Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Christopher Columbus, kneeling in front of Queen Isabella
(Library of Congress)
origin, and the details of his early career
have been disputed by historians. He
seems to have had considerable experi-
ence in practical navigation and is believed
to have made voyages to northern Europe
as well as to the west coast of Africa and
evidently made an extensive study of
maps and accounts of voyages to distant
lands. After residing for a time in M
ADEIRA
and absorbing knowledge of Portuguese
voyages, he developed a proposal for
establishing a transatlantic route to Asia.
Portuguese authorities, already commit-
ted to a route circumnavigating Africa
that would bring them to the trade cen-
ters of India and East Asia, showed little
interest in Columbus's ideas.
Having shifted his efforts to Spain,
Columbus spent a number of years promot-
ing his transatlantic project before securing
sufficient support to obtain a hearing from
I
SABELLA
I, queen of C
ASTILE
. Benefitting
from the positive mood generated by her
C
ONQUEST
OF
G
RANADA
in 1492, Columbus
won royal backing for a voyage to seek out
the wealth of the Indies and departed in
that same year with three ships and 120
men. After a voyage of some two months
uninterrupted by bad weather but vexed
by the restlessness of his sailors, he made
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