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{{Infobox Person |
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| name = Christopher Columbus |
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| occupation = ] for the ] |
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| image = Christopher Columbus Face.jpg |
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| image_size = 180px |
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| caption = <p>Portrait by ], painted between 1505 and 1536. Photo by historian ]. |
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| birth_date = c. 1451 |
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| birth_place = ], ], ] usually accepted |
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| death_date = {{death date|1506|5|20|mf=y}} |
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| death_place = outside ], ] |
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|names in other languages = ]: Christophorus Columbus; ]: '''Cristoforo Colombo'''; ]: '''Cristóvão Colombo''', formerly ''Christovam Colon''; ]: '''Cristóbal Colón'''; ]: '''Cristòfor Colom''' |
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| religion = Christianity |
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}} |
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<!--ACCORDING TO ], places of b./d. must be listed in the text proper--> |
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'''Christopher Columbus''' (] – ], ]) was a ], ] and one of the first Europeans to explore the Americas after the ]. Though not the first to reach the Americas from Europe, Columbus' voyages led to general European awareness of the hemisphere and the successful establishment of European cultures in the ]. It is generally believed that he was born in ], although other theories exist. The name ''Christopher Columbus'' is the Anglicization of the ] '''Christophorus Columbus'''. Also well known are his name's rendering in modern ] as '''Cristoforo Colombo''' and in ] as '''Cristóbal Colón'''. |
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Christopher Columbus is a FRAUD! HE HATED EDUCATION AND MURDERED HIS CREW! HE WANTED TO RULE THE WORLD! WHERE DO YOU THINK ADOLF HITLER GOT HIS INSPIRATION??! WE SHOULD HAVE KILLED COLUMBUS WHEN WE HAD THE CHANCE!!!!!! (This message has been inserted by the CPA) |
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Columbus' voyages across the ] began a ]an effort at ] and ] of the ]. While history places great significance on his first voyage of ], he did not actually reach the ]n mainland until his third voyage in 1498. Instead, he discovered ] accidentally while trying to find an alternative route to India, hence the Native Americans being called "Indians". Likewise, he was not the earliest European explorer to reach the Americas, and there are accounts of ] prior to 1492. Nevertheless, Columbus's voyage came at a critical time of growing ] and ] between ] seeking wealth from the establishment of ]s and ]. The term ] is sometimes used to refer to the peoples and cultures of the Americas before the arrival of Columbus and further European influence. |
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The anniversary of the 1492 voyage (''vd''. ]) is observed throughout the Americas and in ]. |
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==Life== |
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===Nationality=== |
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{{main|Origin theories of Christopher Columbus}} |
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It is most widely accepted that Columbus was born in the ], located in modern-day ].<ref name="britannica"> Encyclopedia Britannica, 1993 ed., Vol. 16, pp. 605ff / Morison, ''Christopher Columbus'', 1955 ed., pp. 14ff</ref> 188 notarial, judicial, and administrative documents about some Columbus and his family have been found in the "Archivio di Stato" (national record office) of Genoa, Italy.<ref>http://www.archivi.beniculturali.it/ASGE/asge.htm (In Italian)</ref> |
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Some writers hold that his background was Spanish, Portuguese or Greek,<ref>uth G. Durlacher-Wolper: ''Christophoros Columbus: A Byzantine Prince from Chios, Greece.'' The New World Museum, San Salvador, Bahamas. 1982.</ref> but no conclusive evidence has ever been offered. Clues to Columbus' origin such as learned languages and ] samples have been ], but to date, DNA tests show only that Columbus was Caucasian, and probably was not (as some have argued) a ] (Spanish/Portuguese).<ref>Prof. José Lorente, Prof. Univeristy of Granada in "Secrets from the Grave" (Discovery Channel, 2004)</ref> DNA surveys of present-day individuals with similar names in various countries are continuing.<ref>Amy Harmon, , ], October 8, 2007.</ref> There was one document, the Last Will and Testament of 1498, where Columbus supposedly said he was from Genoa, but it has now been proven to have been falsified after 1573. <ref>Rosa, Manuel, "O Mistério Colombo Revelado", pp. 157-166, Lisbon, 2006 (In Portuguese)</ref> |
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===Early life=== |
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<!--THIS SECTION IS LARGELY BASED ON BRITANNICA AND MORISON's ''Christopher Columbus''--> |
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According to the most widely acknowledged biographies, Columbus was born between August and October 1451 in ]. His father was ], a middle-class wool weaver working between Genoa and ]. His mother was ]. Bartolomeo, Giovanni Pellegrino and Giacomo were his brothers. Bartolomeo worked in a ] workshop in ] for at least part of his adulthood.<ref name="britannica" /> |
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While information about Columbus' early years is scarce, he probably received an incomplete education. He spoke a Genoese dialect. In one of his writings, Columbus claims to have gone to the sea at the age of 10. In 1470 the Columbus Family moved to Savona, where Domenico took over a tavern. In the same year, Columbus was on a Genoese ship hired in the service of ] to support his attempt to conquer the ]. |
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In 1473 Columbus began his apprenticeship as business agent for the important Centurione, Di Negro and Spinola families of Genoa. Later he allegedly made a trip to ], in the ]. In May 1476, he took part in an armed convoy sent by Genoa to carry a valuable cargo to northern Europe. He docked in Bristol, Galway, in Ireland and very likely, in 1477 he was in Iceland. In 1479 Columbus reached his brother Bartolomeo in ], keeping on trading for the Centurione family. He married ], daughter of the ] governor, ]. In 1481, his son, ] was born. |
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===Physical appearance=== |
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] in the |
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], New York.]] |
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Although an abundance of artwork involving Christopher Columbus exists, no ] contemporary ] has been found. The only official portrait was painted by ], between 1505 and 1536, titled ] in the Royal Alcazar in Seville. In 1595 ] made an ] after a painting of Columbus, made in his lifetime.<ref></ref> The etching shows resemblance with the portrait of ], so this painting might depict Columbus with some accuracy. Over the years, artists who reconstruct his appearance have done so from written descriptions. These writings describe him as having reddish hair, which turned to white early in his life, as well as being a lighter skinned person with too much sun exposure turning his face red. |
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Despite the clear description of red hair or white hair, textbooks use the Sebastiano del Piombo painting so often that it has become the iconic image of Columbus accepted by ]. |
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===Language=== |
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{{seealso|Origin theories of Christopher Columbus#Language}} |
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Although Genoese documents have been found about a weaver named Colombo, some letters which are said to have been written by Columbus are written in a nonstandard form of Spanish mixed with ] or ] phonetics. He used this language when writing personal notes to himself, to his brother, Italian friends, and to the Bank of Genoa. Two of his brothers, also accepted as being wool weavers from Genoa, understood and wrote this form of Spanish/Portuguese as well. Genoese Italian was a language generally written by Genoa's schooled people at that time; the average person from Genoa naturally spoke a Genoese variant of Italian. |
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In later years, Columbus mastered the use of ]. He kept a journal in Latin as well as a more private journal in Greek. |
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==Background to voyages== |
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===Navigation plans=== |
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Europe had long enjoyed a safe land passage to ] and ]— sources of valued ] such as ], ], and ]— under the ] of the ] (the ], or ''Mongol peace''). With the ] to the ] in 1453, the land route to Asia became more difficult. The Ottoman conquest of Egypt similarly impeded the Red Sea route. Portuguese sailors took to traveling south around Africa to Asia. The Columbus brothers had a different idea. By the 1480s, they had developed a plan to travel to the Indies, then construed roughly as all of south and east Asia, by sailing directly west across the "]," ''i.e.,'' the Atlantic. |
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Following ]'s myth-filled 1828 biography of Columbus, Americans commonly believed Columbus had difficulty obtaining support for his plan because Europeans thought ].<ref name=book3>{{cite book | first=Paul F|last=Boller | title=Not So!:Popular Myths about America from Columbus to Clinton | year=1995 | id=ISBN 9780195091861}}</ref> In fact, few at the time of Columbus’s voyage, and virtually no sailors or navigators, believed this.<ref>Russell, Jeffrey Burton 1991. ''Inventing the Flat Earth. Columbus and modern historians'', Praeger, New York, Westport, London 1991;<br />Zinn, Howard 1980. ''A People's History of the United States'', HarperCollins 2001. p.2</ref> Most agreed that the Earth was a sphere. This had been the general opinion of ancient Greek science, and continued as the standard opinion (for example of ] in ''The Reckoning of Time'') until scholars misread ] to say the earth was a ], inventing the ] concept. This view was very influential, but never wholly accepted. Knowledge of the Earth's spherical nature was not limited to scientists: for instance, Dante's ] is based on a spherical Earth. Columbus put forth arguments based on the circumference of the sphere. Most scholars accepted ]'s claim the terrestrial landmass (for Europeans of the time, comprising Eurasia and Africa) occupied 180 ] of the terrestrial sphere, leaving 180 degrees of water. |
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Columbus, however, believed the calculations of ], putting the landmass at 225 degrees, leaving only 135 degrees of water. Moreover, Columbus believed one degree represented a shorter distance on the earth's surface than was commonly held. Finally, he read maps as if the distances were calculated in ]s (1,238 meters<!--Shouldn't it be 1,520 m-->). Accepting the length of a degree to be 56⅔ miles, from the writings of ], he therefore calculated the circumference of the Earth as 25,255 kilometers at most, and the distance from the ] to ] as 3,000 Italian miles (3,700 km, or 2,300 statute miles) Columbus did not realize Al-Farghani used the much longer Arabic mile (about 1,830 meters). |
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Columbus' problem was that experts did not accept his estimate. The true circumference of the Earth is about 40,000 km (25,000 sm), a figure established by ] in the second century BC,<ref>Sagan, Carl. ''Cosmos''; the mean circumference of the Earth is 40,041.47 km.</ref> and the distance from the Canary Islands to Japan 19,600 km (12,200 sm). No ship that was readily available in the ] could carry enough food and fresh water for such a journey. Most European sailors and navigators concluded, likely correctly, that sailors undertaking a westward voyage from Europe to Asia non-stop would die of thirst or starvation long before reaching their destination. Spain, however, having completed an expensive war, was desperate for a competitive edge over other European countries in trade with the East Indies. Columbus promised such an advantage. |
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While Columbus' calculations underestimated the circumference of the Earth and the distance from the Canary Islands to Japan by the standards of his peers as well as in fact, almost all Europeans held the mistaken opinion that the aquatic expanse between Europe and Asia was uninterrupted. As the ] developed it was the route to America, rather than to Japan, that gave Spain a competitive edge in developing an overseas empire. |
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===Funding campaign=== |
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In ], Columbus presented his plans to ], ]. He proposed the king equip three sturdy ships and grant Columbus one year's time to sail out into the ], search for a western route to ], and then return home. Columbus also requested he be made "Great Admiral of the Ocean", created governor of any and all lands he discovered, and given one-tenth of all revenue from those lands discovered. The king submitted the proposal to his experts, who rejected it. It was their considered opinion that Columbus' proposed route of 2,400 miles was, in fact, far too short.<ref> Morison, Samuel Eliot, ''Admiral of the Ocean Sea: The Life of Christopher Columbus'' Boston, 1942</ref> |
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In ] Columbus appealed to the court of Portugal once again, and once again John invited him to an audience. It too was to come to nothing, for not long afterwards came the arrival of Portugal's native son ] from a successful rounding of the southern tip of Africa. Portugal was no longer interested in trailblazing a western route to the East. |
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Columbus traveled from Portugal once more to both ] and ], but he received encouragement from neither. Previously he had his brother sound out ], to see if the ] might not be more amenable to Columbus' proposal. After much carefully considered hesitation Henry's invitation came, too late. Columbus had already committed himself to ]. |
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] (]).</small>]] |
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He had sought an audience from the monarchs ] of ] and ] of Castile, who had united the largest kingdoms of Spain by marrying, and were ruling together. On May 1, 1486, permission having been granted, Columbus laid his plans before Queen Isabella, who, in turn, referred it to a committee. After the passing of much time, these savants of Spain, like their counterparts in Portugal, reported back that Columbus had judged the distance to ] much too short. They pronounced the idea impractical, and advised their Royal Highnesses to pass on the proposed venture. |
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However, to keep Columbus from taking his ideas elsewhere, and perhaps to keep their options open, the King and Queen of Spain gave him an annual annuity of 12,000 '']'' ($840) and in 1489 furnished him with a letter ordering all Spanish cities and towns to provide him food and lodging at no cost.<ref>Durant, Will ''"The Story of Civilization"'' vol. vi, "The Reformation". Chapter XIII, page 260.</ref> |
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After continually lobbying at the Spanish court, he finally had success in 1492. Ferdinand and Isabella had just conquered ], the last Muslim stronghold on the ], and they received Columbus in ], in the '']'' castle. Isabella turned Columbus down on the advice of her confessor, and he was leaving town in despair, when Ferdinand intervened. Isabella then sent a royal guard to fetch him and Ferdinand later rightfully claimed credit for being "the principal cause why those islands were discovered". King Ferdinand is referred to as "losing his patience" in this issue, but this cannot be proven. |
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About half of the financing was to come from private Italian investors, whom Columbus had already lined up. Financially broke after the Granada campaign, the monarchs left it to the royal treasurer to shift funds among various royal accounts on behalf of the enterprise. Columbus was to be made "Admiral of the Seas" and would receive a portion of all profits. The terms were unusually generous, but as his own son later wrote, the monarchs did not really expect him to return. |
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According to the contract that Columbus made with King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, if Columbus discovered any new islands or mainland, he would receive many high rewards. In terms of power, he would be given the rank of Admiral of the Ocean Sea (Atlantic Ocean) and appointed Viceroy and Governor of all the new lands. He had the right to nominate three persons, from whom the sovereigns would choose one, for any office in the new lands. He would be entitled to 10 percent of all the revenues from the new lands in perpetuity; this part was denied to him in the contract, although it was one of his demands. |
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Finally, he would also have the option of buying one-eighth interest in any commercial venture with the new lands and receive one-eighth of the profits. |
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Columbus was later arrested in 1500 and supplanted from these posts. After his death, Columbus's sons, Diego and Fernando, took legal action to enforce their father's contract. Many of the smears against Columbus were initiated by the Spanish crown during these lengthy court cases, known as the ''pleitos colombinos''. The family had some success in their first litigation, as a judgment of 1511 confirmed Diego's position as Viceroy, but reduced his powers. Diego resumed litigation in 1512, which lasted until 1536, and further disputes continued until 1790.<ref>Mark McDonald, "Ferdinand Columbus, Renaissance Collector (1488-1539)", 2005, British Museum Press, ISBN 9780714126449 </ref> |
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==Voyages== |
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{{main|Voyages of Christopher Columbus}} |
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===First voyage=== |
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] |
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] of the ].]] |
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] in a ] made by the Prang Education Company in 1893.]] |
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On the evening of ], ], Columbus departed from ] with three ships; one larger ], '']'', nicknamed ''Gallega'' (''the Gallician''), and two smaller ]s, '']'' (''the Painted'') and ''Santa Clara'', nicknamed '']'' (''the Girl''). (The ships were never officially named).{{Fact|date=February 2007}} They were property of ] and the ] (] and ]), but the monarchs forced the ] inhabitants to contribute to the expedition. Columbus first sailed to the ], which was owned by ], where he restocked the provisions and made repairs, and on ], he started what turned out to be a five-week voyage across the ocean. |
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Land was sighted at 2 ] on ], ], by a sailor named ] (also known as Juan Rodríguez Bermejo) aboard ''Pinta''.<ref name=book2>{{cite book | author= Clements R. Markham, ed | title=The Journal of Christopher Columbus (During His First Voyage) | Hakluyt Society (1893) | id={{ASIN|B000I1OMXM}}}}</ref> (Columbus would claim the prize.) Columbus called the island (in what is now ]) ], although the natives called it ]. Exactly which island in the Bahamas this corresponds to is an unresolved topic; prime candidates are ], ], or ] (named San Salvador in ] in the belief that it was Columbus's San Salvador). The ] he encountered, the ], ] or ], were peaceful and friendly. In his journal he wrote of them, "It appears to me, that the people are ingenious, and would be good servants and I am of opinion that they would very readily become Christians, as they appear to have no religion." |
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<ref>http://media.www.michigandaily.com/media/storage/paper851/news/2004/10/12/News/Columbus.Day.Sparks.Debate.Over.Explorers.Legacy-1425748.shtml</ref> |
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] |
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Columbus also explored the northeast coast of ] (landed on ]) and the northern coast of ], by ]. Here, the '']'' ran aground on ] morning ] and had to be abandoned. He was received by the native ] ], who gave him permission to leave some of his men behind. Columbus left 39 men and founded the settlement of '']'' in what is now present-day ]. Before returning to Spain, Columbus also kidnapped some ten to twenty-five Indians and took them back with him. Only seven or eight of the Indians arrived in Spain alive, but they made quite an impression on Seville.<ref name=book2>{{cite book | author= James W. Loewen | title=Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong | Touchstone Books (1995) | id={{ASIN|1402579373}}}}</ref> |
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Columbus headed for Spain, but another storm forced him into ]. He anchored next to the King's harbor patrol ship on ], ] in Portugal. After spending more than one week in Portugal, he set sail for Spain. He reached Spain on ], ]. Word of his finding new lands rapidly spread throughout Europe: |
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<blockquote>"Columbus's report to the royal court in Madrid was extravagant. He insisted he had reached Asia (it was Cuba) and an island off the coast of China (Hispaniola). His descriptions were part fact, part fiction: Hispaniola is a miracle. Mountains and hills, plains and pastures, are both fertile and beautiful, the harbors are very good and there are many wide rivers of which the majority contain gold, There are many spices, and great mines of gold and other metals."<ref>Howard Zinn, ''A People's History of the United States''.</ref></blockquote> |
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===Second voyage=== |
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] |
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Columbus left ], Spain, on ], ] to find new territories, with 17 ships carrying supplies, and about 1,200 men to colonize the region. On ], the ships left the Canary Islands as they had on the first voyage, following a more southerly course. |
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On ], ], Columbus sighted a rugged island that he named ] (Latin for Sunday); later that day, he landed at ], which he named Santa Maria la Galante. After sailing past ] (Los Santos, The Saints), he arrived at ] (] de Extremadura, after the image of the Virgin Mary venerated at the Spanish monastery of ], in Guadalupe, Spain), which he explored between ] and ], ]. |
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The exact course of his voyage through the ] is debated, but it seems likely that he turned north, sighting and naming several islands, including ] (for Santa Maria de Montserrate, after the Blessed Virgin of the Monastery of Montserrat, which is located on the Mountain of Montserrat, in Catalonia, Spain), ] (after a church in Seville, Spain, called Santa Maria la Antigua, meaning "Old St. Mary's"), ] (for Santa Maria la Redonda, Spanish for "round", owing to the island's shape), ] (derived from the Spanish, Nuestra Señora de las Nieves, meaning "Our Lady of the Snows", because Columbus thought the clouds over Nevis Peak made the island resemble a snow-capped mountain), ] (for ], patron of sailors and travelers), ] (for the early Roman martyr, ]), ] (also for St. Christopher?), ] (San Martin), and ] (], meaning "]"). He also sighted the island chain of the ] (and named them Islas de Santa Ursula y las Once Mil Virgenes, ] and the 11,000 Virgins, a cumbersome name that was usually shortened, both on maps of the time and in common parlance, to Islas Virgenes), and he also named the islands of ] (the fat virgin), ], and ] (San Pedro). |
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He continued to the ], and landed at ] (originally San Juan Bautista, in honor of Saint John the Baptist, a name that was later supplanted by Puerto Rico (English: Rich Port) while the capital retained the name, San Juan) on ], ]. One of the first skirmishes between native Americans and Europeans since the time of the Vikings<ref name=book1>{{cite book | author=Phillips, Jr., William D. & Carla Rahn Phillips | title=The Worlds of Christopher Columbus | year=1992 | id=ISBN 9780521350976}}</ref> took place when Columbus's men rescued two boys who had just been castrated by their captors. |
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<!-- This paragraph, while interesting and peripherally relevant, is totally out of place in the midst of these preceding and following paragraphs. --><!-- |
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Michele de Cuneo, a Ligurian nobleman on Columbus' second voyage, wrote in 1495, "While I was in the boat I captured a very beautiful Carib woman the said Lord Admiral gave to me, and with whom, having taken her into my cabin, she being naked according to their custom, I conceived desire to take pleasure. I wanted to put my desire into execution but she did not want it and treated me with her fingernails in such a manner that I wished I had never begun. But seeing that (to tell you the end of it all), I took a rope and thrashed her well, for which she raised such unheard of screams that you would not have believed your ears. Finally we came to an agreement in such manner that I can tell you that she seemed to have been brought up in a school of harlots." <ref> Morison, Samuel Eliot, Editor, Journals and Other Documents on the Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus, 1963, p. 212</ref> |
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--> |
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On ], Columbus returned to Hispaniola, where he intended to visit ] (Christmas Fort), built during his first voyage, and located on the northern coast of ]; Fuerte de la Navidad was found in ruins, destroyed by the native ] people, whereupon, Columbus moved more than 100 kilometers eastwards, establishing a new settlement, which he called ], likewise on the northern coast of ], in the present-day ]. However, ] proved to be a poorly-chosen location, and the settlement was short-lived. |
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He left Hispaniola on ], ], arrived at ] (naming it Juana) on ]. He explored the southern coast of Cuba, which he believed to be a peninsula rather than an island, and several nearby islands, including the ] (Isla de las Pinas, later known as La Evangelista, The Evangelist). He reached ] on ]. He retraced his route to Hispaniola, arriving on ], before he finally returned to Spain. |
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During this second trip it was registered the rape of an indigenous woman by one of the Colombus' men (Michel de Cuneo) and with his tolerance: |
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{{quote|''When I was in the ship, I turned into captivity a beautiful caribe woman, given to me as a gift by the Almirant, and after I took her to my stateroom, and while she was naked as their custom is, I felt desires of laying with her. I want to satisfy my desire but she didn’t want and gave me such a treatment with her nails that I think it would be better to never begun. But when I saw this (and to tell you everything up to the end), I take a rope and whipped her, after what she screamed a lot, in such a way you cannot believe your ears. Finally we reached such an agreement that I can tell you she appeared to be trained in a whore school.<br><br><small>Original text:<br>Mientras estaba en la barca, hice cautiva a una hermosísima mujer caribe, que el susodicho Almirante me regaló, y después que la hube llevado a mi camarote, y estando ella desnuda según es su costumbre, sentí deseos de holgar con ella. Quise cumplir mi deseo pero ella no lo consintió y me dió tal trato con sus uñas que hubiera preferido no haber empezado nunca. Pero al ver esto (y para contártelo todo hasta el final), tomé una cuerda y le di de azotes, después de los cuales echó grandes gritos, tales que no hubieras podido creer tus oídos. Finalmente llegamos a estar tan de acuerdo que puedo decirte que parecía haber sido criada en una escuela de putas.</small><ref>Cólón, Cristóbal, Michel de Cúneo y otros (1982). Cronistas de Indias: antología, Buenos Aires: Colihue ISBN 950-581-020-2</ref>}} |
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===Third voyage=== |
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] |
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], the starting point for Columbus' third journey.]] |
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On ], ], Columbus left with six ships from ], for his third trip to the New World. He was accompanied by the young ], who would later provide partial transcripts of Columbus' logs. |
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Columbus led the fleet to the Portuguese island of ], his wife's native land. He then sailed to ] and spent some time there with the Portuguese captain João Gonçalves da Camara before sailing to the ] and ]. Columbus landed on the south coast of the island of ] on ]. From ] through ], he explored the ] which separates ] from ]. He explored the mainland of ], including the ]. He also sailed to the islands of ] and ] and sighted and named ] (Bella Forma) and ] (Concepcion). |
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Columbus returned to ] on ] to find that many of the Spanish settlers of the new colony were discontented, having been misled by Columbus about the supposedly bountiful riches of the new world. An entry in his journal from September 1498 reads, "From here one might send, in the name of the Holy Trinity, as many slaves as could be sold..." |
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Columbus repeatedly had to deal with rebellious settlers and natives. He had some of his crew hanged for disobeying him. A number of returning settlers and sailors lobbied against Columbus at the Spanish court, accusing him and his brothers of gross mismanagement. On his return he was arrested for a period (see Governorship and arrest section below). |
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===Fourth voyage=== |
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] |
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Columbus made a fourth voyage nominally in search of the ] to the ]. Accompanied by his brother ] and his 13-year-old son ], he left Cádiz, Spain, on ], ], with the ships ''Capitana'', ''Gallega'', ''Vizcaína'' and ''Santiago de Palos''. He sailed to ] on the Moroccan coast to rescue ] soldiers whom he had heard were under siege by the ]. On June 15, they landed at Carbet on the island of ] (''Martinica''). A ] was brewing, so he continued on, hoping to find shelter on ]. He arrived at ] on June 29, but was denied port, and the new governor refused to listen to his storm prediction. Instead, while Columbus' ships sheltered at the mouth of the ], the first Spanish treasure fleet sailed into the hurricane. Columbus' ships survived with only minor damage, while twenty-nine of the thirty ships in the governor's fleet were lost to ]. In addition to the ships, 500 lives (including that of the governor, ]) and an immense cargo of gold were surrendered to the sea. |
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After a brief stop at ], Columbus sailed to ], arriving at ] in the ] off the coast of ] on ]. Here Bartolomeo found native merchants and a large canoe, which was described as "long as a galley" and was filled with cargo. On ], he landed on the American mainland at Puerto Castilla, near ]. He spent two months exploring the coasts of Honduras, ], and ], before arriving in Almirante Bay, ] on ]. |
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On ], ], Columbus and his crew found themselves in a storm unlike any they had ever experienced. In his journal Columbus writes, |
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<blockquote> For nine days I was as one lost, without hope of life. Eyes never beheld the sea so angry, so high, so covered with foam. The wind not only prevented our progress, but offered no opportunity to run behind |
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any headland for shelter; hence we were forced to keep out in this bloody |
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ocean, seething like a pot on a hot fire. Never did the sky look more |
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terrible; for one whole day and night it blazed like a furnace, and the lightning broke with such violence that each time I wondered if it had carried off my spars and sails; the flashes came with such fury and frightfulness that we all thought that the ship would be blasted. All |
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this time the water never ceased to fall from the sky; I do not say it rained, for it was like another deluge. The men were so worn out that |
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they longed for death to end their dreadful suffering.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot,''Admiral of the Ocean Sea: A Life of Christopher Columbus'', Boston, 1942, page 617.</ref> |
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</blockquote> |
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In Panama, Columbus learned from the natives of gold and a strait to another ocean. After much exploration, in January 1503 he established a garrison at the mouth of the ]. On April 6 one of the ships became stranded in the river. At the same time, the garrison was attacked, and the other ships were damaged. Columbus left for Hispaniola on April 16, heading north. On May 10 he sighted the ], naming them "''Las Tortugas''" after the numerous ]s there. His ships next sustained more damage in a storm off the coast of Cuba. Unable to travel farther, on ], ], the ships were beached in ]. |
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Columbus and his men remained stranded on Jamaica for a year. Two Spaniards, with native paddlers, were sent by ] to get help from Hispaniola. That island's governor obstructed all efforts to rescue Columbus and his men. In the meantime Columbus, in a desperate effort to induce the natives to continue provisioning him and his hungry men, successfully intimidated the natives by correctly predicting a ] for ], ], using the '']'' of the German astronomer ].<ref>], ''Christopher Columbus, Mariner'', 1955, pp. 184-92.</ref> Grudging help finally arrived on ], ], and Columbus and his men arrived in ], on November 7. |
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==Governorship and arrest== |
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During Columbus's stint as governor and viceroy, disgruntled Spaniards, who chafed at being governed by an Italian, claimed that he ruled his domain tyrannically {{Fact|date=March 2007}}. Columbus was physically and mentally exhausted; his body was wracked by arthritis and his eyes by ]. In October 1499, he sent two ships to Spain, asking the Court of Spain to appoint a royal commissioner to help him govern. |
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The Court appointed ], a member of the ]; however, his authority stretched far beyond what Columbus had requested. Bobadilla was given total control as governor from 1500 until his death in 1502. Arriving in Santo Domingo while Columbus was away, Bobadilla was immediately peppered with complaints about all three of the Columbus brothers: Christopher, Bartolomé, and Diego. Consuelo Varela, a Spanish historian, states: "Even those who loved him had to admit the atrocities that had taken place."<ref name=newspaper1>{{cite news |author=Giles Tremlett |title=Lost document reveals Columbus as tyrant of the Caribbean |url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/spain/article/0,,1838823,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=12 | publisher=] | date=] | accessdate=2006-10-10 | language=English }}</ref><ref>Bobadilla's 48-page report—derived from the testimonies of 23 people who had seen or heard about the treatment meted out by Columbus and his brothers—had originally been lost for centuries, but was rediscovered in 2005 in the Spanish archives in ]. It contained an account of Columbus' seven-year reign as the first ].</ref> |
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As a result of these testimonies, Columbus, upon his return and without being allowed a word in his own defense, was clapped with manacles on his arms and chains on his feet and cast into prison to await return to Spain. He was 53 years old. |
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On ], ], Columbus and his two brothers, likewise in chains, were sent back to Spain. Once in Cádiz, a grieving Columbus wrote to a friend at court: |
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<blockquote> |
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It is now seventeen years since I came to serve these princes with the Enterprise of the Indies. They made me pass eight of them in discussion, and at the end rejected it as a thing of jest. Nevertheless I persisted therein...Over there I have placed under their sovereignty more land than there is in Africa and Europe, and more than 1,700 islands...In seven years I, by the divine will, made that conquest. At a time when I was entitled to expect rewards and retirement, I was incontinently arrested and sent home loaded with chains...The accusation was brought out of malice on the basis of charges made by civilians who had revolted and wished to take possession on the land.... |
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<P>I beg your graces, with the zeal of faithful Christians in whom their Highneses have confidence, to read all my papers, and to consider how I, who came from so far to serve these princes...now at the end of my days have been despoiled of my honor and my property without cause, wherein is neither justice nor mercy.<ref>Morison, Samuel Eliot ''"Admiral of the Ocean Sea: A Life of Christopher Columbus"'' page 576, Boston, 1942</ref> |
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</blockquote> |
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Columbus and his brothers lingered in jail for six weeks before the busy King Ferdinand ordered their release. Not long thereafter, the king and queen summoned the Columbus brothers to their presence at the ] palace in ]. There the royal couple heard the brothers' pleas; restored their freedom and their wealth; and, after much persuasion, agreed to fund Columbus' fourth voyage. But the door was firmly shut on Christopher Columbus's role as governor. From that point forward, ] was to be the new governor of the west Indies. |
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==Later life== |
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], Spain, the city where Columbus died.]] |
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While Columbus had always given the conversion of non-believers as one reason for his explorations, he grew increasingly religious in his later years. He claimed to hear divine voices, lobbied for a new ] to capture ], often wore ] habit, and described his explorations to the "paradise" as part of God's plan which would soon result in the ] and the end of the world. |
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In his later years, Columbus demanded that the Spanish Crown give him 10% of all profits made in the new lands, pursuant to earlier agreements. Because he had been relieved of his duties as governor, the crown did not feel bound by these contracts, and his demands were rejected. After his death his family later sued for part of the profits from trade with America in the ''pliegos colombinos''. |
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]. It is borne by four statues of kings representing the Kingdoms of ], ], ], and ].]] |
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On ], ], at about the age of 55, Columbus died in ], fairly wealthy from the gold his men had accumulated in Hispaniola. When he died he was still convinced that his journeys had been along the east coast of Asia. According to a study, published in February 2007, by Antonio Rodriguez Cuartero, Department of Internal Medicine of the ], he died of a heart attack caused by ] (also called reactive arthritis). According to his personal diaries and notes by contemporaries, the symptoms of this illness (burning pain during urination, pain and swelling of the knees, and ] of the eyes) were clearly visible in his last three years.<ref></ref> |
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Following his death, his body underwent ]—the flesh was removed so that only his bones remained. His remains were first buried in Valladolid and then at the monastery of La Cartuja in ] (southern Spain), by the will of his son ], who had been governor of Hispaniola. Then in 1542, his remains were transferred to ], in eastern Hispaniola. In 1795, the French took over Hispaniola, and his remains were moved to ], Cuba. After Cuba became independent following the ] in 1898, his remains were moved back to the ] in Spain, where they were placed on an elaborate ]. However, a lead box bearing an inscription identifying "Don Christopher Columbus" and containing fragments of bone and a bullet was discovered at Santo Domingo in 1877. To lay to rest claims that the wrong relics were moved to Havana and that the remains of Columbus were left buried in the cathedral of Santo Domingo, ] samples were taken in June 2003 (''History Today'' August 2003). Results announced in May 2006 show that at least some of the remains in Seville are from Columbus. However, authorities in Santo Domingo have not allowed the remains there to be exhumed, so it is unknown if any of those remains are from Columbus's body.<ref name="remains">{{cite news |first=Rossella |last=Lorenzi |title= DNA Suggests Columbus Remains in Spain |url=http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20041004/columbus.html | publisher=] |date=], ] | accessdate=2006-10-11 | language=English}}</ref> |
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==Legacy== |
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{{refimprove|section|date=December 2006}} |
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{{globalize/US}} |
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], ] by Jerónimo Suñol, 1894.]] |
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] |
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]'s travel journals, published 1502-4, convinced ] that the discovered place was not India, as Columbus always believed, but a new ], and in 1507, a year after Columbus' death, Waldseemüller published a world map ] ''America'' from Vespucci's Latinized name "Americus". Though he never set foot in what became the ], Columbus is often viewed as a hero in that country. |
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===Columbus ascendant=== |
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The nascent countries of the ], particularly the newly independent United States, seemed to need a historical narrative to give them roots. This narrative was supplied in part by ] in 1828 with '']'', which may be the true source of much of the associations held about the explorer. |
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Hero worship of Columbus perhaps reached a zenith around 1892 when the 400th anniversary of his first arrival in the Americas occurred. Monuments to Columbus like the ] in ] were erected throughout the United States and ] extolling him. Numerous cities, towns, and streets were named after him, including the ] of two U.S. ] (] and ]). |
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The story that Columbus thought the world was round while his contemporaries believed in a flat earth was often repeated despite the fact that the real issue was the ''size'' of the Earth rather than its roundness.<ref></ref> (In fact even ], a key Classical figure in the Church doctrine of the day, had argued that the Earth was a globe<ref></ref>, and Columbus's failure to reach China would have meant that, had he been trying to prove the world was round, he actually would have failed). This tale was used to show that Columbus was enlightened and forward looking. Columbus' apparent defiance of convention in sailing west to get to the far east was hailed as a model of "American"-style can-do inventiveness.{{Fact|date=October 2007}} |
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The admiration of Columbus was particularly embraced by some members of the Italian American, Hispanic, and Catholic communities. These groups point to Columbus as one of their own to show that Mediterranean Catholics could and did make great contributions to the U.S. The modern vilification of Columbus is seen by his supporters as being politically motivated. |
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In 1909, descendants of Columbus undertook to dismantle the Columbus family chapel in Spain and move it to a site near ], Pennsylvania, where it may now be visited by the public. At the museum associated with the chapel, there are a number of Columbus relics worthy of note, including the armchair which the "Admiral of the Ocean Sea" used at his chart table. |
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===Modern day=== |
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] in ]. Italian sculptor central monument was dedicated in ], 400 years after Columbus arrived in ].]]Culpability is sometimes placed on contemporary governments and their citizens for the hardship suffered by Native Americans during the time of Christopher Columbus. Columbus myths and celebrations are generally a positive affair, making less room for this concept in history books. |
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The Spanish colonization of the Americas, and the subsequent effects on the native peoples, were dramatized in the 1992 feature film '']'' to commemorate the 500th anniversary of his landing in the Americas. In 2003, Venezuelan President ] urged Native American Latin Americans to not celebrate the Columbus Day holiday. Chavez blamed Columbus for leading the way in the mass genocide of the Native Americans by the Spanish.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3184668.stm |title=Columbus 'sparked a genocide' |accessdate=2006-10-21 |date=October 12, 2003 |publisher=BBC News}}</ref> |
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Christopher Columbus was also strongly criticised in a song by Jamaican artiste ] titled 'A Damn Blasted Liar.' The controversial song opened a strong opinionated debate across much of the Caribbean region on the effects that Christopher Columbus and his leadership had on the regions native peoples. |
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==Notes== |
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{{reflist}} |
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==References== |
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* Cohen, J.M. (1969) ''The Four Voyages of Christopher Columbus: Being His Own Log-Book, Letters and Dispatches with Connecting Narrative Drawn from the Life of the Admiral by His Son Hernando Colon and Others''. London UK: Penguin Classics. |
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* Cook, Sherburn and Woodrow Borah (1971) ''Essays in Population History, Volume I''. Berkeley CA: University of California Press |
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* Crosby, A. W. (1987) ''The Columbian Voyages: the Columbian Exchange, and their Historians.'' Washington, DC: American Historical Association. |
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* ] (2005) ''The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century''. New York: Farrar Straus Giroux. |
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* ] (1992) '']''. Seacaucus NJ: Carol Publishing Group. |
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* Keen, Benjamin (1978) ''The Life of the Admiral Christopher Columbus by his Son Ferdinand,'' Westport CT: Greenwood Press. |
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* Lowen, James. "Lies My Teacher Told Me". |
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*Nelson, Diane M. (1999) ''A Finger in the Wound: Body Politics in Quincentennial Guatemala''. Berkeley CA: University of California Press. |
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* ], ''Admiral of the Ocean Sea: A Life of Christopher Columbus'', Boston, Little, Brown and Company, 1942. |
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* ], ''Christopher Columbus, Mariner'', Boston, Little, Brown and Company, 1955. |
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* Phillips, W. D. and C. R. Phillips (1992) ''The Worlds of Christopher Columbus.'' Cambridge UK: Cambridge University Press. |
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* Turner, Jack (2004) ''Spice: The History of a Temptation''. New York: Random House. |
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* Wilford, John Noble (1991) ''The Mysterious History of Columbus: An Exploration of the Man, the Myth, the Legacy''. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. |
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* ] (2006) ''O Mistério Colombo Revelado''. Lisbon: Ésquilo. |
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==See also== |
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* '']'', a 1992 ] film by ] |
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* ] |
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* ] |
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* ], ] country named in honor of ''Christopher Columbus'' |
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* ] |
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* ] (a discussion of candidates for site of first landing) |
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* ] |
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* ] |
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* ] |
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* ] |
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* ] - Possible true identity of Columbus. |
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* ] |
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==External links== |
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{{wikiquote}} |
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{{Commons|Christophorus Columbus|Christopher Columbus}} |
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* |
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* |
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* Reconstructed in a contemporary style. |
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* |
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* {{gutenberg author| id=Christopher+Columbus+(1451-1506) | name=Christopher Columbus}} |
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* Science News ] ] |
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* By Howard Zinn, from ''A People's History of the United States'' |
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* A new biography showing the lack of proof and invented facts about a Genoese turning the known history upside down. |
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* — Theory of the Catalan origin of (Joan) Cristòfor Colom (i Bertran) |
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* 1911 Britannica article |
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* |
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;IMDB |
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*{{imdb title|id=0956118|title=Animated Hero Classics: Christopher Columbus (1991)}} |
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*{{imdb title|id=|0103594|title=1492: Conquest of Paradise (1992)}} |
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<!-- Metadata: see ] --> |
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{{Persondata |
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|NAME=Columbus, Christopher |
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|ALTERNATIVE NAMES=Cristoforo Colombo, Cristóbal Colón |
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|SHORT DESCRIPTION=] and an ] for the ] |
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|DATE OF BIRTH=c. 1451 |
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|PLACE OF BIRTH=Genoa |
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|DATE OF DEATH={{death date|1506|5|20|mf=y}} |
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|PLACE OF DEATH=], ] |
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[[zh:克里斯托弗· |
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