Christophor+Columbus+-+Tuturas+Simona

=  = = Christopher Columbus was born in the Italian seaport of Genoa in 1451, to a family of wool weavers. As a child he helped his father at the loom and then as a young lad went to sea. He became an experienced sailor and moved to Lisbon in Portugal to try and gain support for a new journey he was planning. He visited the courts of the kings and queens of Europe asking for help and money. Finally Ferdinand and Isabella, the king and queen of Spain, agreed to support him. In the 15th and 16th centuries, the Europeans wanted to find sea routes to the East. Columbus wanted to find a new route to the Far East, to India, China, Japan and the Spice Islands. If he could reach these lands, he would be able to bring back rich cargoes of silks and spices. Columbus knew that the world was round and realised that by sailing west, instead of east around the coast of Africa, as other explorers at the time were doing, he would still reach the East and the rich Spice Islands. Columbus thought that by sailing west he would find a quicker and easier route to the East. He thought that the earth was smaller than it is, and like all other Europeans at that time, he did not know about the existence of America.  =

= Model of a mid-15th century Portuguese caravel  In 1492 Columbus set sail from Palos in Spain with three ships. Two, the //Nina// and the //Pinta// were caravels, small ships with triangular sails. The third, the //Santa Maria//, was a nao, a larger square-rigged ship. The ships were small, between 15 and 36 metres long. Between them they carried about 90 men. After sailing across the Atlantic Ocean for 10 weeks, land was sighted by a sailor called Rodrigo Bernajo. Columbus himself took the credit for this sighting. He landed on a small island in the Bahamas which Columbus named San Salvador. He claimed the island for the king and queen of Spain. The people living on the islands that Columbus went to were called the Arawaks and the Caribs. Although the Arawaks were peaceful people, the Caribs were more war-like. Columbus called all the people he met in the islands Indians because he was sure that he had reached the Indies. When Columbus reached Cuba, he thought it was the mainland of Japan. On Christmas Day 1492, the //Santa Maria// hit a rock and was wrecked. Columbus transferred to the //Nina// and left behind the 39 crew members of the //Santa Maria// on the island of Hispaniola. He wanted them to start a new settlement. Columbus reached Spain in March 1493, and claimed his reward in riches. He was also given new titles. He was made Admiral of the Ocean Sea and Governor of the Indies.   Columbus made three more journeys across the Atlantic Ocean to the Caribbean. He was sure that he had found Cipangu (Japan) but he was still looking for India and the wealthy cities that he believed were nearby. The king and queen of Spain were anxious to spread Christianity to the lands that Columbus had visited. Columbus died in 1506, a lonely and disappointed man. He died still believing that he had found a new route to the East Indies. Although on his fourth voyage he landed on the South American mainland, he never did set foot on the mainland of North America. topher Columbus=

Man and Myth
=After five centuries, Columbus remains a mysterious and controversial figure who has been variously described as one of the greatest mariners in history, a visionary genius, a mystic, a national hero, a failed administrator, a naive entrepreneur, and a ruthless and greedy imperialist. Columbus's enterprise to find a westward route to Asia grew out of the practical experience of a long and varied maritime career, as well as out of his considerable reading in geographical and theological literature. He settled for a time in Portugal, where he tried unsuccessfully to enlist support for his project, before moving to Spain. After many difficulties, through a combination of good luck and persuasiveness, he gained the support of the Catholic monarchs, Isabel and Fernando. The widely published report of his voyage of 1492 made Columbus famous throughout Europe and secured for him the title of Admiral of the Ocean Sea and further royal patronage. Columbus, who never abandoned the belief that he had reached Asia, led three more expeditions to the Caribbean. But intrigue and his own administrative failings brought disappointment and political obscurity to his final years.=

In Search and Defense of Privileges
=Queen Isabel and King Fernando had agreed to Columbus's lavish demands if he succeeded on his first voyage: he would be knighted, appointed Admiral of the Ocean Sea, made the viceroy of any new lands, and awarded ten percent of any new wealth. By 1502, however, Columbus had every reason to fear for the security of his position. He had been charged with maladministration in the Indies. The Library's vellum copy of the **Book of Privileges** is one of four that Columbus commissioned to record his agreements with the Spanish crown. It is unique in preserving an unofficial transcription of a Papal Bull of September 26, 1493 in which Pope Alexander VI extended Spain's rights to the New World. Much concerned with social status, Columbus was granted a coat of arms in 1493. By 1502, he had added several new elements, such as an emerging continent next to islands and five golden anchors to represent the office of the Admiral of the Sea.= =As a reward for his successful voyage of discovery, the Spanish sovereigns granted Columbus the right to bear arms. According to the blazon specified in letters patent dated May 20, 1493, Columbus was to bear in the first and the second quarters the royal charges of Castile and Leon -- the castle and the lion -- but with different tinctures or colors. In the third quarter would be islands in a wavy sea, and in the fourth, the customary arms of his family. The earlist graphic representation of Columbus's arms is found in his **Book of Privileges** and shows the significant modifications Columbus ordered by his own authority. In addition to the royal charges that were authorized in the top quarters, Columbus adopted the royal colors as well, added a continent among the islands in the third quarter, and for the fourth quarter borrowed five anchors in fess from the blazon of the Admiral of Castille. Columbus's bold usurpation of the royal arms, as well as his choice of additional symbols, help to define his personality and his sense of the significance of his service to the Spanish monarchs.= =The **Book of Privileges** is a collection of agreements between Columbus and the crowns of Spain prepared in Seville in 1502 before his 4th final voyage. The compilation of documents includes the 1497 confirmation of the rights to titles and profits granted to the Admiral by the 1492 contract of Santa Fe and augmented in 1493 and 1494, as well as routine instructions and authorizations related to his third voyage. We know that four copies of his **Book of Privileges** existed in 1502, three written on vellum and one on paper. All three vellum copies have thirty-six documents in common, including the Papal Bull //inter caetera// of May 4, 1493, defining the line of demarcation of future Spanish and Portuguese explorations, and specifically acknowledging Columbus's contributions. The bull is the first document on vellum in the Library's copy and the thirty-sixth document in the Genoa and the Paris codices. The Library copy does not have the elaborate rubricated title page, the vividly colored Columbus coat of arms, or the authenticating notarial signatures contained in the other copies. The Library's copy, however, does have a unique transcription of the Papal Bull //Dudum siquidem// of September 26, 1493, extending the Spanish donation. The bull is folded and addressed to the Spanish sovereigns. =
 * Columbus' Coat of Arms [[image:http://www.ibiblio.org/expo/1492.exhibit/c-Columbus/gif/sm.columbus.gif link="http://www.ibiblio.org/expo/1492.exhibit/full-images/columbus.gif"]]
 * //Book of Privileges//[[image:http://www.ibiblio.org/expo/1492.exhibit/c-Columbus/gif/sm.b_o_p.gif link="http://www.ibiblio.org/expo/1492.exhibit/full-images/b_o_p.gif"]]