Christopher Columbus, Italian Cristoforo Colombo, Spanish Cristóbal Colón, (born between August 26 and October 31?, 1451, Genoa [Italy]—died May 20, 1506, Valladolid, Spain), master navigator and admiral whose four transatlantic voyages (1492–93, 1493–96, 1498–1500, and …



Yet he studied these books, made hundreds of marginal notations in them and came out with ideas about the world that were characteristically simple and strong and sometimes wrong, ...Throughout his life, Columbus also showed a keen interest in the Bible and in Furthermore, most scholars accepted Ptolemy's estimate that Columbus therefore would have estimated the distance from the Though Columbus was wrong about the number of degrees of longitude that separated Europe from the Far East and about the distance that each degree represented, he did possess valuable knowledge about the Instead, Columbus returned home by following the curving trade winds northeastward to the middle latitudes of the North Atlantic, where he was able to catch the "It is unclear whether Columbus learned about the winds from his own sailing experience or if he had heard about them from others. These issues were made from the original dies of which the first engraved issues of 1893 were produced. Under the Mongol Empire's hegemony over Asia (the Pax Mongolica, or Mongol peace), Europeans had long enjoyed a safe land passage, the Silk Road, to the Indies (then construed roughly as all of south and east Asia) and China, which were sources of valuable goods such as spices and silk. The two main early biographies of Columbus have been taken as literal truth by hundreds of writers, in large part because they were written by individuals closely connected to Columbus or his writings. Eyes never beheld the sea so angry, so high, so covered with foam. Both biographies have serious shortcomings as evidence." All this time the water never ceased to fall from the sky; I do not say it rained, for it was like another deluge. The corresponding technique for efficient travel in the Atlantic appears to have been exploited first by the Portuguese, who referred to it as the In 1488, Columbus again appealed to the court of Portugal, resulting in John II again inviting him for an audience.



Testimony recorded in the report stated that Columbus congratulated his brother Bartolomeo on "defending the family" when the latter ordered a woman paraded naked through the streets and then had her tongue cut out for suggesting that Columbus was of lowly birth.The neutrality and accuracy of this report and the accusations of Bobadilla towards Columbus and his brothers have been disputed by historians, given the anti-Italian sentiment of the Spaniards and Bobadilla's desire to take over Columbus' position.
Whenever an Indian delivered his tribute, he was to receive a brass or copper token which he must wear about his neck as proof that he had made his payment; any Indian found without such a token was to be punished."

He also speculated that the new continent might be the location of the biblical In poor health, Columbus returned to Hispaniola on 19 August, only to find that many of the Spanish settlers of the new colony were in rebellion against his rule, claiming that Columbus had misled them about the supposedly bountiful riches of the New World. G.F. Grant Professor of History, University of Hull, England. On 10 May he sighted the For one year Columbus and his men remained stranded on Following his first voyage, Columbus was appointed Viceroy and Governor of the Indies under the terms of the By this time, accusations of tyranny and incompetence on the part of Columbus had also reached the Court. This effort gave rise to considerable debate. says Anne Paolucci and Henry Paolucci, The Brooklyn Museum catalogue notes that the most likely source for Leutze's trio of Columbus paintings is Mark McDonald, "Ferdinand Columbus, Renaissance Collector (1488–1539)", 2005, British Museum Press, William D. Phillips Jr., 'Columbus, Christopher', in David Buisseret (ed. He and his sons, Diego and Fernando, then conducted a lengthy series of court cases against the Between 1492 and 1503, Columbus completed four round-trip voyages between Spain and the Americas, each voyage being sponsored by the Columbus always insisted, in the face of mounting evidence to the contrary, that the lands that he visited during those voyages were part of the On the evening of 3 August 1492, Columbus departed from On 13 January 1493, Columbus made his last stop of this voyage in the New World, in the After spending more than a week in Portugal, and paying his respects to Michele da Cuneo, Columbus's childhood friend from The same childhood friend reported in a letter that Columbus had provided one of the captured indigenous women to him. Columbus made three further voyages to the New World, exploring the The debate over Columbus's legacy continues. Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand responded by removing Columbus from power and replacing him with Arriving in Santo Domingo while Columbus was away during the explorations of his According to the report, Columbus once punished a man found guilty of stealing corn by having his ears and nose cut off and then selling him into slavery.