| Christopher Columbus |
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Perhaps the
most famous explorer was Christopher Columbus.
Born in Genoa, Italy, in 1451 to a weaver,
young Columbus first went to sea at the
age of fourteen. As a young man, he settled
in Portugal and married a woman of noble
background. After his wife's death in 1485,
Columbus and his young son Diego moved to Spain.
Like all learned men of his time, Columbus
knew the world was round. He theorized that
since the earth was a sphere, a ship could
eventually reach the Far East from the opposite
direction. He thought to establish trade
routes to Asia in this manner.
The fifteenth-century Europeans were not
aware of the South and North American continents
during this timeframe. Mapmakers did not
show an accurate picture and no one knew
there was a Pacific Ocean. |
| For a decade, Columbus approached
the Portuguese king and the Spanish monarchs
to obtain a grant to explore possible trade
routes to the west. After initially turning
him down, King
Ferdinand and Queen Isabella reconsidered once the
Moors had been successfully expelled from
Spain in 1492. Columbus promised to bring
back gold, spices, and silks from the Far
East, to spread Christianity, and to lead
an expedition to China. In return, Columbus
asked for and got the hereditary title "admiral
of the ocean seas" and became governor
of all discovered lands. |
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Columbus | 1st voyage | 2nd voyage | 3rd
voyage | 4th voyage | Columbus' death
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