Christopher Columbus 2 Essay, Research Paper

Christopher Columbus

Christopher Columbus was born in 1451. He was born in Genoa, Italy. He was an italian-spanish navigator. He sailed west across the Atlantic, in search of a route to Asia. He became famous by making land fall, instead in the Caribbean Sea.

Columbus in his youth years took up his fathers occupation, weaving. It is also a possibility that he may have sailed as a commercial agent. In the mid 1470 s he made his first trading voyage to the islands of Khios, in the Aegean Sea. In 1476, he sailed with a convoy bound for England. It is thought that pirates just off the coast of Portugal attacked their fleet. This was where Columbus ship was sunk. Christopher swam to the shore and took refuge in Lisbon. Lucky for him his brother Bartholomew Columbus was living there with the occupation of cartographer.

Because of past rejections in Portugal, he moved to Spain. There he was still rejected. Columbus continued to seek support. Finally, in 1492 Ferdinand V, King of Castile and Queen Isabella agreed to sponsor his expedition. They signed a contract that said Columbus was to become viceroy of all territories he located and one-tenth of all precious metals, and gold found in jurisdiction. This was like most contracts for voyage. This voyage was a failure because of bad storms and other reasons.

The final months of his live were marked by illnesses and vain attempts to secure restitution from King Ferdinand, of his privileges. By this time, Columbus was very wealthy. He died on May 20, 1506 at Valladolid.