😉 Greetings to regular readers and visitors of the site! The article contains information and video about how Columbus discovered America and the background of this event.
From the second half of the XIV century, enterprising merchants and navigators of Venice and Genoa seized practically all trade with the Muslim East of the Mediterranean and stubbornly protected this monopoly from European competitors. The situation was further complicated by the Turkish offensive to the West, which began in the same century.
The Turks cared about their trade interests no less than the Italians and in every possible way limited the access of foreign merchants to their possessions.
Prices for spices and luxury goods of the East were very high. It was not a shame to present pepper, saffron and cinnamon to the most august persons. Huge profits floated into the hands of Italian and Muslim merchants. The kings, princes and dukes of the rest of Europe had to overpay for goods dozens of times over.
It was impossible to change the current situation by force. European countries were torn apart by internal conflicts and wars. The Hundred Years War between England and France was in full swing. The Spanish Reconquista (“reconquest” of Spain by Christians) has not yet come to an end.
Portuguese sailors
Meanwhile, little Portugal was not dragged into major military conflicts, it had “free hands”. At the same time, surrounded by a powerful neighbor – the Kingdom of Castile (the core of the future Spain), she did not have the opportunity for territorial expansion on the mainland.
Therefore, it was the Portuguese who began to spread their influence overseas.
At the origin of these conquests was the outstanding explorer Prince Henry (Enrique; 1394-1460). He was nicknamed the Navigator, although he only went by ship once in his life (from Lisbon to Tangier and back).
The prince patronized shipbuilding, drawing up nautical charts and collecting information on navigation, created a naval school. His goal was a new sea route to India. The Portuguese considered the most promising route through Africa.
They had a poor idea of the true size of this continent and hoped to find a river or a strait that would lead them from the Atlantic Ocean to the Indian Ocean. In addition, this route better corresponded to the then level of shipbuilding. Portuguese ships went along the coast, without risking to retire to the open sea.
Only in 1485, the Portuguese captain Bartolomeu Dias (1450-1500) managed to reach the southernmost tip of the African continent. Diash called it the Cape of Torment, and we call it the Cape of Good Hope.
Cristóbal Colón
Dias’ voyage was an outstanding success, but a certain native of Genoa named Cristobal Colon (1451-1506) was already pounding the thresholds of European courts. He proposed a project to travel to India directly across the Atlantic Ocean. At that time, the view that the earth was round was the dominant one among geographers.
As a matter of fact, medieval science, including theology, never denied this. True, scientists did not imagine the true size of our planet, considering it much smaller.
It was on this that the Colon project was built. He believed that ships from Europe sailing westward could reach India in two to three weeks. Colon’s proposal did not immediately resonate with European governments and private investors.
For 12 years, the searchlight besieged noble and wealthy people. The governments of Portugal and France rejected Colon’s project as a gamble.
Cristobal Colon, 1451-1506
Luck smiled at the Genoese in Spain. By that time, the Spanish lands were united. This happened in 1479, thanks to the marriage of Ferdinand of Aragon (1452-1516) and Isabella of Castile (1451-1504). The last stronghold of Muslim Moors in the Iberian Peninsula – Granada fell in 1492.
Ferdinand and Isabella were interested in strengthening the prestige of the state. Colon’s proposal to sail to the open sea seemed very unusual and risky. It took several years before the Spaniards agreed to it.
The return from the voyage in 1487 of the Dias expedition pushed Ferdinand and Isabella to the final decision. It was impossible to allow the Portuguese to be the first to come to the shores of India and receive a monopoly on trade with this country.
On April 17, 1492, the treaty between Cristobal Colon, on the one hand, and Ferdinand and Isabella, on the other, was finally signed. The beginning of the great enterprise, which turned the obscure Genoese adventurer into Christopher Columbus, whom every schoolchild now knows, was laid.
How America was discovered
Columbus, looking for a way to India, discovered America. On October 12, 1492, his team landed in the New World. Columbus’ expedition reached the island of San Salvador in the Bahamas archipelago.
Subsequently, this day was considered to be the official date of the discovery of America. On October 13, Columbus hoisted the Castilian flag on the island.
Video
Do not miss! In this film, a more detailed description of how Columbus discovered America.
Friends, leave feedback for this article. Check out the site for new stories! 😉 I hug everyone, Tatiana