Christopher Columbus: Cristóbal Colón
Christopher
Columbus was one of the greatest navigators to sail the globe.
Although he had many short-commings and many now despise him, he influenced
the world profoundly. The world would never be the same agian after
the three ships he sailed touched the Carribean islands. This sailor
from Italy won favor from Spain and created the worlds largest Empire on
a shoe-string budget. One must not judge the events which followed
Columbus' discovery as the fault of Columbus himself. He simply made
the discovery, what others did with the lands and the peoples there were
completely out of his control. Unfortunately, many are too quick
to judge and attribute great evils to his discovery. If the following
European adventurers had done great things, he would still be a hero.
The portrait above is only one of many different likenesses available for
the look of the Admiral of the Sea, which became his title. He may
or may not have looked at all like this. We shall never know the
true look of the man, but his accomplishments will always look impressive.
The Early Life of Columbus
This
coat of Arms was given to Columbus when he won favor with the Spanish court.
His beginnings were much less impressive. He was born to a merchant
family but became a seaman in his early years. He was a sailor on
many expiditions before designing a plan to undertake a daring journey
across the Atlantic. The young Columbus approached all of the major
monarchies of Europe. England, France, and even his native Italian
rulers were not convinced to risk the enormous resources it took to fund
an undertaking such as the one laid before them. The Spanish only
reluctantly gave funding to the Italian and then it was only a small budget
that he was able to obtain. The ships that Columbus was given were
not of the highest quality or of the greatest size. It would astound
you to see the miniscule size of them today. It is doubtful that
anyone alive today would be willing to set sail across the endless waves
of the atlantic is such puny vessles.
The Voyage
The Landing
