All About Christopher Columbus (1451-1506)
Christopher Columbus was an Italian-born navigator who sailed in the service of Spain. He is
commonly described as the discoverer of the New World — America. Although Columbus was
in search of a westward route to Asia by sea, the discoveries he did make were more important
and valuable than the route he failed to find.
The Man: Columbus's Early Life
The best available evidence suggests that Christopher Columbus (Cristoforo Colombo in Italian;
Cristóbal Colón in Spanish) was born in Genoa in 1451. His father was a weaver. Christopher
had at least two brothers. The boy had little education; he learned to read and write only as an
adult.
Columbus was interested in westward voyages. He had learned of the legendary Atlantic Ocean
voyages and sailors' reports of land to the west of the Madeira Islands and the Azores. Columbus
accepted Ptolemy's underestimation of the circumference of the Earth and overestimation of the
size of the Eurasian landmass. They, of course, believed Europe and Asia to be the only
continents there were. He came to believe that Japan was about 4,800 km (3,000 mi) to the west
of Portugal — a distance that could be sailed in existing vessels. His idea was furthered by the
suggestions of the Florentine cosmographer Paolo dal Pozzo Toscanelli. In 1484, Columbus
sought support for an exploratory voyage from King John II of Portugal, but he was refused. The
Portuguese also underestimated the distance but believed it to be beyond the capabilities of
existing ships.
In 1485, Columbus took his son and went to Spain; there he spent almost seven years trying to
get support from Isabella I of Castile to travel west to Asia. He was received at court, given a
small annuity, and quickly gained both friends and enemies. An apparently final refusal in 1492
made Columbus prepare to go to France, but a final appeal to Isabella proved successful. An
agreement between the crown and Columbus set the terms for the expedition.
The First Voyage
The Pinta, the Niña, and the Santa María were outfitted in the minor port of Palos. Columbus
was aided in recruiting a crew by two brothers — Martín Alonso Pinzón, who received command
of the Pinta, and his younger brother Vicente Yáñez Pinzón, who commanded the Niña. They
left Palos on Aug. 3, 1492; rerigged the Niña in the Canary Islands; and sailed to the west.
Landfall was made on the morning of Oct. 12, 1492; it was an island in the Bahamas that
Columbus named San Salvador and historians later identified as Watling Island. (Watling was
subsequently renamed San Salvador.) In 1986 a group of scholars claimed that the true landfall
was Samana Cay, 105 km (65 mi) to the south.
The landing was met by Arawak, a friendly local population that Columbus called Indians. Some
days later the expedition sailed on to Cuba; there delegations were landed to seek the court of the
Mongol emperor of China and gold. In December they sailed east to Hispaniola, where, at
Christmas, the Santa María was wrecked near Cap-Haïtien. Columbus got his men ashore. The
Indians seemed friendly; therefore 39 men were left on the island at the settlement of Navidad
while Columbus returned to Spain on the Niña. He had sailed due west from the Canaries with
favorable winds; now he sailed north before heading east and so again found favorable winds.
Martín Alonso Pinzón, who had explored on his own with the Pinta, rejoined Columbus, but the
ships were separated at sea. Columbus finally landed (March 1493) in Lisbon and was
interviewed by John II. Then he went to Palos and across Spain to Barcelona; there he was
welcomed by Isabella and her husband, Ferdinand II of Aragon. Columbus claimed to have
reached islands just off the coast of Asia and brought with him artifacts, Indians, and some gold.