Christopher Columbus Born between August 26th and October 31st 1451 in the Republic of Genoa, Italy, Cristoforo Colombo in Italian and Cristóbal Colón in Spanish, was an explorer, navigator and colonizer. Best known for the discovery of the New World. With a family from the middle class, the mother, Susanna Fantanarossa, was the daughter of a wool merchant and his father was a wool weaver. Columbus had three brothers, Bartolomeo (Bartholomew), Giovanni Pellegrino, and Giacomo, and one sister, Bianchinetta. Since very young Columbus developed an exceptional love for navigation. According to Karin Lehnardt in the article 74 interesting facts about Christopher Columbus “When he was only 19, Columbus took his first long voyage on one of his employer’s …show more content…
Believing it would be quicker and safer, Columbus devised a route to sail west across the Atlantic to reach Asia,. He estimated the earth to be a sphere and the distance between the Canary Islands and Japan to be about 2,300 miles. Many contemporary nautical experts disagreed because they believed that the distance between the Canary Island and Japan was much more than what Columbus thought. However, despite their disagreement with Columbus on matters of distance, they concurred that a westward voyage from Europe would be an uninterrupted water route.
Columbus proposed a three-ship voyage of discovery across the Atlantic first to the King Joao II of Portugal. After an unsuccessful attempt to convince him, he traveled to Genoa and finally to Venice. He was rejected both time. In 1486, he went to the Spanish monarchy of Isabella of Castille and Ferdinand of Aragon. Their focus on a war with the Muslims, and their nautical experts were skeptical, what made them reject to Columbus. However, the idea intrigued the monarchs, so they kept Columbus on a retainer. “Isabela, perhaps because she shared Columbus' crusading messianic Catholicism and now felt possessed with a new sense of mission after the victory in Granada over the Moslems and the decree expelling Jews who refused to convert, finally agreed. In return for claiming new lands for