In spite of the incredible misunderstandings and ironies of his vision, he brought us miraculously to this place and time. He reached the Bahamas, his first landing, on October 12, 1492. He never touched upon what is today the United States of America, but he is undoubtedly the man who opened the pathe to our world!
6. What do we know?
Father: Domenico Colombo – wool weaver and
merchant
Mother: Susanna Fontanarossa
Brothers: Bartolomeo, cartographer; Giovanni
Pellegrino and Giacomo
Wife: Filipa Moniz Perestrelo
Son: Diego
Mistress: Beatriz Enriquez de Arana
Son: Fernando
8. The Times
Educated knowledge: Earth is a sphere: Aristotle (984-
322 BC)/Ptolemy (85-165 AD)/Saint Bede (673-735 AD)
Size of Earth correctly estimated: Erosthenes (c 276-195
BC) and Alfraganus (9th C)
Vikings, like Leif Ericson had explored these lands (c
1000)
Marco Polo’s accounts (1298)
Motivation to reach China (Cathay), India and Japan
(Cipangu)
Portugal (Bartolomeu Dias) push to South of Africa
Spain: End of the Reconquista: Jan 2, 1492
9. Background
Early sea travels
Self-educated
Interested in biblical texts
Learned Latin, Portuguese and Castilian
Read works about astronomy, geography, and
history
Was mistaken about the size of the Earth, the size of
Eurasia, and the distance between Japan and China.
10. Quest for Support
1485 – John II, King of Portugal
1486 – Isabella, Queen of Castile
1488 – John II, King of Portugal
Genoa
Venice
Bartholomew to Henry VII, King of England
1492 – Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of
Castile
11. The Explorer
The Admiral of the Ocean Sea
Viceroy and Governor of the Indies
10% of all acquired treasures
15. Momentous First Voyage
Aug 3, 1492 – Port of Palos, Spain to Canary Islands
Sept 6 – San Sebastian de la Gomera
5 weeks across the ocean
Oct 12, 1492 – San Salvador (Guanahani), The
Bahamas
Oct 28 – Northeast Cuba
Dec 5 – Hispaniola (Haiti)
Jan 13, 1493 – Samana Peninsula (Dominican Rep)
March 4 – Lisbon, Portugal
March 15 – Palos, Spain
17. Exploration and Conflict:
Second Voyage
Sept 24, 1493 - Cadiz
Oct 13 – Canary Islands
Lesser Antilles, including Virgin Islands
Greater Antilles: Puerto Rico (San Juan
Bautista), Hispaniola, Southeast Cuba, and
Jamaica
August 20, 1494 – Hispaniola and Spain
19. Exploration and Exploitation:
Fall from Grace – Third Voyage
May 30, 1498 – Sanlúcar, Spain to Portugal (Porto
Santo and Madeira) to Canary Islands and Cape
Verde
July 31 – Trinidad
Aug 4 to 12 – Gulf of aria, mainland of South
America including Venezuela, the Orinoco
River, Margarita Island, Tobago and Granada
Aug 19, 1500 – Hispaniola
Oct 1, 1500 – Columbus and brothers sent to Spain
in chains
21. Fourth and Last Voyage:
Disaster
May 11, 1502 – Cadiz to Moroccan coast
Martinique island, Santo Domingo, Bay
Islands, Honduras, Puerto Castilla, Honduras
mainland
Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama
April 16 left for Hispaniola
May 10 – Cayman islands (Las Tortugas) and
Jamaica
February 29, 1504 – Lunar Eclipse
Nov 7 – Sanlúcar, Spain
23. Forgotten
Returns to Spain in disgrace
Fights the courts for reinstatement of his rights
‘Pleitos Colonbinos) – continued by his heirs
Writes two books: Book of Privileges (1502) and
Book of Prophecies (1506)
Dies in Valladolid, May 20, 1506 (age 54) a broken
man
25. Expansion: Why America?
Amerigo Vespucci, Americo Vespucio, Americus
Vespucius
Born in Florence, Italy – March 9, 1954 to February
22, 1512
Merchant, Explorer, Cartographer
Demonstrated that the New World was not Asia, but a
previously unknown continent
Two letters (Mundus Novus and Lettera) demonstrate
that these lands were not Asia but a fourth previously
unknown continent
Martin Waldseemüller translated to Latin, and named the
continent ‘America’ in 1507 on his world map.
26. Myths and Ironies
Popular belief about the earth’ shape and size
Queen Isabel selling her jewels
CC: first explorer to reach Americas
CC calling the inhabitants ‘Indios’
‘Discovery’
‘New’ world’
Perception of the term ‘America’
Naming of the continent
27. Impact
What DID he DO?
Was he a visionary hero or a despicable villain?