christopher columbus ships

The problem with facts about Christopher Columbus is that there are less of them than you might imagine. Much of what you may have learned in school is being revised as historians continue to explore the life of this famous explorer. Even things as simple as his nationality are open for debate. We do know that Columbus successfully petitioned the king and queen of Spain to receive financing for a trip west across the Atlantic Ocean. It was already common knowledge that the Earth was round by this point, so there is no truth to the persistent rumor that Columbus proved the world is round. Instead, by using the shape of the Earth, Columbus assumed that he could reach India and their valuable spices, teas and cloth by sailing west. Voyages to India at this time required either a long overland trip across Europe and the Middle East or a long southern trip by ship around the southern tip of Africa. Both paths had their inherent dangers. The overland trip risked being attacked by ...

Christopher Columbus is forever linked with exploration and discovery but historians are focused more than ever with exploring and discovering the man himself more than the voyages he made across the Pacific. In 1492, Columbus set sail to find a new trade route with India. The Spanish monarchy financed the trip which has led some to believe that Columbus was Spanish. But Italy has claimed the explorer for their own in spite of the controversy around his “discovery” of the New World. But if you look around, you can find a number of theories linking Columbus to a large number of heritages, countries and religions. 500 years after his famous voyages, historians are still looking to understand where the man came from. Most everyone agrees that Columbus was born in 1451. It has long been accepted by a large number of academics and historians that Columbus was born in the Liguria region of what is currently the northwest part of Italy. In those days, Genoa was the capital of L...