“The news that the admiral came from India reached Lisbon, and from there... so many people came who wanted to look at him and the Indians that such a crowd of people amazed everyone. And the Portuguese marveled a lot at everything, blessing the name of God and saying that His Heavenly Majesty granted this [victory] to the kings of Castile for their great faith” (Christopher Columbus. Diary of the first voyage. Part IV).
In the second half of the 15th century. Western Europe was experiencing rapid changes: trade was developing, big cities. The need for money, the universal means of exchange, has sharply increased. The demand for gold prompted a desire to explore new lands, especially since the Turks blocked the Europeans' road to the east. The search began for roundabout routes to India - the land of spices and (no one doubted this) gold.
The most interesting thing happened on the Iberian Peninsula. In 1469, Queen Isabella of Castile married Prince Ferdinand, heir to the Aragonese throne. When Ferdinand became king ten years later, their states united. Thus Spain was born. At the beginning of 1492, the Spaniards finally finished off the Emirate of Granada. The Reconquista, which lasted eight centuries, ended with the expulsion of the Moors and Jews. Having solved its main internal problem, Spain began to taste victories - or rather, it could no longer stop. The excess of armed people who were accustomed and only knew how to fight (primarily a significant part of the nobility), the interests of the urban bourgeoisie, which grew up on military orders, and the royal power, which needed constant replenishment of the treasury - all this required a “continuation of the banquet.” Which meant the beginning of external expansion. Let's not forget about interests catholic church- conversion of pagans to Christianity and, of course, enrichment. All that remained was to find these pagans and the lands where they lived, preferably rich in gold and spices. India met all these conditions.
For several decades, their Portuguese neighbors tried to circumnavigate Africa in search of a route to Asia. They secured the support of the Vatican, which granted Portugal the right to all lands discovered to the south and east of the African Cape Bojador. The Spaniards received a completely unexpected offer: to come to India first, but not from the west, but from the east. This proposal was voiced by Cristobal Colon, or, given his Italian origin, Cristoforo Colombo. And in Latin - Christopher Columbus.
There is a lot of mystery in the life of Columbus - quite possibly, thanks to the works of some biographers. It is believed that he was born in Genoa, but the honor of being his birthplace is disputed by at least six cities in Italy and Spain. According to some sources, he was born into the family of an artisan, according to others, he was the illegitimate son of a Genoese cardinal, later Pope Innocent VIII. Some claim that Columbus graduated from the University of Pavia, others argue that he never crossed its threshold.
As a young man, Christopher participated in many sea expeditions. Around 1470 he married Doña Felipe Moniz de Palestrello, a girl of Italian-Portuguese descent. Her father was one of Prince Enrique's captains. For several years, Columbus lived in Portugal, including on the island of Porto Santo near Madeira. What Columbus did in Portugal is not known for certain. Some sources claim that in 1477 he visited England, Ireland and even Iceland, and also managed to visit West Africa, Guinea.
It is believed that Columbus corresponded with the Florentine Paolo Toscanelli, who inspired Christopher with the confidence that by moving west, he could quickly reach the “wonderland” of India. This conclusion was based on two premises - one true and the other false. The first one looked good forgotten discovery ancient thinkers: The Earth is a sphere, therefore from point A on its surface you can get to point B, moving both in one direction and in the exact opposite. The second owed its birth to Ptolemy, who underestimated the size of the earth’s circumference by more than a quarter, and, on the contrary, exaggerated the extent of Eurasia from west to east by one and a half times. Asia on his map extended far to the east, to where the Hawaiian Islands actually are: it turned out that the distance from Europe to Asia across the ocean was not so great. Toscanelli calculated that the Atlantic is still narrower - no more than a third of the Earth's circumference.
Perhaps it was then that Columbus thought about traveling to India. According to his calculations, from Canary Islands Japan is only about 5 thousand km away. However, he did not have the means to equip the expedition. Who did Columbus turn to with his proposal? And to the authorities of his native Genoa (1480), and to the Portuguese king Joao II (1483), and to the Spanish royal couple (1486), and even to the King of England Henry VII (1488). And everywhere he was refused.
After the capture of Granada, the Spaniards nevertheless accepted Columbus's offer, and Queen Isabella played a major role in this. The future conqueror of India and his heirs were granted nobility, and if the project was successfully completed, he became Admiral of the Sea-Ocean and Viceroy of all the lands he discovered, and all these titles were allowed to be inherited. One small “but”: Columbus had to raise the money to organize the expedition himself. And then Martin Alonso Pinson came to his aid. One ship, the Pinta, belonged to him; he lent money for the second to Columbus; for the third ship, the navigator received funds from the Marranos (Jews forcibly converted to Catholicism).
On August 3, 1492, three ships left the harbor of Palos (Palos de la Frontera) for the Canary Islands: the flagship Santa Maria, Pinta and Niña, and in early September the expedition headed west from the island Homers. After just ten days of sailing, tufts of green algae appeared, mistaken by the expedition members for grass, a sure sign of the proximity of land. In fact, it was the Sargasso Sea, through which Columbus's ships sailed for more than three weeks. Repeatedly, sailors encountered birds that, as it was believed, did not fly far from land: for example, many islands that belonged to the Portuguese were discovered precisely thanks to the birds. However, no land showed up, and it was already October.
"Pinta", the fastest of Columbus's ships, constantly "ran" ahead, and it is not surprising that it was from her side that the coveted land was seen. The next day, October 12, the ships approached a small island. Columbus and the Pinson brothers, Martin Alonso and Vicente Yanez, taking weapons and royal flags with them, went ashore. The island was inhabited: it was inhabited by absolutely naked people of the Arawak tribe, who did not have iron weapons, moved across the sea on large canoes with the help of oars and smoked “dry leaves” (tobacco). The natives greeted the strangers very friendly. They gladly exchanged parrots, skeins of cotton yarn and darts for glass and rattles. Some of them wore gold jewelry, but they did not give a clear answer to questions regarding the place of origin of the gold.
In the native language, the island was called Guanahani, but Columbus, having taken possession of this piece of land, renamed it San Salvador. From here the Admiral moved south, discovering new islands (the Bahamian archipelago). From their inhabitants he learned about Cuba, lying even further south - a large island, abundant in gold and pearls. Columbus decided that we were talking about Sipango, that is, Japan (naturally, since he believed that he was in Asia). In late October, the Spaniards landed in a bay in northeastern Cuba. However, they found no gold, no pearls, no cities. Columbus decided that he was in the poorest region of China, and headed east, where wealthy Japan was supposedly located. While the ships were circumnavigating Cuba, one of them, the Pinta, was lost. At the beginning of December, "Santa Maria" and "Nina" approached a large island, which Columbus, due to the similarity of its shores with the northern coast of Castile, called Hispaniola. Later this island will receive a different name - Haiti.
On December 25, another disaster happened: the Santa Maria hit a reef. The ship's cannons and valuables were removed, and its wreckage was used to build a fort called Navidad (Christmas). Leaving 39 sailors at the fort, arming them with cannons from the lost ship and leaving them supplies for a year, Columbus set out to sea on January 4 on the Niña, taking with him several islanders. And two days later the missing Pinta was found. The ships set off together to the east, or rather, first to the northeast, using a passing current - the Gulf Stream. The storm that arose on February 12 separated the Ninya and Pinta again. When it finally subsided, Columbus on the Niña approached the island, which he named Santa Maria (one of the Azores) in honor of the ship that perished off Hispaniola.
It’s not far from the Azores to Europe. On March 9, the Niña arrives in Lisbon, and six days later - in the harbor of Palos. Almost immediately, “Pinta” is there too. Columbus brought with him natives (they were called Indians), plants unprecedented in Europe, fruits, feathers of strange birds and quite a bit of gold. It was the latter circumstance that somewhat overshadowed the navigator’s triumph: new lands, of course, are great, but without gold they are of little value.
Nevertheless, Isabella and Ferdinand agreed to send a second expedition to India. Pretty long discovered by Columbus the lands continued to be considered Asian territories; for even longer they were called the West Indies, since they had to be sailed to the west, in contrast to real India and Indonesia, which in Europe were called the East Indies. Already in September 1493, Columbus was on the road again. The second flotilla already included 17 ships, the expedition included up to 2,500 people. These were not only sailors, but also priests, officials, and soldiers. They brought with them horses and donkeys, cattle and pigs, seeds - in a word, everything that was needed for colonization. And also dogs trained to hunt people. The conquest of the New World began, discovered even by Columbus, who did not even suspect it.
FIGURES AND FACTS
Main character: Christopher Columbus, Genoese
Other characters: Ferdinand and Isabella, Spanish monarchs; Paolo Toscanelli, Florentine cosmographer; Pinson brothers, seafarers
Time period: August 3, 1492 - March 15, 1493
Route: From Spain to the west via Atlantic Ocean
Goal: Search for the western route to India
Meaning: Discovery of America
Christopher Columbus (1451 - 1506) was the famous navigator who made the official discovery of America. Made the first voyage from Europe across the Atlantic Ocean to the Southern Hemisphere to the shores of Central America. Discovered Sargasso and Caribbean Sea, Bahamas, Greater Antilles and Lesser Antilles, part of the coast of South and Central America. Founded the first colony in the New World in Haiti and Saint-Domingue.
Key figure of the era of the greats geographical discoveries, of course, is Christopher Columbus, and it is quite natural that it was he who primarily attracted the attention of historical geographers literally from the first days that followed his discoveries. It would seem that everything connected with the life and activities of this person should have long been known and appreciated. Nevertheless, almost all the facts relating to his youth and stay in Portugal are controversial. His contribution to the cause of geographical discoveries is also assessed differently. There are polar opposite opinions, and some researchers even argue that most of traditional stories about him are simply fiction and cannot be taken into account.
Christopher Columbus (the Spaniards called him Cristobal Colon) was born around 1451 in Genoa into the family of a wool weaver. Although the prosaic occupation of his father and relatives had nothing to do with long voyages, Columbus was powerfully attracted by the sea from childhood. Genoa was a great maritime republic, its port quarters crowded with sailors and traders from all over the world. The threads of governance of the wealthy city converged in the hands of large merchant and banking houses, which owned hundreds of merchant ships sailing from Genoa to all corners of the world.
Even in his youth, Columbus refused to follow in his father's footsteps. He became a cartographer. At approximately the age of 25, the Genoese came to Portugal. Fascinated by the bold undertakings of the Portuguese, who sought to find a new route to India bypassing Africa, he thought a lot about this, studying Italian and Portuguese maps. Columbus was familiar with the ancient theories of the sphericity of the Earth and thought about the possibility of getting to India, moving not to the east, but to the west. Several happy accidents strengthened him in this idea.
He got married in Portugal, and he received maps, sailing directions and notes from his father-in-law, an experienced sailor from the time of Enrique the Navigator, governor of the island of Porto Santo. During his stay at Porto Santo, Columbus heard stories local residents that fragments of boats unknown to Europeans and utensils with unknown ornaments were sometimes washed up on the western shore of their island. This information confirmed the idea that in the west beyond the ocean there was a land inhabited by people. Columbus believed that this was India and neighboring China.
A number of historians believe that Columbus's idea received the support of the famous Italian geographer Paolo Toscanelli. Adhering to the opinion that the Earth was spherical, Toscanelli compiled a map of the world, providing it with reasoning about the possibility of reaching India by sailing to the west. When he received a letter from the humble Italian cartographer Columbus, Toscanelli kindly sent him a copy of his map. It depicted China and India approximately where America actually is located. Toscanelli miscalculated the Earth's circumference, underestimating it, and his inaccuracy made India appear tantalizingly close to the western coast of Europe. If there are great mistakes in history, then Toscanelli’s mistake was exactly that in its consequences. She strengthened Columbus's intention to be the first to reach India, sailing the western route.
Columbus proposed his bold plan to the king of Portugal, but he rejected it. Then Columbus tried to interest the English king, but Henry VII did not want to spend money on a dubious enterprise. Finally, Columbus turned his attention to Spain.
In 1485, Columbus and his young son Diego went to Spain. And here, too, his project did not immediately find understanding. He long and unsuccessfully sought a meeting with King Ferdinand of Aragon, who at that time was besieging the last stronghold of the Moors - Granada. Desperate, Columbus had already decided to leave Spain and go to France, but at the last moment luck smiled on the Italian: Queen Isabella of Castile agreed to accept him.
Isabella, a powerful and decisive woman, listened to the foreigner favorably. His plan promised new glory for Spain and untold riches for its kings if they managed to get to India and China before other Christian sovereigns. In 1492, the royal couple, Ferdinand and Isabella, signed a treaty with Columbus, according to which he received the titles of admiral, viceroy and governor, salaries for all positions, a tenth share of the income from new lands and the right to examine criminal and civil cases.
First expedition
For the first expedition, two ships were allocated, and another ship was equipped by the seafarers and shipowners, the Pinson brothers. The flotilla crew consisted of 90 people. The names of the ships - "Santa Maria", "Nina" ("Baby") and "Pinta" - are now known throughout the world, and they were commanded by: "Pinta" - Martin Alonso Pinzon, and "Nina" - Vincente Yañez Pinzon. Santa Maria became the flagship. Columbus himself sailed on it.
The purpose of the expedition is now disputed by many experts, citing various arguments in favor of the fact that Columbus was not going to look for India at all. Instead, they name various legendary islands like Brazil, Antilia, etc. However, most of these considerations seem insufficiently substantiated.
On August 3, 1492, three small caravels set sail from the port of Paloe on the Atlantic coast of Spain. At the head of this expedition was an extraordinary man, obsessed with a bold dream - to cross the Atlantic Ocean from east to west and reach the fabulously rich kingdoms of India and China. His sailors set out reluctantly - they were afraid of unknown seas, where no one had been before. The crew was hostile to the foreign admiral from the very beginning.
Leaving the last stop of the ships before entering the open ocean - the Canary Islands, many feared that they would never return back. Despite the favorable weather, all subsequent days of sailing in the vast expanses of the ocean became a real test for the sailors. Several times the team tried to mutiny and turn back. To reassure the sailors, Columbus hid from them how many miles had been traveled. He kept two ship logs: in the official one he entered false data, from which it followed that the ships had not gone that far from the European coast, while in the other, secret one, he noted how much had actually been traveled.
When passing the magnetic meridian on the caravels, all the compasses suddenly broke down - their arrows danced, pointing in different directions. Panic began on the ships, but the compass needles calmed down just as suddenly. Columbus's expedition was beset by other surprises: one day at dawn, the sailors discovered that the ships were surrounded by a lot of algae and seemed to be floating not on the sea, but on a green meadow. At first the caravels walked briskly forward among the greenery, but then calm came and they stopped. Rumors spread that it was algae that entwined the keel and did not allow the ships to go further. This is how Europeans became acquainted with the Sargasso Sea.
The team was worried about the unusual situation, and in early October demands began to be made for a change of course. Columbus, who was heading west, was forced to give in. The ships turned west-southwest. But the situation continued to heat up, and the commander, with great difficulty, persuasion and promises, managed to keep the flotilla from returning.
Two months of difficult sailing across the ocean expanses... It seemed that there would be no end to the sea desert. Supplies of food and fresh water were running out. People are tired. The admiral, who did not leave the deck for hours, increasingly heard cries of discontent and threats from the sailors.
However, everyone on board the ships noticed signs of nearby land: birds flying in from the west and landing on the masts. One day the watchman saw the land, and everyone indulged in fun, but the next morning it disappeared. It was a mirage, and the team again plunged into despondency. Meanwhile, all the signs spoke of the proximity of the desired land: birds, floating green tree branches and sticks, clearly planed by a human hand.
“It was midnight on October 11, 1492. Just two more hours - and an event will take place that is destined to change the entire course of world history. No one on the ships was fully aware of this, but literally everyone, from the admiral to the youngest cabin boy, was in tense anticipation. The one who was the first to see the land was promised a reward of ten thousand maravedi, and now it was clear to everyone that the long voyage was nearing an end... The day was drawing to a close, and in the bright starry night three ships, driven by a fair wind, were rapidly gliding forward ..."
This is how the American historian J. Bakeless describes the exciting moment that preceded the discovery of America by Columbus...
That night, Captain Martin Pinzón, on the Pinta, walked ahead of the small flotilla, and the watchman at the bow of the ship was the sailor Rodrigo de Triana. It was he who was the first to see the earth, or rather, the reflections of ghostly moonlight on the white sandy hills. "Earth! Earth!" - Rodrigo shouted. And a minute later the thunder of a gun shot announced that America was open.
All the ships removed the sails and began to impatiently wait for dawn. Finally it came, the clear and cool dawn of Friday, October 12, 1492. The first rays of the sun illuminated the mysteriously darkening earth ahead. “This island,” Columbus would later write in his diary, “is very sick and very flat, there are a lot of green trees and water, and in the middle there is big lake. There are no mountains."
The discovery of the "Western Indies" has begun. And although on that momentous morning of October 12, 1492, the life of the vast American continent was outwardly undisturbed, the appearance of three caravels in the warm waters off the coast of Guanahani meant that the history of America had entered a new era full of dramatic events.
Boats were lowered from the ships. Stepping ashore, the admiral planted the royal banner there and declared the open land the possession of Spain. It was a small island that Columbus christened San Salvador - “Savior” (now Guanahani, one of the islands of the Bahamas archipelago). The island turned out to be inhabited: it was inhabited by cheerful and good-natured people with dark, reddish skin. “All of them,” writes Columbus, “walk naked, in what their mother gave birth, and women too... And the people I saw were still young, all of them were no more than 30 years old, and they were well built, and their bodies and their faces were very beautiful, and their hair was coarse, just like horse hair, and short... Their facial features were regular, their expression was friendly... These people were not black in color, but like the inhabitants of the Canary Islands.”
The first meeting of Europeans with American aborigines. The first, most vivid impressions of the New World. Everything here seemed unusual and new: nature, plants, birds, animals and even people...
None of the members of Columbus's expedition had any doubts that if the island he discovered had not yet fabulous India, but at least she's somewhere close. The ships headed south. Soon the large island of Cuba was discovered, which was considered part of the mainland. Here Columbus hoped to meet big cities, belonging to the great Chinese Khan, which Marco Polo spoke about.
The locals were friendly and greeted the white newcomers with amazement. An exchange ensued between them and the sailors, and the natives paid for European trinkets with gold records. Columbus rejoiced: this was yet another proof that the fabulous gold mines of India were somewhere nearby. However, neither the residence of the Great Khan nor gold mines were found in Cuba - only villages and cotton fields. Columbus moved east and, having discovered another large island - Haiti, named it Hispaniola (Spanish Island).
While the admiral was exploring the open archipelago, Captain Pinzón left him, deciding to return to Spain. Soon after, the Santa Maria perished after running aground. Columbus only had the Niña, which could not accommodate the entire crew. The admiral decided to return home to immediately equip a new expedition. Forty sailors remained to wait for Columbus at the fort “La Navedad” (Christmas) built for them.
Neither Columbus nor his companions yet realized the full importance of what had happened. And many years later, his contemporaries still did not realize the significance of this discovery, which for a long time did not produce the coveted spices and gold. Only subsequent generations could appreciate it. It was still a long way from America itself. On the horizon, the sailors saw only one of the islands of the continent - Guanahani, and on this journey none of the Spaniards set foot on the mainland. Nevertheless, today it is October 12, 1492 that is considered the official date of the discovery of America, although it has been proven that even before Columbus, Europeans visited the lands of the Western Hemisphere.
On open lands, Columbus did not find anything that resembled India or other Asian countries. There were no cities here. The people, plants, and animals were very different from what one could read or hear from travelers about Asia. But Columbus believed so sacredly in his theory that he was absolutely confident in the discovery, if not of India, but of some poor country, but precisely in Asia. However, one could not expect anything else from him: after all, even at the most best maps At that time there was no mention of a continent on the opposite side of the globe, and the size of the Earth, although calculated in the ancient period, was not known to medieval Europe.
Columbus's return to Spain on March 15, 1493 on two surviving but badly battered ships turned into a true triumph for the great navigator. The admiral was immediately demanded to court. The finest hour had come for Christopher Columbus, who had no doubt that he had opened the way to India for Spain. The Genoese told his astonished listeners about the heavenly lands he had visited, showed the imported stuffed wild animals and birds, collections of plants and, most importantly, six natives taken from Hispaniola, who, naturally, were considered Indians. Columbus was showered with numerous honors and awards from the royal couple and received a firm promise of assistance in future expeditions to the “Indies.”
Of course, the real gains from the first voyage were small: a handful of pathetic trinkets made of low-grade gold, several half-naked natives, bright feathers of strange birds. But the main thing was done: this Genoese found new lands in the west, far beyond the ocean.
Columbus's report made an impression. The gold found opened up tempting prospects. Therefore, the next expedition was not long in coming. Already on September 25, with the rank of “chief admiral of the ocean,” Columbus, at the head of a flotilla of 17 ships, sailed to the west.
Second expedition
Columbus's second expedition, which set off across the Atlantic in September 1493, already involved 17 ships and more than 1,500 people. The ships were full of provisions: the Spaniards brought with them small livestock and poultry to breed them in new places. This time they took a course further south than on the first voyage and discovered the islands of Dominica, Maria Talante, Guadeloupe, Antigua, which are part of the Lesser Antilles group, and Puerto Rico, and on September 22, landing again in Cuba, it turned out that all the colonists, those responsible for robbery and violence were destroyed by the islanders. To the east of the burned fort, Columbus built a city, named it Isabella, explored the island and reported to Spain about the discovery of a gold deposit, greatly exaggerating its reserves.
In April 1494, Columbus left Hispaniola to finally discover the “mainland of India,” but found only Fr. Jamaica. He soon returned to Cuba. A lot of trouble awaited him in the colony. The most significant thing for him was the violation of the royal treaty. Ferdinand and Isabella, considering that the income from Hispaniola was small, allowed all Castilian subjects to move to new lands if they contributed two-thirds of the gold mined to the treasury. In addition, now everyone had the right to equip ships for new discoveries. To top it all off, yielding to the dissatisfaction of the colonists with the governor, which was largely justified, the kings removed him from office and sent a new governor to Hispaniola.
On June 11, 1496, Columbus went to Spain to defend his rights. At a meeting with Their Majesties, he achieved his goal and received a promise of a monopoly for himself and his sons on discoveries, and in order to “cheap” the maintenance of the colony, he proposed to populate Hispaniola with criminals, reducing their sentences, which was done.
Third expedition
Despite the favorable outcome of the audience, Columbus managed to equip the third expedition with great difficulty in 1498. “Indian riches” were not yet in sight, therefore there were no hunters to finance the enterprise, as well as those willing to set off. And yet, on May 30, 1498, six small ships with a crew of 300 people sailed to the west, and at about. The Hierro flotilla split up. Three ships headed to Hispaniola, and Columbus led the rest to the Cape Verde Islands with the intention of reaching the equator and then heading west.
On this voyage, the sailors encountered unprecedented heat. The supplies on the ships had deteriorated, and the fresh water had gone rotten. The torment experienced by the sailors resurrected terrible stories about the Sea of Darkness and latitudes where it was impossible to live. Columbus himself, no longer a young man, suffered from gout and eye disease, and sometimes had attacks of nervous breakdown. And yet they reached distant lands overseas.
On this voyage, Columbus discovered the island of Trinidad (Trinity), located near the mouth of the Orinoco River, and came closest to the coast of the continent. The flow of fresh water that the sailors noticed in the ocean made Columbus think about a powerful river flowing from somewhere in the south. Apparently there was a mainland there. Columbus decided that the lands lying south of India were nothing more than Eden itself - paradise, the top of the world. From there, from this hill, all the great rivers originate. Illuminated by this insight, Columbus considered himself the first European destined to find his way to the earthly paradise, from where, according to the Bible, the ancestors of mankind, Adam and Eve, were expelled. Columbus believed that he had been chosen to once again show people the path to their lost bliss.
However, when the admiral returned to Hispaniola, he was met with reproaches and complaints from the settlers. They were dissatisfied with the conditions in which they found themselves, with the fact that their hopes for fantastic enrichment did not come true, and sent denunciations to Spain against Columbus, claiming that he had turned the colony into a “cemetery for Castilian nobles.” Ferdinand and Isabella had their own reasons for dissatisfaction with Columbus. Gold, spices, precious stones - everything that the participants of the expeditions and those who financed them so greedily sought - could not be obtained. Meanwhile, the Portuguese made the final push on their way to India: in 1498, Vasco da Gama circumnavigated Africa and reached his desired goal, returning with a rich cargo of spices. This was a painful blow for Spain.
On Hispaniola, Columbus was again in trouble. In 1499, the king and queen again abolished his monopoly and sent Francisco Boazillo to the colony to deal with the flow of complaints against the governor on the spot. Boazilla came to the conclusion that Columbus could not rule the country because he was a “hard-hearted” man, ordered him and his brothers to be shackled and sent to Spain. The deeply wounded admiral did not want to remove the shackles until he was heard by his sovereigns. In the metropolis, Columbus's supporters began a campaign in defense of the "admiral of all seas." Ferdinand and Isabella ordered his release and expressed sympathy, but did not restore his rights. The title of viceroy was not returned to Columbus, and by that time his financial affairs were in disarray.
Fourth expedition
Yet the humiliated admiral managed to make one last voyage to find a route to South Asia south of Cuba. This time, for the first time, he came close to the coast of Central America in the area of the Isthmus of Panama (Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama), where (mainly among the Panamanian Indians) he exchanged a significant amount of gold.
The journey began on April 3, 1502. Having at his disposal 4 ships with a crew of 150 people, Columbus discovered about. Martinique, then the island of Benaca off northern Honduras and explored part of the mainland coast from Mosquitos Bay to Cape Tiburon, a length of about 2 thousand km. When it became clear that there was no strait ahead, as the Indians reported, two caravels (the rest were abandoned) turned towards Jamaica. The ships were in such a state that on June 23, 1503, on the northern coast of the island, they had to be grounded to prevent them from sinking, and a pirogue with three sailors had to be sent to Hispaniola asking for help. Help arrived in June 1504.
Luck completely turned away from the admiral. It took him a full month and a half to travel from Jamaica to Hispaniola. Storms battered his ship on the way to Spain. Only on November 7, seriously ill Columbus saw the mouth of the Guadalquivir. Having recovered slightly, in May 1505 he arrived at court to renew his claims to the crown. Meanwhile, it turned out that his patron, Queen Isabella, had died. The consideration of the case regarding the admiral's property claims was delayed due to the fact that the royal court and the Spanish nobility did not receive the main thing - the coveted treasures of the Chinese and Indian rulers. On May 20, 1506, the “admiral of the ocean” died in Valladolid, without having obtained from the king a determination of the amount of income, rights and privileges due to him.
The great navigator died in complete oblivion and poverty. The traveler's ashes did not soon find peace. He was first moved to Seville and then transported across the ocean to Hispaniola and buried in the Cathedral of Santo Domingo. Many years later he was reburied in Cuba, in Havana, but then returned again to Seville. Now it is not known exactly where the true grave of the great navigator is located - Havana and Seville equally lay claim to this honor.
A lot can be said about the role of Columbus in history in general and in the history of the development of geographical concepts in particular. Many scientific treatises and popular publications are devoted to this, but the main essence, apparently, is clearly stated by the historian-geographer J. Baker: “... he died, probably not fully imagining what he had discovered. His name is immortalized in a number of geographical names in the New World, his achievements have become common place in history textbooks. And even if we take seriously the criticism that Columbus himself and his biographers were subjected to, he will still forever remain the central figure of the great era of European “overseas expansion” (“History of Geographical Discovery and Exploration”).
Columbus's diaries are lost. All that remains is the so-called “Diary of the First Voyage” as retold by Bartolomé Las Casas. He and other documents of that time related to the discoveries of the great traveler were published in Russian translation in the collection “The Travels of Christopher Columbus (Diaries, Letters, Documents),” which was published in several editions.
Contemporaries, as often happens in history, failed to appreciate the true significance of the discoveries made by Columbus. And he himself did not understand that he had discovered a new continent, until the end of his life he considered the lands he discovered to be India, and their inhabitants to be Indians. Only after the expeditions of Balboa, Magellan and Vespucci it became obvious that beyond the blue expanses of the ocean lay a completely new, unknown land. But they will call it America (after Amerigo Vespucci), and not Colombia, as justice demanded. Subsequent generations of compatriots turned out to be more grateful to the memory of Columbus.
The significance of his discoveries was confirmed already in the 20-30s. XVI century, when, after the conquest of the rich kingdoms of the Aztecs and Incas, a wide stream of American gold and silver poured into Europe. What the great navigator strived for all his life, and what he so persistently sought in the “Western Indies” turned out to be not a utopia, not the delirium of a madman, but the very real reality. Columbus is still revered in Spain today. His name is surrounded by no less glory Latin America, where is the one, the most northern country The South American continent is named Colombia in his honor.
However, only in the United States is October 12 celebrated as a national holiday - Columbus Day. Many cities, a district, a mountain, a river, a university and countless streets are named after the great Genoese. Although with some delay, justice triumphed. Columbus received his share of glory and gratitude from a grateful humanity.
Christopher Columbus or Cristobal Colon(Italian: Cristoforo Colombo, Spanish: Cristоbal Colоn; between August 25 and October 31, 1451 - May 10, 1506) - a famous navigator and cartographer of Italian origin, who wrote his name in history as the man who discovered America for Europeans.
Columbus was the first of the reliably known navigators to cross the Atlantic Ocean in the subtropical zone of the northern hemisphere, the first of the Europeans to sail in, discovered the Central and South America, marking the beginning of the exploration of the continents and their nearby archipelagos:
- Greater Antilles (Cuba, Haiti, Jamaica, Puerto Rico);
- Lesser Antilles (from Dominica to the Virgin Islands and Trinidad);
- Bahamas.
Although calling him the “Discoverer of America” is not entirely historically correct, since back in the Middle Ages the coast of continental America and nearby islands were visited by Icelandic Vikings. Since the data on those voyages did not go beyond Scandinavia, it was Columbus’s expeditions that first made information about the Western lands world property. The expedition finally proved that a new part of the world had been discovered. Columbus's discoveries marked the beginning of the colonization of American territories by Europeans, the founding of Spanish settlements, the enslavement and mass extermination of the indigenous population, erroneously called “Indians.”
Biography pages
The legendary Christopher Columbus, the greatest of the medieval navigators, can quite reasonably be called one of the biggest losers of the Age of Discovery. To understand this, it is enough to familiarize yourself with his biography, which, unfortunately, is replete with “white” spots.
It is believed that Christopher Columbus was born in the maritime Italian republic of Genoa (Italian: Genova), on the island of Corsica in August-October 1451, although the exact date of his birth remains in question to this day. In general, not much is known about childhood and adolescence.
So, Cristoforo was the first-born in a poor Genoese family. The father of the future navigator, Domenico Colombo, was engaged in pastures, vineyards, worked as a wool weaver, and traded wine and cheese. Christopher's mother, Susanna Fontanarossa, was the daughter of a weaver. Christopher had 3 younger brothers - Bartolome (about 1460), Giacomo (about 1468), Giovanni Pellegrino, who died very early - and a sister, Bianchinetta.
Documentary evidence from the time shows that the family's financial situation was deplorable. Particularly large financial problems arose because of the house into which the family moved when Christopher was 4 years old. Much later, on the foundations of that house in Santo Domingo, where Cristoforo spent his childhood, a building was erected called “Casa di Colombo” (Spanish: Casa di Colombo - “House of Columbus”), on the facade of which in 1887 an inscription appeared : " No parental home can be more revered than this».
Since Colombo the elder was a respected artisan in the city, in 1470 he was sent on an important mission to Savona (Italian: Savona) to discuss with weavers the issue of introducing uniform prices for textile products. Apparently, this is why Dominico moved with his family to Savona, where after the death of his wife and youngest son, as well as after his eldest sons left home and Bianca’s marriage, he increasingly began to seek solace in a glass of wine.
Since the future discoverer of America grew up near the sea, from childhood he was attracted by the sea. From his youth, Christopher was distinguished by faith in omens and divine providence, morbid pride and a passion for gold. He had a remarkable mind, versatile knowledge, a talent for eloquence and the gift of persuasion. It is known that after studying a little at the University of Pavia, around 1465 the young man entered service in the Genoese fleet and at a fairly early age began to sail as a sailor on the Mediterranean Sea on merchant ships. After some time, he was seriously wounded and temporarily left the service.
He may have become a merchant and settled in Portugal in the mid-1470s, joining a community of Italian merchants in Lisbon and sailing north to England, Ireland and Iceland under the Portuguese flag. He visited Madeira, the Canary Islands, walked along west coast Africa to modern Ghana.
In Portugal, around 1478, Christopher Columbus married the daughter of a prominent navigator of the time, Doña Felipe Moniz de Palestrello, becoming a member of a wealthy Italo-Portuguese family in Lisbon. Soon the young couple had a son, Diego. Until 1485, Columbus sailed on Portuguese ships, was engaged in trade and self-education, and became interested in drawing maps. In 1483, he already had a new project for a sea trade route to India and Japan ready, which the navigator presented to the king of Portugal. But, apparently, his time had not yet come, or he failed to convincingly convince the monarch of the need to equip the expedition, but after 2 years of deliberation, the king rejected this enterprise, and the daring sailor fell into disgrace. Then Columbus switched to Spanish service, where a few years later he managed to persuade the king to finance a naval expedition.
Already in 1486 H.K. managed to intrigue the influential Duke of Medina-Seli with his project, who introduced the poor but obsessed navigator into the circle of the royal entourage, bankers and merchants.
In 1488, he received an invitation from the Portuguese king to return to Portugal; the Spaniards also wanted to organize an expedition, but the country was in a state of protracted war and was unable to allocate funds for the voyage.
Columbus's First Expedition
In January 1492, the war ended, and soon Christopher Columbus obtained permission to organize an expedition, but once again his bad character let him down! The navigator's demands were excessive: appointment as viceroy of all new lands, the title of "Chief Admiral of the Ocean" and a large amount of money. The king refused him, however, Queen Isabella promised her help and assistance. As a result, on April 30, 1492, the king officially made Columbus a nobleman, granting him the title “Don” and approving all the demands put forward.
Expeditions of Christopher Columbus
In total, Columbus made 4 voyages to the American coast:
- August 2, 1492 – March 15, 1493
Purpose first Spanish expedition, led by Christopher Columbus, was the search for the shortest sea route to India. This small expedition consisted of 90 people “Santa Maria” (Spanish: Santa María), “Pinta” (Spanish: Pinta) and “Ninya” (Spanish: La Niña). “Santa Maria” - on August 3, 1492, set off from Palos (Spanish: Cabo de Palos) on 3 caravels. Having reached the Canary Islands and turning west, she crossed the Atlantic and discovered the Sargasso Sea. The first land seen among the waves was one of the islands of the Bahamas archipelago, called San Salvador Island, on which Columbus landed on October 12, 1492 - this day is considered the official date of the discovery of America. Then a number of Bahamas, Cuba, and Haiti were discovered.
In March 1493, the ships returned to Castile, carrying in their holds a certain amount of gold, strange plants, bright feathers of birds and several natives. Christopher Columbus announced that he had discovered western India.
- September 25, 1493 – June 11, 1496
In 1493 she set off and second expedition, who was already in rank
admiral. 17 ships and more than 2 thousand people took part in this grand enterprise. In November 1493
The following islands were discovered: Dominica, Guadeloupe and the Antilles. In 1494, the expedition explored the islands of Haiti, Cuba, Jamaica and Juventud.
This expedition, which ended on June 11, 1496, opened the way to colonization. Priests, settlers and criminals began to be sent to the open lands to settle new colonies.
- May 30, 1498 – November 25, 1500
Third Exploration Expedition, consisting of only 6 ships, started in 1498. On July 31, the island of Trinidad (Spanish: Trinidad) was discovered, then the Gulf of Paria (Spanish: Golfo de Paria), the Paria Peninsula and the mouth (Spanish: Río Orinoco). On August 15, the crew discovered (Spanish: Isla Margarita). In 1500, Columbus, arrested following a denunciation, was sent to Castile. He did not stay in prison for long, but, having received freedom, he lost many privileges and most of his wealth - this became the biggest disappointment in the life of a navigator.
- 9 May 1502 – November 1504
Fourth expedition started in 1502. Having obtained permission to continue the search for the western route to India, on June 15, on just 4 ships, Columbus reached the island of Martinique (French Martinique), and on July 30 entered the Gulf of Honduras (Spanish Golfo de Honduras), where he first had contact with representatives of the Mayan civilization.
In 1502-1503 Columbus, who dreamed of reaching the fabulous treasures of India, thoroughly explored the coast of Central America and discovered more than 2 thousand km of the Caribbean coast. On June 25, 1503, off the coast of Jamaica, Columbus was wrecked and was rescued only a year later. On November 7, 1504, he returned to Castile, seriously ill and broken by the failures that had befallen him.
Tragic decline of life
This is where the epic of the famous navigator ended. Not finding the coveted passage to India, finding himself ill, without money and privileges, after painful negotiations with the king on the restoration of his rights that undermined his last strength, Christopher Columbus died in spanish city Valladolid (Spanish: Valladolid) May 21, 1506. His remains were transported to a monastery near Seville in 1513. Then, by the will of his son Diego, who was then the governor of Hispaniola (Spanish: La Española, Haiti), the remains of Columbus were reburied in Santo Domingo (Spanish: Santo Domingo de Guzman) in 1542; in 1795 they were transported to Cuba, and in 1898 returned to Spanish Seville (to the Cathedral of Santa Maria). DNA studies of the remains showed that with a high degree of probability they belong to Columbus.
If you think about it, Columbus died an unhappy man: he was unable to reach the shores of the fabulously rich India, but this was precisely the navigator’s secret dream. He didn’t even understand what he had discovered, and the continents that he saw for the first time received the name of another person - (Italian: Amerigo Vespucci), who simply extended the paths trodden by the great Genoese. In fact, Columbus achieved a lot, and, at the same time, achieved nothing - this is the tragedy of his life.
Curious facts
- Christopher Columbus spent almost ³⁄4 of his life on voyages;
- The last words spoken by the navigator before his death were the following: Into your hands, Lord, I entrust my spirit...;
- After all these discoveries, the world entered the Age of Great Discoveries. Poor, hungry, constantly fighting for resources in Europe, the discoveries of the famous discoverer gave an influx of huge amounts of gold and silver - the center of civilization moved there from the East and Europe began to develop rapidly;
- How difficult it was for Columbus to organize the first expedition, how easy it was later for all countries to rush to send their ships on long voyages - this is the main historical merit of the great navigator, who gave a powerful impetus to the study and change of the world!
- The name of Christopher Columbus remains forever inscribed in the history and geography of all continents and most countries of the world. In addition to cities, streets, squares, numerous monuments and even an asteroid, named after the famous navigator, highest mountain V , federal district and a river in the USA, provinces in Canada and Panama, one of the departments in Honduras, countless mountains, rivers, waterfalls, parks and many other geographical objects.
Christopher Columbus was looking for India and found America. The inhabitants of the New World greeted him friendly, but the brave sailor soon turned into a cruel tyrant.
In the early morning of October 12, 1492, ships under the command of Christopher Columbus dropped anchor off the coast of the Bahamian island of Gwanagani (now San Salvador). And now the Spanish flag flutters over an unknown land. Naked, without weapons, the inhabitants of the island warmly and with interest watch the arriving strangers.
If the natives had guessed what grief this man would bring them, they would hardly have greeted him so carefree. Only two years will pass, and some of them will be killed, others will become slaves or die from infectious diseases brought by strangers - scarlet fever, typhoid, smallpox.
Columbus became the discoverer of the New World by accident. He grew up the son of an ordinary weaver from the Italian city of Genoa. And he earned his bread by trading sugar and painting. geographical maps. But he dreamed of something else: to circle the earth across the Atlantic Ocean and find a short sea route from Europe to India.
Already in those distant times, scientists understood that this plan was complete nonsense. Columbus greatly underestimated the size of the Earth. Columbus's plan to reach India by the western route caused a smile among the royal advisers. They called the navigator crazy. But he believed that the journey to India would take several days. Queen Isabella of Spain and her husband became interested in the project and were seduced by the promised fabulous riches. In addition, they hoped to convert the “savage peoples” of India to Christianity. The royal family granted Columbus the title of “Admiral of the Ocean Seas” and provided him with three small ships.
On August 3, 1492, Columbus set sail for the Atlantic. Many sailors were afraid of the journey because they believed that the earth was flat and were afraid of falling off its edge. After 10 weeks of sailing across the endless ocean, the sailor saw land from the mast. But this was not India, as Columbus thought, but Bahamas off the coast of a new continent - America.
Having landed on earth, Columbus explored the new world with delight and curiosity. He marveled at the lush vegetation and mild climate. About the natives, mistakenly called “Indians,” he writes in the ship’s log: “There are no better and more kind people in the world.” The Europeans were amazed when they saw the natives smoking tobacco. Soon all of Europe was smoking. However, neither gold nor any other wealth was obtained. The holds of the Spanish ships were empty. And then Columbus turned into a cruel tyrant. A year later, he again sailed to America on 17 ships along with 1,200 peasants, artisans and armed soldiers, but with the goal of robbing and taking prisoners.
The island of Hispaniola (now Haiti) was the first to experience the ruthlessness of the conquerors. The Spaniards killed children and brutally dealt with the natives who could not bring much gold. Then Columbus ordered the immersion of 550 natives to make money from the slave trade.
During the third expedition to the shores of America, Columbus was arrested on the basis of an enemy denunciation. Columbus returned from his third voyage in chains. He was soon acquitted and made another journey to a new continent. But his fame faded. Six years later, Columbus died alone. Even the new continent was not named after Columbus. And in honor of Amerigo Vespucci, who guessed that this was not India at all, but an unknown land.
Columbus's voyages changed world history. But it was a time of suffering for the American Indians. Columbus was replaced by even more cruel invaders. In America, they sought the wealth of the Aztecs and Incas, spreading death and destruction around them. And it all began for the Indians with the joyful meeting of Christopher Columbus on October 12, 1492...
Reasons for Spain's overseas expansion
INabout the second half of the 15th century. Feudalism in Western Europe was in the process of decay, large cities grew, and trade developed. Money became the universal means of exchange, the need for which increased sharply. Therefore, in Europe the demand for gold has increased greatly, which has increased the desire for the “Indies” - the birthplace of spices,” On the importance of spices for medieval cities, see: Arab trade routes. where there seems to be a lot of gold. But at the same time, as a result of the Turkish conquests, it became increasingly difficult for Western Europeans to use the old, eastern combined land and sea routes to the “Indies.” At that time, only Portugal was searching for southern sea routes. For other Atlantic countries by the end of the 15th century. only the path to the west across the unknown ocean remained open. The idea of such a path appeared in Renaissance Europe in connection with the dissemination among a relatively wide range of interested parties of the ancient doctrine of the sphericity of the Earth, and long-distance voyages became possible thanks to the achievements in the second half of the 15th century. successes in shipbuilding and navigation.
These were the general prerequisites for the overseas expansion of Western European countries. The fact that it was Spain that was the first to send Christopher Columbus’s small flotilla to the west in 1492 is explained by the conditions that developed in this country by the end of the 15th century. One of them was the strengthening of Spanish royal power, previously limited. A turning point began in 1469, when Queen Isabella of Castile married the heir to the Aragonese throne, Ferdinand. Ten years later he became king of Aragon. Thus, in 1479, the largest Pyrenean states were united and a united Spain emerged. Skillful politics strengthened royal power. With the help of the urban bourgeoisie, the crowned couple curbed the rebellious nobility and large feudal lords. Having created in 1480–1485. the Inquisition, the kings turned the church into the most terrible weapon of absolutism. The last Muslim Iberian state, the Emirate of Granada, could not withstand their onslaught for long. At the beginning of 1492, Granada fell. The eight-century process of the Reconquista ended, and “United Spain” entered the world stage.
Bartolome de Las Casas
"Archives of the Indies", Seville, SpainOverseas expansion was in the interests of both the royal power itself and its allies - the urban bourgeoisie and the church. The bourgeoisie sought to expand the sources of primitive accumulation; the church - to spread its influence to pagan countries. The Spanish nobility could provide the military force to conquer the “pagan Indies.” This was both in his interests and in the interests of the absolutist royalty and the urban bourgeoisie. The conquest of Granada put an end to the almost continuous war with the Moors in Spain itself, a war that had been the trade of many thousands of hidalgos. Now they sat idle and became even more dangerous for the monarchy and cities than in the last years of the Reconquista, when the kings, in alliance with the townspeople, had to wage a stubborn struggle against the robber gangs of the nobles. It was necessary to find a way out for the accumulated energy of the hidalgo. The solution, beneficial for the crown and the cities, for the clergy and nobility, was overseas expansion.
The royal treasury, especially the Castilian one, was constantly empty, and overseas expeditions to Asia promised fabulous profits. The Hidalgos dreamed of land holdings overseas, but even more so of the gold and jewelry of “China” and “India,” since most of the nobles were in debt like silk to the moneylenders. The desire for profit was combined with religious fanaticism - a consequence of the centuries-old struggle of Christians against Muslims. One should not, however, exaggerate its importance in Spanish (as well as Portuguese) colonial expansion. For the initiators and organizers of overseas expansion, for the leaders of the Conquest, religious zeal was a familiar and convenient mask under which the desire for power and personal gain was hidden. Bishop Bartolomé Las Casas, a contemporary of Columbus, the author of “The Shortest Report of the Ruin of India” and the multi-volume “History of India,” described the conquistadors with amazing force with his catchphrase: “They walked with a cross in their hand and with an insatiable thirst for gold in their hearts.” “Catholic kings” zealously defended the interests of the church only when they coincided with their personal ones. That Columbus in this case was no different from the kings is clearly evident from those documents that were personally written or dictated by him.
Christopher Columbus and his project
WITHporn almost all the facts from the life of Columbus, Columbus is the Latinized form of the Italian surname Colombo. In Spain his name was Cristoval Colon. relating to his youth and long stay in Portugal. It can be considered established, although with some doubt, that he was born in the autumn of 1451 in Genoa into a very poor Catholic family. At least until 1472, he lived in Genoa itself or (from 1472) in Savona and, like his father, was a member of a woolen guild. It is not known whether Columbus studied at any school, but it has been proven that he read in four languages - Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and Latin, and read a lot and, moreover, very carefully. Probably, Columbus's first long voyage dates back to the 70s: documents contain indications of his participation in the Genoese trade expeditions that visited in 1474 and 1475. O. Chios in the Aegean Sea.
In May 1476, Columbus went by sea to Portugal as a clerk at a Genoese trading house and lived there for nine years - in Lisbon, Madeira and Porto Santo. According to him, he visited both England and Guinea, in particular the Gold Coast. We, however, do not know in what capacity he sailed - a sailor or a clerk at a trading house. But already during his first expedition, Columbus, despite the inevitable mistakes and failures of a new enterprise, proved himself to be a very experienced sailor, who combined the qualities of a captain, astronomer and navigator. He not only completely mastered the art of navigation, but also raised it to a higher level. According to the traditional version, Columbus, back in 1474, sought advice regarding the shortest sea route to “India” Paolo Toscanelli, astronomer and geographer. The Florentine sent in response a copy of his letter to the Portuguese scholar-monk, who had addressed him earlier on behalf of the king Afonso V. In this letter, Toscanelli pointed out that there was a shorter route across the ocean to the spice countries than the one that the Portuguese were looking for when sailing along the western coast of Africa. “I know that the existence of such a path can be proven on the basis that the Earth is a sphere. Nevertheless, to facilitate the undertaking, I am sending... a map made by me... It shows your coasts and islands, from where you must sail continuously to the west; and the places where you will arrive; and how far you should keep from the pole or from the equator; and how far you must travel to reach the countries where there are the most various spices and precious stones. Do not be surprised that I call the country where spices grow west, while they are usually called east, because people sailing steadily westward will reach the eastern countries across the ocean in the other hemisphere. But if you go overland - through our hemisphere, then the spice countries will be in the east...”
Obviously, Columbus then informed Toscanelli about his project, since in his second letter he wrote to the Genoese: “I consider your project of sailing from east to west... noble and great. I am pleased to see that I was well understood.” In the 15th century No one yet knew how land and ocean were distributed on Earth. Toscanelli almost doubled the extent of the Asian continent from west to east and accordingly underestimated the width of the ocean separating Southern Europe from China in the west, defining it as a third of the circumference of the Earth, i.e., according to his calculations, less than 12 thousand km Japan (Chipangu) lay, according to Toscanelli, approximately 2 thousand km east of China, and, therefore, from Lisbon to Japan you need to travel less than 10 thousand km; The Azores or Canary Islands and the mythical Antilia could serve as stages in this transition. Columbus made his own amendments to this calculation, relying on some astronomical and geographical books: it is most convenient to sail to East Asia through the Canary Islands, from where you need to go 4.5–5.0 thousand km to the west to reach Japan. According to the French geographer of the 18th century. Jean Anville, it was “the greatest mistake that led to the greatest discovery.” Neither the originals nor copies of Toscanelli’s map have reached us, but it has been reconstructed more than once on the basis of his letters.
Columbus proposed his project Joao II. After much delay, the Portuguese king handed over his project in 1484 to the scientific council, which had just been organized to compile navigation manuals. The Council rejected Columbus's evidence. A certain role in the king’s refusal was also played by the excessive rights and advantages that Columbus negotiated for himself if the enterprise was successful. The Genoese left Portugal with his young son Diego. According to the traditional version, in 1485 Columbus arrived in the city of Palos near the Gulf of Cadiz and found shelter near Palos, in the Rabida monastery. The abbot became interested in the project and sent Columbus to influential monks, who recommended him to the Castilian grandees, including the Duke Medinaceli. These recommendations only hurt the matter: Isabel was suspicious of an enterprise that, if successful, would enrich her political opponents - large feudal lords - and contribute to the growth of their influence. The Duke asked Isabella to allow the organization of the expedition at his own expense. The Queen ordered that the project be submitted to a special commission for consideration.
The commission, consisting of monks and courtiers, gave a negative conclusion four years later. It didn't reach us. If you believe the biographers of Columbus in the 16th century, the commission cited various absurd motives, but did not deny the sphericity of the Earth: at the end of the 15th century. A clergyman claiming to be learned would hardly dare to dispute this truth. On the contrary, Christian writers at that time tried to reconcile the data confirming the spherical shape of the Earth with biblical concepts, because outright denial of the truth, which had become generally known, could damage the already shaken authority of the church. Let us note by the way: the version of the ceremonial meeting of the council of the University of Salamana, at which Columbus’s project was allegedly rejected on the grounds that the learned men were outraged by his ideas about the sphericity of the Earth, is fictitious from beginning to end. However, the kings have not yet expressed their final judgment. In 1487–1488 Columbus received benefits from the treasury, but his business did not move forward while the kings were busy with the war. But he found the most reliable point of support: with the help of the monks, he became close to Spanish financiers. This was the right path that led him to victory. In 1491, Columbus again appeared in the Rabid monastery and, through the abbot, met Martin Alonso Ponson, an experienced sailor and influential Palos shipwright. At the same time, Columbus's ties with royal financial advisers and Seville merchants and bankers strengthened.
At the end of 1491, Columbus's project was again considered by a commission, and prominent lawyers took part in it, along with theologians and cosmographers. And this time the project was rejected: Columbus’s demands were considered excessive. The king and queen joined in the decision, and Columbus headed to France. At that moment, a man appeared to Isabella Luis Santangel, the head of the largest trading house, the closest financial adviser to the kings, and convinced her to accept the project, promising a loan to equip the expedition. A policeman was sent for Columbus, who caught up with him near Granada and escorted him to the court. On April 17, 1492, the kings expressed written consent to the draft treaty with Columbus. The most important article of this document read: “Their Highnesses, as lords of the seas and oceans, grant Don Cristobal Colon their admiralship of all the islands and continents that he personally ... discovers or acquires in these seas and oceans, and after his death [they grant] to his heirs and descendants in perpetuity this title with all the privileges and prerogatives appertaining thereto... Their Highnesses appoint Columbus as their viceroy and chief ruler in... the islands and continents which he... discovers or acquires, and to govern each of them will have to elect the one who is most suitable for this service...” (from the candidates nominated by Columbus).
On April 30, the king and queen officially confirmed the award of the title “don” to Columbus and his heirs (this meant that he had been elevated to the dignity of nobility) and. if successful, the titles of admiral, viceroy and governor, as well as the right to receive salaries for these positions, a tenth of the net income from the new lands, and the right to try criminal and civil cases. The overseas expedition was viewed by the crown primarily as a risky trading venture. The Queen agreed after seeing that the project was supported by major financiers. Luis Santangel and a representative of the Seville merchants lent 1,400,000 maravedis to the Castilian crown. This is equivalent to almost 9.7 thousand gold dollars in 1934 prices. At the end of the 15th century. The sailor's salary was 12 maravedis per day, a pound of wheat cost 43.4 maravedis. The support of representatives of the bourgeoisie and influential churchmen predetermined the success of Columbus's efforts.
Composition and purpose of Columbus's first expedition
TOOlumbus was provided with two ships. The crew was recruited from residents of Palos and a number of other port cities. Columbus equipped the third ship - Martin Pinson and his brothers helped him raise funds. The flotilla team consisted of 90 people. Columbus raised the admiral's flag on the Santa Maria, the largest ship of the flotilla, which he, perhaps not entirely deservedly, characterized as "a bad ship, unfit for discovery." The elder Pinson was appointed captain of the Pinta - Martin Alonso; captain of the smallest ship "Ninya" ("Baby") - the younger Pinson - Vicente Yañez. There are no documents preserved about the size of these ships, and the opinions of historians differ greatly: the tonnage of the Santa Maria is determined by S. E. Morison at 100 tons, the Pinta - about 60 tons, the Niña - about 50 tons.
There is extensive literature about the purpose of Columbus's first expedition. Among historians, a group of skeptics, the “anti-Columbians,” denies that Columbus set himself the goal of reaching Asia in 1492: in the two main documents emanating from the “Catholic kings” and agreed upon with Columbus - the treaty and the “certificate of grant of title” - it is not mentioned neither Asia nor any part of it. There are no geographical names at all. And the purpose of the expedition is formulated in deliberately vague terms, which is understandable - in these documents it was impossible to mention the “Indies”: papal grants confirmed in 1479 by Castile, the discovery of new lands south of the Canary Islands and “right up to the Indians” » was provided to Portugal. Therefore, Columbus, beyond the Canary Islands, headed directly west from the island. Hierro, not south. However, the mention of the mainland could only refer to Asia: according to ancient and medieval ideas, there could not be another continent in the northern hemisphere to the west of Europe, across the ocean. In addition, the agreement provides a list of goods that the kings and Columbus himself hoped to find overseas: “Pearls or precious stones, gold or silver, spices...” All these goods were attributed to the “Indies” by medieval geographical tradition.
It is unlikely that the main task was the discovery of the legendary islands. The island of Brazil was then associated with a valuable Brazilian tree, but nothing is said about it in the documents; O. Antilia - with the legend of the "Seven Cities", founded by bishops who fled there. If Antilia existed, it was ruled by Christian sovereigns; the kings legally could not grant anyone the right to “purchase” Antilia for Castile and assign its management “forever” to the heirs of Columbus. According to Catholic tradition, such grants could only apply to non-Christian countries.
There is also no doubt that the crew of the flotilla was selected only for the purpose of establishing trade relations with a non-Christian (possibly Muslim) country, and not for conquest big country; However, the possibility of “acquiring” individual islands was not excluded. The flotilla was obviously not intended for large-scale aggressive operations - weak weapons, a small crew, and the absence of professional military personnel. The expedition did not set out to promote the “holy” faith, despite Columbus’s later claims. On the contrary, there was not a single priest or monk on board, but there was a baptized Jew - translator who knew a little Arabic, i.e. the cult language of Muslims, not needed on the islands of Brazil, Antilia, etc., but he could useful in the “Indies”, which traded with Muslim countries. The king and queen sought to establish trade relations with the “Indies” - this was precisely the main goal of the first expedition. When Columbus, returning to Spain, reported that he had discovered “India” in the west and brought Indians (indios) from there, he believed that he had been where he was sent and where he wanted to go, and had done what he promised. This is what the initiators and participants of the first expedition thought. This explains the immediate organization of another, this time a large expedition. There were almost no skeptics in Spain at that time: they appeared later.
On August 3, 1492, Columbus took ships out of Palos harbor. Off the Canary Islands it was discovered that the Pinta had leaked. Due to its repairs, only in September 1492 did the flotilla move away from the island. Homers. The first three days there was almost complete calm. Then a fair wind pulled the ships to the west, and so quickly that the sailors soon lost sight of Fr. Hierro. Columbus understood that the sailors' anxiety would grow as they moved away from their homeland, and decided to show in the ship's log and announce to the crew underestimated data on the distances traveled, while recording the correct ones in his diary. Its original has been lost. The so-called "Diary of Columbus's First Voyage" is a retelling compiled by Bartolomé Las Casas. According to S. Morison, “false” data on the distance traveled turned out to be more accurate than “correct” ones. Already on September 10, the diary noted that 60 leagues (about 360 km) were covered in a day, and 48 were calculated, “so as not to instill fear in people.” Quotes here and below are from the book “The Voyages of Christopher Columbus.” The subsequent pages of the diary are replete with similar entries. On September 16, “they began to notice many tufts of green grass, and, as one could judge from its appearance, this grass had only recently been torn from the ground.” However, the flotilla spent three weeks moving west through this strange expanse of water, where there was sometimes “so much grass that the whole sea seemed to be swarming with it.” They threw the lot several times, but it did not reach the bottom. In the first days, the ships, carried by favorable winds, easily glided among the seaweed, but then, in the calm, they made almost no progress. This is how the Sargasso Sea was discovered.
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At the beginning of October, sailors and officers increasingly insistently demanded to change course: before this, Columbus had been steadily heading straight to the west. Finally, on October 7, he yielded, probably fearing a mutiny, and turned west-southwest. Three more days passed, and “the people could now stand it no longer, complaining about the long voyage.” The admiral calmed the sailors a little, convincing them that they were close to their goal and reminded them how far they were from their homeland. He persuaded some and promised rewards to others. On October 11, everything indicated the proximity of land. Great excitement gripped the sailors. At 2 o'clock in the morning on October 12, 1492. Rodrigo Triana, a sailor of the Pinta, saw land in the distance. In the morning the land opened up: “This island is very large and very level, and there are many green trees and water, and in the middle there is a very large lake. There are no mountains." The first passage across the Atlantic Ocean in the subtropical zone from La Gomera to this island lasted 33 days. Boats were lowered from the ships. Columbus, with both Pinsons, a notary and the royal comptroller, landed on shore - now as an admiral and viceroy - planted the Castilian banner there, formally took possession of the island and drew up a notarial deed to this effect.
On the island the Spaniards saw naked people. And Columbus describes his first meeting with the Arawaks, a people who 20-30 years later were completely exterminated by the colonialists: “They swam to the boats where we were and brought us parrots, and cotton yarn in skeins, and darts, and many other things, and exchanged all this... But it seemed to me that these people were poor... They all walked around in what their mother gave birth to. And all the people I saw were still young... and they were built... well, and their bodies and faces were very beautiful, and their hair was coarse, just like horse hair, and short... (and their skin was so colors like the inhabitants of the Canary Islands, who are neither black nor white...). Some of them paint their faces, others paint their entire body, and there are also those who only have their eyes and nose painted. They do not carry or know [iron] weapons: when I showed them swords, they grabbed the blades and, out of ignorance, cut off their fingers. They don’t have any iron.”
On the island, Columbus was given “dry leaves that were especially valued by the inhabitants”: the first indication of tobacco. The Indians called their island Guanahani, the admiral gave it a Christian name - San Salvador ("Holy Savior"), which was assigned to one of the Bahamas islands, lying at 24° N. w. and 74° 30" W., - now Watling Island. Columbus noticed pieces of gold in the noses of some islanders. The gold allegedly came from somewhere in the south. From that moment on, he never tired of repeating in his diary that he would “find gold is where it is born." The Spaniards explored the western and northern coasts of Guanahani Island in two days on boats and discovered several villages. Other islands were visible in the distance, and Columbus was convinced that he had discovered the archipelago. Residents visited ships on one-tree canoes of various sizes, lifting from one to 40–45 people. “They propelled their boats with the help of a shovel-like oar... and walked at great speed.” To find the way to the southern lands, where “gold will be born,” Columbus ordered the capture of six Indians. Using their instructions, he gradually moved south.
Columbus named the islands southwest of Guanahani Santa Maria de Concepción (Frames) and Fernandina (Long Island). The local Indians seemed to him “more homely, courteous and reasonable” than the inhabitants of Guanahani. “I even saw them wearing clothes woven from cotton yarn, like a cloak, and they love to dress up.” Sailors who visited the islanders' houses saw hanging wicker beds tied to poles. “The beds and mats on which the Indians sleep are like nets and are woven from cotton yarn” (hammocks). But the Spaniards did not find any signs of gold deposits on the island. For two weeks the flotilla moved among the Bahamas. Columbus saw many plants with strange flowers and fruits, but none of them were familiar to him. In an entry from October 15–16, he enthusiastically describes the nature of the archipelago. The last of the Bahamas islands, where the Spaniards landed on October 20, was named Isabella (Crooked Island).
t Indian sailors heard about the southern island of Cuba, which, according to them, is very large and conducts great trade.
On October 28, Columbus “entered the mouth of ... a very beautiful river” (Bariey Bay in the northeast of Cuba, 76° W). From the gestures of the inhabitants, Columbus realized that this land could not be circumnavigated by ship even in 20 days. Then he decided that he was near one of the peninsulas East Asia.
But there were no rich cities, no kings, no gold, no spices. The next day, the Spaniards advanced 60 km northwest along the coast of Cuba, expecting to meet with Chinese junks. But no one, not even the admiral himself, imagined that the path to China was extremely far - more than 15 thousand km in a straight line. Occasionally there were small villages along the coast. The admiral sent two people, ordering them to find the king and establish relations with him. One of the messengers spoke Arabic, but no one in this country understood “even” Arabic. Having moved a little away from the sea, the Spaniards found villages surrounded by cultivated fields with large houses that could accommodate hundreds of people, built from branches and reeds. Only one plant turned out to be familiar to Europeans - cotton. There were bales of cotton in the houses; women wove coarse fabrics from it or twisted nets from yarn. The men and women who met the newcomers “walked with brands in their hands and with grass used for smoking.” This is how Europeans saw tobacco smoking for the first time, and unfamiliar cultivated plants turned out to be maize (corn), potatoes and tobacco.
The ships again needed repairs, further sailing to the west seemed pointless: Columbus thought that he had reached the poorest part of China, but to the east the richest Japan should lie, and he turned back. The Spaniards dropped anchor in Gibara Bay, adjacent to Baria, where they stayed for 12 days. During the stay, the admiral learned about Fr. Babeke, where people “gather gold right along the coast,” and on November 13 he moved east to search. On November 20, “Pinta” disappeared; Columbus, suspecting treason, assumed that Martin Pinson wanted to discover this island for himself. For another two weeks, the remaining two ships sailed east and reached the eastern tip of Cuba (Cape Muncie). Columbus called this cape Alpha and Omega, which means, according to commentators, the beginning of Asia, if you come from the east, and the end of Asia, if you come from the west. On December 5, the admiral, after some hesitation, moved to the south-southeast, crossed the Windward Strait and on December 6 approached the land about which he had already collected information from the Cubans as a rich large island. Bohio. It was. Haiti; Columbus named it Hispaniola: “Hispaniola” literally means “Spanish Flu”, but in meaning it is more correct to translate “Spanish Island”. there, along the coast, “the most beautiful... valleys stretch, very similar to the lands of Castile, but in many ways superior to them.” Moving along the northern coast of Haiti, along the way he discovered Fr. Tortuga ("Turtle"). The sailors saw thin gold plates and small ingots among the inhabitants of Hispaniola. Among them, the “gold rush” intensified: “... the Indians were so simple-minded, and the Spaniards so greedy and insatiable, that they were not satisfied when the Indians for... a piece of glass, a shard of a broken cup or other worthless things gave them everything they could they wanted. But even without giving anything, the Spaniards sought to take... everything” (diary entry dated December 22).
On December 25, due to the negligence of the sailor on watch, the Santa Maria ran aground on a reef. With the help of the Indians, they managed to remove valuable cargo, guns and supplies from the ship. The small Niña could not accommodate the entire crew, and Columbus decided to leave some of the people on the island - the first attempt by Europeans to settle in Central America. 39 Spaniards voluntarily stayed on Hispaniola: life there seemed comfortable to them, and they hoped to find a lot of gold. Columbus ordered the construction of a fort from the wreckage of the ship, called Navidad (Christmas), armed it with cannons from the Santa Maria and supplied it with supplies for a year.
On January 4, 1493, the admiral went to sea and two days later met the Pinta off the northern coast of Hispaniola. Martin Pinson insisted that he “left the flotilla against his will.” Columbus pretended to believe: “It was not the time to punish the guilty.” Both ships were leaking, everyone was eager to return to their homeland as quickly as possible, and on January 16, the Niña and Pinta went out into the open ocean. The first four weeks of the voyage went well, but on February 12 a storm arose, and on the night of February 14, the Niña lost sight of the Pinta. As the sun rose, the wind increased and the sea became even more threatening. No one thought that it would be possible to avoid inevitable death. At dawn on February 15, when the wind died down a little, the sailors saw land, and Columbus correctly determined that he was located near the Azores. Three days later, "Nina" managed to approach one of the islands - Santa Maria.
On February 24, leaving the Azores, the Niña again encountered a storm, which drove the ship to the Portuguese coast near Lisbon. On March 15, 1493, the admiral brought the Niña to Palos, and on the same day the Pinta arrived there. Columbus brought to Spain news of the lands he had discovered in the west, some gold, several islanders never seen before in Europe, who began to be called Indians, strange plants, fruits and feathers of strange birds. In order to maintain the monopoly of discovery, he entered incorrect data into the ship’s logbook on the way back. The first news of the great discovery, which spread throughout Europe in dozens of translations, was a letter dictated by Columbus near the Azores to one of the persons who financed the expedition - Luis Santangel or Gabriel Sanchez.
There is a story about Columbus's discovery of "Western India" that alarmed the Portuguese. In their opinion, the rights granted to Portugal by the popes were violated ( Nicholas V And Calixtus III) in 1452 - 1456, rights recognized by Castile itself in 1479, confirmed by the pope Sixtus IV in 1481, - to own lands open to the south and east of Cape Bojador, “all the way to the Indians.” Now India seemed to be slipping away from them. The Castilian queen and the Portuguese king defended their rights to lands overseas. Castile relied on the right of first discovery, Portugal - on papal grants. Only the head of the Catholic Church could resolve the dispute peacefully. Was a dad then Alexander VI Borgia. It is unlikely that the Portuguese considered this pope, a Spaniard by birth (Rodrigo Borja), an impartial judge. But they could not ignore his decision.
On May 3, 1493, the pope, with the bull Jnter cetera (“By the way”), made the first division of the world, granting Castile rights to lands that it had discovered or would discover in the future - “lands lying opposite the western parts on the ocean” and not belonging to any or a Christian sovereign. In other words, Castile in the west received the same rights that Portugal had in the south and east. On May 4, 1493, in a new bull (second Jnter cetera), the pope tried to more precisely define the rights of Castile. He granted eternal possession to the Castilian kings “all the islands and continents... discovered and those that will be open to the west and south of a line drawn... from the Arctic Pole... to the Antarctic Pole... [This] line should stand at a distance of 100 leagues to the west and south of any of the islands commonly called the Azores and Cape Verde." It is clear that the boundary established by the second bull cannot be drawn on the map. Even then they knew for sure that the Azores lay much to the west of the Cape Verde Islands. And the expression “south of a line drawn... from... pole... to pole,” that is, south of the meridian, is simply absurd. Nevertheless, the papal decision formed the basis of the Spanish-Portuguese negotiations, which ended Treaty of Tordesillas dated June 7, 1494. The Portuguese even then doubted that Columbus had reached Asia, and did not insist that the Spaniards completely abandon overseas voyages, but only sought to move the “papal meridian” further to the west. There were lone skeptics in Spain as well. The Italian humanist Pietro Martire (Peter the Martyr), who lived in Barcelona in those years and was close to the royal court, carried on extensive correspondence with his fellow countrymen. His letter dated November 1, 1493 contains the following phrases: “A certain Colon sailed to the Western Antipodes, to the Indian coast, as he himself believes. He discovered many islands; They believe that it is precisely those... about which cosmographers have expressed the opinion that they are located near India, beyond the Eastern Ocean. I cannot dispute this, although it seems that the size of the globe leads to a different conclusion.”
After much debate, the Spaniards made a big concession: the line was drawn 370 leagues west of the Cape Verde Islands. The treaty does not indicate from which island the 370 leagues should be counted and in which leagues the calculation should be made; we can assume that we are talking about a sea league (about 6 km). In addition, for cosmographers of that time, converting 370 leagues into degrees of longitude was very difficult. However, the discrepancies for these reasons (up to 5.5°) are insignificant compared to the errors due to the inability to determine longitude at that time; even in the 16th century. Because of this, there were errors of more than 45°. According to many historians, Portugal and Castile set themselves a clear goal - to truly divide the globe between themselves, despite the fact that the papal bull of 1493 and the treaty of 1494 indicated only one, Atlantic, line of demarcation. But already in 1495, an opposite opinion was expressed, probably more consistent with the true intentions of the parties: the line is established only so that Castilian ships have the right to make discoveries in a western direction, and Portuguese ones - in the east of the “papal meridian.” In other words, the purpose of demarcation was not to divide the globe, but only to show rival sea powers different ways of discovering new lands.
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