Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus (c. 1451-1506), Genoese navigator who led four Spanish voyages across the Atlantic from 1492.
Category: Figures
- c. 1484John II of Portugal's advisers reject Columbus's plan to sail west to Asia
A committee of mathematicians and cosmographers appointed by King John II judges Columbus's estimate of the distance to Asia too small and turns down his proposal, in 1484 or 1485. Columbus then goes to Castile.
- c. 1486 – c. 1490Hernando de Talavera's commission examines Columbus's proposal in Castile
From about 1486 a commission headed by Hernando de Talavera, confessor to Queen Isabella, considers Columbus's plan. It meets only now and then and advises against it in 1490 (some sources say 1491); the monarchs overrule it in 1492.
- April 17, 1492Ferdinand and Isabella sign the Santa Fe Capitulations with Columbus
On 17 April 1492, outside conquered Granada, the Catholic Monarchs make Columbus Admiral, Viceroy and Governor of any lands he finds, with a tenth of the profits. A copy in the Archive of the Crown of Aragon survives.
- August 3, 1492 – March 1493Columbus's first voyage across the Atlantic and back
Sailing for Castile with three ships, Columbus crosses the Atlantic, reaches the Bahamas on 12 October 1492 and returns in March 1493, beginning sustained contact between Europe and the Americas.
- August 3, 1492Columbus sails from Palos de la Frontera with the Santa María, Pinta and Niña
Columbus leaves the Andalusian port of Palos on 3 August 1492 with three ships and about 90 men, heading for the Canary Islands. Some sources give 2 August.
- September 6, 1492Columbus leaves La Gomera in the Canary Islands for the open Atlantic
After repairing the Pinta's rudder at Gran Canaria, Columbus stops at La Gomera and sails west on 6 September 1492, the last land before the Atlantic crossing. The Castilian conquest of the Canaries gave him a base.
- October 12, 1492Columbus's fleet sights land at Guanahani in the Bahamas
A lookout on the Pinta sights land in the early hours of 12 October 1492. The island, Guanahani to its Lucayan Taíno people and renamed San Salvador by Columbus, is in the Bahamas; which modern island it was remains debated.
- March 1493Columbus returns to Europe and Portugal disputes Castile's claim
Storm-driven, Columbus's Niña reaches Lisbon on 4 March 1493 before going to Palos. John II of Portugal says the discoveries fall under earlier treaties, which leads to the papal bulls and the Treaty of Tordesillas.
- May 4, 1493Pope Alexander VI issues Inter caetera granting Castile lands in the west
On 4 May 1493 Pope Alexander VI grants the Catholic Monarchs the lands discovered or to be discovered west and south of a line near the Azores and Cape Verde. It is revised by the Treaty of Tordesillas in 1494.
- September 1493Columbus sails on his second voyage with 17 ships to settle Hispaniola
A fleet of 17 ships and over a thousand men, including settlers, soldiers and priests, leaves Cádiz in late September 1493. It is the first Spanish colonising expedition to the Americas.
- c. 1494Columbus founds La Isabela on Hispaniola, the first European town in the Americas
At the turn of 1493-94 Columbus founds La Isabela on the north coast of Hispaniola, in today's Dominican Republic, as the first Spanish colonial town in the Americas. Sources give late December 1493 or early January 1494.
- 1495Columbus sends hundreds of enslaved Taíno to Spain
In 1495 Columbus's men round up over 1,000 Taíno and ship about 500 to Spain to be sold; many die on the voyage, and the numbers vary by source. Queen Isabella soon orders an inquiry into whether they may be enslaved.
- c. 1495Spanish colonists impose a gold tribute on the Taíno of Hispaniola
After Vega Real, Columbus's government makes Taíno adults pay a regular tribute in gold, or in cotton or food where there is no gold. Villages that fail to pay are punished, and many Taíno flee or die.
- March 1495Spanish forces defeat the Taíno at the Battle of Vega Real on Hispaniola
Columbus's brother Bartholomew and Spanish troops with dogs and cavalry defeat a large Taíno force on Hispaniola in March 1495 (24 March in most sources), ending organised Taíno resistance on the island.
- August 23, 1500Francisco de Bobadilla arrests Columbus at Santo Domingo
A royal investigator, Bobadilla, arrives at Santo Domingo on 23 August 1500, takes over the government of Hispaniola and sends Columbus and his brothers to Spain in chains after colonists' complaints. Historians dispute his fairness.