The medieval navigator who discovered the Sargasso and Caribbean Seas, as well as the American continent for Europeans, was the first known traveler to cross the Atlantic Ocean – Christopher Columbus. According to various sources, Christopher Columbus was born in 1451 in Genoa, in present-day Corsica. Six Italian and Spanish cities claim the right to be called his homeland. Almost nothing is known about the sailor’s childhood and youth. Many researchers consider Columbus an Italian, others that his parents were baptized Jews (this assumption explains the incredible, as at that time, the level of education that Christopher received). Most biographers and historians agree that Columbus studied at home until the age of 14, with a brilliant knowledge of mathematics and several languages, including Latin. As an educated man, Columbus was acquainted with the teachings of ancient Greek philosophers and thinkers, who depicted the earth in the shape of a sphere, rather than flat, as in the Middle Ages. However, such views and Jewish origins, at the time of the Inquisition, which broke out in Europe, had to be carefully concealed. Even before entering the university, at the age of 14, Christopher Columbus tried his hand at sea voyages. His father arranged for him to be one of the trading schooners to learn the art of navigating trading skills. It was from this moment that Corumba’s biography as a sailor began.
About achievements
The young young man made his first voyages on the Mediterranean Sea, where trade and economic routes crossed between Europe and Asia. The young man listened to an extraordinary story from the mouths of oriental merchants and ignited a dream to reach the shores of India to find its treasures and get rich. So came the dream of an incredible journey to which he devoted his entire life. Columbus made the route that allowed to reach India by the western way in 1475. He presented a detailed plan for the conquest of new land to the court of Genoese merchants, but received no support. In 1485, he asked for an audience with the Spanish monarchs, the new commission did not support the navigator, because the plan provided for the sphericity of the earth, which denied the teachings of the church. Christopher was almost declared a heretic, however, the king and queen, hearing of countless riches, agreed to equip a squadron of ships to search for lands in India, because the Spanish treasury was devastated after the war. The process of discovering a new world took several years. Surprisingly, Columbus, as a pioneer and experienced navigator, believed until the end of his days that he had opened the way to Asia. The Bahamas, which were discovered in the first expedition, he considered part of Japan, followed by the discovery of beautiful China, followed by the cherished India. The second expedition discovered the Antilles, the Dominican Republic and Guadeloupe, although all this time Columbus was convinced that he had discovered western India. The third expedition brought Columbus’ ships to the mainland, but the sailor was disappointed. He never found India with its golden placers. Columbus’ voyage ended in a crash off the coast of Jamaica and his illness. In 1506 he died in poverty.