Biography

Who Was Christopher Columbus

Christopher Columbus was an Italian explorer and navigator. In 1492,

he sailed across the Atlantic Ocean from Spain in the Santa Maria, with
the Pinta and the Niña ships alongside, hoping to find a new route to
India.

Between 1492 and 1504, he made a total of four voyages to the

Caribbean and South America and has been credited and blamed for
opening up the Americas to European colonization.
 Discovery of America

In the 15th Century, Christopher Columbus (Genoa, 1451?-

Valladolid, 1506) conceives the idea of getting to The Maluku
Islands (the trade center of spices). He decides to take a short
cut used by the Portuguese sailors, but his King, John the II of
Portugal (Lisbon, Portugal, 1455-Alvor, Portugal, 1495)
refuses. Columbus offers the project to the Catholic Monarchs
in 1486, starting the pilgrimage that will lead him to his goal.

On April 17, 1492 the Capitulations of Santa Fe (Granada)

were signed. Due to this fact, Columbus is appointed admiral,
viceroy and governor of the lands he discovers. The Columbian
Project launches on August 3rd, 1492 from Palos de la Frontera
port (Huelva) and reaches American land (Guanahani from the
Antilles) on October 12. He continues his route around the
Cuba islands and Hispaniola. This first voyage brings to the
Monarchy benefits and a conflict with Portugal who believes the
Treaty of Alcáçovas (1479) has been violated. The papal bulls
filed by the Pope Alexander VI (Xàtiva, Valencia, 1431-Rome,
Italy, 1503) will support the Spanish discovery title, as well as
the demarcation of expansive zones. But the Luso-Castilian
rivalry wont resolve itself until the signing of the Treaty of
Tordesillas (1494).