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| Colonial American History Stories - 1215 - 1664 |
Months of lobbying the Spanish Court finally paid off for Christopher Columbus. His efforts finally convinced the Queen to meet with him. He wanted her to review his proposal to reach the East by sailing West over the vast Atlantic Ocean.
Christopher Columbus (October 1450/1451 - May 20, 1506)
Many things about the early life of history's most renowned explorer are still a mystery to historians. They have not been able to pin down the exact date of his birth or the location. Most believe he entered the world in the Republic of Genoa in modern Italy. We have anglicized his name to Christopher Columbus. However, in his native Genovese his name was Cristoforo Colombo. The Spanish call him Cristóbal Colón. His father worked as a wool weaver in both Genoa and Savona. He also owned a cheese stand at which young Christopher worked while a boy. Most believe that his mother was Susanna of Fontanarossa (1435-1489). She also bore four other children, Bartolomeo, Giovanni, Giacomo, and a daughter named Bianchinetta. Columbus claimed he first went to sea at the age of ten in one of his letters.
Early Life
By 1473, Columbus had begun his seafaring career. Between the years 1473 and 1477 he apparently traveled to the Aegean island Chios. He also sailed with an armed convoy to England and Ireland. There is also a possibility that he visited the Norse colony on Iceland. In 1479. He married the daughter of a Portuguese Knight of Santiago, Filipa Moniz Perestrelo. She bore Christopher his son, Diego Columbus, in 1479 or 1480. Columbus had one other illegitimate son, Ferdinand Columbus, by Beatriz Enriquez de Arana. The fate of Columbus' wife, Filipa Moniz, remains a mystery. Some accounts say she died in 1485, others say Columbus walked out on her. Regardless, by 1485 she was out of his life when he began his quest to find a sponsor for his proposed explorations.
Self Taught Education
Columbus learned to speak and read three languages, Latin, Portuguese, and Castilian. He also studied astronomy, geography, and history. Somehow, he learned about the trade winds that rode through the equatorial regions. Whether he learned by personal experience or by conversations with sailors, no one really knows.
He also read the works of Claudius Ptolemy. Cardinal Pierre d'Ailly's Im ago Mundi and the travels of Marco Polo also met his eyes. He studied Sir John Mandeville and Pliny's Natural History. Pope Pius II's Historia Rerum Ubique Gestarum rounded out his reading fare. Through these works, he arrived at his theory of reaching the East by sailing west.
It Was All About Trade
Until 1453, the land trade route over the Silk Road to Asia had been reasonably safe. When the Ottoman Turks conquered the last stanchion of the Roman Empire, Constantinople, in 1453 the route became more dangerous. The lucrative trade with China and India cut off, European kings and merchants sought a safer, faster route to the Orient. They desperately wanted the silk, spices and other exotic wares of those lands. Christopher Columbus thought he had the answer.
Competing Theories
Washington Irving's biography of Columbus in 1828 planted the idea that Fifteenth Century scholars thought the Earth was flat. Though many people at the time believed this was so, most scholars believed that the Earth was spherical in shape. The biggest debates came over the size of the Earth. Using geography, astronomer Eratosthenes (276 BC - 194 BC), had calculated the Earth's circumference. Claudius Ptolemy (AD 90 – c.?)168) also calculated the circumference of the Earth during Roman times. An Arab astronomer had also calculated the Earth's circumference. This Arab, Alfraganus (Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Kathir al-Farghani) lived during the Ninth Century. He wrote a textbook, A Compendium of the Science of the Stars, around 833. Columbus, and many other scholars, based their belief on the earth's size on the writings of Alfraganus. His calculations led Columbus to believe that the earth was 18,765 miles in circumference at the equator. Eratosthenes' calculations indicated a circumference of 24,854. Both men were close, but the confusion came in because Alfraganus used the Arabic mile in his calculations. This mile is longer than the standard European mile in use at the time. If you apply the Arabic mile to Alfraganus calculations, his numbers match Eratosthenes. Columbus, and many others of that age, did not realize this. This is important because Columbus used the smaller number to prove that a voyage across the Atlantic was possible.
Columbus Travels to Portugal
In 1485, Columbus tried to sell his idea to King John II of Portugal, who was interested. He consulted with his geographers about it. They, believing Ptolemy's numbers, felt that the distance was too far. A Fifteenth Century ship simply could not carry enough supplies to make the voyage. King John II rejected him twice.
Travel to Spain
After the second rejection in 1488, Columbus traveled to Spain to consult with Queen Isabella. He gained his first audience with the Queen on May 1, 1486. After consulting with her science experts, she rejected the proposal for the same reasons of her Portuguese counterpart. She did grant him a living allowance to keep him in Spain and prevent his entering service with any other European monarch. The Muslims still occupied the Iberian Peninsula. The monarchs still had most of their resources devoted to the Reconquista of Al-Andalus. Columbus would have to wait for six long years for this war to end and allow him another chance to present his proposal to the Queen again. It was during this period that he became involved with Beatriz Enriquez de Arana and had his second son, Ferdinand, in August 1488. During Columbus's first voyage in 1492 she cared for both her son and Columbus' other son, Diego.
