Biography of Christopher Columbus. Brief biography of Christopher Columbus

Christopher Columbus(Latin Columbus, Italian Colombo, Spanish Colon) (1451-1506) - navigator, Viceroy of the Indies (1492), discoverer of the Sargasso Sea and the Caribbean Sea, the Bahamas and the Antilles, part of the northern coast of South America and the Caribbean coastline Central America.

In 1492-1493, Columbus led a Spanish expedition to find the shortest sea route to India; on 3 caravels ("Santa Maria", "Pinta" and "Nina") crossed the Atlantic Ocean, discovered the Sargasso Sea and reached the island of Samana on October 12, 1492 (the official date of the discovery of America), later - the ancient Bahamas, Cuba, Haiti . In subsequent expeditions (1493-1496, 1498-1500, 1502-1504) he discovered the Greater Antilles, part of the Lesser Antilles and the coasts of South and Central America and the Caribbean Sea.

Gold is an amazing thing! Whoever possesses it is the master of whatever he wants. Gold can even open the way to heaven for souls.

Columbus Christopher

Christopher Columbus was born in the autumn of 1451 in Genoa, Genoese by origin. He was above average height, strong and well built. Reddish in his youth, his hair turned gray early, which made him look older than his years. On an oblong, wrinkled and weather-beaten face with a beard, lively blue eyes and an aquiline nose stood out. He was distinguished by faith in divine providence and omens, and at the same time rare practicality, morbid pride and suspicion, and a passion for gold. He had a sharp mind, the gift of persuasion and versatile knowledge. H. Columbus was married twice and had two sons from these marriages.

Three-quarters of Christopher Columbus' life was spent sailing

Among the great figures of world civilization, few can compare with Columbus in the number of publications devoted to his life, and at the same time in the abundance of "blank spots" in his biography. More or less confidently, it can be argued that he was a Genoese by origin and around 1465 he entered the Genoese fleet, after some time he was seriously wounded. Until 1485, Christopher sailed on Portuguese ships, lived in Lisbon and on the islands of Madeira and Porto Santo, engaged in trade, mapping and self-education. It is not clear when and where he drafted the western, in his opinion, the shortest sea route from Europe to India; the project was based on the ancient doctrine of the sphericity of the Earth and on the incorrect calculations of scientists of the 15th century. In 1485, after the refusal of the Portuguese king to support this project, Columbus moved to Castile, where, with the help of Andalusian merchants and bankers, he organized a government sea expedition under his command.

Those who live in illusions die of disappointment.

Columbus Christopher

First expedition of Christopher Columbus 1492-1493, consisting of 90 people on three ships - Santa Maria, Pinta and Nina - left Palos on August 3, 1492, turned west from the Canary Islands, crossed the Atlantic Ocean, opening the Sargasso Sea, and reached an island in the Bahamas, named by the traveler San Salvador, where Columbus landed on October 12, 1492 (the official date of the discovery of America). For a long time (1940-82) Watling Island was considered San Salvador. However, our contemporary American geographer J. Judge in 1986 processed all the collected materials on a computer and came to the conclusion that the first American land seen by Columbus was Samana Island (120 km southeast of Watling). On October 14-24, Columbus approached several more Bahamas, and on October 28 - December 5, he discovered part of the northeast coast of Cuba. December 6 reached the island of Haiti and moved along the northern coast. On the night of December 25, the flagship Santa Maria landed on a reef, but the crew escaped. For the first time in the history of navigation, on the orders of Columbus, Indian hammocks were adapted for sailor bunks.

A false step more than once led to the opening of new roads

Columbus Christopher

Columbus returned to Castile on the Nina on March 15, 1499. The political resonance of the voyage of H. Columbus was the "papal meridian": the head of the Catholic Church established a demarcation line in the Atlantic, indicating different directions for the discovery of new lands by competing Spain and Portugal.

Second expedition(1493-96), headed by Admiral Columbus, in the position of Viceroy of the newly discovered lands, consisted of 17 ships with a crew of 1.5-2.5 thousand people. On November 3-15, 1493, Columbus discovered the islands of Dominica, Guadeloupe and about 20 Lesser Antilles, on November 19, the island of Puerto Rico. In March 1494, in search of gold, he made a military campaign deep into the island of Haiti, in the summer he discovered the southeastern and southern coasts of Cuba, the islands of Youth and Jamaica.

For 40 days, Columbus explored the southern coast of Haiti, the conquest of which continued in 1495. But in the spring of 1496 he sailed home, completing his second voyage on June 11 in Castile. Columbus announced the discovery of a new route to Asia. The colonization of new lands by free settlers, which began soon, was very expensive for the Spanish crown, and Columbus proposed to populate the islands with criminals, halving their sentence. With fire and sword, plundering and destroying the country of ancient culture, Cortez's military detachments passed through the land of the Aztecs - Mexico, and Pizarro's detachments passed through the land of the Incas - Peru.

Third Expedition of Columbus(1498-1500) consisted of six ships, three of which he himself led across the Atlantic. On July 31, 1498, the island of Trinidad was discovered, entered the Gulf of Paria, discovered the mouth of the western arm of the Orinoco Delta and the Paria Peninsula, marking the beginning of the discovery of South America. Having entered the Caribbean Sea, he approached the Araya Peninsula, discovered the island of Margarita on August 15 and arrived in Haiti on August 31. In 1500, upon a denunciation of Christopher Columbus, he was arrested and shackled (which he then kept all his life) was sent to Castile, where he was expected to be released.

Having obtained permission to continue searching for a western route to India, Columbus on four ships (fourth expedition, 1502-1504) reached the island of Martinique on June 15, 1502, on July 30 - the Gulf of Honduras, where he first met representatives of the ancient Mayan civilization, but did not attach any importance to this. From August 1, 1502 to May 1, 1503, he discovered 2,000 km of the Caribbean coast of Central America (up to the Gulf of Uraba). Unable to find a passage to the west, he turned north and on June 25, 1503, was wrecked off the coast of Jamaica. Help from Santo Domingo came only a year later. Columbus returned to Castile on November 7, 1504, already seriously ill.

Biography

Youth of Christopher Columbus

It is believed that Columbus was born into a poor Genoese family: father - Domenico Colombo (ital. Domenico Colombo), mother - Susanna Fontanarossa (ital. Susanna Fontanarossa). The exact transliteration of his name from Spanish is Cristobal Colon , however, he became world famous as Christopher Columbus ( Christopher- Latin transliteration of the Greek name). In addition to Christopher, there were other children in the family: Giovanni (died in childhood, in 1484), Bartolomeo, Giacomo, Bianchella (married Giacomo Bavarello). Traditionally, six cities in Italy and Spain dispute the honor of being the small homeland of Columbus.

The appearance of Columbus is known from portraits that were painted after his death. Bartolome de Las Casas, who saw Columbus in 1493, describes him thus:

He was tall, above average, his face was long and commanding respect, his nose was aquiline, his eyes were bluish-gray, his skin was white, with redness, his beard and mustache were reddish in his youth, but turned gray in his works.

Studied at the University of Pavia. Around 1470, he marries Doña Felipe Moniz de Palestrello, daughter of a navigator from the time of Prince Enrique. Until 1472 Columbus lived in Genoa, and from 1472 in Savona. In the 1470s, he participated in sea trading expeditions. It is believed that as early as 1474, the astronomer and geographer Paolo Toscanelli told him in a letter that, in his opinion, India can be reached by a much shorter sea route if you sail west. Apparently, already then Columbus was thinking about his project of a sea voyage to India. Having made his own calculations based on the advice of Toscanelli, he decided that it was most convenient to sail through the Canary Islands, from which, in his opinion, Japan was about five thousand kilometers away.

Here, Queen Isabella took a step forward. The idea of ​​the coming liberation of the Holy Sepulcher captured her heart so much that she decided not to give this chance to either Portugal or France. Although the Kingdom of Spain was formed as a result of the dynastic marriage of Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile, their monarchies retained, however, separate independent administrations, cortes and finances. "I'll pawn my jewels," she said.

Second expedition

Second expedition

The second flotilla of Columbus already consisted of 17 ships. Flagship - "Maria Galante" (displacement of two hundred tons). According to various sources, the expedition consisted of 1500-2500 people. There were already not only sailors, but also monks, priests, officials, service nobles, courtiers. They brought horses and donkeys, cattle and pigs, vines, seeds of agricultural crops with them to organize a permanent colony.

During the expedition, the complete conquest of Hispaniola was carried out, and the mass extermination of the local population began. City of Santo Domingo laid down. The most convenient sea route to the West Indies was laid. The Lesser Antilles, the Virgin Islands, the islands of Puerto Rico, Jamaica have been discovered, the southern coast of Cuba has been almost completely explored. At the same time, Columbus continues to claim that he is in Western India.

Chronology

• September 25, 1493 - The expedition left Cadiz. In the Canary Islands they took sugar cane and dogs accustomed to hunting. The course ran about 10° southerly than the first time. Later, all ships from Europe to the "Western Indies" began to use this route.
• With a good tailwind (in the equatorial region of the Atlantic Ocean the winds constantly blow to the west), the journey took only 20 days, and already on November 3, 1493 (on Sunday), an island from the Lesser Antilles ridge was discovered, called Dominica.
• November 4 - the expedition arrived at the largest of the local islands, called Guadeloupe. The open islands were inhabited by the Caribs, who raided the islands of peaceful Arawaks on large canoes. Their weapons were bows and arrows tipped with fragments of tortoiseshell or serrated fish bones.
• November 11 – Montserrat, Antigua, Nevis islands are opened.
• November 13 - the first armed clash with the Caribs took place off the island of Santa Cruz.
• November 15 - an archipelago is discovered north of Santa Cruz, which Columbus called the "Islands of Eleven Thousand Maidens" - now they are called the Virgin Islands. Having bypassed the archipelago on both sides, the ships of the flotilla united three days later at the western end of the ridge.
• November 19 - The Spaniards land on the west coast of a large island that Columbus named San Juan Bautista. It has been called Puerto Rico since the 16th century.
• November 27 - the flotilla approached the one built during the first expedition to about. Haiti fort La Navidad, but on the shore the Spaniards found only traces of a fire and corpses.
• January 1494 - A city was built to the east of the burned fort, La Isabella in honor of Queen Isabella. Many Spaniards were struck by the yellow fever epidemic. A detachment sent to reconnaissance inland found gold in the river sand in the mountainous region of the Cordillera Central.
• March 1494 - Columbus made a trip to the interior of the island. Meanwhile, in La Isabella, due to the heat, most of the food has deteriorated, and Columbus decided to leave only 5 ships and about 500 people on the island, and send the rest to Spain. With them, he conveyed to the king and queen that he had found rich deposits of gold, and asked to send cattle, food supplies and agricultural tools, offering to pay for them with slaves from among the local residents.
• April 24, 1494 - Leaving a garrison at La Isabella under the command of his younger brother Diego, Columbus led three small ships west along the southeast coast of Cuba.
• May 1 - a narrow and deep bay was discovered (the modern city of Guantanamo Bay with Guantanamo Bay). Further to the west are the Sierra Maestra mountains. From here, Columbus turned south.
• May 5 - Jamaica is discovered (Columbus named it Santiago).
• May 14 - Having passed along the northern coast of Jamaica and not finding gold, Columbus returned to Cuba. For the next 25 days, the ships moved through small islands along the southern coast of the island.
• June 12 - having traveled almost 1700 km along the southern coast of Cuba and not having reached only 100 km to the western tip of the island, Columbus decided to turn around, because the sea was very shallow, the sailors were dissatisfied, and provisions were running out. Before that, in order to protect himself from accusations of cowardice that could follow in Spain, he demanded that the entire team swear that Cuba is part of the continent, and therefore there is no point in sailing further. Turning back, the flotilla discovered the island of Evangelista (later named Pinos, and since 1979 - Juventud).
• June 25 - September 29 - on the way back they rounded Jamaica from the west and south, passed along the southern coast of Hispaniola and returned to La Isabella. By this time, Columbus was already quite seriously ill.
• In the past five months, Columbus's second brother, Bartolome, has brought three ships from Spain with troops and supplies. A group of Spaniards captured them and fled home. The rest scattered around the island, robbing and raping the natives. They resisted and killed part of the Spaniards. After returning, Christopher was ill for five months, and when he recovered, in March 1495 he organized the conquest of Hispaniola by a detachment of two hundred soldiers. The natives were almost unarmed, and Columbus used against them cavalry and specially trained dogs brought with him. After nine months of this persecution, the island was conquered. The Indians were taxed, enslaved in the gold mines and plantations. The Indians fled from the villages to the mountains, dying from unknown diseases brought by colonists from Europe. Meanwhile, the colonists moved to the southern coast of the island, where in 1496 Bartolome Columbus founded the city of Santo Domingo, the future center of Hispaniola, and later the capital of the Dominican Republic.
• Meanwhile, the Spanish royal couple, having discovered that the income from Hispaniola (some gold, copper, valuable wood and several hundred slaves sent to Spain by Columbus) was insignificant, allowed all Castilian subjects to move to new lands, paying off the treasury in gold.
• April 10, 1495 - The Spanish government broke off relations with Columbus, and Amerigo Vespucci obtained the right to supply India until May 1498. January 11, 1496 Vespucci receives 10,000 maravedis from the treasurer Pinelo to pay the sailors' wages. In fact, he contracted to supply in Andalusia one (if not two) expeditions in India, in particular the third expedition of Columbus. The success of the Columbus enterprise inspired Amerigo with the idea of ​​​​leaving the trading business in order to get acquainted with the newly discovered part of the world.
• On June 11, 1496, Christopher Columbus returned to Spain to defend the rights granted to him earlier. He provided a document according to which he actually reached the Asian mainland (see above, although in fact it was the island of Cuba), stated that in the center of Hispaniola he discovered the wonderful country of Ophir, where gold was once mined for the biblical King Solomon. In addition, Columbus proposed sending not free settlers, but criminals, to new lands, reducing their sentence by half. The last proposal could not fail to find a response from the ruling elite, since, on the one hand, it rid Spain of unwanted elements, reducing the cost of keeping them in prisons, and on the other hand, it ensured the development of newly discovered lands with rather desperate “human material”.

Third expedition

Third expedition

Little money was found for the third expedition, and only six small ships and about 300 crew members went with Columbus, and criminals from Spanish prisons were accepted into the crew.

A representative of the Florentine bankers who financed the enterprise, Amerigo Vespucci, also went on an expedition with Alonso Ojeda in 1499. Approaching the South American mainland at a latitude of approximately 5 ° N. sh., Ojeda headed northwest, passed 1200 km along the coast of Guiana and Venezuela to the Orinoco Delta, then through the straits to the Caribbean Sea and to the Pearl Coast.

Meanwhile, Amerigo Vespucci, moving southeast, opened the mouths of the Amazon and Para rivers. Having risen in boats 100 kilometers upstream, he was never able to land on the shore because of the dense forest. Movement further to the southeast was extremely hampered by a strong oncoming current. This is how the Guiana Current was discovered. In total, Vespucci discovered about 1200 kilometers of the northeast coast of South America. Returning back to the north and northwest, Vespucci landed on Trinidad, and later connected with the ships of Ojeda. Together they explored the coast to the west of the Pearl Coast, discovered the eastern part of the Caribbean Andes, participated in armed skirmishes with unfriendly Indians, discovered the islands of Curaçao and Aruba - the westernmost of the Lesser Antilles. The bay to the west was named Ojeda Venezuela ("little Venice"). Later, this name spread to the entire southern coast of the Caribbean Sea to the Orinoco Delta. In total, Ojeda explored more than 3,000 kilometers of the northern coast of unknown land and never found an end to it, which meant that such a land should be a mainland.

The fate of the remains

Tomb of Columbus in Seville

However, at the end of the 19th century, during the restoration of the Cathedral of Santo Domingo, the oldest in the New World, a box with bones was discovered, on which it was written that they belonged to Columbus. After that, a dispute arose between Seville and Santo Domingo for the right to be considered the place where the great navigator rests.

The statue of Columbus is 90 meters high, which is twice the height of the Statue of Liberty without a pedestal. The sculpture weighs 599 tons. The Baltimore Sun called an article about Tsereteli's Columbus "From Russia with "ugh"".

Subsequently, the achievements of the Columbus monument were used by the sculptor in 1997 when erecting in Moscow, by order of the Moscow government, on the spit of Balchug Island between the Moscow River and the Vodootvodny Canal, a huge statue of Peter the Great in medieval clothes of a Spanish grandee at the helm of a Russian sloop 98 meters high.

In July 2010, it became known that on the northern coast of Puerto Rico, near the city of Arecibo, a statue of Christopher Columbus by Zurab Tsereteli would be installed.

The statue, divided into 2750 parts, lay in warehouses for two years. According to the government of Puerto Rico, it takes $20 million to reassemble it. The statue, if erected, would be the tallest structure in US-controlled territories in the Caribbean.

Demolition of monuments to Columbus in Venezuela

named after Columbus

• asteroid (327) Columbia, discovered in 1892
• ISS module Columbus

• Main Opera House of Argentina Colon theater
• Columbus Theater in the book by Ilf and Petrov "12 chairs"

• Studio Columbia Pictures
• Monetary units of Costa Rica and El Salvador colon
• Argentine football club from Santa Fe Colon
• Columbus exchange- movement of plants, animals, microorganisms and people from the Old World to the New and vice versa

On the money

Columbus on columns

In honor of Christopher Columbus (in Spanish Cristobal Colon) was named the currency of El Salvador - Salvadoran colon. On all issued denominations of all years of issue and all denominations, without exception, a portrait of a young or elderly Columbus was placed on the reverse side.

Reverse : 1 column , and		5, and

10, and		10 and 2

25 and 50		100, and

Columbus in philately

Filmography

• "Christopher Columbus" / Christopher Columbus (Italy-France-USA, 1985). Mini-series (4 episodes). Director

Christopher Columbus

— Christopher Columbus, world famous for his discovery of America, was born October 9 1451 on the island of Corsica (according to one version). The personality and fate of Columbus are vague, ambiguous and similar to a novel. There were long, passionate scholarly disputes about his origin and the place of his birth. Until now, six cities in Italy and Spain dispute the right to be his homeland. Legends have grown up around many events in his life, which have not yet been fully debunked.

For all the time of travel, Christopher Columbus made 4 expeditions. He was the first person to officially cross the Atlantic Ocean. His goal was a country in which there was a lot of gold.

In his opinion, this country was the new land he discovered, that is, North America.

In his first expedition, Columbus equipped three ships - "Santa Maria" (flagship), "Pinta" and "Nina". The flotilla team included only 90 people. During the expedition, America was discovered, which, however, Christopher Columbus considered East Asia, partly calling it the East Indies for advertising reasons. Europeans first entered the islands of the Caribbean - Hispaniola (Haiti), Juan (Cuba). This journey began the expansion of Spain into the New World.

Second expedition:

The second flotilla of Columbus already consisted of 17 ships. Flagship - "Maria Galante" (displacement 200 tons). According to various sources, the expedition consisted of 1500-2500 people. There were already not only sailors, but also monks, priests, officials, service nobles (hidalgo), courtiers. They brought horses and donkeys, cattle and pigs, vines, seeds of agricultural crops with them to organize a permanent colony.

During the expedition, the complete conquest of Hispaniola was carried out, mass extermination of the local population began. The city of Santo Domingo was founded. The most convenient sea route to the West Indies was laid. The Lesser Antilles, the Virgin Islands, the islands of Puerto Rico, Jamaica have been discovered, and the southern coast of Cuba has been explored almost completely. At the same time, Columbus continues to claim that he is in Western India.

Third expedition:

Few funds were found for the third expedition, and only six small ships and about 300 crew members went with Columbus, and criminals from Spanish prisons were accepted into the crew.

Fourth expedition:

Christopher Columbus still wanted to find a new way from the lands he discovered to South Asia, to the source of spices. He was sure that such a route existed, as he observed a strong sea current off the coast of Cuba, going west through the Caribbean Sea. The king eventually gave Columbus permission for a new expedition.

On the fourth expedition, Columbus took with him his brother Bartolome and 13-year-old son Hernando. During the fourth voyage, Columbus discovered the mainland south of Cuba - the coast of Central America - and proved that the Atlantic Ocean separates from the South Sea, which he heard from the Indians, an insurmountable barrier. He was also the first to report on Indian peoples living near the South Sea.

Mass colonization of Hispaniola

Meanwhile, Spain began to receive gold mined in Hispaniola, and pearls collected on the Pearl Coast (southern Caribbean coast). Hundreds and thousands of those who wanted to achieve wealth rushed to Western India. Since 1502, the mass settlement of the Antilles by the Spaniards began.

The Spaniards committed massive atrocities against the local population. In 1515, the indigenous inhabitants of Haiti were already less than 15 thousand, and by the middle of the 16th century they had completely died out. Slaves were brought to Hispaniola from the Lesser Antilles, as well as "savages" from Cuba, Jamaica and Puerto Rico. When the indigenous population began to disappear there too, the mass hunt for slaves in South America intensified, and then they began to import slaves from Africa. Already their descendants, partially mixed with the Spaniards, later settled the entire island of Haiti.

last years of life

Severely ill Columbus was transported to Seville. He could not achieve the restoration of the rights and privileges granted to him, and spent all the money on travel comrades.

On May 20, 1506, Columbus spoke his last words: "Into your hands, Lord, I entrust my spirit." He was buried in Seville, but contemporaries hardly noticed his death. The great significance of the discoveries of Columbus for Spain was recognized only in the middle of the 16th century, after the conquest of Mexico, Peru and the states in the north of the Andes, when ships with silver and gold went to Europe.

Christopher Columbus (1451, Genoa, May 20, 1506, Valladolid), sailor, gene by origin. In 1476-1484 he lived in Lisbon and the Portuguese islands of Madeira and Porto Santo. Based on the ancient doctrine of the globes and the incorrect calculations of scientists since the 15th century, Columbus prepared a project for the western, in his opinion, the shortest sea route from Europe to India.

In 1485, when the Portuguese king rejected his project, Columbus moved to Castile, where, with the support of most of the Andalusian merchants and bankers, he organized a government ocean expedition under his leadership.

Columbus' height is above average, strong and thin body. His red hair turned gray early in his youth, making him look older than his age. A long, wrinkled and weathered face with a beard stood out with bright blue eyes and a watery nose. He was distinguished by his faith in divine encouragement and importance, and at the same time rare practicality, painful self-esteem and suspicion, passion for gold.

He had a sharp mind, the gift of persuasion and multilateral knowledge. Columbus was married twice and had two sons. His name is: the state of South America, the province of Canada, the federal district and the river in the United States, the capital of Sri Lanka, as well as many rivers, mountains, lakes, waterfalls, capes, cities, parks, squares, streets and bridges in various countries. In Barcelona, ​​it is a monument to Columbus (1882-88, architect C. Buicas, sculptors H. Laimon and A.

Vilanova).

1. Cancellation (1492-1493), consisting of 90 people aboard the ship "Santa Maria", "Pinta" "Nina", arrived from Palos on August 3, 1492, crossed the Atlantic Ocean from the Canary Islands in the west (September 9) in subtropical zone and reached the island of San Salvador in the Bahamas, where Columbus landed on October 12, 1492 (the official date of the discovery of America).

On October 14 and 24, Columbus visited many other Bahamas, and from December 28 to 5, he discovered and surveyed a section of the northeast coast of Cuba. On December 6, Columbus arrived on the island of Haiti and moved along the northern coast. On the night of December 25, the leader of Santa Maria sat on the ridge, but the people were saved. Columbus on the ship "Ninja", which completed the inspection of the northern coast of Haiti from January 4 to 16, 1493 and returned to Castile on March 15.

The second expedition (1493-1496), led by Columbus in the admiral's position, in the position of vice-president of the newly discovered lands, consisted of 17 ships with a crew of more than 1,500 people.

Human. On November 3, 1493, Columbus discovered the islands of Dominica and Guadeloupe, turning to the northwest - more than 20 small Antilles, including Antigua and Maria, and on November 19 - the island of Puerto Rico and went to the northern coast of Haiti.

On March 12 and 29, 1494, Columbus, looking for gold, attacked Haiti and crossed the Cordillera Central Range. April 29 - May 3 Columbus with three ships crossed the southeast coast of Cuba, diverted from Cape Cruz to the south and discovered Jamaica on May 5. When he returned to Cape Cruz on May 15, Columbus sailed along the southern coast of Cuba at 84°W. D., discovered the Jardines de la Reina archipelago, the Zapata peninsula and the island of Pinos.

On June 24, Columbus turned east to survey the entire south coast of Haiti from August 19 to September 15. In 1495, Columbus went on to conquer Haiti; On March 10, 1496, he left the island and returned to Castile on June 11.

The third expedition (1498-1500) consisted of 6 ships, of which 3 of them brought the Atlantic Ocean to 10° north latitude. On July 31, 1498, on the island of Trinidad, which entered south from the Gulf of Paris, the cornices of the western strait of the Orinoco Delta and the Paria Peninsula opened, causing the discovery of South America.

When he arrived in the Caribbean, Columbus approached the Araya Peninsula, discovered Margarita Island on August 15, and arrived on August 31 in the city of Santo Domingo (on the island of Haiti). In 1500 he was arrested and sent to Castile, where he was released.

4. expedition (1502-1504). Get permission to continue searching for western routes to India, Columbus 4 playgrounds reached Martinique on June 15, 1502, the Gulf of Honduras on July 30 and open from August 1, 1502 to May 1, 1503 on the Caribbean coast of Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama in the Gulf of Rab.

Then, in the north, on June 25, 1503, he crashed near the Jamaican island; Help from Santo Domingo appeared only a year later. Columbus returned to Castile on November 7, 1504.

Illness, fruitless and painful negotiations with the king to restore rights, lack of money threatened the recent power of Columbus and May 20, 1506. His discoveries were accompanied by the colonization of the land, the basis for Spanish settlements, units of cruel slavery and the mass destruction of autochthonous conquistadors, called "Indians". Columbus was not an American pioneer: the islands and coasts of North America had been visited by the Normans hundreds of years before.

But these were only the discoveries of Columbus of world-historical significance. The fact that he had found a new part of the world was finally proven by Magellan's voyage.

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Essay: Christopher Columbus

Christopher Columbus. His life is full of legends, insoluble mysteries, seemingly insurmountable obstacles and, of course, stellar moments. From the pages of numerous biographies and scientific studies written in different centuries, he appears before us either as a person favored by divine insight, or as a big-minded scientist, or as a desperate adventurer, or, finally, as a mere mortal who set off with three ships in search of fortune.

What was this world-famous navigator like? We still know almost nothing about his real appearance; the childhood of Columbus is shrouded in a veil of secrecy. For a long time biographers argued about the place and time of his birth; several cities in Italy and Spain were named, and dates ranged from 1436 to 1455.

Only the 20th century seems to have dispelled doubts on this score.
Christopher Columbus was born in Genoa at the end of October 1451 in the family of a poor woolen man. The question of his education remains unclear. Some researchers believe that he studied in the city of Pavia, others consider him a self-taught genius. The statement about Columbus the Corsair who plied the Mediterranean Sea is devoid of documentary evidence.

But it is reliably known that his ideas about the likelihood of a western route to India were formed in the 70s - 80s. XV century, when he was enthusiastically engaged in geography, studied navigational charts and, despite the difficult financial situation, led the hopes for the implementation of the trip.
A real gift of fate for young Columbus was his meeting in Portugal, where he lived in the late 70s - early 80s, with Felipa Moniz, the daughter of a Portuguese sea captain.

They fell in love and soon got married.
The atmosphere of the house of the chosen one of Christopher was quite consistent with his aspirations. Diaries, nautical maps and father-in-law's impressions strengthened Columbus in the desire to find a hitherto unknown path to India. What were the stories of my father-in-law's friends about unusual finds in the Atlantic, in the Azores region, worth!

According to the testimonies of these old sea dogs, several pieces of artistically processed wood were found with a pattern that was completely different from European, Asian and African ornaments. Moreover, on one of the Azores, the bodies of two people were found, whose faces were strikingly different from the faces of representatives of the peoples known to Europeans.
A great influence on Columbus was also published in the 15th century.

works that touched upon issues of geography and sea travel. Among them are the books of the Italian humanist and poet Enea Silvoi Piccolomini, The Image of the World by Pierre de Ailly and, of course, Marco Polo's travel notes.

Many remarks in the margins of books and extracts made speak of Columbus's desire to rethink established ideas, based on personal observations and acquired knowledge.
The idea to continue the western route to India originated with ancient thinkers. It was shared by Aristotle, Eratosthenes, Protagoras. In the mentioned book de Ailly, Columbus was especially struck by the words of Aristotle quoted by the author: "The length of the sea between the extreme point of Spain and the territory of India is small and can be overcome within a few days."

An even more striking guess was expressed by the ancient Greek geographer Eratosthenes, the author of the multi-volume Geography: if you keep to the same latitude, you can get to India from the Iberian Peninsula, and two or more inhabited continents can meet along the way. These views were shared by a contemporary of Columbus, the Florentine Paolo Toscanelli, a doctor by profession, who was fond of geography and sea travel and won universal recognition in this field.

Columbus became a slave to his idea. An objective economic need also pushed for the implementation of such a voyage.
In the XV century. the traditional trade routes to Asia through the Mediterranean were blocked by the mighty Ottoman Empire. Europe was cut off from the spices, dyes and incense of the East. Particularly noticeable was the break in ties with India, from where pepper, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, and cardamom were in great demand. Pepper was then perhaps the most important product.

As a means of payment, it was used when buying land, when paying off debts, it often appeared as a dowry and could serve as a valuable gift for dignitaries of the highest rank. It was a kind of equivalent of money, which, for example, was for a long time: Mongolia - tea, in Abyssinia - salt, in Sudan - fish, in Siam - shells, in Mexico - cocoa. The East for Europe is silk and cotton fabrics, and carpets, and luxury goods.

In a word, the search for new routes to India became essential for Europeans.
The project, which had matured for many years, needed funds for its implementation. It is unlikely that Columbus imagined in the early 80s that his odyssey through the royal palaces of Europe would turn out to be so lengthy and ineffective. King Juan of Portugal doubted the arguments of the navigator, who asked for ships to open the way to the island of Sipango and intended to sail there along the "sea of ​​darkness" in a westerly direction.

Nevertheless, Juan instructed the "experts", the bishop and two cosmographers, to check the arguments of Columbus. The conclusion of the commission was depressing: the project is based on pure fantasy ... The trip of Columbus's brother, Bartholomew, to England for the same purpose was not crowned with success.
Spain also for a long time remained deaf to the proposals of Columbus. However, even here it was not without a captious analysis. The verdict of the wise men corresponded to the spirit of the times. They rejected the arguments of Columbus, referring to the Gospel, as well as to the messages and writings of St. Augustine, St. Gregory, St. Ambrosius, etc.

Geographical arguments, in their opinion, also contradicted reason: after all, “the spherical shape of the Earth would form in front of him, as it were, a huge mountain, through which he could not swim even with the most favorable wind.”
It is easy to imagine the state of Columbus: not only long-term hopes were in jeopardy, but also life: under the vigilant inquisition, to be branded as a heretic with all the ensuing tragic consequences ... And yet he continued to believe in his star.

Deep piety, apparently, was the reason that one day he heard the words in a dream: "God wants your name to be glorified throughout the Earth, and wants to give you the keys to the gates of the ocean, which are now locked with heavy chains."

The year 1492, happy for Spain, came: the eight-century domination of the Moors ended. At the beginning of the year, Columbus received an audience with Queen Isabella.

She reasoned simply: if the idea of ​​\u200b\u200bfloating turns out to be fruitless, then the crown will only lose what it spent on the expedition, but if Columbus turns out to be right ...
On April 17, 1492, the agreement approved by Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand was signed by Columbus and the secretary of the royal palace, Juan de Coloma.

The document stated that in case of failure, the navigator did not receive any rewards, but success would exalt him. Columbus would be appointed viceroy of "all the islands and continents that he personally and through his art will discover or acquire in these seas-oceans."

He would receive the rank of admiral and a tenth of all the goods "that will be bought, exchanged, found or acquired." Taking on an eighth of the cost of equipping the ships, he would then have an eighth of the proceeds. To top it off, Columbus and his heirs would be raised to the nobility.
The approval of the royal couple of the project of Columbus did not at all remove all obstacles from his path to unknown lands.

When financial issues were settled, three small ships were found, it suddenly turned out that ordinary sailors also did not believe Columbus and considered him a man not of this world.

Then he manages to get permission from the authorities to use prisoners for the recruitment of crews on the agreed terms. However, this way out was not to the liking of the three Pinson brothers, who decided to take part in the voyage of Columbus.

The eldest of them, Martin Alonso, was considered the best sea captain in Spain. Sailors and shipbuilders, the Pinsons managed to put together a crew and experienced, experienced sailors, and at dawn on August 3, 1492, the ships headed for the Canary Islands. According to various estimates, the expedition consisted of 90 to 120 people.
Traditionally, all three ships of the first expedition are called caravels. However, if we adhere to the principles of classifying sea vessels of that time, then only Nina and Pinta were caravels, the displacement of which did not exceed one hundred tons.

The larger "Santa Maria" was called "nao" - both by the navigator himself and by many chroniclers.
The prudent Columbus, believing that a long isolation from his homeland could break people, kept two logbooks while sailing. In the one exhibited for public viewing, he wrote down somewhat “embellished” data, and in the secret one he entered accurate information.

His premonition did not deceive him: the expedition had to endure several critical moments. So, on September 16, when the ships were in the Sargasso Sea, there was a long calm. The less resilient lost heart, deciding that the wind did not blow here at all, and now they would never reach Spain. Columbus had the courage to convince his compatriots. He used only two arguments, but what are they - God's help and future untold riches.

Columbus himself was by no means unmercenary; the thirst for enrichment overwhelmed him. “Gold is delightful, it creates treasures and extends its power even to purgatory, freeing souls from it,” these are his words. However, it is hardly worth reproaching him for them, if we remember that poverty was a constant companion of the navigator, especially during the 20 years preceding the expeditions.
October 12, 1492

a shot was heard from the Pinta caravel: the sailor Rodrigo de Trian saw the long-awaited land. Christopher Columbus stepped onto the coast of a small island, which the locals called Guanahani.

He fell to his knees, wept, kissed the ground, unfolded the royal standard and, raising his eyes to the sky, pronounced the names of the Catholic kings Isabella and Ferdinand three times. The clerk Rodrigo de Escobedo drew up the act. From now on, the sea with amazing corals, and sand, and rocks, and palm trees, and parrots, and these bronze people, who still did not know clothes or money and were watching with surprise the ritual of the "discovery" of the Western Hemisphere - from now on, everything around will belong to Spanish crown.

During the first trip, Columbus also discovered Haiti and Cuba. He was sure that these islands are the real India, from among those legendary 7777 islands that Marco Polo attributed to the eastern part of the Asian continent. Therefore, their inhabitants, echoing Columbus, have since begun to be called Indians.
The return of the expedition was triumphant.

On March 15, 1493, the port of Palos met her. Then Columbus went to Barcelona, ​​where Isabella and Ferdinand were at that time. Voltaire is truly right: "Moments of happiness are more precious than a thousand years of fame." The festivities dedicated to the discovery of the New World eclipsed everything.
In the local cathedral, the monarchs ordered that the throne be placed under a canopy of brocade woven with gold. When Columbus approached, Isabella and Ferdinand stood up and did not allow him to kneel down for the traditional kissing of hands, moreover, they put him next to him.

There was no end to their questions, and it became obvious that this journey to the shores of the new world was not the last.
Expenses for expeditions, according to contemporaries, ranged from 1 million 140 thousand to 2 million maravedis. Revenues exceeded this amount by about 170 times. The mention that the queen allegedly pawned her jewels for the sake of equipping the ships is nothing more than a beautiful legend ...
Three more expeditions took place.

Central America and the northern coast of South America were discovered. All these years, Columbus had to prove himself in different guises: he was a scientist, a navigator, a conqueror, and in some periods, the ruler of Hispaniola.
The most dramatic for the admiral was the third expedition, from which he returned to Spain in chains. Columbus had too many enemies among the envious Spanish nobility, who did not forgive the talented and stubborn yesterday's poor man ascension to Olympus of glory.

Fortunately, the queen was again above prejudices and palace intrigues. She ordered the shackles to be replaced with expensive clothes and sent part of her personal guard to Columbus' honor guard. However, the pain of the insult was not dulled until the admiral's last breath. According to his son Ferdinand, these chains were constantly lying on the desk of his father, who wished to be buried with them.

On May 20, 1506, Columbus spoke his last words: "Into your hands, Lord, I entrust my spirit." A restless fate awaited his remains. Columbus was buried in Seville, but then, in fulfillment of his will, the remains were reburied in Hispaniola. In 1795

the island became a French colony, and the ashes of Columbus ended up in Cuba, and in 1877 - again in Seville, where they still rest.

Brief biography of Christopher Columbus most important

Christopher Columbus was born in the autumn of 1451 into a poor family.

The navigator was tall with a long face and a large nose. His eyes were gray-blue, his skin was white, and his beard and mustache were red. Christopher was a believer. He was also smart, his knowledge was from completely different areas. The traveler was married twice and had two sons. The eldest son became Viceroy of New Spain, and the youngest found his calling in creativity: he became a writer and biographer.

About 14 years old, the young man was accepted into the fleet and was soon wounded.

Then he became engaged in trade and traveled a lot, he drew maps and studied. He calculated how to get from Europe to India in the shortest amount of time.

They refused to sponsor the trip of Christopher in Portugal, so he went to Spain, to Castile, where he organized a sea expedition. The traveler assembled a team, which consisted of 90 men and three ships. They began their journey in 1492, in August. The team reached the island, which was named San Salvador, about two months later. Then Christopher visited other Bahamas, Cuba, Haiti.

In the spring, the navigator arrived in Castile.

During the second trip, the explorer discovered the island of Dominica, Guadeloupe and other small islands. He again visited Cuba and Haiti, where Columbus made attempts to find gold. In June, the traveler returned to his homeland. People began to move to the lands discovered by Christopher, but it turned out to be expensive to sponsor them. Therefore, later they began to send criminals there, reducing their term, which they must serve in prison.

Another expedition was undertaken by the explorer in 1498.

During this journey he rediscovered various islands and bays, and came close to discovering South America. In Haiti, the navigator was arrested and put in shackles. Christopher kept them as a keepsake until the end of his life. The traveler was released in his homeland.

The fourth journey began in 1502. The explorer was still trying to find a way to India.

It was during this expedition that South America was discovered. Unfortunately, after this campaign, Christopher's health was undermined.

Unfortunately, because of the discoveries of Christopher, settlements of the Spaniards were created on the colonized lands due to the fact that the Indians were killed and their culture was severely destroyed.

Many believe that Christopher discovered America. In fact, the researchers proved that the Normans were the first to discover America, but the travels of Christopher were historically significant. It was after him that research began on a new part of the world.

Thanks to the navigator, new products appeared in Europe brought from America, and interest in geography and geology increased. Many contemporaries of Christopher began to go to America in search of wealth, they found pearls and other jewelry in large quantities.

Many places were named after the navigator, such as rivers, counties, states, cities, waterfalls, streets, parks, and so on.

The navigator died in the spring of 1506.

4th grade, 5th grade for schoolchildren

Biography of Columbus Christopher about the main thing

Christopher Columbus is one of the most famous navigators, travelers and discoverers.

He was born in 1451 in Spain. He studied at the University of Pavia, where he received an excellent education. He spent almost his entire life sailing, and in 1472 he went on his first expedition, where he reached the Mediterranean Sea. After 4 years, he reached Portugal and from there went to the North Atlantic.

In 1484, Columbus met with the Portuguese king and wanted to convince him to assemble an expedition to the west of Asia, but was refused.

Without thinking twice, the navigator leaves for Castile. There he negotiates with the Queen of Castile and her husband that he will be awarded all sorts of titles and positions, the continents of which he will discover.

After 4 years, the expedition was ready and set off on a journey. The first thing Columbus discovered was the Bahamas. Then came the discovery of Cuba and the island of Hispaniola.

In 1493 his ship ran aground and the navigator returned to Castile.

In connection with the discovery of new lands, the idea arose to create another expedition. Six months later, several ships left Cadiz and headed for the Atlantic. Several more islands are discovered there, and Columbus heads to the previously discovered Hispaniola. He learns that all the inhabitants have become victims of the local natives. The navigator decides to establish a settlement there and calls La Isabela.

In 1494 Columbus discovered Jamaica as a result of another successful expedition.

And two years later he returns to his homeland. He understands that it is impossible to stop there and collects a group with which he sets sail along the shores of South America. Being near the Ganges, Columbus encountered the Indians, who demanded that the Europeans leave the open lands, and in 1503 the navigator decides to return.

A year later, Christopher Columbus dies, having made a great contribution to world history.

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Interesting facts and dates from life

COLOMBE (Spanish colon, Italian Colombia, Latin Columbus) Christopher (fall 1451, Genoa - 20.5.1506, Valladolid), Spanish navigator. Around 1465, Columbus entered the fleet of Genoa, but after a while he was seriously injured.

Until 1485, he sailed to the Portuguese courts of Guinea and the Gold Coast (Africa), lived in Lisbon and the islands of Madeira and Porto Santo, which are mainly engaged in trade, mapping and self-education. The exact information about when and where the plan of the western side was developed, and, in his opinion, the shortest sea route from Europe to India, is based on the ancient doctrine of the sphericity of the Earth and incorrect calculations by scientists of the 15th century. In 1485, when the failure of the Portuguese king to support the Columbus project moved to Castile and with the financial support of Andalusian merchants and bankers, the ocean shipping organization he headed.

The first expedition (1492-1493), consisting of 90 people on three ships "Santa Maria", "Pinta" and "Nina", arrived from Palos on 08/03/1492, turning from the Canary Islands to the west, crossed the Atlantic Ocean for the first time subtropical zone, about 27°S, opened the Sargasso Sea. Columbus landed on 10/12/1492 (the official date of the discovery of America), perhaps not on the island of San Salvador (in one of the Bahamas), as previously thought, but on the island of Samana, located 120 kilometers to the southeast (first you will see sailor Juan Rodriguez Bermejo).

In October 1492, he discovered one of the islands of the Bahamas and part of the northeast coast of the island of Cuba in December on the north coast of the island of Haiti, where the leading settlement "Santa Maria" on the ridge, the crew managed to escape, the fort was installed near the wreck,

On March 15, 1493, Columbus returned to Castile on the ship "Ninja". The second expedition (1493-96), led by Colombo in admiral command and vice president of the newly discovered countries, consisted of 17 ships with a crew of more than 1.5 thousand people.

In early November 1493, Columbus discovered the island of Dominica, Guadeloupe, about 20 islands between the Little Antilles (including Antigua and Virgo) and the island of Puerto Rico and went to the northern coast of Haiti, to a fortress that was left alive by the Spaniards. 12-29.3.1494 in search of gold, which is an aggressive campaign on the island of Haiti, at the same time crossed the Cordillera Center. May - June 1494 almost all (approximately 1700 km) took place on the southern coast of the islands of Cuba, Juventud and Jamaica.

In 1495 he went on to conquer Haiti. He left the island on 10 March 1496 and returned to Castile on 11 June. The third expedition (1498-1500) consisted of six ships, of which only one sailed the Atlantic Ocean. In July 1498, he discovered the island of Trinidad, which entered the Gulf of Paris, discovered part of the Orinoco Delta and the Paria Peninsula, where the exploration of South America began; after crossing the Caribbean until August 31, on the island of Haiti.

In 1500 they were arrested for their retirement and were taken to Castile, but they were soon released. The fourth expedition (1502-04) up to 4 vessels continued to search for a western route to India and reached the island of Martinique on June 15, 1502, on July 30 - the Gulf of Honduras; from 1.8.1502 to 1.5.1503 Columbus first excavated 2200 km of the Caribbean coast of Central America between Côte d'Ivoire and Uraba and demonstrated that there was a mountain barrier in the tropics between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans; Finally, the boundaries of the Caribbean were defined.

25/6/1503 Columbus collapsed near the Jamaican island; Help from Santo Domingo appeared only a year later. Columbus returned to Castile on November 7. 504. The discoveries of Columbus, accompanied by the colonization of lands, the creation of Spanish settlements, the enslavement and mass destruction of the autochthonous population, designated by the Indians, were of global importance. After Columbus sailed, the US Earth entered the realm of geographical representations of the world, which helped to redefine the medieval worldview and the emergence of colonial empires.

Name Columbus: state of South America, province of Canada, federal district, plains and rivers in the United States, is a glacier in the Alaska Bank (Bahamas), an ocean basin in the Caribbean, the capital of Sri Lanka, and many rivers, mountains, lakes , waterfalls, capes, places in different countries, especially in the United States.

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E. Christopher Columbus - navigator. M., 1958; Traveling Christopher Columbus. Diaries, letters, documents. M., 1961; A light weight. M. Sevilla fall. ("Actions on Colombian Heritage"). M., 1969; it is the same. Columbus. M., 1992; Taviani R.E. Christopher Columbus: great design. L., 1985; Magidovich V.I., Magidovich I.P. Age of great discoveries. M., 2003; Sell ​​C. Christopher Columbus and conquer paradise. L., 2006.

V. I. Magidovich.

Christopher Columbus.

Columbus (Colombo - Italian, Colon - Spanish, Columbus - Lat.) Christopher, born August 25, 1451 in Genoa (Italy), died May 20, 1506 in Valladolid (Spain), navigator. Under his leadership, four expeditions were assembled to find the shortest route to India.

During the first of them, America was discovered (10/12/1492).

Columbus was born into a poor family. Indeed, his family was not rich, but this did not prevent Columbus from getting a good education - according to some sources, he graduated from the University of Pavia. The marriage to Dona Felipe Moniz de Palestrello most likely played a significant role, since her father was a famous navigator of the time of Prince Enrique.

The traveler who gave the world the New World died without knowing that he had found the wrong continent he was looking for.

In those days, there was an assumption that in order to get to India, China or Japan it is necessary to cross the Atlantic Ocean. The entire expedition of Columbus was organized precisely to open a new direct route to the Far East. The geographer Paolo Toscanelli calculated that it would take 5,600 km to reach the shore, which coincided with Columbus' calculations. As a result, having discovered the New World during the first trip, Columbus believed to the last that he had landed on the border of China.

Columbus did not equip his first expedition for long.

This is wrong. Quite a lot of time had passed from the moment he conceived the expedition to its equipment. Until 1485, Columbus served on the Genoese and Portuguese ships, visited Ireland, England, and Madeira. At this time, in addition to trading, he was intensively engaged in self-education. He conducted extensive correspondence with famous scientists and cartographers of that time, compiled maps, studied shipping routes.

Most likely, it was in those years that the idea came to him to get to India by the western route. Presumably in the period from 1475-1480. (no exact data) he sent the first proposal to the merchants and the government of Genoa. He had to write many more such letters, for about 10 years he received only refusals. Moreover, having been wrecked off the coast of Portugal, he tried for a long time to persuade the Portuguese king, and only after a few lost years he went to Spain.

As a result, he was able to go on his first expedition only in 1492, thanks to the support of the Spanish Queen Isabella.

The return of Columbus from the first expedition exacerbated the political situation. When Columbus returned in 1493, discovering new lands, this message stirred the minds and aggravated the situation between Spain and Portugal.

Until that time, Portugal was the main discoverer of all new routes to Africa. She was granted all the lands south of the Canary Islands. But the Spanish king Ferdinand and Queen Isabella were not going to give Spain the rights to the newly discovered lands, in connection with which they turned to Pope Alexander VI.

The Pope decided that 600 km west of the Azores, a vertical line (the so-called papal meridian) should be drawn on the map, to the east of which all the lands would belong to Portugal, and to the west - to Spain.

However, the Portuguese king did not agree with this decision, since in this case the Portuguese ships could not sail south and east without entering Spanish territory. As a result, the Spaniards made concessions and moved the vertical line 1600 km to the west.

Spain could not even imagine how fatal this decision would be. Literally 7 years later, in 1500, the Portuguese navigator Pedro Cabral, sailing to India, stumbled upon land that was not marked on the map. As it turned out, the line drawn on the map cut off this piece in favor of Portugal, which immediately laid claim to its rights.

As a result, even before America was recognized as a new continent, the future Brazil became part of Portugal.

Thanks to Columbus, the locals began to be called Indians. Recall that Columbus was looking for India and when he reached the Bahamas, he was completely sure that he had found it. Therefore, he began to call the locals Indians.

This name has stuck with the indigenous people to this day.

Columbus managed to equip the second expedition thanks to boasting. Nobody can confirm this for sure. But it is known that upon his return to Barcelona, ​​Columbus really boasted of his achievements.

Moreover, he repeatedly demonstrated gold jewelry obtained from local tribes, while talking about the riches of Indian land.

His vanity sometimes lifted him so high that he began to talk about future negotiations with the Great Khan. Therefore, it is not at all surprising that the king and queen of Spain could succumb to the speeches of Columbus. In any case, they very quickly, with the support of the Pope, organized a second expedition (from 1493 to 1496).

Columbus was a pirate. This is a very controversial proposition.

However, there are some facts that characterize not his best features. In his reports from the second expedition, he asks to send ships from Spain with cattle, supplies, and tools. Further, he writes: “Payment ... can be made by slaves from among the cannibals, cruel people ...

well built and very smart." This means that he caught local residents for Spain as slaves.

In fact, all his activities in the new lands were reduced to robbery and robbery, which is characteristic of pirates, although it cannot be denied that this may be a consequence of the upbringing of the era.

Of course, you can blame Columbus for all the further troubles of the American continent, but this is unlikely to be fair. No one is required to answer for the sins of others.

Columbus had a monopoly on all open land. Indeed, upon arrival from the first expedition, Columbus (Donn Cristoval Colon) was given the title of admiral of the sea - ocean, vice - king and governor of the islands discovered in India.

His monopoly was unquestionable, until, after the second expedition, it turned out that the new territories were too vast and one person was not able to rule them. In 1499, the kings abolished Columbus' monopoly on the discovery of new lands. This was primarily due to the fact that in 1498 the Portuguese Vasco da Gama sailed by sea to real India and began trade relations with it.

Against the background of his achievements, Columbus, with his complicated situation, small profits to the treasury and conflicts in new territories, seemed like a liar. In an instant, he lost all the privileges he had won.

Christopher Columbus gloriously completed all three of his expeditions.

The first expedition brought fame to Columbus. The second, for which 17 ships were allocated, brought doubts about the wealth of open lands. The third expedition was fatal for Columbus. During it, he lost all rights to the land. Francisco Bobadilla, sent to Hispaniola with unlimited powers, arrested the admiral and his brothers Bartalomeo and Diego. They were shackled. Columbus was shackled by his own chef. They were imprisoned in Sandoming Fortress. Columbus was accused of "cruelty and inability to govern the country".

Two months later they were sent to Spain in shackles. Only two years later, the kings dropped the charges against Columbus. He was granted 2,000 gold pieces, but the promise given to him to return his property and money was not fulfilled.

Christopher Columbus was buried with honors.

From the fourth expedition, Columbus returned seriously ill. He still hoped to defend his rights, but with the death of his patroness, Queen Isabella, this hope faded.

At the end of his life he needed money. In 1505, an order was given to sell all movable and immovable property of Columbus in Hispaniola to pay off creditors.

On May 20, 1506, the great navigator died. Nobody noticed his death. His discoveries were almost forgotten against the backdrop of the conquests of the Portuguese. His death was recorded only after 27 years. At the end of his life, all his dreams of wealth, gold and honors were completely destroyed ...

- a great traveler, an outstanding navigator, one of the great figures, whose discoveries were of world-historical significance for all mankind. Columbus was born in the autumn of 1451 in Genoa in the family of a weaver and wool merchant Domenico Colombo. At the age of 14, he entered the service of a sailor in the Genoese fleet, here he eventually received a serious wound. In 1477 he returned to Portugal, where he married in 1479 the daughter of a deceased owner on Fr. Porto Santo. In 1480, their son Diego Columbus was born. Until 1485, Columbus lived in Lisbon and on the islands of Porto Santo and Madeira, sails on ships, is engaged in trade, is intensively engaged in self-education and mapping. Based on ancient teachings about the sphericity of the Earth, Columbus was sure that it had the shape of a sphere, but due to incorrect calculations, he believed that the Earth was much smaller than it was in reality, and Asia was located west of Europe at a distance of only several thousand miles.

He is drafting a western sea route from Europe to India. In 1484, Columbus turns to the Portuguese king with his project, but he refuses to support the project. In 1485, Columbus moved to Spain with his son. In Spain, he took a mistress, by whom he had a son, Fernando, born out of wedlock in 1487. Columbus addresses several times with his projects of expeditions to different countries and, finally, in 1492 the project was approved by the Spanish monarchs Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon. He was given financial support in exchange for joining the Spanish crown with newly discovered lands with gold and spices on them, as well as converting the natives to Christianity.

Finally, in 1492, Columbus carried out the first expedition in three ships with a crew of 90 people. Columbus crossed the Atlantic Ocean, became the discoverer of the Sargasso Sea and on October 12, 1492 reached the island of Samana, which is part of the Bahamas archipelago. He called the island he discovered San Salvador, and the date of October 12, 1492 is considered the official date of the discovery of America. From October 14 to October 24, several more Bahamas were discovered, and on October 28, the island of Cuba was discovered, he explored the northeast coast until December 5. On December 6, the ships reached the island of Haiti. In the spring of 1493, Columbus returned to Spain on one of the ships ("Ninya").

He undertook a second expedition in the autumn of the same year as Viceroy of the lands he discovered. Under his command there were already 17 ships, the crew numbered more than two thousand people. In order to develop new lands, a team of colonists from priests, soldiers and farmers also went with them. During the second trip, he discovered the archipelago of the Lesser Antilles, in mid-November 1493 - the island of Puerto Rico, in the spring of 1494 he made a military campaign deep into Haiti, and in the summer he explored the rest of Cuba and discovered the islands of Jamaica and Huventud. In the same period, he founded the first European city, La Isabela, and began the conversion of the local population to Christianity. In June 1496 he returned to Spain, where he was given the title of "Admiral of the Ocean and the Seas".

Columbus undertook his third expedition with six ships in 1498, the main discovery of which was the island of Trinidad. (July 31). Having explored the Gulf of Paria, he discovered the Paria Peninsula in the Orinoco River basin, thereby marking the beginning of the discovery of South America. During this period he discovered the islands of Chakakchakare, Margarita, Tobago. At this time, another traveler, Vasco da Gama, discovered a real route to India, Columbus was accused of deceit and in 1500 he was sent in chains to Spain. Here the charges were dropped from him, but Columbus kept the shackles for life.

Columbus still dreams of finding a western route to India and, having obtained permission, in May 1502, on four ships, he makes his fourth voyage. He reached the shores of Central America, which indicated the presence of a mainland between the Atlantic Ocean and the South Sea. From August 1502 to May 1503, he explored 2000 km of the Caribbean coast of central America. Not finding a passage to the west, Columbus turned north and at the end of June 1503, near the island of Jamaica, was wrecked. Only a year later, help came from Spain, Columbus returned home in November 1504, being seriously ill.
Columbus demanded that Spain pay him 10 percent of the profits received from the lands he discovered, which was stipulated in previous agreements. However, all his demands were rejected. A serious illness, lack of money and fruitless negotiations undermined the health of the previously physically strong and courageous navigator, and on May 20, 1506, Christopher Columbus died in Valladolid. Columbus was buried in Spain in the Seville Cathedral. By the time of his death, Columbus was still convinced that he had traveled along the east coast of Asia and, mistaking the lands he discovered for the East Indies, he called the indigenous population "Indians". Despite this mistake, all the discoveries of Columbus were of great importance, and the expedition undertaken by Magellan confirmed that he had discovered a new part of the world. The state of South America, a river and a federal district in the USA, a huge number of rivers, mountains, waterfalls, lakes, capes, cities, parks, bridges and streets in many countries of the world are named after Columbus.