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FAMOUS PEOPLE X.COLUMB
Christopher Columbus earned his place in history when he discovered the Americas. But the legacy he left behind for the world isn’t as glamorous as it seems. The Arawak people, who lived on the island that is now Haiti and the Dominican Republic, encountered Columbus and his crew. Columbus captured them and forced them to mine for gold in large numbers. If the Arawak did not produce a certain amount of gold in a certain amount of time, they experienced violent punishments. The Arawaks fought back, but they were unable to avoid the onslaught of brutality. There were roughly 250,000 natives on the island when Columbus arrived in 1492.
We won’t be surprised if these creepy Christopher Columbus facts change how you saw him. Many experts, however, believe his discovery of the “New World” changed the course of history.
Columbus led four expeditions to the “New World,” visiting the Caribbean Islands, the Gulf of Mexico, and the mainlands of South and Central America. He had discovered the “New World” for Europe, whose riches would help Spain become the world’s richest and most influential nation over the next century.
Still, should Columbus still be called a hero? Are his achievements enough to outshine his mistakes? Or was he purely a villain who ravaged lands and killed thousands? To help you get answers, check out our 40 Christopher Columbus facts below.
01Christopher Columbus made a total of four expeditions across the Atlantic Ocean.
02He was the first explorer to establish a European presence in the New World.
03In addition to his native Italian, Columbus also knew Latin, Portuguese, and Spanish.
04Columbus never wrote anything in his native Italian.
05He also self-educated himself in astronomy, geography, and history. He first married Filipa Moniz Perestrelo in 1479, the daughter of a Portuguese nobleman, Bartolomeu Perestrello. They had a son, Diego Columbus, in 1480, during one of Columbus’ trading expeditions along the African coast.
A year later, in 1485, he and his son moved to Spain, where he found a mistress, Beatriz Enriquez de Arana. They also had a son, Fernando Columbus, who Christopher Columbus recognized as legitimate, despite not having married the boy’s mother.
During the reign of the Mongol Empire, European merchants could freely travel along the Silk Road across the Middle East to India and China. There they could buy and trade for luxuries in demand in Europe, such as silk and various spices.
However, the Fall of the Mongol Empire and the Ottoman Turks’ conquest of the Eastern Roman Empire changed things. Europeans and merchants found themselves barred from traveling through the Middle East to reach India and China. While they could still buy silk and spices through Muslim merchants, the prices became higher. This led to increased demand in Europe for those luxuries, while also leading to the need of finding a way to Asia around the Muslim-controlled Middle East.
He first made the proposal to King John II of Portugal in 1484, who rejected it from what seemed like Columbus underestimating the distance between Europe and Asia. Columbus then tried to get support from the Italian merchant republics of Genoa and Venice, only to find himself rejected for the same reason.
He then went to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain, who thought his proposal too impractical. That said, they recognized the potential, and they granted him an annual allowance and ordered that Spanish towns and cities provide Columbus lodgings at no cost. They did so to keep Columbus’ goodwill just in case they needed his future services. Columbus returned to King John II in 1488, only for Bartolomeu Diaz to outshine him by going around South Africa’s Cape of Good Hope.
Columbus found himself summoned to join the royals at their camp while they conquered Granada from 1491 to 1492. Afterward, they began a new series of discussions, with the Spanish Crown agreeing to sponsor Columbus’ expedition.
At the time, the Portuguese monopolized the shipping lanes from Europe to Asia and around Africa. The Spanish Crown hoped that Columbus could break that monopoly by finding a direct route to Asia across the Atlantic Ocean.
In return, the Spanish Crown agreed to grant Columbus the rank of admiral if he succeeded. He would also enjoy the positions of viceroy and governor of any new lands he discovered, and 10% of all profits.
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