the discovery(*) of the “New World” of the Americas on an expedition sponsored by King Ferdinand of Spain in 1492.
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