Christopher Columbus

His first voyage reached the Americas, opening sustained contact and colonization across the Atlantic.

Life

Genoese sailor

Columbus came from a family of weavers in Genoa and sailed the Mediterranean and Atlantic in his youth, becoming familiar with Portuguese seafaring experience. At the time the Ottomans controlled the trade routes of the eastern Mediterranean, and the Iberian kingdoms were racing to find a sea route to the East. Mistakenly trusting an estimate that put the Earth's circumference too small, he argued that sailing due west would reach Asia.

Four westward voyages

Rebuffed at the Portuguese court, he won the backing of the Spanish crown. In 1492 he sailed west with three ships and after about two months reached what is now the Bahamas, then went on to Cuba and Hispaniola. He made three more voyages, exploring the Caribbean islands and the coast of Central America, and to his death believed the lands he had reached were the edge of Asia.

Mixed legacy

His voyages opened sustained contact across the Atlantic, bringing a two-way exchange of crops, livestock and technology, but also diseases such as smallpox, enslavement and colonial plunder, causing the Native American population to collapse sharply over the following century. His own rule on Hispaniola was so harsh that the crown investigated him and for a time removed him from office.

Legacy

Columbus's voyages permanently linked the Americas with Europe, Asia and Africa, setting off the great flow of species, crops and people known as the "Columbian Exchange" and profoundly changing the course of world history. But he believed until his death that he had reached Asia, and his enslavement and brutal treatment of indigenous peoples while governing Hispaniola are also extensively documented. In recent decades commemorations of him in many parts of the Americas have sparked controversy, and some places have switched to honoring indigenous peoples instead.

Major works & achievements

• Reached the Bahamas on his first voyage in 1492
• Crossed the Atlantic four times
• Opened lasting contact between the Americas and the Old World

Did you know? His remains were reburied several times, and both Seville in Spain and Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic claim to hold them.

Key dates

• 1476Washed ashore in Portugal; settled in Lisbon
• 1485Proposal rejected by the King of Portugal
• 1492Funded by Spain; first voyage reaches the Americas
• 1493Second voyage; establishes colonial outposts
• 1498Third voyage; reaches the coast of mainland South America
• 1500Sent back to Spain in chains for harsh rule
• 1502Explored the Central American coast on his fourth voyage
• 1506Died of illness in Valladolid