| Christopher Columbus as born in 1451 and died | | | | destinations across Europe and Africa . |
| in May 1506. He was a famous explorer and | | | | Columbus worked for some time with his |
| trader whose most significant voyage was | | | | brother as a draftsman, but soon returned to |
| crossing the Atlantic Ocean and landing in | | | | the sea, joining a Portuguese fleet bound for |
| the Americas on October 12, 1492 . | | | | Iceland , Ireland and also West Africa . |
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| Although his actual nationality is a question | | | | There are two sides to Columbus - some view |
| of debate, this most famous voyage was done | | | | him as a man who, through his explorations, |
| sailing under the flag of Castilian Spain. | | | | encouraged a Western expansion. Others, |
| Columbus is the man most often believed as to | | | | however, see him as being responsible for the |
| having 'discovered' America , although there | | | | deaths of many indigenous people, through the |
| is evidence that other explorers had made the | | | | European exploitation of the continent and |
| crossing before him. It was after Columbus ' | | | | the West Indian slave trade. |
| crossing that marked the start of the Spanish | | | | |
| and Portuguese colonisation of South America | | | | One of Columbus ' conditions with the Spanish |
| . | | | | monarchs before his voyages was that he |
| | | | claimed governorship of the new territories. |
| Like many of the educated people of the | | | | Columbus was an excellent navigator, but his |
| period, Columbus believed that the earth was | | | | administrative skills were poor and he was |
| spherical in shape. He argued that he would | | | | soon stripped of his governorship in 1500. |
| be able to reach the Far East plotting a | | | | |
| westward course. His main opposition to his | | | | Christopher Columbus was always a very |
| notions was not that others believed the | | | | religious man, and he would often give 'the |
| earth to be flat, but that nobody knew if it | | | | conversion of non-believers' as one of the |
| was possible to sail around the world without | | | | reasons for his explorations. In later life |
| running out of food or running into windless | | | | Columbus grew even more religious and took to |
| areas. | | | | wearing a Franciscan habit. He would claim to |
| | | | hear divine voices and even lobbied for a new |
| Columbus ' early career started in 1474, | | | | crusade to capture Jerusalem . |
| nearly 20 years before reaching America . He | | | | |
| spent a year on a Genoese backed ship bound | | | | Christopher Columbus died in Valladolid on |
| for the island of Khios , in the Aegean Sea | | | | May 20, 1506 . He was quite a rich man thanks |
| and it was while he was there, he began to | | | | to all the gold he had gathered in his |
| recruit sailors of his own. | | | | earlier years. |
| | | | |
| Two years later, Columbus embarked on his | | | | After his death, his body underwent |
| first foray into the Atlantic Ocean , which, | | | | excarnation - where the skin is removed so |
| sadly ended off the Cape of St. Vincent in | | | | only bone is left. He was first interred in |
| Portugal , when his fleet came under attack | | | | Valladolid and was then moved to a monastery |
| from French Privateers, who burned his ship | | | | in Seville . At the behest of his son, |
| and Columbus was forced to swim six miles | | | | Columbus ' remains were then moved to Santa |
| back to shore. | | | | Domingo. When the French took over 200 years |
| | | | later, he was moved to Havana , and then in |
| After this, he settled in Lisbon , in | | | | 1898 after Cuba 's independence, they were |
| Portugal , which had become a hive of | | | | finally moved to the cathedral in Seville . |
| maritime activity with ships setting sail to | | | | |