Christopher Columbus or Cristobal Colon(Italian Cristoforo Colombo, Spanish Cristobal Colon; between August 25 and October 31, 1451 - May 10, 1506) - the famous navigator and cartographer of Italian origin, who wrote his name in history as the man who discovered America for Europeans.
Columbus was the first of the reliably known navigators to cross the Atlantic Ocean in the subtropical zone of the northern hemisphere, the first European to sail to, discovered Central and South America, initiating the study of the continents and their nearby archipelagos:
- Greater Antilles (Cuba, Haiti, Jamaica, Puerto Rico);
- Lesser Antilles (from Dominica to the Virgin Islands and the island of Trinidad);
- Bahamas.
Although it is not entirely historically correct to call him the "Discoverer of America", since even in the Middle Ages the coast of continental America and the nearby islands were visited by the Icelandic Vikings. Since the data on those voyages did not go beyond Scandinavia, it was the expeditions of Columbus that first made information about the western lands known to the world. The fact that a new part of the world was discovered was finally proved by the expedition. Discoveries of Columbus laid the foundation for the colonization of the territories of America by Europeans, the foundation of Spanish settlements, the enslavement and mass extermination of the indigenous population, erroneously called "Indians".
Bio pages
The legendary Christopher Columbus - the greatest of medieval navigators - can quite reasonably be called one of the biggest losers of the Age of Discovery. To understand this, it is enough to familiarize yourself with his biography, which, unfortunately, is replete with "white" spots.
It is believed that Christopher Columbus was born in the maritime Italian Republic of Genoa (Italian: Genova), on the island of Corsica in August-October 1451, although the exact date of his birth is still in question. In general, not much is known about childhood and adolescence.
So, Christoforo was the firstborn in a poor Genoese family. The father of the future navigator, Domenico Colombo, worked in pastures, vineyards, worked as a wool weaver, traded in wine and cheese. Christopher's mother, Susanna Fontanarossa, was the daughter of a weaver. Christopher had 3 younger brothers - Bartolome (circa 1460), Giacomo (circa 1468), Giovanni Pellegrino, who died very early - and sister Bianchinetta.
Documentary evidence from that time shows that the financial situation of the family was deplorable. Especially large financial problems arose because of the house to which the family moved when Christopher was 4 years old. Much later, on the foundations of the house in Santo Domingo, where Christoforo spent his childhood, a building called "Casa di Colombo" (Spanish: Casa di Colombo - "House of Columbus") was erected, on the facade of which in 1887 an inscription appeared : " No parental home can be honored more than this.».
Since Colombo Sr. was a respected craftsman in the city, in 1470 he was sent on an important mission to Savona (Italian: Savona) to discuss with the weavers the issue of introducing uniform prices for textile products. Apparently, therefore, Dominico moved with his family to Savona, where, after the death of his wife and youngest son, as well as after the departure of his eldest sons and the marriage of Bianchi, he increasingly began to seek solace in a glass of wine.
Since the future discoverer of America grew up near the sea, from childhood he was attracted by the sea. From his youth, Christopher was distinguished by faith in omens and divine providence, morbid pride and a passion for gold. He possessed a remarkable mind, versatile knowledge, a talent for eloquence and the gift of persuasion. It is known that after studying a little at the University of Pavia, around 1465 the young man entered the service of the Genoese fleet and at a fairly early age began to sail as a sailor in the Mediterranean Sea on merchant ships. After some time, he was seriously wounded and temporarily left the service.
He may have become a merchant and settled in Portugal in the mid-1470s, joined the community of Italian merchants in Lisbon, and under the Portuguese flag sailed north to England, Ireland, and Iceland. He visited Madeira, the Canary Islands, walked along the western coast of Africa to modern Ghana.
In Portugal, around 1478, Christopher Columbus married the daughter of a prominent navigator of the time, Doña Felipe Moniz de Palestrello, becoming a member of a wealthy Italo-Portuguese family in Lisbon. Soon the young couple had a son, Diego. Until 1485, Columbus "walked" on Portuguese ships, was engaged in trade and self-education, and became interested in mapping. In 1483, he already had a new project for a sea trade route to India and Japan, which the navigator presented to the king of Portugal. But, apparently, his time has not yet come, or he failed to convincingly convince the monarch of the need to equip the expedition, but after 2 years of deliberation, the king rejected this enterprise, and the impudent sailor fell into disgrace. Then Columbus moved to the Spanish service, where a few years later he still managed to persuade the king to finance a sea expedition.
Already in 1486 H.K. managed to intrigue with his project the influential Duke of Medina Seli, who introduced the poor but obsessed navigator into the circle of the royal entourage, bankers and merchants.
In 1488, he received an invitation from the Portuguese king to return to Portugal, the Spaniards also wanted to organize an expedition, but the country was in a state of protracted war and was unable to allocate funds for sailing.
First Expedition of Columbus
In January 1492, the war ended, and soon Christopher Columbus obtained permission to organize an expedition, but once again his bad temper let him down! The requirements of the navigator were excessive: the appointment of viceroy of all new lands, the title of "chief admiral of the ocean" and a large number of of money. The king refused him, however, Queen Isabella promised her help and assistance. As a result, on April 30, 1492, the king officially made Columbus a nobleman, conferring on him the title of “don” and approving all the demands put forward.
Expeditions of Christopher Columbus
In total, Columbus made 4 voyages to the coast of America:
- August 2, 1492 – March 15, 1493
aim first Spanish expedition, led by Christopher Columbus, was the search for the shortest sea route to India. This small expedition, consisting of 90 people "Santa Maria" (Spanish Santa María), "Pinta" (Spanish Pinta) and "Nina" (Spanish La Niña). "Santa Maria" - August 3, 1492 set off from Palos (Spanish: Cabo de Palos) on 3 caravels. Having reached the Canary Islands and turning west, she crossed the Atlantic and discovered the Sargasso Sea (eng. Sargasso Sea). The first land seen among the waves was one of the islands of the Bahamas, called San Salvador Island, on which Columbus landed on October 12, 1492 - this day is considered the official date of the discovery of America. Further, a number of Bahamas, Cuba, Haiti were discovered.
In March 1493, the ships returned to Castile, carrying in their holds some gold, strange plants, bright bird feathers, and several natives. Christopher Columbus announced that he had discovered western India.
- September 25, 1493 – June 11, 1496
In 1493 she set off and second expedition who was already in the rank
admiral. 17 ships and more than 2 thousand people participated in this grandiose enterprise. In November 1493
islands were discovered: Dominica (English Dominica), Guadeloupe (English Guadeloupe) and the Antilles (Spanish Antilias). In 1494, the expedition explored the islands of Haiti, Cuba, Jamaica and Huventud.
This expedition, which ended on June 11, 1496, opened the way for colonization. Priests, settlers and criminals began to be sent to open lands to populate new colonies.
- May 30, 1498 – November 25, 1500
Third exploratory expedition, consisting of only 6 ships, started in 1498. On July 31, the islands of Trinidad (Spanish: Trinidad), then the Gulf of Paria (Spanish: Golfo de Paria), the peninsula of Paria and the mouth (Spanish: Río Orinoco) were discovered. On August 15, the crew discovered (Spanish Isla Margarita). In 1500, Columbus, arrested on a denunciation, was sent to Castile. In prison, he did not stay long, but, having received freedom, he lost many privileges and most of his wealth - this was the biggest disappointment in the life of a navigator.
- 9 May 1502 – November 1504
Fourth expedition launched in 1502. Having obtained permission to continue searching for a western route to India, on 4 ships Columbus reached the island of Martinique (fr. Martinique) on June 15, and on July 30 entered the Gulf of Honduras (Spanish Golfo de Honduras), where he first had contact with representatives of the Maya civilization.
In 1502-1503. Columbus, who dreamed of getting to the fabulous treasures of India, thoroughly explored the coast of Central America and discovered more than 2 thousand km of Caribbean coasts. On June 25, 1503, off the coast of Jamaica, Columbus was wrecked and was rescued only a year later. On November 7, 1504, he returned to Castile seriously ill and broken by the failures that had befallen him.
The tragic end of life
This is where the epic of the famous navigator ended. Not finding the coveted passage to India, finding himself sick, without money and privileges, after painful negotiations with the king to restore his rights, Christopher Columbus died in the Spanish city of Valladolid (Spanish: Valladolid) on May 21, 1506. His remains in 1513 were transported to a monastery near Seville. Then, at the behest of Diego's son, who was then the governor of Hispaniola (Spanish: La Espaсola, Haiti), the remains of Columbus were reburied in Santo Domingo (Spanish: Santo Domingo de Guzman) in 1542, in 1795 they were transported to Cuba, and in 1898 was again returned to Spanish Seville (to the Cathedral of Santa Maria). DNA studies of the remains have shown that with a high degree of probability they belong to Columbus.
If you think about it, Columbus was dying an unfortunate man: he failed to reach the shores of fabulously rich India, and this was precisely the navigator's secret dream. He did not even understand what he had discovered, and the continents that he saw for the first time received the name of another person - (Italian: Amerigo Vespucci), who simply extended the paths blazed by the great Genoese. In fact, Columbus achieved a lot, and at the same time achieved nothing - this is his life tragedy.
Curious facts
- Almost ³⁄4 of Christopher Columbus' life was spent on voyages;
- The last words spoken by the navigator before his death were the following: In your hands, Lord, I entrust my spirit ...;
- After all these discoveries, the world entered the Age of Discovery. Poor, hungry, constantly fighting for resources in Europe, the discoveries of the famous discoverer gave an influx of a huge amount of gold and silver - the center of civilization moved there from the East and Europe began to develop rapidly;
- How difficult it was for Columbus to organize the first expedition, so easily subsequently all countries rushed to send their ships on long voyages - this is the main historical merit of the great navigator, who gave a powerful impetus to the study and change of the world!
- The name of Christopher Columbus has forever remained inscribed in the history and geography of all continents and most countries of the world. In addition to cities, streets, squares, numerous monuments and even an asteroid, the highest mountain in, a federal district and a river in the USA, provinces in Canada and Panama, one of the departments in Honduras, countless mountains, rivers, waterfalls are named after the famous navigator , parks and many other geographical objects.
Christopher Columbus (1451 - 1506) - the famous navigator who made the official discovery of America. He made the first voyage from Europe across the Atlantic Ocean in Southern Hemisphere to the coast of Central America. He discovered the Sargasso and Caribbean Seas, the Bahamas, the Greater Antilles and the Lesser Antilles, part of the coast of South and Central America. He founded the first colony in the New World in Haiti and Saint-Domingue.
The key figure of the era of the great geographical discoveries, of course, is Christopher Columbus, and it is quite natural that it was he who first of all attracted the attention of Istrik geographers literally from the first days that followed after his discoveries. It would seem that everything connected with the life and work of this person should have long been known and appreciated. Nevertheless, almost all the facts relating to his youth and stay in Portugal are disputed. His contribution to the cause of geographical discoveries is also assessed differently. It comes to polar opposite opinions, and some researchers even argue that most of the traditional stories about him are just fiction and should not be taken into account.
Christopher Columbus (the Spaniards called him Cristobal Colon) was born around 1451 in Genoa in the family of a wool weaver. Although the prosaic occupation of his father and relatives had nothing to do with long voyages, Columbus was imperiously drawn to the sea from childhood. Genoa was a great maritime republic, its port quarters were filled with sailors and merchants from all over the world. The threads of control of a rich city converged in the hands of large merchant and banking houses, which owned hundreds of merchant ships that sailed from Genoa to all corners of the world.
Even in his youth, Columbus refused to follow in his father's footsteps. He became a cartographer. At about the age of 25, the Genoese came to Portugal. Fascinated by the bold undertakings of the Portuguese, who sought to find a new route to India bypassing Africa, he thought a lot about this, studying Italian and Portuguese maps. Columbus was familiar with the ancient theories of the sphericity of the Earth and thought about the possibility of getting to India, moving not to the east, but to the west. A few happy accidents reinforced this thought.
In Portugal, he married, and he got maps, sailing directions and notes from his father-in-law, an experienced navigator from the time of Enrique the Navigator, the governor of the island of Porto Santo. During his stay on Porto Santo, Columbus heard stories of local residents that fragments of boats and utensils with unknown ornaments unknown to Europeans sometimes washed up on the western coast of their island. This information confirmed the idea that in the west beyond the ocean there is a land inhabited by people. Columbus believed that this is India and neighboring China.
A number of historians believe that the idea of Columbus was supported by the famous Italian geographer Paolo Toscanelli. Adhering to the opinion about the sphericity of the Earth, Toscanelli compiled a map of the world, providing it with arguments about the possibility of reaching India by sailing to the west. When a letter came to him from the humble Italian cartographer Columbus, Toscanelli kindly sent him a copy of his map. On it, China and India were depicted approximately where America is actually located. Toscanelli miscalculated the circumference of the earth, underestimating it, and due to his inaccuracy, India seemed temptingly close to the western coast of Europe. If there are great mistakes in history, then Toscanelli's mistake was just that in its consequences. She strengthened Columbus in his intention to be the first to reach India, sailing by the western route.
Columbus proposed his bold plan to the King of Portugal, but he rejected it. Then Columbus tried to interest the English king, but Henry VII did not want to spend money on a dubious enterprise. Finally, Columbus turned his attention to Spain.
In 1485, Columbus went to Spain with his young son Diego. And here his project also did not immediately find understanding. He long and unsuccessfully sought a meeting with King Ferdinand of Aragon, who at that time was besieging the last stronghold of the Moors - Granada. Desperate, Columbus had already decided to leave Spain and go to France, but at the last moment, luck smiled at the Italian: Queen Isabella of Castile agreed to accept him.
Isabella, a powerful and resolute woman, listened favorably to the foreigner. His plan promised new glory for Spain and untold riches for her kings, if they managed to get to India and China before other Christian sovereigns. In 1492, the royal couple, Ferdinand and Isabella, signed an agreement with Columbus, according to which he received the titles of admiral, viceroy and governor, salaries for all positions, a tenth of the income from new lands and the right to deal with criminal and civil cases.
First expedition
For the first expedition, two ships were allocated, and another ship was equipped by navigators and shipowners, the Pinson brothers. The crew of the flotilla consisted of 90 people. The names of the ships - "Santa Maria", "Nina" ("Baby") and "Pinta" - are now known to the whole world, and they were commanded by: "Pinta" - Martin Alonso Pinson, and "Nina" - Vincente Yañez Pinson. The Santa Maria became the flagship. Columbus himself sailed on it.
The purpose of the expedition is now disputed by many experts, citing various arguments in favor of the fact that Columbus was going to look for something other than India. Instead, they name various legendary islands like Brasil, Antilia, etc. Nevertheless, most of these considerations look insufficiently substantiated.
On August 3, 1492, three small caravels left the port of Paloe on the Atlantic coast of Spain. At the head of this expedition was an extraordinary man, obsessed with a bold dream - to cross the Atlantic Ocean from east to west and reach the fabulously rich kingdoms of India and China. His sailors set off reluctantly - they were afraid of unknown seas, where no one had been before them. The team from the very beginning experienced hostility towards the foreign admiral.
Leaving the last parking lot of ships before going out into the open ocean - the Canary Islands, many feared that they would never come back. Despite the favorable weather, all subsequent days of sailing in the vast expanses of the ocean became a real test for sailors. Several times the team tried to raise a rebellion and turn back. To reassure the sailors, Columbus hid from them how many miles had been covered. He kept two ship logs: in the official one he put down false data, from which it followed that the ships had not gone so far from the European coast, in the other, secret, he noted how much had actually been passed.
When passing the magnetic meridian on the caravels, all the compasses suddenly failed - their arrows danced, indicating different directions. Panic began on the ships, but the compass needles calmed down just as suddenly. Other surprises lay in wait for the Columbus expedition: one day at dawn, the sailors discovered that the ships were surrounded by a lot of algae and seemed to be sailing not on the sea, but on a green meadow. At first, the caravels advanced briskly among the greenery, but then a calm came and they stopped. Rumors spread that it was algae that braided the keel and did not let the ships go further. So the Europeans got acquainted with the Sargasso Sea.
The crew was worried about the unusual situation, and in early October, demands began to be made to change course. Columbus, striving to the west, was forced to yield. The ships turned west-southwest. But the situation continued to escalate, and with the greatest difficulty, persuasion and promises, the commander managed to keep the flotilla from returning.
Two months of hard sailing across the ocean... It seemed that the sea desert would never end. Stocks of food and fresh water were running out. People are tired. The admiral, who did not leave the deck for hours, increasingly heard exclamations of discontent and threats from the sailors.
However, everyone on board the ships noticed signs of close land: birds flying in from the west and landing on the masts. Once the sentinel saw the earth, and everyone indulged in fun, but in the morning it disappeared. It was a mirage, and the team again plunged into despondency. Meanwhile, all the signs spoke of the proximity of the desired land: birds, passing green branches of trees and sticks, clearly shaved off by a human hand.
“It was midnight on October 11, 1492. Just another two hours - and an event will take place that is destined to change the entire course of world history. On the ships, no one was fully aware of this, but literally everyone, from the admiral to the youngest cabin boy, was in suspense. The one who sees the land first was promised a reward of ten thousand maravedis, and now it was clear to everyone that the long voyage was drawing to a close... The day was running out, and on a bright starry night, three boats, driven by a fair wind, were rapidly gliding forward ..."
This is how the American historian J. Bakless describes the exciting moment that preceded the discovery of America by Columbus...
That night, Captain Martin Pinzon, on the Pinta, was ahead of the small flotilla, and Rodrigo de Triana was the watchman at the bow of the ship. It was he who first saw the earth, or rather, reflections of the ghostly moonlight on the white sandy hills. "Earth! Earth!" shouted Rodrigo. And a minute later the thunder of a cannon shot announced that America was open.
The sails were removed on all the ships and they began to look forward to dawn. At last it came, a clear and cool dawn on Friday, October 12, 1492. The first rays of the sun illuminated the earth mysteriously darkening ahead. “This island,” Columbus later wrote in his diary, “is very sick and very even, there are many green trees and water, and in the middle there is a large lake. There are no mountains."
The opening of the West Indies has begun. And although on that momentous morning of October 12, 1492, the life of the vast American continent was outwardly undisturbed, the appearance of three caravels in warm waters off the coast of Guanahani meant that the history of America had entered a new era full of dramatic events.
The boats were lowered from the ships. Stepping ashore, the admiral hoisted the royal banner there and declared the open land the possession of Spain. It was a small island that Columbus dubbed San Salvador - "Savior" (now Guanahani, one of the islands of the Bahamas). The island turned out to be inhabited: it was inhabited by cheerful and good-natured people with swarthy, reddish skin. “All of them,” writes Columbus, “go about naked, in what their mother gave birth, and women too ... And the people I saw were still young, all of them were no more than 30 years old, and they were well built, and their bodies and their faces were very beautiful, and their hair was coarse, just like a horse’s, and short ... Their facial features were regular, their expression friendly ... The color of these people was not black, but such as the inhabitants of the Canary Islands.
The first meeting of Europeans with American natives. The first, most vivid impressions of the New World. Here everything seemed unusual and new: nature, plants, birds, animals and even people...
None of the members of the Columbus expedition had any doubts that if the island he discovered was not yet fabulous India, but at least it was somewhere close. The ships headed south. Soon the large island of Cuba was discovered, which was considered part of the mainland. Here Columbus hoped to meet the great cities belonging to the great Chinese Khan, which Marco Polo told about.
The locals were friendly and greeted the white strangers with amazement. An exchange began between them and the sailors, and the natives paid for European trinkets with gold plates. Columbus rejoiced: this was another proof that the fabulous gold mines of India were somewhere nearby. However, neither the residence of the great khan nor the gold mines were found in Cuba - only villages and cotton fields. Columbus moved east and, having discovered another large island - Haiti, called it Hispaniola (Spanish Island).
While the admiral was exploring the open archipelago, Captain Pinson left him, deciding to return to Spain. Soon she died, running aground, "Santa Maria". Columbus was left with only the Nina, which could not accommodate the entire crew. The admiral decided to return home to immediately equip a new expedition. Forty sailors remained to wait for Columbus in the fort "La Navedad" (Christmas) built for them.
Neither Columbus nor his companions had yet realized the full importance of what had happened. And many years later, his contemporaries still did not realize the significance of this discovery, which for a long time did not give the coveted spices and gold. Only the next generations could appreciate it. America itself was still far away. On the horizon, sailors saw only one of the islands of the continent - Guanahani, and on this journey, none of the Spaniards set foot on the mainland. Nevertheless, today it is October 12, 1492, that is considered the official date of the discovery of America, although it has been proven that even before Columbus, Europeans visited the lands of the Western Hemisphere.
In the open lands, Columbus did not find anything that would resemble India or other Asian countries. There were no cities here. And people, and plants, and animals were very different from what could be read or heard from travelers about Asia. But Columbus so sacredly believed in his theory that he was absolutely sure of the discovery, if not of India, but of some poor country, but precisely in Asia. However, one could not expect anything else from him: after all, even at the most the best cards At that time there was no mention of the mainland on the opposite side of the globe, and the dimensions of the Earth, although calculated back in the ancient period, were not known to medieval Europe.
The return of Columbus to Spain on March 15, 1493 on two surviving, but badly battered ships, turned into a real triumph for the great navigator. The admiral was immediately demanded to the court. The finest hour of Christopher Columbus has come, who had no doubt that he opened the way for Spain to India. The Genoese told the astonished listeners about the paradise lands he had visited, showed the stuffed wild animals and birds he had brought, collections of plants and, most importantly, six natives taken from Hispaniola, who, naturally, were considered Indians. Columbus was showered with numerous honors and awards of the royal couple and received a firm promise of assistance in the implementation of future expeditions in the "India".
Of course, the real acquisitions from the first voyage were small: a handful of miserable trinkets made of low-grade gold, a few half-naked natives, bright feathers of strange birds. But the main thing was done: this Genoese found new lands in the west, far beyond the ocean.
Columbus' report made an impression. Found gold opened up tempting prospects. Therefore, the next expedition was not long in coming. Already on September 25, in the rank of "chief admiral of the ocean," Columbus, at the head of a flotilla of 17 ships, sailed west.
Second expedition
The second expedition of Columbus, which set off across the Atlantic in September 1493, already involved 17 ships and more than 1,500 people. The ships were full of provisions: the Spaniards brought small livestock and poultry with them to breed them in new places. This time they took a course to the south than on the first voyage, and discovered the islands of Dominica, Maria Talante, Guadeloupe, Antigua, which are part of the Lesser Antilles, and Puerto Rico, and on September 22, having again landed in Cuba, it turned out that all the colonists, guilty of robbery and violence were destroyed by the islanders. To the east of the burned fort, Columbus built a city, named it Isabella, explored the island and reported to Spain about the discovery of a gold deposit, greatly exaggerating its reserves.
In April 1494, Columbus left Hispaniola to finally discover "the mainland of India", but found only about. Jamaica. He soon returned to Cuba. A lot of trouble awaited him in the colony. The most significant for him was the violation of the royal contract. Ferdinand and Isabella, believing that the income from Hispaniola is small, allowed all Castilian subjects to move to new lands if they contribute two-thirds of the gold mined to the treasury. In addition, now everyone had the right to equip ships for new discoveries. To top it off, yielding to the dissatisfaction of the colonists with the governor, which was largely justified, the kings removed him from his post and sent a new governor to Hispaniola.
June 11, 1496 Columbus went to Spain to defend his rights. When meeting with Their Majesties, he achieved his goal and received a promise of a monopoly for himself and his sons on discoveries, and in order to “cheaperize” the maintenance of the colony, he offered to populate Hispaniola with criminals, reducing their sentence, which was done.
Third expedition
Despite the favorable outcome of the audience, Columbus managed to equip the third expedition with great difficulty in 1498. “Indian riches” were not yet in sight, therefore there were no hunters to finance the enterprise, as well as those who wanted to set off. And yet, on May 30, 1498, six small ships with a crew of 300 sailed west, and at about. Hierro's flotilla split up. Three ships headed for Hispaniola, and Columbus led the rest to the Cape Verde Islands with the intention of reaching the equator line and proceeding further west.
On this voyage, the sailors faced unprecedented heat. Supplies on ships deteriorated, fresh water rotten. The torments experienced by the sailors resurrected terrible tales of the Sea of Darkness and the latitudes where it is impossible to live. Columbus himself, no longer a young man, suffered from gout and eye disease, sometimes he had bouts of nervous breakdown. And yet they reached distant lands across the ocean.
In this voyage, Columbus discovered the island of Trinidad (Trinity), located near the mouth of the Orinoco River, and came closest to the coast of the continent. The flow of fresh water that sailors noticed in the ocean made Columbus think of a powerful river flowing from somewhere south. Obviously, there was a mainland. Columbus decided that the lands lying south of India were nothing but Eden itself - paradise, the top of the world. From there, from this hill, all the great rivers originate. Illuminated by this conjecture, Columbus considered himself the first European who was destined to find his way to the earthly paradise, from where, according to the Bible, the progenitors of mankind, Adam and Eve, were expelled. Columbus believed that he had been chosen to once again show people the way to their lost bliss.
However, when the admiral returned to Hispaniola, he was met with reproaches and complaints from the settlers. They were dissatisfied with the conditions in which they found themselves, with the fact that their hopes for a fantastic enrichment did not come true, and sent denunciations to Columbus to Spain, claiming that he had turned the colony into a "cemetery for the Castilian nobles." Ferdinand and Isabella had their own reasons for dissatisfaction with Columbus. Gold, spices, precious stones - everything that the participants of the expeditions and those who financed them so greedily aspired to - could not be obtained. Meanwhile, the Portuguese made the last push on their way to India: in 1498, Vasco da Gama circled Africa and reached the desired goal, returning with a rich cargo of spices. This was a sensitive blow for Spain.
On Hispaniola, Columbus was again in trouble. In 1499, the king and queen again canceled his monopoly and sent Francisco Boasillo to the colony to deal with the flow of complaints against the governor on the spot. Boazilla came to the conclusion that Columbus could not rule the country because he was a "hard-hearted" man, ordered him and his brothers to be shackled and sent to Spain. The deeply wounded admiral did not want to remove the shackles until he was heard by his sovereigns. In the mother country, supporters of Columbus began a campaign in defense of the "admiral of all seas." Ferdinand and Isabella ordered his release and expressed sympathy, but did not restore his rights. The title of viceroy was not returned to Columbus, and by that time his financial affairs had fallen into disarray.
Fourth expedition
And yet the humiliated admiral managed to make one last trip to find a way to South Asia south of Cuba. This time, for the first time, he came close to the coast of Central America in the Isthmus of Panama (Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama), where (mainly among the Panamanian Indians) he exchanged a significant amount of gold.
The journey began on April 3, 1502. Having at his disposal 4 ships with a crew of 150 people, Columbus discovered about. Martinique, then near northern Honduras - the island of Benaca and examined part of the mainland coast from Mosquitos Bay to Cape Tiburon, about 2 thousand km long. When it became clear that ahead, as the Indians reported, there was no strait, two caravels (the rest were abandoned) turned towards Jamaica. The ships were in such a state that on the northern coast of the island on June 23, 1503 they had to be grounded so as not to sink, and a pirogue with three sailors was sent to Hispaniola asking for help. Help came in June 1504.
Luck completely turned away from the admiral. From Jamaica to Hispaniola, he traveled for a whole month and a half. Storms battered his ship and on the way to Spain. Only on November 7, the seriously ill Columbus saw the mouth of the Guadalquivir. Having recovered a little, in May 1505 he arrived at the court to renew his claims to the crown. Meanwhile, it turned out that his patroness Queen Isabella had died. Consideration of the case of the admiral's property claims was delayed due to the fact that the royal court and the Spanish nobility did not receive the main thing - the coveted treasures of the Chinese and Indian rulers. On May 20, 1506, the “admiral of the ocean” died in Valladolid, without having obtained from the king a determination of the amount of income, rights and privileges due to him.
The great navigator died in complete oblivion and poverty. The ashes of the traveler did not soon find rest. First he was transferred to Seville, and then transported across the ocean to Hispaniola and buried in the Cathedral of Santo Domingo. Many years later, he was reburied in Cuba, in Havana, but then returned to Seville again. Now it is not known exactly where the true grave of the great navigator is located - Havana and Seville equally claim this honor.
Much can be said about the role of Columbus in history in general and in the history of the development of geographical representations in particular. A lot of scientific treatises and popular publications are devoted to this, but the main essence, apparently, is clearly stated by the historian-geographer J. Baker: “... he died, probably not fully realizing what he discovered. His name is immortalized in geographical names in the New World, his accomplishments have become commonplace in the history books. And even if we take seriously the criticism that Columbus himself and his biographers were subjected to, he will still remain forever central figure great era European "overseas expansion" ("History of geographical discoveries and research").
Columbus' diaries have been lost. Only the so-called "Diary of the First Journey" remained, in the retelling of Bartolome Las Casas. He and other documents of that time related to the discoveries of the great traveler, in Russian translation, were published in the collection "The Travels of Christopher Columbus (Diaries, Letters, Documents)", published in several editions.
Contemporaries, which often happens in history, failed to appreciate the true significance of the discoveries made by Columbus. Yes, and he himself did not understand that he had discovered a new continent, considering until the end of his life the lands he had discovered as India, and their inhabitants as Indians. Only after the expeditions of Balboa, Magellan and Vespucci did it become obvious that beyond the blue expanses of the ocean lies a completely new, unknown land. But they will call it America (by the name of Amerigo Vespucci), and not Colombia, as justice required. More grateful to the memory of Columbus were subsequent generations of compatriots.
The significance of his discoveries was confirmed already in the 1920s and 30s. XVI century., When after the conquest of the rich kingdoms of the Aztecs and Incas, a wide stream of American gold and silver poured into Europe. What the great navigator strove for all his life, and what he so persistently sought in the "Western Indies", turned out to be not a utopia, not the delirium of a madman, but the very real reality. Columbus is honored in Spain today. His name is no less famous in Latin America, where one, the northernmost country of the South American continent, is named Colombia in his honor.
However, only in the United States, October 12th is celebrated as a national holiday - Columbus Day. Many cities, a district, a mountain, a river, a university and countless streets are named after the great Genoese. Although with some delay, justice has prevailed. Columbus received his share of fame and appreciation from a grateful humanity.
Causes of Spain's overseas expansion
ATabout the second half of the fifteenth century. feudalism in Western Europe was in the process of decay, growing big cities trade developed. Money became the universal medium of exchange, the need for which increased sharply. Therefore, in Europe, the demand for gold has greatly increased, which increased the desire for the "Indies" - the birthplace of spices, For the significance of spices to medieval cities, see: Arab Trade Routes. where there is a lot of gold. But at the same time, as a result of Turkish conquests, it became more and more difficult for Western Europeans to use the old, eastern combined land and sea routes to the "Indies". At that time, only Portugal was engaged in the search for southern sea routes. For other Atlantic countries by the end of the XV century. only the path to the west, across the unknown ocean, remained open. The idea of such a path appeared in Renaissance Europe in connection with the spread among a relatively wide range of interested people of the ancient doctrine of the sphericity of the Earth, and long-distance voyages became possible thanks to the achievements made in the second half of the 15th century. progress in shipbuilding and navigation.
These were the general prerequisites for the overseas expansion of Western European countries. The fact that it was Spain that was the first to send the small flotilla of Christopher Columbus to the west in 1492 is explained by the conditions that prevailed in this country towards the end of the 15th century. One of them was the strengthening of the Spanish royal power, previously limited. The turning point was outlined in 1469, when Queen Isabella of Castile married the heir to the throne of Aragon, Ferdinand. After 10 years, he became the king of Aragon. Thus, in 1479, the largest Pyrenean states united and a united Spain arose. Skillful politics strengthened royal power. With the help of the urban bourgeoisie, the crowned couple curbed the recalcitrant nobility and large feudal lords. Having created in 1480-1485. Inquisition, the kings turned the church into the most terrible weapon of absolutism. The last Muslim Pyrenean state - the Emirate of Granada - could not resist their onslaught for long. At the beginning of 1492, Granada fell. The eight-century process of the Reconquista ended, and the "United Spain" entered the world stage.
Bartolome de Las Casas
"India Archives", Seville, SpainOverseas expansion was in the interests of both the royal power itself and its allies - the urban bourgeoisie and the church. The bourgeoisie sought to expand the sources of primitive accumulation; church - to extend its influence to pagan countries. The military force for the conquest of the "pagan Indies" could be given by the Spanish nobility. It was in his interests, and in the interests of the absolutist royal power and the urban bourgeoisie. The conquest of Granada put an end to the almost continuous war with the Moors in Spain itself, a war that had been a trade for many thousands of hidalgos. Now they sat idle and became even more dangerous to the monarchy and cities than in last years Reconquests, when the kings, in alliance with the townspeople, had to wage a stubborn struggle against the robber noble gangs. It was necessary to find a way out for the accumulated energy of the hidalgo. The way out, beneficial for the crown and cities, for the clergy and nobility, was overseas expansion.
The royal treasury, especially the Castilian one, was constantly empty, and overseas expeditions to Asia promised fabulous incomes. The Hidalgos dreamed of land holdings across the ocean, but even more - of the gold and jewels of "China" and "India", since most of the nobles were in debt, as if in silk, from usurers. The desire for profit was combined with religious fanaticism - a consequence of the centuries-old struggle of Christians against Muslims. One should not, however, exaggerate its importance in the Spanish (as well as Portuguese) colonial expansion. For the initiators and organizers of overseas expansion, for the leaders of the Conquest, religious zeal was a familiar and convenient mask, under which the desire for power and personal gain was hidden. A contemporary of Columbus, the author of The Shortest Report on the Devastation of India and the multi-volume History of India, Bishop Bartolome Las Casas, characterized the conquistadors with amazing force with his catchphrase: “They walked with a cross in their hand and with an insatiable thirst for gold in their hearts.” "Catholic kings" zealously defended the interests of the church only when they coincided with their personal interests. That Columbus in this case did not differ from the kings, is clearly seen from those documents that were personally written or dictated by him.
Christopher Columbus and his project
Withporn almost all the facts from the life of Columbus, Columbus is a Latinized form of the Italian surname Colombo. In Spain, his name was Cristoval Colon. relating to his youth and long sojourn in Portugal. It can be considered established, although with some doubt, that he was born in the autumn of 1451 in Genoa into a very poor Catholic family. At least until 1472, he lived in Genoa itself or (since 1472) in Savona and, like his father, was in the woolen workshop. It is not known whether Columbus studied at any school, but it is proved that he read in four languages - Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and Latin, read a lot and, moreover, very carefully. Probably, the first long voyage of Columbus dates back to the 70s: the documents indicate his participation in the Genoese trading expeditions that visited in 1474 and 1475. about. Chios in the Aegean.
In May 1476, Columbus went by sea to Portugal as a clerk of a Genoese trading house and lived there for nine years - in Lisbon, Madeira and Porto Santo. According to him, he visited both England and Guinea, in particular, the Gold Coast. However, we do not know in whose capacity he sailed - a sailor or a clerk in a trading house. But already during his first expedition, Columbus, despite the mistakes and failures inevitable with the novelty of the enterprise, showed himself to be a very experienced sailor, who combined the qualities of a captain, astronomer and navigator. He not only fully mastered the art of navigation, but also raised it to a higher level. According to the traditional version, back in 1474 Columbus asked for advice on the shortest sea route in "India" to Paolo Toscanelli, astronomer and geographer. The Florentine responded by sending a copy of his letter to the Portuguese scholar-monk who had previously contacted him on behalf of the king. Afonso V. In this letter, Toscanelli pointed out that there was a shorter route across the ocean to the countries of spices than the one that the Portuguese were looking for, sailing along the western coast of Africa. “I know that the existence of such a path can be proved on the basis that the Earth is a sphere. Nevertheless, in order to facilitate the undertaking, I am sending ... a map made by me ... It shows your coasts and islands, from where you must sail continuously to the west; and the places where you will arrive; and how far you must keep from the pole or from the equator; and how far you must go to reach the countries where there are most different spices and precious stones. Don't be surprised that I call the western countries where the spices grow, when they are usually called the east, because people who sail steadily west will reach the eastern countries across the ocean in the other hemisphere. But if you go overland - through our hemisphere, then the countries of spices will be in the east ... "
Obviously, Columbus then informed Toscanelli about his project, since he wrote to the Genoese in the second letter: “I consider your project of sailing from east to west ... noble and great. I am pleased to see that I was well understood.” In the XV century. no one yet knew how land and ocean are distributed on Earth. Toscanelli almost doubled the length of the Asian continent from west to east and, accordingly, underestimated the width of the ocean separating Southern Europe from China in the west, defining it as a third of the circumference of the Earth, i.e., according to his calculation, less than 12 thousand km Japan (Cipangu) lay, according to Toscanelli, about 2,000 km east of China, and, consequently, less than 10,000 km must be traveled from Lisbon to Japan; the Azores or Canary Islands and the mythical Antilia could serve as stages on this transition. Columbus made his own corrections to this calculation, relying on some astronomical and geographical books: it is most convenient to sail to East Asia through the Canary Islands, from where you need to go 4.5-5.0 thousand km to the west to reach Japan. According to the French geographer of the XVIII century. Jean Anville, it was "the greatest mistake that led to the greatest discovery." Neither the originals nor copies of Toscanelli's map have come down to us, but it has been reconstructed more than once on the basis of his letters.
Columbus proposed his project João II. After long delays, in 1484 the Portuguese king handed over his project to the scientific council, which had just been organized to compile navigational manuals. The council rejected Columbus' evidence. A certain role in the refusal of the king was also played by the excessive rights and advantages that Columbus reprimanded himself if the enterprise was successful. The Genoese left Portugal with a young son Diego. According to the traditional version, in 1485 Columbus arrived in the city of Palos near the Gulf of Cadiz and found shelter near Palos, in the monastery of Rabida. The abbot became interested in the project and sent Columbus to influential monks, who recommended him to Castilian grandees, including the Duke Medinaceli. These recommendations only hurt the case: Isabel suspicious of the enterprise, which, with luck, would enrich her political opponents - the big feudal lords - and would contribute to the growth of their influence. The duke asked Isabella to allow the organization of the expedition at her own expense. The Queen ordered that the project be submitted to a special commission for consideration.
The commission, which consisted of monks and courtiers, gave a negative opinion four years later. It has not reached us. According to the biographers of Columbus of the 16th century, the commission cited various ridiculous motives, but did not deny the sphericity of the Earth: at the end of the 15th century. a clergyman who claims to be a scholar would hardly have dared to challenge this truth. On the contrary, Christian writers at that time tried to reconcile the data confirming the spherical shape of the Earth with biblical concepts, for the direct denial of the truth, which had become generally known, could damage the already shaken authority of the church. Let us note by the way: the version of the ceremonial meeting of the council of the University of Salaman, at which the Columbus project was allegedly rejected on the grounds that pundits were indignant at his considerations about the sphericity of the Earth, is fictitious from beginning to end. However, the kings have not yet given their final judgment. In 1487–1488 Columbus received an allowance from the treasury, but his business did not move while the kings were busy with the war. But he found the most reliable point of support: with the help of the monks, he became close to the Spanish financiers. It was the right path that led him to victory. In 1491, Columbus again appears in the Rabida monastery and, through the abbot, gets acquainted with Martin Alonso Ponson, an experienced sailor and an influential Palos shipbuilder. At the same time, Columbus's ties with royal financial advisers, with Seville merchants and bankers are being strengthened.
At the end of 1491, the Columbus project was again considered by the commission, and prominent lawyers took part in it along with theologians and cosmographers. And this time the project was rejected: the demands of Columbus were considered excessive. The king and queen joined in the decision, and Columbus headed to France. At that moment, Isabella appeared Luis Santangel, the head of the largest trading house, the closest financial adviser to the kings, and persuaded her to accept the project, promising a loan to equip the expedition. A policeman was sent for Columbus, who caught up with him near Granada and escorted him to the court. On April 17, 1492, the kings expressed their written consent to the draft treaty with Columbus. The most important article of this document read: “Their Highnesses, as the lords of the seas-oceans, grant Don Cristobal Colon to their admirals of all the islands and continents, which he personally ... will open or acquire in these seas and oceans, and after his death [please] his heirs and descendants forever this title with all the privileges and prerogatives attached to it ... Their Highnesses appoint Columbus as their viceroy and chief ruler in ... the islands and continents that he ... discovers or acquires, and for the management each of them will have to choose the one who is most suitable for this service ... ”(from the candidates put forward by Columbus).
On April 30, the king and queen officially confirmed the granting of the title “don” to Columbus and his heirs (this meant that he was elevated to the dignity of nobility) and. in case of luck, the titles of admiral, viceroy and governor, as well as the right to receive salaries for these positions, a tenth of the net income from new lands and the right to deal with criminal and civil cases. The overseas expedition was regarded by the crown primarily as a risky trade enterprise. The Queen agreed, seeing that the project was supported by major financiers. Luis Santangel, with a representative of the Seville merchant class, loaned 1,400,000 maravedis to the Castilian crown. This is equivalent to almost 9.7 thousand gold dollars in 1934 prices. At the end of the 15th century. A sailor's salary was 12 maravedis per day, and a pood of wheat cost 43.4 maravedis. The support of representatives of the bourgeoisie and influential churchmen predetermined the success of Columbus' efforts.
The composition and purpose of the first expedition of Columbus
ToOlumbus was given two ships. The crew was recruited from the inhabitants of Palos and a number of other port cities. Columbus equipped a third ship - Martin Pinson and his brothers helped him raise funds. The flotilla team consisted of 90 people. Columbus raised the admiral's flag on the Santa Maria, the largest ship in the flotilla, which he, perhaps not quite deservedly, described as "a bad ship, unsuitable for discoveries." Senior Pinson was appointed captain of the Pinta - Martin Alonso; captain of the smallest ship "Ninya" ("Baby") - junior Pinzon - Vicente Yanes. There are no documents on the size of these ships, and the opinions of historians differ greatly: the tonnage of the Santa Maria is determined by S. E. Morison at 100 tons, Pints - about 60 tons, Nigni - about 50 tons.
There is an extensive literature about the purpose of the first expedition of Columbus. Among historians, a group of skeptics, "Antn-Colombians" denies that Columbus set himself the goal of reaching Asia in 1492: two main documents emanating from the "Catholic kings" and agreed with Columbus - the contract and the "title certificate" - are not mentioned neither Asia nor any part of it. There are no place names at all. And the purpose of the expedition is formulated in deliberately vague terms, which is quite understandable - in these documents it was impossible to mention the "Indies": papal awards confirmed in 1479 by Castile, the discovery of new lands south of the Canary Islands and "up to the Indians ” was provided by Portugal. Therefore, Columbus, beyond the Canary Islands, headed directly west from about. Hierro, not south. However, the mention of the mainland could only refer to Asia: according to ancient and medieval ideas, there could not be another continent in the northern hemisphere west of Europe, across the ocean. In addition, the treaty gives a list of goods that the kings and Columbus himself hoped to find across the ocean: "Pearls or precious stones, gold or silver, spices ..." All these goods were attributed to the "Indies" by medieval geographical tradition.
It is unlikely that the main task was the discovery of the legendary islands. The island of Brazil was then associated with a valuable Brazilian tree, and nothing is said about it in the documents; about. Antilia - with the legend of the "Seven Cities" founded by the bishops who fled there. If Antilia existed, then it was ruled by Christian sovereigns; the kings could not legally grant anyone the right to "purchase" Antilia for Castile and secure "forever" control of it to the heirs of Columbus. According to Catholic tradition, such awards could only apply to non-Christian countries.
There is also no doubt that the crew of the flotilla was selected only for the purpose of establishing trade relations with a non-Christian (possibly Muslim) country, and not for the conquest of a large country; however, the possibility of "acquiring" individual islands was not ruled out. Obviously, the flotilla was not intended for large-scale conquest operations - weak weapons, a small crew, and the absence of professional military personnel. The expedition did not aim to promote the "holy" faith, despite the later assertions of Columbus. On the contrary, there was not a single priest or monk on board, but there was a baptized Jew - a translator who knew a little Arabic, that is, the cult language of Muslims, which is not needed on the islands of Brazil, Antilia, etc., but he could useful in the "Indies", which traded with Muslim countries. The king and queen sought to establish trade relations with the "Indies" - this was precisely the main goal of the first expedition. When Columbus, returning to Spain, reported that he had discovered “India” in the west and brought Indians (indios) from there, he believed that he had been where he was sent and where he wanted to go, did what he promised. So thought the initiators and participants of the first expedition. This explains the immediate organization of another, this time a large expedition. There were almost no skeptics in Spain then: they appeared later.
On August 3, 1492, Columbus took the ships out of the harbor of Palos. Off the Canary Islands, it was discovered that the Pinta was leaking. Due to its repair, only in September 1492 did the flotilla move away from about. Homers. The first three days were almost completely calm. Then a fair wind drew the ships to the west, and so quickly that the sailors soon lost sight of Fr. Hierro. Columbus understood that the anxiety of sailors would grow as they moved away from their homeland, and decided to show in the ship's log and announce to the crew the underestimated data on the distances traveled, but enter the correct ones in his diary. Its original has been lost. The so-called "Diary of the First Voyage" of Columbus is a paraphrase compiled by Bartolome Las Casas. According to S. Morison, the "fake" data on the distance traveled turned out to be more accurate than the "true" ones. Already on September 10, the diary noted that 60 leagues (about 360 km) were covered per day, and 48 were calculated, "so as not to inspire fear in people." The quotations here and below are from The Travels of Christopher Columbus. Further pages of the diary are full of similar entries. On September 16, "many tufts of green grass began to be noticed, and, as could be judged by its appearance, this grass had only recently been torn off the ground." However, the flotilla moved west for three weeks through this strange expanse of water, where sometimes there was "so much grass that it seemed that the whole sea was teeming with it." The lot was thrown several times, but it did not reach the bottom. In the early days, the ships, carried along by fair winds, easily glided among the algae, but then, in calm, they hardly moved forward. This is how the Sargasso Sea was discovered.
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At the beginning of October, sailors and officers insisted more and more insistently on changing course: before that, Columbus had steadily rushed straight to the west. Finally, on October 7, he gave way, probably fearing a mutiny, and turned west-southwest. Three more days passed, and "people could no longer endure complaining about the long voyage." The admiral reassured the sailors a little, convincing them that they were close to the goal, and reminded them how far they were from their homeland. He persuaded some and promised rewards to others. On October 11, everything indicated the proximity of the earth. A strong excitement seized the sailors. At 2:00 a.m. on October 12, 1492 Rodrigo Triana, sailor "Pints", saw the land in the distance. In the morning the land opened up: “This island is very large and very flat, and there are many green trees and water, and in the middle there is a very large lake. There are no mountains." The first crossing of the Atlantic Ocean in the subtropical zone from Homera to this island lasted 33 days. The boats were lowered from the ships. Columbus, with both Pinsons, a notary and a royal controller, landed on the shore - now as an admiral and viceroy - hoisted the Castilian banner there, formally took possession of the island and drew up a notarial deed about this.
On the island, the Spaniards saw naked people. And Columbus describes the first meeting with the Arawaks, a people who after 20-30 years were completely exterminated by the colonialists: “They swam across to the boats where we were, and brought us parrots, and cotton yarn in skeins, and darts, and many other things, and exchanged all this... But it seemed to me that these people are poor... They all wear what their mother gave birth to. And all the people I saw were still young ... and they were built ... well, and their bodies and faces are very beautiful, and their hair is coarse, just like horses, and short ... (and their skin is such colors, like the inhabitants of the Canary Islands, who are neither black nor white...). Some of them paint the face, while others paint the whole body, and there are those in which only the eyes and nose are painted. They do not carry and do not know [iron] weapons: when I showed them swords, they grabbed the blades and unknowingly cut off their fingers. They don't have any iron.
On the island of Columbus, they gave "dry leaves, which were especially prized by the inhabitants": the first indication of tobacco. The Indians called their island Guanahani, the admiral gave it a Christian name - San Salvador ("Holy Savior"), which was assigned to one of the Bahamas, lying at 24 ° N. sh. and 74 ° 30 "W, - now Watling Island. Columbus drew attention to pieces of gold in the noses of some islanders. The gold allegedly came from somewhere in the south. gold where it is born". The Spaniards on boats explored the western and northern coasts of Guanahani Island for two days and discovered several villages. Other islands were visible in the distance, and Columbus was convinced that he had discovered the archipelago. Residents visited ships on canoes-one-trees of various sizes, lifting from one to 40-45 people. "They advanced in boats with the help of an oar that looked like a shovel ... and went at great speed." To find a way to the southern lands, where "gold is born", Columbus ordered to capture six Indians. Using their instructions, he gradually moved south.
The islands southwest of Guanahani were named by Columbus Santa Maria de Concepción (Frames) and Fernandina (Long Island). The local Indians seemed to him "more domestic, courteous and reasonable" than the inhabitants of Guanahani. “I have even seen them wear clothes woven from cotton yarn, like a raincoat, and they love to dress up.” Sailors who visited the houses of the islanders saw hanging wicker beds tied to poles. “The bed and mats on which the Indians sleep are like nets and are woven from cotton yarn” (hammocks). But the Spaniards did not find any signs of gold deposits on the island. For two weeks the flotilla moved among the Bahamas. Columbus saw many plants with strange flowers and fruits, but none of them were familiar to him. In an entry dated October 15-16, he enthusiastically describes the nature of the archipelago. The last of the Bahamas, where the Spaniards landed on October 20, was named Isabella (Crooked Island).
From the Indians, the sailors heard about the southern island of Cuba, which, according to them, is very large and carries on a lot of trade.
On October 28, Columbus "entered the mouth ... of a very beautiful river" (Bariey Bay in northeastern Cuba, 76 ° W). From the gestures of the inhabitants, Columbus realized that this land could not be circumnavigated by ship even in 20 days. Then he decided that he was on one of the peninsulas of East Asia.
But there were no rich cities, no kings, no gold, no spices. The next day, the Spaniards advanced 60 km to the northwest along the coast of Cuba, waiting for a meeting with Chinese junks. But no one, even the admiral himself, imagined that the path to China was extremely long - more than 15 thousand km in a straight line. Occasionally, small villages came across on the coast. The admiral sent two people, ordering to find the king and establish relations with him. One of the messengers spoke Arabic, but in this country no one understood “even” Arabic. Having retired a little from the sea, the Spaniards found villages surrounded by cultivated fields with large, accommodating hundreds of people, houses built of branches and reeds. Only one plant turned out to be familiar to Europeans - cotton. There were bales of cotton in the houses; women wove coarse fabrics from it or twisted nets from yarn. Men and women who met the newcomers "walked with firebrands in their hands and with grass used for smoking." So the Europeans first saw how they smoke tobacco, and unfamiliar cultivated plants turned out to be maize (corn), potatoes and tobacco.
The ships again needed repairs, further sailing to the west seemed aimless: Columbus thought that he had reached the poorest part of China, but the richest Japan should have been to the east, and he turned back. The Spaniards anchored in Gibara Bay, adjacent to Bariey, where they stayed for 12 days. During the stay, the admiral learned about Fr. Babek, where people "gather gold right along the coast," and on November 13 moved east in search. On November 20, Pinta disappeared, Columbus, suspecting treason, assumed that Martin Pinson wanted to personally discover this island for himself. For another two weeks, the remaining two ships sailed east and reached the eastern tip of Cuba (Cape Mansi). Columbus called this cape Alpha and Omega, which means, according to commentators, the beginning of Asia, if you go from the east, and the end of Asia, if you go from the west. On December 5, the admiral, after some hesitation, moved to the south-southeast, crossed the Windward Strait and on December 6 approached the land, about which he had already collected information from the Cubans, as a rich big Fr. Bohio. It was. Haiti; Columbus named it Hispaniola: "Hispaniola" literally means "Spanish", but the meaning is more correct to translate "Spanish Island". there along the coast "stretch the most beautiful ... valleys, very similar to the lands of Castile, but in many ways superior to them." Moving along the northern coast of Haiti, he discovered about. Tortuga ("Turtle"). Among the inhabitants of Hispaniola, sailors saw thin gold plates and small ingots. Among them, the “gold rush” intensified: “... the Indians were so simple-hearted, and the Spaniards were so greedy and insatiable, that they were not satisfied when the Indians for ... a piece of glass, a shard of a broken cup or other worthless things gave them everything that only they desired. But even without giving anything, the Spaniards strove to take ... everything ”(entry in the diary of December 22).
On December 25, due to the negligence of the sailor on duty, the Santa Maria landed on the reefs. With the help of the Indians, they managed to remove valuable cargo, guns and supplies from the ship. On the small Nina, the entire crew could not accommodate, and Columbus decided to leave some of the people on the island - the first attempt by Europeans to settle in Central America. 39 Spaniards voluntarily remained in Hispaniola: life there seemed free to them, and they hoped to find a lot of gold. Columbus ordered a fort called Navidad (Christmas) to be built from the wreckage of the ship, armed with cannons from the Santa Maria and supplied with supplies for a year.
On January 4, 1493, the admiral went to sea and two days later met the Pinto off the northern coast of Hispaniola. Martin Pinson assured that he "left the flotilla against his will." Columbus pretended to believe that "it was not the time to punish the guilty." Both ships were leaking, everyone was eager to return to their homeland as soon as possible, and on January 16, Nina and Pinta went out into the open ocean. The first four weeks of the voyage went well, but on February 12 a storm arose, and on the night of February 14, the Nina lost sight of the Pinta. As the sun rose, the wind increased and the sea became even more formidable. No one thought that it would be possible to avoid inevitable death. At dawn on February 15, when the wind died down a little, the sailors saw the land, and Columbus correctly identified that he was near the Azores. Three days later, the Nina managed to approach one of the islands - Santa Maria.
On February 24, leaving the Azores, the Nina again fell into a storm, which drove the ship to the Portuguese coast near Lisbon. On March 15, 1493, the admiral brought the Niña to Palos, and on the same day the Pinta arrived there. Columbus brought to Spain the news of the lands he had discovered in the west, some gold, several islanders unseen in Europe, who began to be called Indians, strange plants, fruits and feathers of strange birds. In order to retain the monopoly of the discovery, he entered incorrect data into the ship's log on the way back. The first news of the great discovery, spread across Europe in dozens of translations, is a letter dictated by Columbus at the Azores to one of the people who financed the expedition, Luis Santangel or Gabriel Sanchez.
there is about the discovery of "Western India" by Columbus alarmed the Portuguese. In their opinion, the rights granted to Portugal by the popes were violated ( Nicholas V and Calixtus III) in 1452 - 1456, rights recognized by Castile itself in 1479, confirmed by the pope Sixtus IV in 1481 - to own the lands open to the south and east of Cape Bojador, "up to the Indians." Now India seemed to elude them. The Castilian queen and the Portuguese king defended their rights to the lands across the ocean. Castile relied on the right of the first discovery, Portugal - on papal grants. Only the head of the Catholic Church could resolve the dispute peacefully. Dad was then Alexander VI Borgia. It is unlikely that the Portuguese considered this pope, a Spaniard by origin (Rodrigo Borja), an impartial judge. But they could not disregard his decision.
On May 3, 1493, the pope, by the bull Jnter cetera (“By the way”), made the first division of the world, giving Castile the rights to the lands that she discovered or will discover in the future - “lands lying opposite the western parts on the ocean” and not belonging to any or a Christian sovereign. In other words, Castile in the west received the same rights as Portugal had in the south and east. On May 4, 1493, in a new bull (second Jnter cetera), the pope tried to define more precisely the rights of Castile. He granted to the Castilian kings in perpetuity "all the islands and continents ... open and those that will be open to the west and south of the line drawn ... from the Arctic Pole ... to the Antarctic Pole ... [This] line should stand at a distance of 100 leagues to the west and south of any of the islands commonly called the Azores and Cape Verde. It is clear that the boundary established by the second bull cannot be drawn on the map. Even then it was firmly known that the Azores lie much to the west of the Cape Verde Islands. And the expression "south of the line drawn ... from ... the pole ... to the pole", that is, south of the meridian, is simply ridiculous. Nevertheless, the papal decision formed the basis of the Spanish-Portuguese negotiations, which ended Treaty of Tordesillas dated June 7, 1494. The Portuguese already then doubted that Columbus had reached Asia, and did not insist that the Spaniards completely abandon transoceanic voyages, but only sought to transfer the "papal meridian" further to the west. There were lone skeptics in Spain as well. The Italian humanist Pietro Martyre (Peter the Martyr), who lived in Barcelona in those years and was close to the royal court, carried on a large correspondence with his countrymen. In his letter dated November 1, 1493, there are the following phrases: “Someone Colon sailed to the western antipodes, to the Indian coast, as he himself believes. He discovered many islands; it is believed that it is precisely those ... about which cosmographers have expressed the opinion that they are located near India, beyond the Eastern Ocean. I cannot dispute this, although it seems that the size of the globe leads to a different conclusion.
After much debate, the Spaniards made a big concession: the line was drawn 370 leagues west of the Cape Verde Islands. The contract does not specify from which island 370 leagues should be counted and in which leagues the calculation should be made; it can be assumed that we are talking about a marine league (about 6 km). In addition, for the cosmographers of that time, the conversion of 370 leagues into degrees of longitude was very difficult. However, the discrepancies for these reasons (up to 5.5 °) are insignificant compared with errors due to the inability to determine longitude at that time; even in the 16th century. because of this, there were errors of more than 45 °. According to many historians, Portugal and Castile set themselves a clear goal - to really divide the globe between them, despite the fact that in the papal bull of 1493 and in the treaty of 1494 only one, Atlantic, demarcation line was indicated. But already in 1495, the opposite opinion was expressed, probably more in line with the true intentions of the parties: the line is established only so that the Castilian ships have the right to make discoveries in a westerly direction, and the Portuguese - in the east of the "papal meridian". In other words, the purpose of the demarcation was not to divide the globe, but only to indicate to the rival maritime powers different ways of discovering new lands.
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Initially, the American continent was inhabited by tribes that arrived from Asia. However, in the 13th-15th century, with the active development of culture and industry, civilized Europe set off in search and development of new lands. What happened to America at the end of the 15th century?
Christopher Columbus is a famous Spanish navigator. It was his first expedition that marked the beginning of active travel to the "New World" and the development of this territory. The "New World" then considered the lands that are now called South and North America.
In 1488, Portugal had a monopoly on the waters of the Atlantic coast of Africa. Spain was forced to look for another sea route to trade with India and gain access to gold, silver and spices. This is what prompted the rulers of Spain to agree to the expedition of Columbus.
Columbus is looking for a new route to India
Columbus made only four expeditions to the shores of the so-called "India". However, by the fourth expedition, he knew that he had not found India. So, back to Columbus' first voyage.
Columbus' first voyage to America
The first expedition consisted of only three ships. Columbus had to get two ships himself. The first ship was given by his fellow navigator Pinson. He also gave Columbus a loan so that Christopher could equip a second ship. About a hundred crew members also went on a trip.
The voyage lasted from August 1492 to March 1493. In October, they sailed to the land, which they mistakenly considered the surrounding islands of Asia, that is, it could be the western territories of China, India or Japan. In fact, it was the discovery by Europeans of the Bahamas, Haiti and Cuba. Here, on these islands, local residents presented Columbus with dry leaves, i.e. tobacco, as a gift. Also, the locals walked naked around the island and wore various gold jewelry. Columbus tried to find out from them where they got the gold and only after he took several natives prisoner did he find out the way where they take them. So Columbus made attempts to find gold, but found only more and more new lands. He was happy that he opened a new path to "Western India", but there were no developed cities and untold wealth there. When returning home, Christopher took with him the locals (whom he called Indians) as proof of success.
When did the colonization of America begin?
Shortly after returning to Spain with gifts and "Indians", the Spaniards soon decide to send the sailor on the road again. Thus began the second expedition of Columbus.
Second Voyage of Columbus
September 1493 - June 1496 The purpose of this trip was to organize new colonies, so as many as 17 ships entered the flotilla. Among the sailors there were priests, and nobles, officials and courtiers. They brought pets, raw materials, food with them. As a result of the expedition, Columbus paved a more convenient route to "Western India", the island of Hispaniola (Haiti) was completely conquered, and the extermination of the local population began.
Columbus still believed that he was in Western India. On the second trip, islands were also discovered, including Jamaica and Puerto Rico. On Hispaniola, the Spaniards found gold deposits in the depths of the island and began to mine it, with the help of the enslavement of local residents. There were uprisings of workers, but the unarmed locals were doomed. They died as a result of the suppression of riots, diseases brought from Europe, hunger. The rest of the local population was imposed a tribute, turned into slavery.
The Spanish rulers were not satisfied with the income that new lands brought, and therefore they allowed everyone to move to new lands, and they broke the contract with Columbus, that is, they deprived him of the right to manage new lands. As a result, Columbus decides to travel to Spain, where he negotiates with the kings about the return of his privileges, and that prisoners will stay in the new lands, who will work and develop territories, and Spain will be freed from unwanted elements of society.
third journey
On the third expedition, Columbus went with six ships, 600 people also included prisoners from Spanish prisons. Columbus this time decided to pave the way closer to the equator in order to find new lands rich in gold, since the current colonies provided modest incomes, which did not suit the Spanish kings. But due to illness, Columbus was forced to go to Hispaniola (Haiti). There, a rebellion was waiting for him again, Columbus had to allocate land to the local residents in order to suppress the rebellion and give slaves to help each rebel.
Then, unexpectedly, news came - the famous navigator Vasco da Gama opened a real way to India. He arrived from there with treats, spices, and declared Columbus a deceiver. As a result, the Spanish kings ordered the deceiver to be arrested and returned to Spain. But soon, the charges are dropped from him and sent on the last expedition.
Fourth expedition
Columbus believed that there was a path from new lands to a source of spices. And he wanted to find him. As a result of the last expedition, he discovered the islands off South America, Costa Rica and others, but never got to Pacific Ocean, because I learned from local residents that there were already Europeans here. Columbus returned to Spain.
Since Columbus no longer had a monopoly on discovering new lands, other Spaniards traveled on their way to explore and colonize new territories. An era began when the impoverished Spanish or Portuguese knights (conquistadors) traveled away from their native lands in search of adventure and wealth.
Who first colonized America?
The Spanish conquistadors at the beginning tried to develop new lands in North Africa, but the local population put up strong resistance, so the discovery of the New World came in handy. It is thanks to the discovery of new colonies in the North and South America- Spain was considered the main super-zherzhavy Europe and the mistress of the seas.
In history and literature, the period of the conquest of American lands is perceived differently. On the one hand, the Spaniards are considered as enlighteners who brought culture, religion, and art with them. On the other hand, it was a gross enslavement and destruction of the local population. Actually, it was both. Modern countries differently assess the contribution of the Spaniards to the history of their country. For example, in Venezuela, in 2004, a monument to Columbus was demolished, as they considered him the ancestor of the extermination of the local indigenous population.
On August 3, 1492, the first expedition of the Spanish navigator, a native of Genoa, Christopher Columbus, began on three ships - the Santa Maria, the Pinta and the Nina, which he brought out of the harbor of the Spanish city of Palos de la Frontera.
Based on the ancient doctrine of the sphericity of the Earth and the incorrect calculations of scientists of the 15th century, Christopher Columbus hoped to open the shortest sea route from Europe to India. Between 1492 and 1504 the traveler undertook four exploratory expeditions at the behest of the Spanish Catholic kings. He described the events of these expeditions in his logbook. Unfortunately, the original journal has not survived, but the Dominican monk Bartolome de Las Casas made a partial copy of this journal, which has survived to this day, thanks to which many details of the described campaigns have become known.
Columbus equipped three ships on his first expedition. The flagship of this squadron was the caracca "Santa Maria" (Captain Juan de la Cosa), the second ship was the "Pinta" (Captain Martin Alonso Pinzon) and the third was the ship called "Nina" (Captain Vicente Yañez Pinzon, navigator Sancho Ruiz da Gama ). The total crew of all ships was 100 people. On August 3, 1492, this flotilla left the Castilian harbor of Palos de la Frontera and headed for the Canary Islands.
Having reached the Canaries, the expedition turned west, crossed the Atlantic Ocean in the subtropical zone and reached the island of San Salvador in the Bahamas, where they landed on October 12, 1492. This day became the official date of the discovery of America.
However, Columbus himself considered these new lands East Asia- around China, Japan or India. In the future, for quite a long time, these newly discovered territories were called by Europeans the West Indies, literally "Western India". The name was born from the fact that it was necessary to sail west to this "India", as opposed to India and Indonesia proper, which in Europe for a long time were called the East Indies or, literally, "East Indies".
It is known that earlier in his appeal to the Spanish monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella about the organization of the expedition, Columbus wrote that he intended to sail "to Chipanga, from there to Cathay, and from there to both Indias." “Both Indias” in medieval cartography was called modern India and Ethiopia, “Katai” - China, and “Chipanga” meant Japan, about which even Marco Polo told fables, as if there “the roofs of houses are covered with pure gold”. Thus, Columbus considered Japan as his initial goal, and not India at all, as is often claimed.
Columbus visited a number of other Bahamas, and in December he discovered and explored a section of the northeast coast of Cuba. December 6, 1492 - the island of Haiti was discovered, which Columbus called Hispaniola, because its valleys seemed to him similar to the lands of Castile. Moving along the northern coast, the Spaniards discovered the island of Tortuga.
On the night of December 25, the ship "Santa Maria" landed on a reef, but people managed to escape. In January 1493, Columbus completed his survey of the northern coast of Haiti and set off on his return journey. In February, his two remaining ships were caught in a violent three-day storm and lost each other. Fortunately, both ships survived and returned to Castile on the same day - March 15th.
Columbus led his second expedition of 1493-1496 already in the rank of admiral and as viceroy of the newly discovered lands. It consisted of 17 vessels with a crew of over 1,500 people. In November 1493, Columbus discovered the islands of Dominica and Guadeloupe, turning to the Northwest - about 20 more Lesser Antilles, including Antigua and the Virgin Islands. In subsequent expeditions, Columbus discovered the Greater Antilles, the coasts of South and Central America and the Caribbean Sea.
The discoveries of Columbus were of world-historical significance, since only after his voyages did the American lands appear on the geographical maps of Europe. They also contributed to the revision of the medieval worldview and the emergence of colonial empires.