A Brief Biography of Christopher Columbus

Columbus was born in Genoa 1451. He began his sailing career in the Portuguese merchant marine. He survived a shipwreck off the southwestern point of Portugal (Cape St. Vincent) in 1476. In 1477 he sailed to Iceland and Ireland, and in 1478 was buying sugar in Madeira as an agent for the Genoese firm Centurioni. In 1479 he married Felipa Perestrello e Moniz, member of an impoverished Portuguese noble family. His son Diego was born in 1480. From 1482 to 1485, he traded along the Guinea and Gold Coasts. In 1485 Felipa died, and Columbus took Beatriz Enr’quez de Harana of Cordoba as his mistress, and had his second son Ferdinand by her.

In 1484 King John II of Portugal rejected a petition from Columbus to fund a transatlantic voyage. In 1486 he went to Spain. Ferdinand and Isabella rejected at least two petitions. In 1492, with the help of Spanish treasurer Luis de Santangel and of the Franciscan friars of La R‡bida, near Huelva, with whom Columbus had stayed the preceding summer, they finally acceded to his petitions. It is possible that the crucial audience with the Queen was secured by Juan PŽrez of La R‡bida, one of the queen's confessors.

Columbus was present at the siege of Granada in 1492, and anti-muslim fervor was part of the emotion that won support for his voyage. A transatlantic crossing was viewed as a way to "outflank" Islam, to attack and conquer it from the east. In his acknowledgment of the patronage of Ferdinand and Isabella, Columbus acknowledged the driving out and extermination of the Jews and the conquest of Muslim Spain as evidence of the Monarchs' divine calling to liberate the holy land and play an instrumental role in universal preaching of the gospel and conversion of the world to Christianity.

Franciscans believed that the end of the world was near. Based on their reading of Revelation, they saw the conquest of Jerusalem and the installation of a Christian emperor in the Holy Land to make war on the Antichrist as a precondition for the second coming. The Franciscans hoped Columbus' voyage would help finance a new crusade.

One third of the costs of the voyage were paid by Columbus himself. They departed from Spain August 3, 1492. Captain Pinzon commanded the Pinta, while Columbus commanded the Nina. First key to the success of the voyage was Columbus' decision to begin the transatlantic voyage by sailing south of the Canaries, where they could pick up northeast trad winds, rather than from the Azores, where the Westerlies had defeated previous attempts at transatlantic crossing. They left the Canaries in early September. Sailors began grumbling in early October when sightings of vegetation and birds didn't seem to produce land -- they feared that the prevailing winds would prevent a return home. But land was sighted October 12. First landfall was in the Caribbean (possibly Watling Island). Columbus thought he had reached Japan (Cipangu) when they arrived in Cuba October 28. On November 1, convinced himself he was in China. Turning south in search of the legendary city of Zaiton, adverse winds blew them to Haiti (December 6). Columbus now thought that Haiti was either Cipangu or the legendary Solomon Islands or Sheba (he renamed it Hispaniola). There he acquired enough gold and other riches to save him from complete ridicule upon his return to Spain, and established a stockade in northern Haiti garrisoned by 39 of his men, until he could return. The Santa Maria, which had run aground, was salvaged to build the stockade.

January 16, 1493 Columbus set back for Spain, following the westerlies. They were buffeted by a terrible storm, but managed to make it to the Azores, where they were imprisoned by the Portuguese authorities.

The Admiral had "high religious and mystical aspirations... incompatible with the realities of trading, competition and commerce." He "adopted a mode of sanctification and autocratic leadership" that alienated him from his crew. "Moreover, Columbus was determined to take back both material and human cargo to his sovereigns and for himself, and this could be accomplished only if his sailors carried on looting, kidnapping, and other violent acts, especially on Hispaniola. Although he did control some of his men's excesses, these developments blunted his ability to retain the high moral ground and the claim in particular that his 'discoveries' were divinely ordained. Further, the Spanish court revived its latent doubts about the foreigner Columbus's loyalty to Spain, and some of Columbus's companions set themselves against him." Gold, spice, parrots and captives were Columbus' main booty.

On his second voyage, Columbus led 17 ships on September 25, 1493 (included a group of friars, 1,300 salaried men, 200 private investors, and a small troop of cavalry). At Hispaniola, they found the stockade at Natividad destroyed and the men dead. Columbus' subordinates Alonso de Ojeda and Pedro Margarit took revenge, capturing more slaves. On January 2, 1494 founded La Isabella on Hispaniola. Searched for gold. Founded a fortress at St. Thomas. Explored Jamaica. Columbus convinced that Hispaniola was Sheba and Cuba was Cathay, and insisted that his men swear a declaration to that effect, to help convince his sovereigns that he had reached China. Began the conquest of Hispaniola, which according to the objections of Friar Bernardo Buil, was harsh. Returned to Spain March 10, 1496. Booty was far below the investment.

The Treaty of Tordesillas divided the world between Spain and Portugal. Now Spain wanted to explore more, to find out how the provisions of the treaty would affect them.The third voyage departed May 30, 1498 with 6 ships, 3 filled with explorers and 3 filled with provisions for the settlement on Hispaniola. After dropping off provisions, they headed south in search of a strait to India and an "antipodal" continent. Reached the Paria Peninsula in Venezuela, and explored the Orinoco River. Resentment against the rule of Columbus' brothers Diego and Bartholomew (who had renewed vigorous slaving expeditions and had forced per capita gold quotas on the natives) led to an insurrection among the European settlers in Hispaniola. Columbus attempted to restore order by hanging the insurrectionists. Columbus reported "sickness, poor provisioning, recalcitrant natives, and undisciplined hidalgos (gentry)." But a royal commission to the colony led by Francisco de Bobadilla arrested Columbus and his brothers, and brought them in irons back to Cadiz in October 1500. During the voyage, Columbus wrote a mystical account of how he and his men had discovered the outer region of "the earthly paradise" in Venezuela.

The promise of vast quantities of gold in the "earthly paradise" inspired the monarchs of Spain to sponsor Columbus' fourth and final voyage. He departed May 25, 1501 with 4 ships. There was extreme hostility to his rule in Hispaniola, so he was forbidden by Ferdinand and Isabella to go there; he was to confine his explorations to the "earthly paradise" to the south and seek a route to India. Nevertheless he tried to return to Hispaniola, and was turned away by its governor Ovando. Poor judgment while exploring the coasts of the Caribbean (Jamaica, Cuba, Honduras, the Mosquito Coast of Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama) resulted in the loss of all four of his ships; Columbus and his men were castaways in Jamaica by June 1503. While some of his men canoed to Hispaniola for help, Columbus used his knowledge of astronomy to predict a lunar eclipse and scare the natives into giving him food and assistance. He was not rescued until June 1504.

Columbus maintained that he had found Cathay and the Indies until his death, despite mounting evidence that he had not. He died in May 1506, petitioning the court for redress of various grievances.