Christopher Columbus: "The Greatest of Losers." What did Christopher Columbus discover? The Voyage of Christopher Columbus Whose initials are depicted on the Columbus flag

Christopher Columbus had the unshakable belief that it was possible to sail to East Asia and India by heading west from Europe. It was based not on dark, semi-fabulous news about the discovery of Vinland by the Normans, but on considerations of the brilliant mind of Columbus. A warm sea current from the Gulf of Mexico to the western coast of Europe provided evidence that there was a large landmass to the west. The Portuguese helmsman (skipper) Vincente caught in the sea at the height of the Azores a block of wood on which figures were carved. The carving was skillful, but it was clear that it was made not with an iron cutter, but with some other tool. Christopher Columbus saw the same piece of carved wood from Pedro Carrei, his relative by wife, who was the ruler of the island of Porto Santo. King John II of Portugal showed Columbus pieces of reed brought by the western sea current so thick and tall that the sections from one node to another contained three azumbras (more than half a bucket) of water. They reminded Columbus of the words of Ptolemy about the enormous size of Indian plants. The inhabitants of the islands of Faial and Graciosa told Columbus that the sea brings to them from the west pine trees of a species that is not found in Europe or on their islands. There were several cases where the westerly current brought boats with dead people of a race to the shores of the Azores, which was not found either in Europe or in Africa.

Portrait of Christopher Columbus. Artist S. del Piombo, 1519

Treaty of Columbus with Queen Isabella

After living for some time in Portugal, Columbus left it to propose a plan to sail to India by the western route. Castilian government. The Andalusian nobleman Luis de la Cerda, Duke of Medina Seli, became interested in Columbus's project, which promised enormous benefits to the state, and recommended it Queen Isabella. She accepted Christopher Columbus into her service, assigned him a salary and submitted his project to the University of Salamanca for consideration. The commission to which the queen entrusted the final decision of the matter consisted almost exclusively of clergy; The most influential person in it was Isabella's confessor, Fernando Talavera. After much deliberation, she came to the conclusion that the foundations of the project about sailing to the west were weak and that it was unlikely to be implemented. But not everyone was of this opinion. Cardinal Mendoza, a very intelligent man, and the Dominican Diego Desa, who was later the Archbishop of Seville and the Grand Inquisitor, became the patrons of Christopher Columbus; at their request, Isabella retained him in her service.

In 1487, Columbus lived in Cordoba. It seems that he settled in this city precisely because Dona Beatriz Enriquez Avana lived there, with whom he had a relationship. She had a son, Fernando, with him. The war with the Muslims of Granada absorbed all of Isabella's attention. Columbus lost hope of receiving funds from the queen to sail to the west and decided to go to France to propose his project to the French government. He and his son Diego came to Palos to sail from there to France and stopped at the Franciscan monastery of Ravid. The monk Juan Perez Marchena, Isabella’s confessor, who lived there at the time, got into conversation with the visitor. Columbus began to tell him his project; he invited the doctor Garcia Hernandez, who knew astronomy and geography, to his conversation with Columbus. The confidence with which Columbus spoke made a strong impression on Marchena and Hernandez. Marchena persuaded Columbus to postpone his departure and immediately went to Santa Fe (to the camp near Granada) to talk with Isabella about Christopher Columbus's project. Some courtiers supported Marchena.

Isabella sent Columbus money and invited him to come to Santa Fe. He arrived shortly before the capture of Granada. Isabella listened attentively to Columbus, who eloquently outlined to her his plan to sail to eastern Asia Western way and explaining what glory she would gain by conquering rich pagan lands and spreading Christianity in them. Isabella promised to equip a squadron for Columbus's voyage, and said that if there was no money for this in the treasury, depleted by military expenses, then she would pawn her diamonds. But when it came to determining the terms of the contract, difficulties presented themselves. Columbus demanded that he be given the nobility, the rank of admiral, the rank of viceroy of all lands and islands that he would discover on his voyage, a tenth of the income that the government would receive from them, so that he would have the right to appoint to some positions there and were certain trading privileges were granted, so that the power granted to him would remain hereditary in his posterity. The Castilian dignitaries who negotiated with Christopher Columbus considered these demands too great and urged him to reduce them; but he remained adamant. The negotiations were interrupted, and he again got ready to go to France. The State Treasurer of Castile, Luis de San Angel, ardently urged the queen to agree to Columbus's demands; some other courtiers told her in the same spirit, and she agreed. On April 17, 1492, an agreement was concluded in Santa Fe by the Castilian government with Christopher Columbus on the terms that he demanded. The treasury was depleted by the war. San Angel said that he would give his money to equip three ships, and Columbus went to the Andalusian coast to prepare for his first voyage to America.

The beginning of Columbus's first voyage

The small port city of Palos had recently incurred the wrath of the government, and for this reason it was obliged to maintain two ships for a year for public service. Isabella ordered Palos to place these ships at the disposal of Christopher Columbus; He equipped the third ship himself with money given to him by his friends. In Palos, the Pinson family, engaged in maritime trade, enjoyed great influence. With the assistance of the Pinsons, Columbus dispelled the sailors' fear of setting off on a long voyage to the west and recruited about a hundred good sailors. Three months later, the squadron's equipment was completed, and on August 3, 1492, two caravels, the Pinta and the Niña, captained by Alonso Pinzón and his brother Vincente Yañez, and a third slightly larger ship, the Santa Maria, sailed from Palos harbor. ", the captain of which was Christopher Columbus himself.

Replica of Columbus's ship "Santa Maria"

Sailing from Palos, Columbus constantly headed west under the latitude of the Canary Islands. The route along these degrees was longer than through latitudes more northern or more southern, but it had the advantage that the wind was always favorable. The squadron stopped at one of the Azores islands to repair the damaged Pinta; it took a month. Then Columbus's first voyage continued further west. In order not to arouse anxiety among the sailors, Columbus hid from them the true extent of the distance traveled. In the tables that he showed to his companions, he put numbers less than the actual ones, and noted the real numbers only in his journal, which he did not show to anyone. The weather was good, the wind was fair; the air temperature was reminiscent of the fresh and warm morning hours of April days in Andalusia. The squadron sailed for 34 days, seeing nothing but sea and sky. The sailors began to worry. The magnetic needle changed its direction and began to deviate from the pole further to the west than in the parts of the sea not far from Europe and Africa. This increased the fear of the sailors; it seemed that the voyage was leading them to places where influences unknown to them dominated. Columbus tried to calm them down, explaining that the change in the direction of the magnetic needle is created by a change in the position of the ships relative to the polar star.

A fair east wind carried the ships in the second half of September. calm sea, in some places covered with green sea plants. The constancy in the direction of the wind increased the anxiety of the sailors: they began to think that in those places there was never any other wind, and that they would not be able to sail in the opposite direction, but these fears also disappeared when strong winds became noticeable. sea ​​currents from the southwest: they provided an opportunity to return to Europe. Christopher Columbus's squadron sailed through that part of the ocean that later became known as the Sea of ​​Grass; this continuous vegetative shell of water seemed to be a sign of the proximity of earth. A flock of birds circling over the ships increased the hope that land was close. Seeing a cloud on the edge of the horizon in the northwest direction at sunset on September 25, the participants in Columbus’s first voyage mistook it for an island; but the next morning it turned out that they were mistaken. Previous historians have stories that the sailors plotted to force Columbus to return, that they even threatened his life, that they made him promise to turn back if land did not appear in the next three days. But now it has been proven that these stories are fictions that arose several decades after the time of Christopher Columbus. The fears of the sailors, very natural, were transformed by the imagination of the next generation into mutiny. Columbus reassured his sailors with promises, threats, reminders of the power given to him by the queen, and behaved firmly and calmly; this was enough for the sailors not to disobey him. He promised a lifelong pension of 30 gold coins to the first person to see the land. Therefore, the sailors who were on the mars several times gave signals that the earth was visible, and when it turned out that the signals were erroneous, the crews of the ships were overcome by despondency. To stop these disappointments, Columbus said that whoever gives an erroneous signal about land on the horizon loses the right to receive a pension, even after actually seeing the first land.

Discovery of America by Columbus

At the beginning of October, signs of the proximity of land intensified. Flocks of small colorful birds circled over the ships and flew to the southwest; plants floated on the water, clearly not sea, but terrestrial, but still retaining freshness, showing that they had recently been washed away from the earth by the waves; a tablet and a carved stick were caught. The sailors took a direction somewhat south; the air was fragrant, like spring in Andalusia. On a clear night on October 11, Columbus noticed a moving light in the distance, so he ordered the sailors to look carefully and promised, in addition to the previous reward, a silk camisole to the one who would be the first to see the land. At 2 o'clock in the morning on October 12, Pinta sailor Juan Rodriguez Vermejo, a native of the town of Molinos, neighboring Seville, saw the outline of the cape in the moonlight and with a joyful cry: “Earth! Earth!" rushed to the cannon to fire a signal shot. But then the award for the discovery was awarded to Columbus himself, who had previously seen the light. At dawn, the ships sailed to the shore, and Christopher Columbus, in the scarlet garb of an admiral, with the Castilian banner in his hand, entered the land he had discovered. It was an island that the natives called Guanagani, and Columbus named it San Salvador in honor of the Savior (later it was called Watling). The island was covered with beautiful meadows and forests, and its inhabitants were naked and dark copper in color; their hair was straight, not curly; their body was painted in bright colors. They greeted the foreigners timidly, respectfully, imagining that they were children of the sun who had descended from the sky, and, not understanding anything, they watched and listened to the ceremony by which Columbus took their island into possession of the Castilian crown. They gave away expensive things for beads, bells, and foil. Thus began the discovery of America.

In the next days of his voyage, Christopher Columbus discovered several more small islands belonging to the Bahamas archipelago. He named one of them the Island of the Immaculate Conception (Santa Maria de la Concepcion), another Fernandina (this is the current island of Echuma), the third Isabella; gave others new names of this kind. He believed that the archipelago he discovered on this first voyage lies in front of the eastern coast of Asia, and that from there it is not far to Jipangu (Japan) and Cathay (China), described Marco Polo and drawn on the map by Paolo Toscanelli. He took several natives onto his ships so that they could learn Spanish and serve as translators. Traveling further to the southwest, Columbus discovered the large island of Cuba on October 26, and on December 6, a beautiful island that resembled Andalusia with its forests, mountains and fertile plains. Because of this resemblance, Columbus named it Hispaniola (or, in the Latin form of the word, Hispaniola). The natives called it Haiti. The luxurious vegetation of Cuba and Haiti confirmed the Spaniards' belief that this is an archipelago neighboring India. No one then suspected the existence of the great continent of America. Participants in the first voyage of Christopher Columbus admired the beauty of the meadows and forests on these islands, their excellent climate, the bright feathers and sonorous singing of birds in the forests, the aroma of herbs and flowers, which was so strong that it was felt far from the shore; admired the brightness of the stars in the tropical sky.

The vegetation of the islands was then, after the autumn rains, in the full freshness of its splendor. Columbus, gifted with a keen love of nature, describes the beauty of the islands and the sky above them with graceful simplicity in the ship's log of his first voyage. Humboldt says: “On his voyage along the coast of Cuba between the small islands of the Bahamas archipelago and the Hardinel group, Christopher Columbus admired the density of the forests, in which the branches of the trees were intertwined so that it was difficult to distinguish which flowers belonged to which tree. He admired the luxurious meadows of the wet coast, the pink flamingos standing along the banks of the rivers; each new land seems to Columbus even more beautiful than the one described before her; he complains that he does not have enough words to convey the pleasure he experiences.” - Peschel says: “Enchanted by his success, Columbus imagines that mastic trees grow in these forests, that the sea abounds in pearl shells, that there is a lot of gold in the sand of the rivers; he sees the fulfillment of all the stories about rich India.”

But the Spaniards did not find as much gold, expensive stones and pearls as they wanted on the islands they discovered. The natives wore small jewelry made of gold and willingly exchanged them for beads and other trinkets. But this gold did not satisfy the greed of the Spaniards, but only kindled their hope of the proximity of lands in which there was a lot of gold; they questioned the natives who came to their ships in shuttles. Columbus treated these savages kindly; They stopped being afraid of foreigners and when asked about gold they answered that further south there was a land in which there was a lot of it. But on his first voyage, Christopher Columbus did not reach the American mainland; he did not sail further than Hispaniola, whose inhabitants accepted the Spaniards trustingly. The most important of their princes, the cacique Guacanagari, showed Columbus sincere friendship and filial piety. Columbus considered it necessary to stop sailing and return from the shores of Cuba to Europe, because Alonso Pinzon, the head of one of the caravels, secretly sailed away from the admiral's ship. He was a proud and hot-tempered man, he was burdened by his subordination to Christopher Columbus, he wanted to gain the merit of discovering a land rich in gold, and to take advantage of its treasures alone. His caravel sailed away from Columbus's ship on November 20 and never returned. Columbus assumed that he sailed to Spain to take credit for the discovery.

A month later (December 24), the ship Santa Maria, through the negligence of a young helmsman, landed on a sandbank and was broken by the waves. Columbus had only one caravel left; he saw himself in a hurry to return to Spain. The cacique and all the inhabitants of Hispaniola showed the most friendly disposition towards the Spaniards and tried to do everything they could for them. But Columbus was afraid that his only ship might crash on unfamiliar shores, and did not dare to continue his discoveries. He decided to leave some of his companions on Hispaniola so that they would continue to acquire gold from the natives for trinkets that the savages liked. With the help of the natives, the participants in Columbus's first voyage built a fortification from the wreckage of the crashed ship, surrounded it with a ditch, transferred part of the food supplies into it, and placed several cannons there; The sailors vying with one another volunteered to stay in this fortification. Columbus selected 40 of them, among whom were several carpenters and other craftsmen, and left them in Hispaniola under the command of Diego Arana, Pedro Gutierrez and Rodrigo Escovedo. The fortification was named after the Christmas holiday La Navidad.

Before Christopher Columbus sailed to Europe, Alonso Pinzon returned to him. Sailing away from Columbus, he headed further along the coast of Hispaniola, came to land, received from the natives in exchange for trinkets several pieces of gold two fingers thick, walked inland, heard about the island of Jamaica (Jamaica), on which there is a lot of gold and from which ten days you can swim to big land, where people who wear clothes live. Pinzon had strong kinship and powerful friends in Spain, so Columbus hid his displeasure with him and pretended to believe the fabrications with which he explained his action. Together they sailed along the coast of Hispaniola and in the Gulf of Samana they found the warlike Siguayo tribe, which entered into battle with them. This was the first hostile encounter between the Spaniards and the natives. From the shores of Hispaniola, Columbus and Pinson sailed to Europe on January 16, 1493.

Return of Columbus from his first voyage

On the way back from the first voyage, happiness was less favorable to Christopher Columbus and his companions than on the way to America. In mid-February they were subjected to a strong storm, which their ships, already quite badly damaged, could hardly withstand. The Pint was blown north by the storm. Columbus and other travelers sailing on the Niña lost sight of her. Columbus felt great anxiety at the thought that the Pinta had sunk; his ship could also easily have perished, and in that case, information about his discoveries would not have reached Europe. He made a promise to God that if his ship survived, pilgrimage trips would be made to three of Spain's most famous holy places. He and his companions cast lots to see which of them would go to these holy places. Of the three trips, two fell to the lot of Christopher Columbus himself; he assumed the costs of the third. The storm still continued, and Columbus came up with a means for information about his discovery to reach Europe in the event of the loss of the Niña. He wrote on parchment short story about his voyage and the lands he found, rolled up the parchment, covered it with a wax shell to protect it from water, put the package in a barrel, made an inscription on the barrel that whoever finds it and delivers it to the Queen of Castile will receive a reward of 1000 ducats, and threw it into sea.

A few days later, when the storm stopped and the sea calmed, the sailor saw land from the top of the mainmast; the joy of Columbus and his companions was as great as when they discovered the first island in the west during their voyage. But no one except Columbus could figure out which shore was in front of them. Only he conducted observations and calculations correctly; all the others were confused in them, partly because he deliberately led them into mistakes, wanting alone to have the information necessary for the second voyage to America. He realized that the land in front of the ship was one of the Azores. But the waves were still so great and the wind so strong that Christopher Columbus's caravel cruised for three days in sight of land before it could land at Santa Maria (the southernmost island of the Azores archipelago).

The Spaniards came ashore on February 17, 1493. The Portuguese, who owned the Azores Islands, met them unfriendly. Castangeda, the ruler of the island, a treacherous man, wanted to capture Columbus and his ship out of fear that these Spaniards were rivals of the Portuguese in trade with Guinea, or out of desire to find out about the discoveries they made during the voyage, Columbus sent half of his sailors to the chapel to thank God for their salvation from the storm. The Portuguese arrested them; They then wanted to take possession of the ship, but this failed because Columbus was careful. Having failed, the Portuguese ruler of the island released those arrested, excusing his hostile actions by saying that he did not know whether Columbus’s ship was really in the service of the Queen of Castilia. Columbus sailed to Spain; but off the Portuguese coast it was subjected to a new storm; she was very dangerous. Columbus and his companions promised a fourth pilgrimage; by lot it fell to Columbus himself. The residents of Cascaes, who saw from the shore the danger the ship was in, went to church to pray for its salvation. Finally, on March 4, 1493, Christopher Columbus's ship reached Cape Sintra and entered the mouth of the Tagus River. The sailors of the Belem harbor, where Columbus landed, said that his salvation was a miracle, that in the memory of people there had never been such a strong storm that it sank 25 large merchant ships sailing from Flanders.

Happiness favored Christopher Columbus on his first voyage and saved him from danger. They threatened him in Portugal. Its king, John II, was jealous of the amazing discovery, which eclipsed all the discoveries of the Portuguese and, as it seemed then, took away from them the benefits of trade with India, which they wanted to achieve thanks to the discovery Vasco da Gama ways to get there around Africa. The king received Columbus in his western palace of Valparaiso and listened to his story about his discoveries. Some nobles wanted to irritate Columbus, provoke him to some insolence and, taking advantage of it, kill him. But John II rejected this shameful thought, and Columbus remained alive. John showed him respect and took care to ensure his safety on the way back. On March 15, Christopher Columbus sailed to Palos; the residents of the city greeted him with delight. His first voyage lasted seven and a half months.

In the evening of the same day, Alonso Pinzon sailed to Palos. He went ashore in Galicia, sent a notice of his discoveries to Isabella and Ferdinand, who were then in Barcelona, ​​and asked for an audience with them. They replied that he should come to them in Columbus's retinue. This disfavor of the queen and king saddened him; he was also saddened by the coldness with which he was received in his hometown Palos. He grieved so much that he died a few weeks later. With his treachery towards Columbus, he brought upon himself contempt, so that his contemporaries did not want to appreciate the services he rendered to the discovery of the New World. Only descendants did justice to his courageous participation in the first voyage of Christopher Columbus.

Reception of Columbus in Spain

In Seville, Columbus received an invitation from the queen and king of Spain to come to them in Barcelona; he went, taking with him several savages brought from the islands discovered during the voyage, and the products found there. People gathered in huge crowds to see him enter Barcelona. Queen Isabella and the King Ferdinand They received him with such honors as were given only to the most noble people. The king met Columbus in the square, sat him down next to him, and then rode alongside him on horseback several times around the city. The most distinguished Spanish nobles gave feasts in honor of Columbus and, as they say, at the feast given in his honor by Cardinal Mendoza, the famous joke about the “Columbus egg” occurred.

Columbus in front of Kings Ferdinand and Isabella. Painting by E. Leutze, 1843

Columbus remained firmly convinced that the islands he discovered during his voyage lie off the eastern coast of Asia, not far from the rich lands of Jipangu and Cathay; almost everyone shared his opinion; only a few doubted its validity.

To be continued - see the article

Pepper, cinnamon, saffron, ginger, nutmeg... All these spices, with bated breath, were counted out grain by grain, pinch by pinch, weighed on jewelry or apothecary scales as the greatest values. And the doors and windows were tightly closed so that not a single crumb could be accidentally blown away by the draft. Cities and entire states paid with pepper instead of gold, and they paid taxes and taxes with pepper. For pepper you could buy land or acquire full citizenship rights. The fiery spice was the best dowry for a wedding. They would say enviously about some rich man: “Oh, there’s a bag of pepper coming!” Saffron, the dried pistils of beautiful crocus flowers, was even more highly prized. If anyone dared to pass off fake saffron as real saffron, severe punishment awaited him. The culprit was burned at the stake or buried alive in the ground...

This happened several centuries ago in medieval Europe. Why spices? valued on par with jewelry? Spices were brought from afar, from the legendary and mysterious Indies - that’s what not only India itself was called in those days, but also all the islands of Southeast Asia.

The road from those distant lands was difficult and dangerous. Robbers attacked merchant caravans; fierce storms sank ships with valuable cargo. And the pirates did not miss their prey.

From the East, “from the Indies,” they brought not only spices and incense, but also gold, silver, semi-precious stones, and beautiful pearls.

Delicate silk fabrics and the products of master jewelers were highly valued.

By the 15th century, all the old, traditional routes to India overland and across the Mediterranean were controlled by Arab rulers and the powerful Ottoman Empire. Europeans, primarily the Portuguese and Spaniards, began to look for new, sea routes to fabulous, magical India - the gateway to the riches of the East.

By that time people already knew that the Earth was a ball. They were also confident that the three continents known to them - Europe, Asia and Africa - form a single giant landmass, washed on all sides by the waters of the Sea-Ocean. After all, ancient scientists wrote about this: Aristotle and Plutarch, Ptolemy and Eratosthenes...

But if the Earth is a ball, then you can reach the shores of the Indies, sailing all the time to the west through the Mope-Ocean! And this path should be shorter, simpler and more convenient than all other paths! The idea of ​​such a voyage came from a man named Christopher Columbus.

The life of Columbus, full of amazing adventures, still conceals many mysteries and secrets.

Seven cities argued for the right to be called the birthplace of the legendary ancient Greek poet Homer. More than twenty-six cities and villages in different countries were considered the birthplace of Christopher Columbus. The Italian Genoa, a city of sailors, artisans and bankers, won this “competition”.

“This city clings to an extremely meager mountain hanging over the sea, and all the houses, not to mention the towers, are four and five stories high, and the streets are extremely narrow, as are the city gates,” wrote the Spanish traveler Pero Tafur , who visited Genoa several years before the birth of the future Admiral of the Sea-Ocean. The narrow streets of Genoa descended steeply to the harbor, where a dense forest of ship masts swayed. Skillful movers unloaded goods from all over the world: grain and textiles, olive oil and rice, wines and spices, meat and fish, wool and salt, precious ivory. Genoese merchants were brave and courageous, prudent and enterprising. And they were famous as excellent sailors. But there was a distant quarter in Genoa, the urban outskirts of San Stefano. Weavers, fabric dyers, spinners and wool beaters lived here. The inhabitants of San Stefano did not go on long journeys; they produced woolen cloth of various types.

On the small street of Olivella, near the Old Wall, near the Porta San Andrea, stood the house of Dominico Columbus, a wool weaver. Apparently, in this house a boy was born in September or October 1451, who was named Christopher. His parents named him this way in honor of Saint Christopher, who once carried the infant Christ across a stormy stream.

The boy grew up, ran with friends along the winding streets of San Stefano, learned a craft, and it seemed that his future was determined - to become a weaver, to continue his father’s work. But fate decreed otherwise.

Columbus himself wrote about this many years later: “In early childhood I entered the sea and continue to swim in it to this day, and this is the calling of anyone who stubbornly wants to know the secrets of this world.”

Christopher Columbus began his maritime career as a simple sailor on the ships of Genoese merchants. And then one day, in August 1476, a caravan of merchant ships off the coast of Portugal was attacked by pirates. The unequal battle lasted for several hours. The cannons thundered, the cannonballs swept away all living things in their path... Broken masts with the remains of the sails collapsed overboard... The ship on which Columbus was located began to sink. The surviving sailors tried to swim to the shore, some were saved by local residents. Columbus was among those rescued. This is how the future Admiral ended up in Portugal. In those days, Portugal was already famous as the greatest maritime power. This small country, located in the very west of Europe, seems to be open to the endless expanses of the ocean. And Portugal owed much of its naval power to the famous Portuguese Prince Enrique, who was nicknamed the Navigator. No, the prince himself never set foot on the deck of a sea ship, he did not go on long voyages, but Enrique organized and sent expeditions to the Atlantic islands and to distant Africa.

And so on the sea maps, carefully and strictly protected from prying eyes, the names of new open lands appeared - Ivory Coast, Pepper Coast, Slave Coast, Gold Coast...

All these geographical discoveries promised fabulous profits. Battered by storms and hurricanes, the ships returned and unloaded booty from their dark holds: ivory and mahogany, golden sand and wonderful gifts. tropical forests. The captured slaves came ashore, jangling their shackles—they were called “black ivory”...

Christopher Columbus spent almost ten years in Portugal. Here he married a girl from a noble family, Felipe Moniz Perestrello, and here his eldest son Diego was born.

Columbus sailed a lot, becoming an experienced sailor. He visited England and Ireland, the Azores and Madeira, and took part in an expedition to the distant shores of Guinea.

And Portugal became the center of ocean voyages. New types of ships are being built at its shipyards - light, maneuverable caravels and more spacious, but less fast naos. Here you can find the best nautical charts and navigation instruments - astrolabes, quadrants, magnetic compasses.

And what wonderful, breathtaking stories are heard in the port taverns to the clink of glasses with good, glorious wine! These stories make the young man’s eyes light up, and the experienced gray-moustached skipper, grinning, just shakes his head...

And it is not surprising that it was in Portugal that Columbus had the idea to reach India by sea, the western route, to reach the treasures of the East by sailing across Atlantic Ocean.

Christopher Columbus studies the works of scientists and travelers and makes calculations for future expeditions. Columbus leaves many notes in the margins of Pierre de Ailly's book "The Image of the World". For example: “The end of the inhabited land in the East and the end of the inhabited land in the West are quite close, and in the middle is a small sea.” The Atlantic Ocean is called the Small Sea. In the old days, people also called it the Sea of ​​Darkness.

The project of an Atlantic voyage to India was first submitted to the Portuguese King João II in 1484.

King John transferred his project to the "Mathematical Junta", or the Lisbon Academy, in which astronomers and mathematicians met.

“The project is unfounded and fantastic” - this is the decision made by the junta. Well, the King of Portugal, of course, understands that reliable trade routes to India are a very profitable business. But his ships are about to circumnavigate Africa, pave the way to the riches of the East... And this strange Genoese offers to sail towards the sunset, into the unknown depths of the ocean! And it remains to be seen whether the costs of this expedition will pay off. No, the members of the respected “Mathematical Junta” are right: all of Columbus’s promises are just boasting and empty fantasies.

But trouble doesn’t come alone. Felipe's beloved wife dies...

And then, in the hot summer of 1485, Columbus, together with his little son Diego, left Portugal and headed to Castile. Perhaps the rulers of Spain, Their Majesties Queen Isabella of Castile and King Ferdinand of Aragon, will be more favorable to his plan to cross the Sea of ​​Darkness.

The king and queen deigned to receive the unknown stranger on January 20, 1486. Of course, the stranger had influential patrons at the royal court. Otherwise, it was impossible to get an appointment with the rulers of Spain. Christopher Columbus was led into a large, echoing hall. Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand sat on thrones with high carved backs, decorated with velvet and gilding. To the right and left stood the members of the Royal Council in a semicircle. Columbus knelt down; for this there was a special pillow on the floor. His Majesty King Ferdinand has graciously given permission to speak. The servants unfolded the map of the world... The first audience did not bring results. And long years of waiting began. The project was considered by one commission after another, but there was no final decision. And the rulers of Spain are busy at war with the Arabs, or Moors, as they were then called. There is a war going on for the complete liberation of the Iberian Peninsula, and war, as you know, requires a lot of money... We must wait. But the neighbors on the peninsula, the Portuguese, did not wait. And they achieved success. At the end of 1488, the ships of Bartolomeu Dias returned to Lisbon. They returned with good news: the southernmost point of the African continent - the Cape of Good Hope - had been reached! There is one final step left to reach the riches of the East - to sail from the Cape of Good Hope to India. And treasures will flow into the treasury of King Juan.

The rulers of Spain now had only one hope - to be the first to reach India by the western route, across the ocean. And the highly respected and influential nobles continued to bother... Well, this Genoese Columbus with his daring plans can come in handy. By the way, where is Christopher Columbus himself? Why has he not been seen at court for a long time? Her Majesty the Queen wishes to see him!

The hooves of a hot horse clatter loudly. The royal messenger is in a hurry: Columbus, having received another refusal, decided to leave Spain and is going to move to France. Maybe he'll have better luck there...

A few miles from Granada, at the Pinos Bridge, a messenger overtakes Columbus and conveys to him the highest command to return back.

In the military camp of Santa Fe, near the walls of Granada, which had just been recaptured from the Moors, with its beautiful palaces and gardens, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella signed the famous “Surrender.”

This is how in Spain of the 15th and 16th centuries they called a treaty agreement with a list of conditions and obligations of the parties who signed the “capitulation”.

And the Admiral of the Sea-Ocean, Don Christopher Columbus, was promised an eighth share of the profits from trade with the newly discovered lands. But if he failed, Columbus received nothing.

Thus ended eight years of waiting, hope and disappointment.

The expedition was preparing to sail in the port of Paloe. The royal decree ordered that three ships be found and manned. Paloe was a city of experienced sailors, famous for its fishermen who went fishing far from their native shores.

But for a long time there were no hunters willing to set sail in the Sea of ​​Darkness. Gray-haired sailors, weather-beaten by the winds of all latitudes, rattled their mugs in the port taverns and said:

- If the Portuguese have not found land beyond the Sea-Ocean, then nothing will come of this venture! Swim for at least three whole years!

- And who knows this Admiral? He is a foreigner and cannot be trusted!

The situation changed when two famous and wealthy shipowners, brothers Martin Alonso Pinzon and Vicente Yañez Pinzon, decided to take part in this expedition. And soon those wishing to see unknown shores flocked to the harbor of Palos. Now other speeches were heard:

- With God's help we will open new lands! And we will return with bags full of spices and a lot of gold! We will go to sea beggars and return rich! May the Blessed Virgin Mary protect us!

And soon about a hundred people and three ships were ready to set off.

... At dawn on the third of August 1492, two caravels “Pinta” and “Nina”, which means “Speck” and “Baby”, and the flagship of the Nao “Santa Maria” set out on the open sea. Thus began one of the most famous journeys in the history of mankind, in the history of the era of great geographical discoveries.

The weather was beautiful. A fair wind filled the tight sails, flags fluttered from the masts. A green cross on a white background is the flag of the expedition, and castles and lions adorned the royal standards of the rulers of Spain. Sailing ship, cutting through the waves, sailing under full sails - a beautiful, mesmerizing sight! But now it is difficult for us to imagine in what difficult conditions the sailors of those times lived and sailed. For months they slept side by side, without taking off their clothes, in the incredible cramped conditions of stuffy holds or in the open air, on the deck. Length itself big ship expedition - NAO "Santa Maria" - did not exceed 35 meters! The Niña and Pinta caravels were even smaller. Food was prepared on primitive hearths, but the main food during long sea voyages was corned beef and crackers. Fresh water quickly deteriorated, and even it had to be saved.

But, in spite of everything, the sailors kept their watch regularly. Time was counted using hourglasses - ampolettes. Sand poured from the top bottle to the bottom, and the cabin boy turned the watch over every half hour. The bells were “beaten off” by striking the ship’s bell—the time of each watch was measured. When the cabin boy turned over the hourglass again, he sang.

And then Columbus came up with a trick. He announces to the crew a much shorter distance than the ships actually traveled.

“So that people are not overcome by fear and sadness,” Columbus writes in his diary.

And at the beginning of September, the compass needles “revolted”! This phenomenon, previously unknown, was the effect of magnetic declination, which is well studied today. After all, magnetic poles and geographic poles do not coincide. To Columbus's credit, he realized that the needle of the magnetic compass did not point exactly north everywhere. And now Columbus checked the compass readings against the North Star. And with surprise and hope, the sailors notice tufts of green grass swaying on the waves. It was completely fresh - which means that it had only recently grown on the shore! The grass became more and more, but the ground was not visible. The ships were now sailing as if through a green meadow, but the lead sinker, thrown into the unusually clear water, did not reach the bottom... This was the famous Sargasso Sea. How many legends, mysterious and incredible, will be associated with this sea without shores... Huge accumulations of greenish-brown sargassum algae form entire floating fields, and the sailors feared that treacherous reefs were guarding somewhere here. Columbus records: “The people could not stand it, complaining about the long voyage.”

The sailors not only complained, some were ready to mutiny and even throw the stubborn Admiral overboard.

Finally, in early October, Columbus's flotilla escaped from the thickets of the Sargasso Sea.

The admiral persuades the crew to wait a few more days, and only then turn back.

At ten o'clock in the evening of October 11, Columbus stood on the aft superstructure and peered into the darkness of the beginning night. Suddenly, somewhere in the distance, a faint light blinked, as if someone had lit a candle. Several more people saw this light.

And at two o’clock in the morning on October 12, 1492, the sailor from the Pinta, Rodrigo de Triana, shouted: “Earth! I see the earth!

The ship's cannon fired a shot notifying other ships of this historical event.

At dawn, the sailors saw low banks covered with dense thickets, a narrow strip sandy beach. A chain of white coral reefs bordered the entire coast; only in a few places were safe passages into a large bay visible. Columbus's ships entered it carefully.

Since then, October 12, 1492 has been considered the official date of the discovery of America. We know this. But then Columbus thought that this was just one of the islands of the distant Indies. And the word “America” itself was born much later... The sun had already risen when the sand creaked under the bottom of the ship’s boat on the shore of a hospitable bay. Unprecedented birds with bright, motley plumage fluttered and screamed in the thickets. Who is lurking in the depths of the forest - friends or enemies?

The admiral, as expected, went ashore first. In his hands he carried a royal banner with the initials of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. The captains of the Pinta and Niña, Martin Alonso Pinzon and Vicente Yañez Pinzon, carried banners with a green cross.

Sticking the banner into the sand, Columbus solemnly proclaims that he is taking possession of the island on behalf of the king and queen. The notary of the expedition, Rodrigo Escoveda, draws up the required documents, and Christopher Columbus signs them.

This is how America was discovered.

The island was named San Salvador, which means "Savior". Nowadays, this relatively small island is known as Watling, it is one of the chain of the Bahamas, stretching from Florida to Cuba and Haiti.

“Guanahani” - that’s how the locals called their island, who soon trustingly surrounded the strange aliens who sailed on huge winged boats. They were beautiful, well-built people. Their bronze bodies were painted with black, red and white paint. The islanders were not afraid of strangers; they gave them parrots and skeins of cotton yarn, darts and spears. And in return they received wonderful gifts - several caps, glass balls and bells.

Columbus called the local residents “Indians,” because he was sure that he had sailed to the shores of the distant Indies. And since then, the indigenous inhabitants of America began to be called Indians.

“They must be good and quick-witted servants - I noticed that they quickly learned to repeat what they were told... And, with God's help, I will bring six people from here for your Majesties, whom I will take when setting off on the return journey... No creatures I didn’t see any other kind of parrots on this island,” Columbus writes in his diary.

Yes, parrots are very unusual birds, they will undoubtedly arouse interest on the other side of the ocean. But it was not for the sake of exotic birds that Columbus set off on his journey. Gold! He promised to find spices and gold beyond the Sea-Ocean.

Some Indians have pieces of gold through their nose. So, is there a lot of it somewhere? Columbus is trying to find out about the places where the yellow metal is born. The Indians explain with signs that there are other, larger islands where there are many different wonders and amazing things.

The local leader, the cacique, releases several tall and smart young men with the strangers; they will act as guides and show the way to other islands. Only one of these young men, who received the Spanish name Diego, would become Columbus’s personal translator and his companion on the second expedition. The rest will either escape from the ships or die in a foreign land...

And while Columbus's caravels are slowly sailing in unknown waters, sailors are discovering large and small islands of the Bahamas archipelago.

The Indians on the islands willingly exchange gold jewelry and masks for glass and bells, and the Spaniards make amazing discoveries. For example, “hanging beds” are hammocks. Or tobacco. Columbus's sailors see Indians inhaling smoke from rolled up and smoldering leaves of some plant. These tubes were called "tobacco". Some of the sailors even managed to become addicted to this potion...

The Spaniards saw a strange game on one of the islands: the young men kicked and tossed an elastic lump with their feet, and it jumped as if alive. The lump was made from thickened sap, which the Indians called “kao-chu,” or “tears of the tree.” Sometimes the Indians coated their feet with this juice, dried them over a fire, and the result was shoes that were not afraid of water. This is how Europeans first became acquainted with rubber - the thick milky sap of the Hevea tree.

A few days after the discovery of the Indies, Columbus writes in his diary: “I saw a grain called maize.” And another member of the expedition describes maize, or corn, this way: “Some strange plants more than a meter high grew in the fields. It seemed that they were made of pure gold, and their leaves were made of silver!

But so far little real gold or silver has been found. The guides taken to Guanahani and the Indians from other islands continued to say that there, in the sea, there were islands, large and beautiful. They are called Kolba, or Cuba, and Bohio, and there is a lot, a lot of yellow metal, which foreigners like so much.

Columbus himself believed that he was near the island of Sipango, which was the name of Japan, and Sipango was the “Island of Golden Springs.” And beyond Sipango lies Cathay, or China, the land of the Great Khan, to whom a letter has already been prepared from their Majesties King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella.

And at the end of October 1492, Columbus's ships dropped anchor off the coast of Cuba. The admiral is sure: this is just a peninsula of Asia. Columbus writes: “This land is a continent.”

Cuba greeted the Spaniards with lush green forests and an intoxicating aroma flowering plants made my head spin. The sailors feasted on unknown fruits. The only thing missing was gold. A detachment sent on a mission to find gold deposits and deliver a letter from the rulers of Spain to the Great Khan returns empty-handed. Local Indians say that people who came from heaven in huge winged canoes can find gold on the island of Bohio, or Haiti.

Suddenly, the Pinta disappeared in the sea fog. Maybe the caravel ran into treacherous reefs? Or did its captain, Martin Alonso Pinson, decide to be the first to get to Haiti's gold?

On December 5th, "Santa Maria" and "Nina" approached the shores of Haiti. Hispaniola - “Spanish land” - was what Christopher Columbus called this large island. There was another, much smaller island near Hispaniola. They named him Tortuga, which means "turtle". And indeed, the island resembled a turtle swimming among the sea waves.

To the sailors, the shores of Haiti seemed like paradise. Dense green forests, comfortable bays, beaches with delicate fine sand, springs with clear water. And in the bluish haze they rose above the island Mountain peaks. But most importantly, there was more gold on Espanola than on other islands. Gold jewelry sparkled on the bronze bodies of the Indians. And they said that in the depths of the island there is a country called Cibao, rich in precious metal.

On the night of Christmas, the ships approached the cape, which was named “Saint”. The night was clear and a light breeze was blowing. Nothing foreshadowed trouble... But suddenly the Santa Maria was rocked by a terrible blow. The sharp fangs of the reefs tear through the bottom of the ship. Water fills the holds. "Santa Maria" is doomed...

Fortunately, almost all of the cargo was saved. With the help of the Indians who arrived in time, everything valuable was transferred to the shore.

The crash changed the admiral's plans. After all, now on the small “Nina”, thousands of miles from their native shores, without hope of help, more than seventy people, the crews of two ships and several Indian captives found themselves.

Christopher Columbus makes a decision: some people remain on Hispaniola. From the wreckage of the Santa Maria it is necessary to build a fortification - a fort. Which is what was done. The fort was named "Navidad" - this is how the word "Christmas" sounds in Spanish.

The fortress has everything you need: food and weapons. Diego de Arana was appointed commandant of the fortress. The settlers had to scout out where gold would be “born” on the island and collect as much of it as possible through “honest and kind bargaining.”

But just in case, the Admiral decided to demonstrate his power to the local residents: he ordered to fire several times from ship guns- bombard. There was a deafening roar, clouds of smoke enveloped the sides of the Niña, and the frightened Indians fell to the ground. The laughter of the sailors was probably only slightly quieter than the artillery salvos.

At the very beginning of January 1493, Columbus and his companions left Navidad Bay. For several days, the Niña continued to explore the shores of Hispaniola; in one of the many bays, a boat with sailors was fired upon by warlike Indians. And this bay was called Arrow Bay. And one fine day an unexpected meeting took place. “I see a sail!” - a sailor watching the sea shouted from the top of the mainmast. It was the missing Pint. Captain Martin Alonso Pinzon made excuses as best he could, but Columbus hardly believed him. “The admiral hid his feelings,” it was written in the documents of the expedition. And so the flotilla of the remaining two ships headed for Spain, towards their native shores. The return journey started well. The ships were helped by favorable currents and winds, and passed the Sargasso Sea without any incident. But a terrible storm broke out in the Azores area. Many ships were lost that year. The Genoese harbor suddenly found itself in captivity in ice, and not a single ship could leave the Portuguese ports for months due to incessant storms.

... Little “Ninya” was tossed around by huge waves like a piece of wood, and it seemed that the next wave of water would be the last. Outwardly, the Admiral remained calm. He did not leave the captain's bridge for a minute, forgetting about food and sleep. Is it really now, when there is very little left to reach our native shores, that the elements will defeat courageous people? And no one will know about the great discovery they made?

And then Columbus writes a brief report about the expedition on a piece of parchment. The leaf is placed in a small barrel, which is tightly sealed and thrown into the stormy sea. Maybe this message will reach people...

On March 15, 1493, the storm-battered Niña entered Palois, where 225 days earlier an expedition had set out in search of sea routes to India. A little later the sails of the Pinta appeared.

The whole city came out to meet the sailors. They were greeted as heroes. Church bells rang and thanksgiving masses were held.

Admiral Christopher Columbus was also expected in Barcelona, ​​where at that time the court of the Spanish kings was located.

Spring in Spain is beautiful! Bright, not yet sultry sun; the young, tender foliage of the gardens rustles under a light breeze, and the gardens themselves seem like fluffy clouds descending to the ground...

In April 1493, Barcelona saw an unusual procession. The narrow streets were filled with crowds of onlookers. Yes, there was something to admire here! The procession was led by the Admiral of the Sea-Ocean himself in full dress uniform, surrounded by his captains. The sailors carried amazing birds - parrots - on poles. The birds were worried, screaming and flapping their wings. And the ubiquitous boys tried to pick a bright feather from the colorful plumage of overseas birds. They carried exotic, unprecedented fruits and plants. But the greatest surprise and cries of delight were caused by the appearance of people with bronze-colored skin. Their bodies were decorated with colorful belts, lush feathers swayed on their heads, and their faces were covered with golden guan masks. And now the solemn procession approaches the steps leading to a high platform covered with carpets. There are three throne chairs and one stool. The chairs are for Queen Isabella, King Ferdinand and Crown Prince Juan. And the stool is for Christopher Columbus. This is unheard of mercy! The Admiral is permitted to sit in the presence of their Majesties! And the Indians brought from overseas sat down in their exotic attire on the steps of the platform. After the ringing of the bells, a prayer of gratitude sounds... Discovery of a new sea ​​route to India was celebrated in Barcelona for more than one day. Grand receptions were held in palaces and ceremonial dinners in the houses of noble nobles. And plans for future expeditions were discussed everywhere. Probably, at one of the receptions the legend of the “Columbus egg” was born.

One of the guests asked: “Is it possible to place a boiled egg so that it stands on the tip and does not fall?” They say that Columbus, in response, simply hit the egg forcefully on the table, the shell crumpled, and the egg remained standing... This historical anecdote is just another evidence of the popularity of Christopher Columbus at that time. Whether this actually happened or not, we don’t know. But we know for sure that Columbus was granted the noble coat of arms.

The royal decree of May 20, 1493 read: “To grant to Don Christopher Columbus and his descendants and heirs in perpetuity the coat of arms ... A golden castle on a green field in the upper quarter of the shield on the right hand, and a purple lion on a white background in the other upper part on the left ... and at the bottom of the shield there are golden anchors on a blue field and red islands on a golden field.”

... This time there was no end to those wishing to participate in the second expedition to open lands. There were also those who wanted to settle in distant and mysterious Hispaniola.

By September 1493, a veritable armada—seventeen ships and fifteen hundred men—was ready to set sail across the ocean. Dozens of Spanish knights, hidalgos, and other people from noble families of Castile also gathered to distant shores. The glitter of gold attracted people like the light of a guiding star. Everything necessary for life on new lands is loaded into the holds of the caravels: grain, livestock, tools and weapons. Leashes are breaking ferocious dogs, specially trained to hunt people. They are taken in case the local Indians do not want to obey the settlers. Of course, equipment for future gold mines was also loaded.

And so on September 25, the flotilla raised the sails and went to sea. The flagship was a huge ship for that time; it had two names: “Maria Galante” and “Santa Maria”. The first Santa Maria, which perished on the reefs, was half the size of the new ship.

In clear weather and favorable trade winds, on the twenty-second day of the voyage a cry was heard: “Earth! I see the earth!

This mountainous island was named Dominica. Then came a series of new discoveries - Guadeloupe, Santa Cruz, Puerto Rico... It was a garland of the Lesser Antilles, stretching for more than five hundred miles, separating the Caribbean Sea from the Atlantic Ocean.

Warlike Carib tribes lived on these islands. The Spaniards called them “canibs”, “cannibals”. Since then, this word has meant “cannibals,” although among the Caribs, like many other tribes, cannibalism was a ritual rite.

And finally the shores of Hispaniola appeared. The squadron dropped anchor in Navidad Bay. Strangely, none of those remaining in the fort came out to meet the ships. And there was no fort itself...

The site of the fortress was blackened by ashes. There were fragments of chests and some rags lying around... The sailors also found several corpses, hastily covered with earth. What happened here?

Soon everything became clear. Gold! Gold caused the tragedy. The Spaniards who remained in the fort, in search of precious metal, robbed and mercilessly burned Indian villages, and in bloody quarrels they killed each other over the spoils. And, in the end, a handful of pale-faced strangers were killed by Indian warriors. The Indian tribes were now well aware of the greed, treachery and cruelty of the newcomers.

Christopher Columbus decided to found a new fortress, a new settlement on the shore of a wide bay. This is where it should have arisen Big city with palaces and streets, a port and noisy squares.

But the chosen place turned out to be extremely unsuccessful. All around there were swamps with clouds of midges, there was not enough drinking water, and even that tasted disgusting.

Diseases began to plague people. And to top it all off, hunger began. The recent rains turned all the surrounding areas into impassable swamps. A rebellion was brewing among the settlers, ready to break out at any moment.

Fortunately, at this time a detachment sent to search for gold-bearing areas in Hispaniola returned. The detachment returned with good news - gold was found! True, not as much as we would like. But in the areas where the scouts visited, they discovered numerous Indian settlements. And that means there will be many slaves!

Columbus decided to send several ships with the gold he had mined, samples of spices, and everyone who wanted to return back to Castile. The admiral sends a memorial to the rulers of Spain - a memorial note, a report. In this report, Columbus tries to convince the king and queen that there is a lot of gold on Hispaniola, the nature is beautiful, and here you can get good, strong and hardy slaves. This alone will cover all the expenses of the expedition. Even if many slaves cannot withstand the long, tedious journey in dark and stuffy holds. The slave trade in those days was considered a worthy and very profitable business.

So, a caravan of twelve ships left for Spain, and the Admiral himself continued to search for gold placers in Hispaniola. And is preparing to sail to the shores of Cuba. Columbus still considers it part of the Asian continent, the land of the Great Khan. In April 1494, Columbus took three caravels to sea. The Admiral's flag flies on the Niña.

The ships sail along the Cuban coast, and the wind carries the wonderful aromas of ripening fruits and the sonorous discord of birds. Sailors gaze intently at the mysterious alluring landscapes floating overboard.

The local Indians are not at all warlike. They treat strangers to an exquisite delicacy - the meat of fried iguanas. The mere sight of these creatures is terrifying and can kill anyone's appetite.

But on the big and beautiful island Jamaica Indians do not want to see uninvited guests. Columbus's sailors had to demonstrate the power of modern weapons - shooting from crossbows.

Beautiful Jamaica disappointed the Admiral, but the hostility of the Indians was not the reason. No gold placers were found here either.

Columbus decides to return to the shores of Cuba, because somewhere there is the land of the Great Khan, rich in various treasures and worthy not only of surprise, but also of close attention...

The helmsmen are laying new course, sailors strictly follow all orders and commands of officers. And soon many islands and islets grow in the sea haze. It was as if someone had scattered a wonderful necklace among the expanses of the sea. The islands are covered with dense forests, White sand The beaches sparkle dazzlingly in the sun. The water of numerous springs bears little resemblance to the fetid liquid that splashes in barrels in ship holds. Amazing animals hide in the thickets, and long-legged, pink-winged flamingos walk in the shallow waters.

The sailors feel like they are in a beautiful fairyland. Columbus named this island archipelago lying south of Cuba the Queen's Gardens. But there are no treasures in the beautiful Queen's Gardens either...

And again, for a day in a row, the shores of Cuba are stretched overboard. But now they are low and swampy. And the coastal waters are rich in shoals. You have to drag the caravels through obstacles using anchors and ropes. This causes cracks to form in the bottoms. The sailors, exhausted from fatigue, pump water out of the holds. And there is no end in sight to the shore. The Admiral is probably right: Is Cuba a continent?

June 12, 1494, the crew of the Niña line up on deck. And all the sailors sign a strange document. Why strange? The document says that the land of Juan, as Columbus calls Cuba, is not an island, but a part of the Asian continent. Here is “the beginning of the Indies and their end, so that, following this land, you can walk overland to Spain.” But if anyone doubts this and dares to challenge the Admiral’s opinion, he will face severe punishment.

This document, taken under oath, must prove to the whole world, and most importantly, to the kings of Spain, that the path “in India” is open, no matter what ill-wishers say. And the Admiral has plenty of them in Spain.

On the way back to Hispaniola, Columbus fell seriously ill. He was so weak that the sailors carried the sick Admiral ashore in the port of Isabella - this is now the name of the new settlement on Hispaniola, built to replace the destroyed Fort Navidad.

Columbus is met by his brother Bartolome, who sailed from Spain with a caravan of ships that delivered food and soldiers to new lands.

And in the absence of the Admiral, many events happened on the island. Some of the settlers rebelled, seized the ship and fled to Spain. The remaining rebels do not want to obey any authority, any law. For them there is only one law - profit! For her sake, the rebels rob Indian settlements, kill unfortunate Indians, sometimes just for fun. In response, the Indian leaders - the caciques - rebelled against the Spaniards.

And now Christopher Columbus has to suppress the Indian uprising and fight the rebel compatriots.

And in Spain itself they are unhappy with Columbus. Where is the promised gold and other wealth? Why is there no income from the newly discovered lands for the royal treasury? And enough complaints have already accumulated against the Admiral. The rebels who reached Spain say that Hispaniola has turned into the personal fiefdom of the Admiral; he appoints his relatives and favorites to all important posts. And the noble knights are starving and suffering from the arbitrariness of this Genoese. And in general, most likely, Columbus drowned off the Cuban coast...

Meanwhile, on Hispaniola, the Admiral, having barely recovered from his illness, declares: “I want to go to Castile in order to justify myself before the king and queen, our rulers, and to expose the slanderers...”

In June 1496, after almost three years of stay “in the Indies,” Christopher Columbus returned to Spain.

This time there was no ceremonial meeting.

That year it was a very hot summer in Spain. The king and queen were always on the move, they wandered around old Castile. And exhausted by illness, aged and gray-haired, Christopher Columbus was awaiting the highest permission to appear at court with a report on all the events of the second expedition. Increasingly, the Admiral's attire was a dark monastic robe, belted with a rope... Only in October did the royal couple express a desire to see their Admiral. The meeting took place in the city of Burgos.

“The admiral presented the king and queen with the Indians he had captured,” writes one of Columbus’s contemporaries. “And the monarchs received him well, they liked various wonders and stories about everything that was discovered... But the Admiral had to endure a lot, getting his position, from enemies and proud people.”

And Columbus is already dreaming of a new voyage. But the royal court is busy with preparations for the wedding of Crown Prince Juan. In addition, there was a war with France over Roussillon.

But then alarming news began to arrive from Portugal, Spain’s longtime rival. A large expedition to India under the command of Vasco da Gama was being prepared there. In the summer of 1497, the Portuguese squadron went to sea. Spain now urgently needs to confirm its right to the western sea route to India. Now it's time to remember Columbus. The experience of Admiral Sea-Ocean may come in handy.

But only in the spring of the following year, 1498, Columbus's third expedition of six ships was ready to set off.

This time Columbus led his ships across the ocean a little south of the usual route. The admiral hoped that further south of the islands he discovered lay “midday lands” with countless treasures.

... The sun shone dazzlingly, there was no escape from its unbearable heat. The Spanish sailors kept watch in their rough, thick clothes, because good Christians are not supposed to expose their sinful bodies. For several days there was no wind, complete calm. The ships froze on the water surface sparkling like a mirror with drooping sails. The stuffiness in the holds, where food supplies spoiled, was incredible. Columbus writes: “It seemed to me that both the ships and the people on them would burn. Everyone immediately fell into such a confused state that there was not a person who would dare to go below deck to get water or food.”

Finally, the wind filled the sails again, and the flotilla rushed west. On June 31, 1498, sailor Alonso Perez saw three shadows, three hills on the horizon. These were the mountains of the island that Columbus named Trinidad in honor of the Holy Trinity. Approaching Trinidad, the sailors noticed another distant land in a foggy haze on the port side. No one knew that this was the shore of an as yet unknown South America. But for now the distant shore was named Paria.

In Trinidad, sailors enjoyed fresh fruit and stocked up on fresh water.

Through the seething strait between the island and Paria, the flotilla passed into a huge, wide bay. And for its insidious nature, the strait was called Boca de la Sierpe, which means “Snake’s Mouth.” Another exit from the bay received an equally appropriate name - the Dragon's Mouth.

But the most surprising thing is that the water in the bay turned out to be fresh! Columbus guessed: some deep river flows into the bay. And that means there is a large land somewhere nearby. Christopher Columbus was not mistaken - the great river of South America, the Orinoco, carries its waters into the Gulf of Paria, or Whale.

And on August 5, 1498, Columbus's sailors set foot on the South American continent for the first time. They saw low hilly banks covered with palm trees. Monkeys swayed and squealed on the tenacious vines. But the main discovery and joy was that the local Indians had massive gold jewelry! And their arms and legs were decorated with necklaces made of excellent large pearls. The Indians received the guests kindly. They exchanged gold for bells and other trinkets, and treated the sailors to the intoxicating drink “chicha.” The ghost of gold beckoned into the unknown, but now Columbus was in a hurry to Hispaniola. The admiral was sure that a new large land had been discovered - “another world.”

Through the Mouth of the Dragon, where frenzied whirlpools swirl and boil and stones and rocks sharp like dragon teeth lie in wait, Columbus's ships slipped into the Caribbean Sea.

Finally the familiar shores of Hispaniola appeared. The new capital of the “Indies” was not the swampy, malarial Isabella, but the city of Santo Domingo. True, there was no city yet. There was a cleared field, barely outlined future streets. In the meantime, people huddled in buildings that resembled huts.

Events in Hispaniola did not allow time for rest. Another rebellion broke out among the settlers. It was headed by the chief judge of the island, a knight from Andalusia Francisco Roldan.

At that time, the “adelantado” (governor of Hispaniola) was the brother of Admiral Bartolome Columbus, and the commandant of the unfortunate Isabella was another brother, Diego Columbus. The rebels said that Columbus's brothers, rootless strangers, were in every possible way infringing on the rights of noble knights.

“Many rebels either sent letters from Hispaniola, or themselves reached Castile and supplied false information to the Catholic kings ... incriminating the Admiral and his brothers, saying that they are cruel people and are not capable of ruling the island, and besides, they are foreigners and backwaters” - so they will these events are described years later.

Christopher Columbus was forced to enter into negotiations with the rebels and their leader Roldan. The admiral had to reinstate him as chief judge. Moreover, Roldan and his accomplices received extensive land grants and Indian slaves.

But the denunciations from Hispaniola in Spain did not go unnoticed. At the end of August 1500, two caravels sent from Spain approached Santo Domingo. This is the arrival of Francisco de Bobadilla, a confidant of the rulers of Spain and a judge-auditor.

First of all, Bobadilla announced that from now on everyone on Hispaniola must obey him, including Christopher Columbus. He then ordered the release of all those arrested for robberies and murders of the rebels. Bobadilla ordered the arrest of Christopher Columbus and his brothers. And not just arrest them, but put them in chains as the most dangerous criminals. They said that for a long time no one wanted to put chains on the Admiral, some cook volunteered to do it...

At the beginning of October 1500, ships with prisoners left Hispaniola and headed for Spain.

The captain of the ship where Columbus was, Alonso Valleja, knew and respected the Admiral well and offered to remove the shackles.

“No,” replied Columbus. - I will remain in chains. Let them be removed by those who ordered shackles to be put on me!”

So on November 25, 1500, in the port of Cadiz, the famous Admiral of the Sea-Ocean came ashore, chained in chains. He was sick, every step was difficult for him. But Christopher Columbus did not consider himself defeated...

The crowd on the streets of Cadiz greeted the shackled Admiral with enthusiastic shouts and showered curses on the royal auditor Bobadilla and all the slanderers. This probably was not part of the plans of the rulers of Spain. And soon good news came from Granada, where King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella were then: their Majesties regretted Bobadilla’s arbitrariness and invited the Admiral to their palace - the Alhambra Castle.

The shackles were removed, but Columbus never parted with them and even bequeathed to put them with him in the coffin...

Fernando Colon, Columbus's youngest son, was the royal page and was present at the meeting at the Alhambra Castle. Later he would write: “In Granada, the Admiral was received by their Majesties, whose faces were joyful and their words kind, and it was said that the Admiral’s freedom was deprived without their knowledge and will, they regret what happened and are ready to punish the perpetrators and fully satisfy the victim.” .

To satisfy means to pay generously, to return all ranks and titles, but not a word was said about returning to Hispaniola in his previous position.

However, soon all the words were said. In March 1502, the Admiral received royal instructions: to set off on a new voyage to discover the islands and mainland lying in those parts of the Indies that are part of the Spanish possessions. Look for gold, silver, pearls, gems and other valuables. But entering the island of Hispaniola is allowed only in case of emergency and only on the way back.

Why was Columbus allowed, and this is what he sought, to again go to the shores of the lands he discovered?

The reason is the success of Portuguese sailors. The ships of Vasco da Gama's expedition returned to Lisbon. They managed to travel by sea to India along the coast of Africa. And now the key to the treasures of the East is in the hands of the King of Portugal! Well, it's Spain's turn to make its move...

In the spring of 1502, Christopher Columbus's flotilla of four caravels left the flourishing shores of Seville. Together with the Admiral, his thirteen-year-old son Hernando and brother Bartolome set sail.

The expedition was supposed to reach the shores of the Indies, then go around Africa and return to Spain. In other words, do the first trip around the world. This will only be possible to do after two decades of another Spanish expedition - the expedition of Ferdinand Magellan...

... After crossing the Atlantic, ships required repairs, and people needed rest. Columbus stood in the roadstead of Hispaniola, which was so close to him and discovered by him. He sent a note to the governor asking him to allow him to enter the harbor to wait out the approaching storm, since the ships, battered by the long passage, would not withstand the hurricane.

But Governor Nicholas Ovando forbade Columbus's ships from entering the harbor. And he ordered the caravan of his ships heading to Spain to put to sea. The sun was shining brightly, the sea was calm - how could there be a storm? The governor believed that the Admiral was simply looking for any excuse to go ashore...

And soon a strong storm began. Of the entire caravan sent from Hispaniola, only one small boat reached Spain with great difficulty. Ironically, it contained gold that personally belonged to Christopher Columbus. During the storm, the auditor Bobadilla, the rebel judge Roldan and some other of the Admiral's ill-wishers drowned. In all this, Columbus saw God's providence. And Columbus's caravels took refuge in advance at the mouth of the Haina River near Santo Domingo and were almost unharmed.

The Admiral's expedition continued. Having sailed through the Queen's Gardens, Columbus's sailors saw unknown lands. Even off the coast, the sea depths turned out to be very large. The new lands were named Onduras, which means “depth” in Spanish. Today the country of Honduras is located on these lands. The caravels slowly, catching the fair wind with their sails, moved along the coast, occasionally entering convenient bays. One day we came across a large canoe with a reed hut. The Indians called themselves “Mayans”, they even had “money” - cocoa beans.

This voyage was hard, very hard. Endless storms threatened death in unknown waters. The admiral writes in his diary: “The ships leaked, the rigging and anchors were lost, boats, ropes and a lot of equipment were lost... Many of those who seemed to be strong in spirit fell into despondency, and this was the case throughout all this time.” .

Most of all, Columbus was probably worried and worried about his thirteen-year-old son, but Hernando behaved with great courage, as if he were an experienced sailor.

The Admiral himself was very ill. He no longer went down to the captain's cabin; the sailors on deck made a small shelter for him, from where he controlled the ship.

The caravels stubbornly made their way forward through bad weather. We have already passed a cape called Gracias a Dios, which means “Glory to God!” Overboard floats the lands on which the countries of Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama are located today. Local Indians circle the caravels in canoes. And they happily exchange their jewelry - massive gold discs, gold jewelry in the form of birds - for two or three bells, a piece of glass, a button. The Indians explain with signs: their land lies on an isthmus between the seas. And somewhere there, beyond the mountains, you can find a very rich country, there is a lot of gold and brave warriors live there.

Apparently, we were talking about the Inca state, and the isthmus is the Isthmus of Panama.

... The new year has come, 1503. Storms continue to rage. Hurricane winds tear sails to shreds, break anchor chains and ropes, and break boats into pieces. Due to the dampness and stuffiness, the crackers turned into crumbs, infested with worms. But there are no other supplies on the ships, this is the only food... In January, Columbus's caravels dropped anchor at the mouth of the Belen River. The leader of the Indian tribe Cacique Quibian, in modern parlance, paid a courtesy call. The cacique brought a lot of gold as a gift. And soon the sailors themselves found gold-bearing sands.

Columbus decided to found a settlement on the Belene River and leave people there under the command of his brother Bartolome. And with the rest, return to Spain for reinforcements.

Soon two dozen houses appeared on the shore. The settlers were settling into a new place and were already dreaming of how they would pan for gold here and return to their homeland rich. But the Indians did not like this neighborhood. Bloody skirmishes are occurring more and more often, and it comes to real battles. The Spaniards had to evacuate to ships. But one caravel remained, locked by the shallowed river.

The admiral understands: it is necessary to get to Hispaniola at all costs, because in case of emergency it is allowed to enter the port of Santo Domingo. And this extreme need has arrived. Columbus writes: “I set off on a journey in the name of the Holy Trinity... on rotten ships, completely full of holes and eaten by worms... I had to either go by sea... or die along the way with my son and brother and a large number of people.”

No one yet knew how long this journey would be.

Constantly pumping water from the holds, with little hope of salvation, the sailors brought the half-sunken caravels to Jamaica. Here the ships were pulled onto the sandy shore of Santa Gloria Bay, strengthened with props, and a kind of reed huts were built on the decks.

More than a hundred sailors turned into Robinsons. However, the book about the adventures of Robinson Crusoe will not be written until two centuries later...

In the meantime... For now the situation seemed hopeless. The ships are dilapidated, their hull resembles a honeycomb, sailing on them is certain death.

The admiral writes in his diary: “I did not set out on this voyage for honors and profits. This is clear, for the hope for both has already died in me.”

But the well-known wisdom says: hope dies last. An almost crazy plan is born: try to get to Santo Domingo and ask for help. But how to do that? If you can't sail on caravels, then why not try to send word of your situation using Indian canoes?

Sailor Diego Mendez and captain Bartolome Fresco set off on this dangerous voyage across a stormy sea in fragile little boats. They had to travel several hundred miles by sea...

And in Jamaica, agonizing days of waiting dragged on for the sailors, days turned into weeks, weeks into months...

Not everyone survived life from hand to mouth, in dirty and dark huts on ships. And a rebellion broke out. Which is already a rebellion in the life of the Admiral...

The rebels shouted that if Columbus did not think of returning to Spain, let him remain on this damned island...

Misfortune never comes alone. The Indians refused to supply food to the restless newcomers. The aborigines did not want to endure insults from uninvited guests, and no bells helped to establish an exchange.

And then Christopher Columbus had to perform... a miracle! A real miracle. The admiral knew that soon, on February 29, 1504, there would be an eclipse of the moon. The sailors were well versed in astronomy.

- God is angry with you! You don't give us food and God will take away the moon! - Columbus announced to the leaders of the Indian tribes.

As the leader of the pale-faced aliens promised, it happened. When the eclipse began, all the Indians rushed to beg the Admiral to return the moon to them... Columbus generously “returned” it to the sky.

This is how Christopher Columbus became famous among the Jamaican Indians as a great sorcerer. And the Spanish sailors were now provided with food supplies.

... At the end of June 1504, a small caravel sent from Hispaniola entered Santa Gloria Bay. Mendez and Fresco did not disappear, did not drown! They reached Santo Domingo. But they had to persuade the governor and viceroy of Their Majesties “in the Indies” Ovando for a long time to provide assistance to those in distress in Jamaica.

Columbus spent a whole year with his people in Jamaica. The journey back to Hispaniola was not easy. But after all the trials, the sailors watched with hope and joy as the familiar outlines of the coast appeared from the sea haze. The caravel dropped anchor in the harbor of Santo Domingo, the capital of Hispaniola.

But we still have to somehow return to Spain. Governor Ovando shrugs: no instructions have been received regarding Columbus.

Christopher Columbus hires a ship at his own expense and buys food for the journey back to Castile. There is little space on the chartered ship; only part of the expedition could be accommodated on it. Many sailors had to stay on Hispaniola.

At the beginning of November 1504, Christopher Columbus set foot again on Spanish soil. Columbus's last voyage lasted more than two years. Meticulous historians have calculated precisely - two years, five months and twenty-eight days...

Christopher Columbus died on May 20, 1506 in the small town of Valladolid, in its old quarter, near the church of Santa Maria de Antigua.

But the Admiral’s wanderings do not end there. Christopher Columbus was buried in Valladolid in the Franciscan monastery. Soon the Admiral's ashes were transported to Seville, to the monastery of Santa Maria de las Cuevas, where they were buried in the chapel of St. Anne.

In the middle of the 16th century, Christopher Columbus again set out on his posthumous voyage across the ocean. The coffin with his remains was taken to Hispaniola, in Cathedral Santo Domingo. But in 1795, Spain ceded Hispaniola to France, and Columbus's ashes were transported to Cuba, to Havana.

In January 1899, the Admiral of the Sea-Ocean made his last voyage - “from the Indies” to Castile. And since then, the ashes of Christopher Columbus have rested in the Cathedral of Seville.

HOW AMERICA WAS CALLED AMERICA

The famous French writer Victor Hugo once remarked: “There are unfortunate people: Christopher Columbus cannot write his name on his discovery.” Columbus himself believed all his life that he had only discovered a new sea route to India. And Hispaniola is obviously the country of Sipango, or Japan; Cuba is part of the Asian continent and the southern possessions of the Great Khan... But after the third voyage, when the Admiral reached the shores of Paria, or South America, Columbus mentions “another, different world”... And yet it was about the “Indies”.

In 1503, when Columbus was waiting in Jamaica for news from Hispaniola, a certain Amerigo, or America Vespucci, wrote a letter to his patron, a noble Florentine from the Medici family. This letter soon became famous and was published in the form of a book entitled " New World" Then another letter appeared, which became just as popular. These letter-books were translated into different languages ​​and published in many European countries.

In his letters, Amerigo Vespucci spoke about voyages to unknown lands, about the expeditions of Christopher Columbus.

And in 1507, in Lorraine, in the city of Saint-Dié, the young scientist Martin Waldseemüller published the treatise “Introduction to Cosmography”. The treatise was accompanied by translations of two letters from Vespucci. Waldseemüller proposed calling the new, “fourth part of the world... the country of Amerigo, or America.”

Some time for geographical maps Only the southern part of the open lands was called America.

But in 1538, after the death of Amerigo Vespucci, the famous Flemish cartographer Gerard Mercator designated the lands of the New World as “ South part America" ​​and "Northern America".

Since then, these names began to be used in all countries. Except Spain! There, until the end of the 18th century, America was called the New World, the Indies or the Western Indies. And now all the islands of the Atlantic Ocean lying between North and South America are called the West Indies. In other words, Western India.

This is how America, discovered to the whole world by Christopher Columbus, got its name.

And although, in the words of the famous traveler and geographer Alexander Humboldt, this is a “monument to human injustice”, the name of Christopher Columbus is known to the whole world.

One day, Christopher Columbus uttered the sacramental phrase: “It’s a small world,” which, in fact, became the leitmotif of his entire life. In just over 50 years of his life, this greatest navigator managed to make as many discoveries and bring untold riches for all of Europe, which would have been impossible to do in just a few centuries. The navigator did everything he could and begged the Catholic kings to achieve his main life goal - to make an expedition to the shores of the New World. In total, Columbus managed to make four voyages to the shores of America during his life.

Columbus made his first sea voyage in 1492-1493. Thus, three ships called “Santa Maria”, “Nina” and “Pinta”, with a total crew of 90 people, set sail in 1492, on August 3, from the port of Palos. The route was laid out as follows: after the Canary Islands, the expedition went west across the Atlantic Ocean, as a result of which the Sargasso Sea was discovered, and then landed on one of the islands belonging to the Bahamas archipelago. Columbus christened it San Salvador, and this happened on October 12, 1492, which is considered the official date of the discovery of America. What is noteworthy is that for a long time there was an opinion that San Salvador is the current Watling. However, in 1986, the geographer J. Judge, an American, made a computer model of the expedition, which showed that Columbus was the first to see the island of Samana, located 120 km southeast of the Watling Island.

From October 14 to October 24 of the same year, Columbus explored other Bahamas, but from October 28 to December 5, they opened the territories of the northeast of the Cuban coast. December 6 was marked by the landing on the island of Haiti, after which the expedition proceeded along north coast. However, on the night of December 24-25, the Santa Maria vessel collided with a reef, but the flagship’s crew managed to escape, and the expedition was forced to turn to the shores of Spain.

On March 15, 1493, the Niña, whose crew was led by Columbus, and the Pinta return to Castile. The navigator brings with him trophies, including the natives, whom the Europeans called Indians, gold, unfamiliar vegetation, vegetables and fruits, and the plumage of some birds. Remarkably, Columbus was the first to use Indian hammocks instead of sailor berths. The first expedition caused such a powerful resonance that the so-called “Papal Meridian” was laid, which determined in which direction Spain would discover new lands, and in which direction Portugal would.

The second expedition took longer than the first - from September 25, 1493 to June 11, 1496, and it started from Cadiz. This time the flotilla included 17 ships, and their crew, according to various sources, numbered from 1.5 to 2.5 thousand people, which included colonists who decided to try their luck on open lands. In addition to the people themselves, the ships were loaded with livestock, seeds and seedlings, tools - everything that was necessary to create a public settlement. During this expedition, the colonists conquered Hispaniola and founded the city of Santo Domingo. The journey was marked by the discovery of the Virgin and Lesser Antilles Islands, Puerto Rico and Jamaica, in addition, the expedition continued to explore Cuba. What is noteworthy is that Columbus continued to be confident that he was exploring western India, but not the territories of the new continent.

The third expedition started on May 30, 1498. This time it consisted of 6 ships with 300 crew members. It was marked by the discovery of the island of Trinidad, the exploration of the Orinoco Delta and several other lands. On August 20, 1499, Christopher Columbus returned to Hispaniola, where things were going from bad to worse. What is noteworthy is that in 1498, real India was discovered by Vasco de Gama, from where he returned with irrefutable evidence - spices, and Columbus was declared a deceiver. So, in 1499, Columbus was deprived of his monopoly right to discover new territories, he himself was arrested and taken to Castile. He was saved from imprisonment only by the patronage of large financiers who had influence on the royal couple.

Columbus's fourth and final voyage

The last expedition was undertaken on May 9, 1502. This time the traveler was exploring the mainland of Central America, namely: Honduras, Panama, Costa Rica and Nicaragua. By the way, this expedition was marked by the first acquaintance with the Mayan tribe. The purpose of this voyage was to search South Sea, that is, Pacific Ocean, however, the attempts were unsuccessful, and Columbus had to return to Castile in October 1504.

In general, the importance of Columbus’s expeditions cannot be overestimated, but his contemporaries treated them very negligently, realizing their value only half a century after his death, when the ships began to bring huge amounts of gold and silver from Peru and Mexico. For reference, when recalculated, the royal treasury spent only 10 kg of gold on equipment for the first voyage, but it received many times more - 3 million kilograms of the treasured yellow metal.

autumn 1451, Corsica island, Genoese Republic (according to one version) - May 20, 1506, Valladolid, Spain

Christopher Columbus - Spanish navigator and discoverer of new lands. He is best known for his discovery of America (1492).

Columbus was the first of the reliably known travelers to cross the Atlantic Ocean in the subtropical and tropical zones northern hemisphere and was the first European to sail in the Caribbean Sea. He marked the beginning of the discovery of the mainland of South America and the isthmuses of Central America. He discovered all of the Greater Antilles - the central part of the Bahamas archipelago, the Lesser Antilles (from Dominica to the Virgin Islands inclusive), as well as a number of small islands in the Caribbean Sea and the island of Trinidad off the coast of South America.

Since Europeans in the person of the Icelandic Vikings (Leif Eriksson and others) visited North America back in the 11th century, Columbus, strictly speaking, cannot be called the discoverer of America. However, since Columbus's expeditions were essential to the subsequent colonization of America, such terminology is widely used.

Italian by origin. Born in Genoa between August 25 and October 31, 1451 in the family of wool weaver Domenico Colombo.
In 1470 he began to actively participate in commercial transactions (until 1473 under the leadership of his father). In 1474–1479 he made several voyages as part of trade expeditions of the Genoese company Centurione Negro: he visited the island of Chios, England, Ireland, the islands of Porto Santo and Madeira. In 1476 he settled in Portugal. In 1482–1484 he visited the Azores and the Guinean coast (Fort of São Jorge da Mina).

Columbus was born into a poor Genoese family: father - Domenico Colombo, mother - Susanna Fontanarossa. In addition to Christopher, there were other children in the family: Giovanni (died in childhood, in 1484), Bartolomeo, Giacomo, Bianchella (married Giacomo Bavarello). Studied at the University of Pavia. Around 1470 he married Doña Felipe Moniz de Palestrello. Her father was a famous navigator during the time of Prince Enrique. Until 1472, Columbus lived in Genoa, and from 1472 - in Savona. In the 1470s he participated in sea trade 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 could be reached by a much shorter sea route by sailing to the west. Apparently, even then Columbus was thinking about his project of a sea voyage to India. Having made his own calculations based on Toscanelli’s advice, he decided that it was most convenient to sail through Canary Islands, from which, in his opinion, there were about five thousand kilometers left to Japan.

Christopher Columbus

In 1476, Columbus moved to Portugal, where he lived for nine years. It is known that in 1477 Columbus visited England, Ireland and Iceland, where he could get acquainted with the Icelanders’ data about the lands in the west. During this time, he also managed to visit Guinea as part of the expedition of Diogo de Azambuja, who went there in 1481 to build the Elmina fortress (São Jorge da Mina)

Columbus's first proposal to sail to India to the west was in 1475-1480. He addressed it to the government and merchants of his native Genoa. There was no response.

1480s - during this period the Portuguese were preoccupied with finding a sea route to Asia. The interest in this part of the world can be explained quite simply: Asian spices alone at that time often replaced money, but there were also incense, silk, carpets, luxury goods... There was no land route to Asia then - it was blocked by the powerful Ottoman Empire. They had to repurchase spices, silk and other exotic oriental goods from Arab merchants, losing large profits. The Portuguese saw only one route: round Africa, climb to Indian Ocean, and at the beginning of the decade, King João II of Portugal equipped and sent a corresponding expedition. Columbus proposed an alternative: to reach Asia by moving west. Columbus's theory was based on the navigator's own calculations. But in fairness, it must be said that Columbus was not an innovator - the idea of ​​a western route to India was put forward in the ancient world by Aristotle and Protagoras.

CristobalColon

Ridolfo del Ghirlandaio .: This Portrait was made by the Florentine painter Ridolfo Ghirlandaio (1483-1561). This illustration may be considered to be in the public domain. This portrait was executed in the first half of the sixteenth century, after the death of Columbus. It is displayed in a showcase of the Museum of the sea and navigation of Genoa, "It Padiglione del Mare e della Navigazione."

In 1483, he proposed his project to the Portuguese King João II, but after a long study the project was rejected.

In 1485, Columbus and his son Diego moved to Spain (apparently, he was fleeing persecution. In the winter of 1485-1486, he found shelter in the monastery of Santa Maria da Rabida as a beggar. Abbot Juan Perez de Marchena accepted him and actually saved him from starvation. He also organized the first letter to Fernando de Talavera, his acquaintance - the queen's confessor, with a brief presentation of the ideas of Columbus. The King of Spain was at that time in the city of Cordoba, where preparations were taking place for a war with Granada with the personal participation of the sovereigns. During 1486 Columbus establishes connections with royal financial advisors, merchants and bankers.It was not until the winter of 1486 that Columbus was introduced to Pedro Gonzalez de Mendoza, Archbishop of Toledo and Grand Cardinal of Spain, who in turn facilitated an audience with the King of Spain.Columbus's proposal is studied several times theologians, cosmographers, lawyers, monks, courtiers.They reject him, considering his demands excessive.

Christopher Columbus, head-and-shoulders portrait, facing slightly right.

On April 20, 1488, Columbus unexpectedly received a letter from the Portuguese king inviting him to return to Portugal. The most interesting words here were the following words of Their Majesties:

“And if you fear Our justice regarding some of your obligations, then know that neither after your arrival, nor during your stay in Portugal, nor after your departure, you will be neither arrested, nor detained, nor accused, nor convicted, nor persecuted for any reason arising under civil, criminal or any other law. »

Columbus sends his proposals to other addresses: from King Henry VII of England in February 1488, he received a favorable response, but without any specific proposals.

Columbus and the Indian Maiden

1488 - a certain Beatriz Enriquez de Arana gives birth to Columbus's son Fernando. Columbus not only recognized the child, but also did not forget him later, thirteen years later he took him on one of his expeditions. It was Fernando who would later write the biography of his father, which would become the main source of information about the great navigator.

1492 - Spain is liberated from the Moors, and King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella finally make the final decision to finance the search for a western route to Asia. In case of failure, they only lost the funds invested in the enterprise. If successful, dizzying prospects opened up for Spain. Columbus was promised: a title of nobility, the titles of admiral, viceroy and governor-general of all islands and continents discovered during the expedition.

Christopher Columbus kneeling in front of Queen Isabella I.

On April 30, 1492, the royal couple granted Columbus and his heirs the title of “don” (that is, they made him a nobleman) and confirmed that, if the overseas project was successful, he would be Admiral of the Sea-Ocean and Viceroy of all lands that he would discover or will acquire and be able to pass on these titles by inheritance. True, Columbus had to find money to equip the expedition on his own at the expense of lost state tax payments from Her Majesty the Queen of Castile. In addition, according to the agreement, an eighth of the costs had to be borne by Columbus himself, who did not have a penny at all.

Christopher Columbus being greeted by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella on his return to Spain.

However, Columbus was helped by Martin Alonso Pinzon. One of the ships, the Pinta, was his own, and he equipped it at his own expense; He lent money for the second ship to Christopher so that Columbus could make his formal contribution to the treaty. For the third ship, money was given by local Marranos (baptized Jews) under his own guarantee to offset their payments to the budget. Among them was the rabbi and royal treasurer, the Castilian tutor Abraham Senior (Coronel) and his son-in-law Mayera Melomed.

Between 1492 and 1504, Christopher Columbus undertook four exploration expeditions at the behest of the Spanish king. He described the events of these expeditions in his logbook. Unfortunately, the original journal has not survived, but Bartolome de Las Casas made a partial copy of this journal, which has survived to this day, thanks to which many details of the described expeditions have become known.

Map of Columbus's four expeditions

First voyage (August 3, 1492 - March 15, 1493).
Second voyage (September 25, 1493 - June 11, 1496).
Third voyage (May 30, 1498 - November 25, 1500).
Fourth voyage (9 May 1502 - November 1504).

Dagli Orti "PINTA", "NINA" AND "SANTA MARIA" - the ships on which Christopher Columbus made his first voyage to the shores of America

First voyage (1492–1493).
Early in the morning of August 3, 1492, Columbus's flotilla of three ships (the caravels "Pinta" and "Nina" and the four-masted sailing ship (nao) "Santa Maria") with a crew of 90 people. left the port of Palos de la Frontera (near the confluence of the Rio Tinto into the Gulf of Cadiz).
On August 9, she approached the Canary Islands. After the Pinta was repaired on the island of Gomera, the ships on September 6, 1492, heading west, began crossing the Atlantic Ocean. Having passed the Sargasso Sea, Columbus turned southwest on October 7. On October 12, the Spaniards reached the island of Guanahani (modern Watling) in the Bahamas archipelago - the first land they encountered in the Western Hemisphere. Columbus named the island San Salvador (St. Savior) and its inhabitants Indians, believing that he was off the coast of India. This day is considered the official date of the discovery of America.

Columbus declares the discovered land the property of the Spanish king

Having learned from the natives about the existence of a rich island in the south, Columbus left the Bahamas archipelago on October 24 and sailed further to the southwest. On October 28, the flotilla approached the shores of Cuba, which Columbus named “Juana.” Then the Spaniards, inspired by the stories of the local Indians, spent a month searching for the golden island of Baneque (modern Great Inagua).

The Landing of Columbus. Christopher Columbus and others showing objects to Native American men and women on shore.

On November 21, the captain of the Pinta, M.A. Pinson, took his ship away, deciding to search for this island on his own. Having lost hope of finding Baneke, Columbus with the two remaining ships turned east and on December 5 reached the northwestern tip of the island of Bohio (modern Haiti), to which he gave the name Hispaniola (“Spanish”). Moving along the northern coast of Hispaniola, on December 25 the expedition approached the Holy Cape (modern Cap-Haïtien), where the Santa Maria crashed and sank. This forced Columbus to leave part of the crew (39 people) in Fort Navidad (“Christmas”), which he founded, and set off on the Niña on the return journey (January 2, 1493). On January 6 he met "Pinta".
On January 16, both ships headed northeast, taking advantage of a passing current - the Gulf Stream. On February 11–14, they were caught in a strong storm, during which the Pinta was lost.
On February 15, the Niña reached Santa Maria Island in the Azores archipelago, but only on February 18 did it manage to land on shore. The Portuguese governor of the island tried to detain the ship by force, but encountered decisive resistance from Columbus and released the travelers.
On February 24, Niña left the Azores. On February 26, she again encountered a storm, which on March 4 washed her ashore on the Portuguese coast near the mouth of the Tagus (Tajo). João II gave Columbus an audience, at which he informed the king about his discovery of the western route to India and reproached him for refusing to support his project in 1484. Despite the advice of the courtiers to kill the admiral, João II did not dare to enter into conflict with Spain, and on March 13, the Niña was able to sail to her homeland. On March 15, the 225th day of the voyage, she returned to Palos. Later, “Pinta” came there too. Isabella and Ferdinand gave Columbus a solemn welcome and gave permission for a new expedition.

First Voyage, Departure for the New World, August 3, 1492

Second Voyage (1493–1496).
On September 25, 1493, Columbus's flotilla of 17 caravels (in addition to the ship's crews, there were soldiers, officials, monks and colonists on board) left Cadiz and reached Canary Islands ov.
On October 11, Columbus began crossing the Atlantic, taking a more southerly course than during his first voyage, since he planned to reach Hispaniola from the southeast. On November 3, the ships approached one of the Lesser Antilles, to which Columbus gave the name Dominica (it was Sunday - “Lord’s Day”); He called the aborigines who practiced ritual cannibalism “cannibals.” Then the navigators discovered a number of other islands in the northern part of the Lesser Antilles archipelago - Montserrat, Antigua, Nevis, San Cristobal (modern Saint Christopher), San Eustasio (modern Saint Eustatius), Santa Cruz and the “Islands of the Eleven Thousand Virgins” "(Virginskie), and the large island of Boriken, renamed by the admiral to San Juan Bautista (modern Puerto Rico).
Approaching the eastern tip of Hispaniola, the flotilla moved along its northern coast and on November 27 reached Fort Navidad, which was devastated; Not a single colonist remained alive. East of the fort (in a very unfortunate location), Columbus founded a new settlement, calling it La Isabela in honor of the Queen of Spain. In January 1494, he sent an expedition deep into the island under the command of A. de Ojeda, which obtained a huge amount of gold objects from the Indians. On February 2, the admiral sent twelve ships with loot to their homeland. In the spring of 1494, the Spaniards switched to a policy of systematic robbery and extermination of the local population.

Cristobal Colon apaciguando una rebelion a bordo.

Cristoforo Colombo in mezzo agli indigenous

Leaving his brother Diego in charge of Hispaniola, Columbus sailed west with three ships on April 24, 1494, continuing his search for a route to Asia (China). On April 29, he approached the eastern tip of Cuba. Moving along her south coast, the flotilla reached Guantanamo Bay, and then turned south and dropped anchor off the northern coast of Jamaica on May 5. Encountering the open hostility of the natives, Columbus returned to the Cuban coast, headed west and reached Cortez Bay near the western tip of the island. Deciding that the Malacca Peninsula was in front of him, he turned back (June 13). Having bypassed Jamaica from the south, the flotilla returned to La Isabela on September 29.

Christopher Columbus and his crew leaving the port of Palos, Spain, for the New World; crowd of well wishers looks on.

Throughout 1495, Columbus suppressed the Indian uprising that broke out in Hispaniola. In the same year, under the influence of complaints against the admiral from colonists who fled to Spain, Ferdinand and Isabella deprived him of the monopoly right to discover overseas lands and sent their authorized representative J. Aguado to the island. After the conflict with J. Aguado, Columbus left Hispaniola on March 10, 1496, transferring power to his brother Bartolome. On June 11 he arrived in Cadiz.

Columbus and son at the convent of La Rábída, approaching prior Juan Pérez, who is surrounded by poor people.

The First Sight of the New World

Third Voyage (1498–1500).
Although Ferdinand and Isabella had serious doubts about the profitability of Columbus's discoveries, the Portuguese preparation of a flotilla under the command of Vasco da Gama for a decisive push into the Indian Ocean around the Cape of Good Hope forced them to agree to organize a third expedition to the west.

The Landing of Columbus at San Salvador, October 12, 1492.

The Landing of Columbus, 1492.

}