CONTENT: ABSTRACT on the discipline "History" on the topic: "Discovery of the New World by Christopher Columbus" CONTENTS INTRODUCTION The life and personality of Columbus aroused great attention and in many respects have the character of a novel. There were long, passionate scientific disputes about his origin and place of birth, and legends grew around many events of his life, which were worth breaking up with long and persistent works of scientific criticism.
ESSAY
in the discipline "History"
on the topic: "The Discovery of the New World by Christopher Columbus"
The life and personality of Columbus has attracted great attention and in many ways has the character of a novel. There were long, passionate scientific disputes about his origin and place of birth, and legends grew around many events of his life, which were worth breaking up with long and persistent works of scientific criticism. Moreover, Columbus shared the fate of many outstanding people. He died himself in complete confidence that he had only discovered a new path to the long-known India, and in complete ignorance of what he had done. Almost 30-40 years have passed since his death, when the idea of the existence of a new continent between Europe and Asia penetrated the consciousness of his contemporaries; we can say that among scientists this idea was exclusively dominant by the end of the 1530s, but until the end of the century and even in the 17th century. America was considered to be connected to Asia. Still later, 20 years later, Columbus's merits in the discovery of the continent were recognized; they paid attention to him only in 1571, 80 years after the discovery, when the biography and apology of Christopher Columbus was published in Venice in Italian, which attracted much attention. This biography was published by an unknown person in the form of a translation from the Spanish original, written by the son of Columbus, Hernando (d. 1539). The original was not found and was not published. Subsequently, great doubts were raised about the authenticity of this work and, it is very likely that we are dealing here with a literary hoax. But, undoubtedly, the author or authors had in their hands the original documents, which later disappeared, and along with the romantic details they gave a number of new and weighty indications. Whatever opinion we may have about this edition, it at one time played a large role, drawing general attention to the merits of Columbus. During this time, all instructions from contemporaries have disappeared; the original acts were kept in the archives until the middle of the 18th century and mainly until the 19th century. There was a lot of room for imagination, and the biography of Columbus still bears clear traces of such age-old work.
Columbus's childhood is shrouded in a veil of secrecy. For a long time, biographers argued about the place and time of his birth; several cities in Italy and Spain were named and dates in the range from 1436 to 1455. Only the 20th century seems to have dispelled doubts on this score. Christopher Columbus was born in Genoa at the end of October 1451 into a family of a poor woolly man. The question of its education remains unclear. Some researchers believe that he studied in the city of Pavia, others - consider him a brilliant self-taught.
Many years of maritime practice and the study of the works of modern and ancient scientists suggested to him that one can get to India and Asia not only by the eastern, but also by the western route. Having come to this conclusion, Columbus, as his contemporary biographers say, entered into correspondence with famous scientists - Martin Bekaim (1459-1505), a German geographer and Paolo Toscanelli (1397-1492), an Italian geographer, mathematician and astronomer. According to legend, the latter supported the idea of Christopher Columbus and sent him a copy of his letter sent by him to the Lisbon nobleman Martins, who turned to the scientist for advice on behalf of the Portuguese king Affonso V African (1432-1481). The letter said:
“I know that the existence of such a path can be proved on the basis that the Earth is a ball. Nevertheless, in order to facilitate the undertaking, I decided to depict a new path on nautical map... I am sending to His Majesty a map made by myself. It depicts your shores and islands, from where you can sail continuously to the west; and the place where you will arrive; and how far you should keep from the pole or the equator; and how far you must travel to reach the countries where the most different spices and precious stones. Do not be surprised at what I call the west of the country where the spices grow, whereas they are commonly called the east, because the people sailing steadily westward will reach eastern countries overseas in another hemisphere. But if you go by land - through your hemisphere, then the spice countries will be in the east ... ”.
However, Toscanelli's letter did not lead to a positive result, since the possibilities of Portugal were very limited due to numerous African expeditions and the many years of war with the Moors, in connection with which, obviously, Affonso V was not interested in the Columbus project. His successor, João II (1481-1495), created a "Council of Mathematicians" to consider proposals, but for some reason they were rejected. Subsequently, the king took advantage of the project of Toscanelli and Columbus and equipped an expedition to China through Atlantic Ocean... But the executors of his commission lacked the will of Columbus, and after a while they returned back. Outraged, Columbus moved to Spain, where he proposed his plan to the king and queen. After much consideration, it was approved.
On April 30, 1492, the Spanish royal couple Isabella and Ferdinand signed treaties with him, in which it was said that Columbus was sent "to discover and acquire certain islands and continents in the Ocean-Sea." For this he will be given the titles of Admiral of the Ocean-Sea, Viceroy and ruler of all lands. In addition, he will receive 10% of all gold, gems, spices and goods produced or mined by trade in these holdings, free of taxes.
In the port of Pylos, three caravels were equipped. The flagship ship was "Santa Maria": maximum length - 23.0 meters, width - 6.7 meters, draft - 2.8 meters, displacement - 237 tons, crew - 90 people. The captain of the ship was Columbus, the maestre (that is, the skipper, who is also the ship owner) was Juan de la Cosa, the pilot (navigator) was Peralonso. Here I would like to note that the original documents about the "Santa Maria", descriptions of its construction and historically accurate images have not survived, therefore different sources indicate different sizes of the ship. It is reliably known only about its weapons.
The second vessel was "Pinta": maximum length - 20.1 meters, width - 7.3 meters, draft - 2.0 meters, displacement 164.4 tons, crew - 65 people. The captain and owner of the vessel was Martin Alonso Pinson, the maestro was his older brother Francisco Martin Pinsoni, the pilot was Cristobal Garcia Sarmiena.
The third was the ship, which is often called the "Ninya". In fact, the ship's real name was "Santa Clara" and "Niña" is just a nickname for the caravel from the Spanish "baby". The longest vessel is 17.3 meters, width - 5.6 meters, draft - 1.9 meters, displacement - 101.2 tons, crew of 40 people. Captain Vicente Yanes Pinson, maestro and master of the ship - Juan Niñe , pilot - Sancho Ruiz da Gama.
Columbus's caravels were light single-deck ships with low sides and high superstructures in the bow and stern. On the Santa Maria, a two-story superstructure was installed in the stern. The lower tier ("tolda") was used to store the ship's equipment, and the upper tier was the admiral's cabin.
The middle part of the deck between the poop and foremast had no superstructures. It housed the longboats of the caravel, a galley, a compass platform, a well for a wooden bilge pump and a windlass for lifting anchors.
The sailors were housed in the bow superstructure. An observation deck was set up on its roof. The second site of a similar purpose was on the mainmast mars.
The Santa Maria's armament consisted of four 20-pounder (14 cm) cannons, six 12-pounder (11 cm) and eight 6-pounder (9 cm) field guns, a large number of long-range wooden cannons (pasvolants), small caliber cannons (springals), mortars and hundreds of heavy 1-pound (2.5 cm) muskets.
The Santa Maria and the Pinta were armed with straight sails on the foresail, main masts and bowsprit, and a Latin sail on a mizzen mast. The Niña had Latin sails on all three masts, but during the voyage they were replaced with straight sails. In addition to the main sails, "Santa Maria" and "Pinta" were equipped with additional sails at the mainsail - foxes.
The expedition crossed the Atlantic with incredible difficulties and on October 12 discovered an island called San Salvador (Savior), which is part of the Bahamas. October 28 approached the island of Cuba, and in December - to Haiti, which was named by Columbus Hispaniola. Gold was discovered on Hispaniola, and therefore a colony of 39 Spaniards was created. Columbus' ship Santa Maria ran aground off the coast of Hispaniola and could not be rescued. Valuable cargo, guns and supplies were removed, and the wreckage of the ship was used in the construction of the fort. The Ninya became the flagship.
For a long time, Watling Island was considered San Salvador. However, our contemporary American geographer J. Judge processed all the collected materials on a computer in 1986 and came to the conclusion: the first American land seen by Columbus was the island of Samana (120 km southeast of Watling).
On January 16, 1493, the Niña and Pinta set out back and arrived in Spain on March 15. Columbus brought good news about the lands he discovered in the west " Western india", About the presence of gold there. He brought some gold, several captured islanders, called "Indians", various plants and fruits. The king and queen were pleased with the result of the expedition and approved his proposal to send a second expedition, the purpose of which was to develop new lands, organize a trading colony on Hispaniola and, most importantly, convert the natives to Christianity. Columbus was awarded the rank of nobility and the coat of arms. The political resonance of Columbus's voyage was the "papal meridian": chapter catholic church established a demarcation line in the Atlantic that indicated to the rivals Spain and Portugal different directions for the discovery of new lands.
Columbus acquired 17 ships, including ten caravels with straight sails. The flagship was the Santa Maria Galante. He recruited about 1,500 sailors, soldiers, future colonists, and royal officials and monks went with them. A six-month supply of provisions, plant seeds, livestock, implements and tools for the future colony was loaded. During the voyage, Columbus discovered the Lesser Antilles, explored the Caribbean Sea south of Cuba in search of the mainland of India, in May 1494 discovered the island of Jamaica.
Columbus again reported to the king and queen about the discoveries of gold deposits, deliberately exaggerating their wealth, and claimed to have found "signs and traces of all kinds of spices," that is, he promised exactly what all the expeditions were undertaken for. He asked to send from Spain ships with cattle, supplies, wine and agricultural implements. “Payment for all this,” wrote Columbus, “can be produced by slaves,” whom he undertook to catch in large numbers.
One way or another, but a small amount of gold, copper and other goods came from the colonies. The royal income from Hispaniola was significantly less than the cost of the expedition. Columbus's prestige in Spain fell, and in 1495 a decree was issued allowing everyone to move to new lands if they contributed two-thirds of the gold mined to the royal treasury. It was also allowed for any entrepreneur to equip ships to the west to discover new lands and extract gold.
Alarmed, Columbus went to Spain to defend his rights, on June 11, 1496, his caravels "Ninya" and "India" moored in the bay of Cadiz.
The royal court, hearing that the king of Portugal equips new expedition to India, agreed to Columbus for the third expedition. Its purpose was to deliver food and goods to Hispaniola and search for mainland India south of Hispaniola, where Columbus hoped to find gems, gold and long sought after spices.
"Ninya" and "India" set sail in January 1498. Besides them, six more caravels were chartered. Three of them, under the command of Alonso de Carvajald, were to deliver food and cargo to Hispaniola. Three caravels - "Li-Nao", "Va-kenyos" with a displacement of 70 tons and "Correo" - under the command of Columbus went in search of new lands.
On May 30, 1498, Columbus' flotilla left the port of San Lucar to Canary Islands... On August 1, the island of Trinadad (Trinity) was discovered, in the west of the island, a part of the South American continent was finally discovered, named by Columbus "Land of Gracia" (Grace). Heading further to the northwest, Columbus discovered the island of Margarita (Pearl), which is indeed rich in pearls, and returned to Hispaniola on August 31, 1498.
In 1500, a new governor, Francisco Bovadilla, arrived at Hispaniola, who deposed Columbus, arrested him and his three brothers and sent them in shackles to Spain. At the end of October 1500, the ship "La Gorda" delivered the prisoners to the harbor of Cadiz. Only six weeks later, the king and queen ordered to remove the shackles from Columbus and summoned him to court.
Setting out on a new (fourth) voyage, Columbus intended to find the western passage from the Atlantic Ocean to the "South Sea". He picked up four caravels - "La Calitana" with a displacement of 70 tons, "La Gallega" (4-masted, commanded by Pedro de Terreres, who made all 4 voyages with Columbus), "Sant Jago de Paloje" ("Bermuda" ) and "Viskaina" with a displacement of 50 tons. The flotilla's crew consisted of 150 people, including many cabin boys aged 12-18. Together with Columbus, his brother Bartholomew and son Hernando swam.
On May 9, 1502, the flotilla left Cadiz and at the end of June reached Caribbean... For nine months, Columbus surveyed the coast of the South American mainland from Honduras to Panama (to the Darien Gulf) and did not find a passage in Indian Ocean.
Unfavorable weather - storms and storms - caused significant damage to the ships. First they left "Gallega", then "Viskaina". The caravels "Kalitana" and "Bermuda", heavily eaten by a ship worm, in a half-flooded state, reached Jamaica, where Columbus stayed for a year. With great difficulty, it was possible to equip two ships, which, under the command of Christopher and Bartholomew Columbus, set sail from Hispaniola to Spain in September 1504. During the storm, Christopher's ship was damaged, and he and his crew went to the ship of Bartholomew, which arrived in Spain on November 7, 1504. Here Columbus faced new ordeals and disgrace from King Ferdinand.
Columbus completed his great discoveries of the most important islands near the American mainland, and also laid the foundation for the development of it by the Europeans, although he himself was sure that he had found a new route to India.
Adversity and illness undermined his health. May 20, 1506 in Valladolid great navigator died. His death passed unnoticed, and he was buried without any honors.
Columbus was not the discoverer of America: islands and coasts North America visited by the Normans hundreds of years before. However, only Columbus's discoveries had world-historical significance. The fact that he found a new part of the world was finally proven by Magellan's voyage.
CONCLUSION
The life of Christopher Columbus was filled with travel, and they did not stop even after death. In the five centuries since the death of this man, his remains have been moved so many times that today both Spain and the Dominican Republic believe they possess them. Now scientists and genealogists will finally match the DNA of the Spanish remains with the DNA of the remains of Columbus' son and brother in the hope of resolving the dispute.
An anthropological analysis in August has already revealed something: while many historians believed that the remains of several people could be in the tomb, in fact they all belonged to the same person. The analysis also showed that the height of the son of Columbus was about 172 centimeters - much more than the average at the time.
Columbus died in the Spanish city of Valladolid in 1509 and his body was first buried in Spain. But in his will, the discoverer of America demanded to bury himself on Caribbean island Hispaniola (In modern Dominican Republic and Haiti) and his remains were moved there in 1537. In 1795, Spain ceded this territory to France, and the Spanish government decided to transfer the remains to Cuba, where they remained for over a hundred years. An uprising triggered by the Spanish-American War in 1898 forced the authorities to send the remains back to Seville. At least this is what they say in Spain.
So in June of this year, Jose Antonio Lorente, director of the Genetic Identification Laboratory of the University of Granada, and his assistants opened up Columbus's grave and took several bone samples to extract DNA that could be compared to that of Columbus's younger brother, Diego, and his illegitimate son, Hernando. The Spanish team of geneticists collaborates with scientists from Germany and Italy, as well as with a number of employees of the FBI's criminology laboratory.
If it is possible to prove the authenticity of the remains, scientists will try to find out whether Columbus was Spanish or Italian. To do this, they will compare the DNA of Columbus with that of Carlos, Prince of Viana, who lived in Mallorca.
1. Alfonso Ensenat de Villalonga. The life of Christopher Columbus. Moscow: 1997.
2. Vankova A.B. and other history of the Middle Ages. Moscow: 2001.
3. Vernadsky V.I. Christopher Columbus. Moscow: 1992.
4. Christopher Columbus. Series “Life of Wonderful People for Children”. Moscow: 2003.
The discovery of the New World and the beginning of its conquest aroused interest in America not only in Spain. Her rival Portugal looked at the Spanish conquests with envy and feared the rapid rise in power of her neighbor. Already in early XVI v. portuguese
equip one expedition after another to South America, explore its eastern shores and gradually capture the entire Brazilian coast from the mouth of the Amazon almost to the mouth of La Plata. North America remained less famous. In 1497, an English ship under the command of John Cabot, an Italian by origin, in search of a sea route to China arrived at the island of Newfoundland. Then the French pirates Verazzano (1524) and Cartier (1535) familiarized themselves with the coast. They opened the mouth of the river. Hudson and the mouth of the river. St. Lawrence. Part of the coast Ka-nada 1 the French declared their possession.
The search for sea routes to China and India in the north continued in the 16th and 17th centuries. To what extent does North America stretch, and can it be bypassed from the north? Is it possible to reach the countries of the East by the Northwest Sea Route? This also interested many.
The Anglicans set out in search of this path. In 1576-1578. for this purpose, naval officer Martin Frobisher sailed three times. He visited the shores of Greenland and initiated the study of the islands and straits of the Canadian archipelago. Several islands and straits were discovered here by John Davis, who also sailed three times in search of a strait in Katay (China) in 1585-1587. Suffering considerable casualties from shipwrecks and the harsh elements of the Arctic, these six expeditions did not find their way to Asia. After these expeditions, maps began to more accurately depict the eastern coasts of North America.
The Anglo-Spanish War interrupted for some time expeditions to the Arctic. At the beginning of the 17th century. the British resumed their search for a sea route to the East. Four voyages were taken by Henry Hudson for this purpose. He tried to break through the ice through the North Pole, bypass New earth, find a passage in the North America bypass. The fourth attempt ended tragically for him: having penetrated into an unknown vast bay, he spent the winter on the shore, in 1611 he went out again in search, but to no avail. The mutinous crew dropped their captain (with his son and 7 companions) into a boat and left him in the ice to certain death.
In the subsequent time, up to the 30s of the XVII century. brave sailors T. Button, R. Bylot, V. Baffin, T. James, L. Fox persistently, but unsuccessfully, searched for the strait in Pacific Ocean... These expeditions equipped the English trading companies... In the era of great geographical discoveries, these sailors left a noticeable mark: they discovered the entire northeastern coast of North America.Look at the map - islands, bays, straits are named after these sea-sailors.
By the middle of the 17th century. the outlines of the New World were determined all the way from Tierra del Fuego to California in the west and to Baffin's Land in Atlantic coast... The outskirts of America along this entire length became the arena of the struggle for colonial possessions between Spain, Porto Galia, France, England and Holland. These states siphoned enormous wealth from the colonies and turned the indigenous inhabitants of America into slaves. Millions of Indians were killed in about one to one and a half centuries.
For a whole century, the western outskirts of North America from California to Alaska and the northern ones from Alaska to Greenland remained completely unknown. Their pioneers were the Russians in the 18th century.
1 The word "Canada" was used by the indigenous people to name their settlements.
- RESEARCH OF MATERIALS AND OCEANS
- ANCIENT EXPLORERS AND SEAFARERS
- Completion of the discovery of a new world
Portuguese navigator Bartolomeu Dias (1450-1500) was the first to indicate a direct sea route from Europe to. In 1488 he sailed to the southern outskirts of Africa. Two of his ships were caught in a violent storm. Strong wind drove ships to the rocks. But Dias managed to turn from the coast and go out into the open sea. For several days he sailed east, but the African coast was not visible. Dias realized that he had skirted Africa and entered the Indian Ocean! The rock on which the ships nearly crashed was the southern tip of Africa. Diash named it Cape of Tempests. But the king of Portugal ordered to rename the rock to the cape Good Hope... Thanks to Bartolomeu Dias, an outlet to the Indian Ocean was found, and a section of a previously unknown African coast with a length of over 2.5 thousand km was plotted on the map.
The great journey of Christopher Columbus
The successes of the Portuguese sparked interest in naval expeditions in the neighboring one. The great cartographer and navigator (1451-1506) first proposed to reach the shores of India across the Atlantic Ocean by the western route. It took him 16 years to obtain permission and funds for this voyage.
The Spanish government allocated him three caravels (the largest with a displacement of 280 tons), and in August 1492 an expedition led by Columbus set sail, and in October of the same year reached the Bahamas, thereby discovering America. However, Columbus never found out this and until the end of his days was sure that the mainland he discovered was India.
Columbus called the local inhabitants (aborigines) Indians. This name has survived to this day.
Columbus sailed to the shores of America four times, and each time new territories opened to him appeared on the map. Subsequently, a stream of immigrants from Europe rushed there. Thus, Spanish settlements arose on the islands and coasts of Central America.
In honor of Christopher Columbus are named the country of Columbia in South America, a river in North America, administrative District in the United States, which is the capital of the country, Washington.
New World - Land of Amerigo
The travels of the Florentine navigator Amerigo Vespucci (1454-1512) were of great importance for understanding the essence of the discovery of Christopher Columbus. On commercial affairs, he several times went by sea to the shores of America (1499-1504). Comparing the information of the Spanish and Portuguese navigators with their own data, Vespucci came to the conclusion that discovered by Columbus the land is not Asia or India at all, but a new huge continent unknown to Europeans. Amerigo Vespucci suggested calling this part of the land the New World. Later it was renamed and named in honor of Vespucci "The Land of Amerigo", or "America" (by the way, without the knowledge of Vespucci himself), and this name came into use. In 1538 it appeared on the Mercator map.
Vasco da Gama and the opening of the sea route to India
Having learned about Columbus' discovery of "Western India", the Portuguese hurried to find the eastern route. As a result, the navigator Vasco da Gama (1469-1524) circled Africa on four ships and reached the shores of real India in 1498.
Look at the schematic map on p. 50. Judging by the chosen route, the expedition was headed by an intelligent, brave and decisive man who knows very well how to navigate. The ships managed to avoid two main troubles of sailors: a strong Benguela current and a stormy head wind. His ships turned east at the parallel of Cape Agulhas, and then followed north along east coast Africa to Mozambique. In the port city of Mombasa (this is modern Kenya), the members of the expedition were greeted by disgruntled oriental merchants, who sensed competitors in them. But no matter how annoyed they were, they were unable to change anything.
The local ruler gave the travelers a good pilot, who in just 23 days led the Portuguese caravels to the Indian shores. Thus, Vasco da Gama's expedition safely crossed the Indian Ocean and reached the city of Calicut, a port in southern India. The Portuguese trade was not particularly successful for the first time. The local rich were distrustful of the strangers and were in no hurry to take their goods. However, the Portuguese managed to buy at the local market spices, fabrics and jewelry - a little of everything. After that, they went back to.
Return trip was difficult: the daredevils had to fight off the pirates, the crews of the ships were mowed down by diseases and setbacks pursued. Of the 168 people, only 55 returned to their homeland. The rest died on the way. Nevertheless, the expedition completed its mission: a sea route to India was found. Its discovery for Europeans is one of the greatest events in the development of geography, as well as in the history of world trade. From that moment until the construction of the Suez Canal (1869), the main trade of European countries with states and China went not through the Mediterranean, but across the Atlantic Ocean - past the Cape of Good Hope.
History of the discovery of America
When and who discovered America? The issue remains controversial to this day. Because, first, it is necessary to decide: what should be considered the discovery of America? The first proven European visit to the New World? This happened half a millennium before Christopher Columbus (remember the Normans). The first settlement of Europeans on the new mainland arose at the same time. Although, the Vikings did not appreciate their discovery ...
But Columbus too! The discovery of America at the end of the Middle Ages is of particular importance: it was from this time that the colonization of the new continent by the Europeans began, and then its study. However, uncertainty remains. Let's take into account: in the first two expeditions, Columbus examined only the islands adjacent to the New World. Only in the summer of 1498 did he set foot on the land of South America.
A year earlier, members of an English expedition headed by John Cabot, an Italian by origin, reached North America. And in this case, it was assumed that the "Kingdom of the Great Khan" (China) was opened. In the spring of next year, the voyage was repeated. But the lack of economic benefits, income from such enterprises cooled the interest of the British in the development of new territories. Scientific achievements must be realized and associated with the expansion of the horizons of knowledge. And here - a complete lack of understanding of the essence of what has been achieved. It is more logical to determine the moment when the truth was first revealed. And then the name of Amerigo Vespucci comes to the fore.
But we must pay tribute to the feat of Columbus and his contribution to the knowledge of the Earth. It was he who obtained the evidence (though later substantially refined), received the facts confirming the idea of the spherical shape of the Earth. It is no coincidence that he conceived trip around the world and tried to implement it. Let Columbus imagine the Earth much less than it really is. It is more important that he not only speculatively, in his imagination, but also really, thanks to travel, was convinced of the spherical, closedness of earthly space.
And yet, the oceans have turned from a great barrier into great connecting links connecting all continents and all peoples of the planet. The conditions have been created for the creation of a single all-terrestrial civilization (“oceanic”, according to LI Mechnikov's idea). In the following centuries, all that remained was to develop vehicles and build contacts.
A significant fact: almost at the same time with the accession of Columbus to the land of South America, and Cabot of the North, the Portuguese flotilla under the command of Vasco da Gama first reached India by sea. Dozens of years later, the Spanish conquistador Vasco Balboa with a military detachment, having overcome the mountain slopes and dense thickets, crossed the Isthmus of Panama and was the first of the Europeans to visit the coast of the unknown "South Sea".
The World Ocean somehow immediately, almost overnight, submitted to people. Why did it happen? First of all, as a consequence of the appearance of navigation devices, which make it possible to navigate in the open sea, as well as geographic maps lands and oceans. Although the instruments and maps were imperfect, they made it possible to navigate in space, to outline specific goals and pave the way to them.
Christopher Columbus
Amerigo Vespucci was a fairly experienced helmsman and cartographer, knew navigation; last years life was in the position of the chief pilot of Castile (tested the knowledge of the ship's helmsmen, supervised the compilation of maps, was engaged in drawing up secret reports to the government about new geographical discoveries). He took part in one of the first expeditions to reach “ Southern mainland”(As South America was called at first) and, perhaps, was the first to realize the essence of the achievement. In other words, he made a scientific theoretical discovery, while Columbus practically discovered new lands.
During the time of Amerigo, allegedly his letter was printed, in which it was reported that he had visited the southern continent as early as 1497, that is, before Columbus. But this is not documented. It is very likely that nothing of the kind simply happened. But there is no doubt that Amerigo was not involved in such misunderstandings. He did not claim the laurels of the discoverer and did not try to assert his priority. This was influenced by the popularization of knowledge and the spread of printing.
In Europe, reports of new lands and peoples were snapped up. People understood all the greatness of the deeds being performed, their enormous significance for the future. Printing houses promptly printed messages about travels to the west. One of them appeared in 1503 in Italy and France: a small pamphlet entitled "New World". The preface says that it has been translated from Italian into Latin language, "So that all educated people know how many wonderful discoveries have been made these days, how many unknown worlds have been discovered and what they are rich in."
The book was a great success with readers. It is written lively, interestingly, truthfully. It informs (in the form of a letter to Vespucci) about the sailing in the summer of 1501 on behalf of the king of Portugal across the stormy Atlantic to the shores of the Unknown Land. It is called not Asia, but the New World.
A little later published another message about the voyages of Amerigo Vespucci. And in the end, a collection appeared, including stories by different authors about the voyages of Columbus, Vasco da Gama and some other travelers. The compiler of the collection came up with a catchy title that intrigues readers: "New World and New Countries Discovered by Alberico Vespucci from Florence."
Thousands of readers of the book could decide that both the New World and the new countries were discovered by Amerigo (Alberico), although this does not follow from the text at all. But the title is usually better remembered and more impressive than any paragraphs or chapters in a book. In addition, the descriptions belonging to the pen of Amerigo were performed vividly and convincingly, which, no doubt, strengthened his authority as a discoverer.
A little later, Vespucci's "New World" was published in Germany under the title "On the Antarctic Belt." And then the same work, already under the guise of a letter to the ruler of a small German kingdom, appeared as an addition to the famous and now classic "Cosmography" by Ptolemy. They called the whole work like this: “Introduction to cosmography with the necessary foundations of geometry and astronomy.
Amerigo Vespucci
To this, 4 voyages of Amerigo Vespucci and, in addition, the description (map) of the Universe both on the plane and on the globe of those parts of the world that Ptolemy did not know about and which are open in modern times". It is said about the discovery of America: "Amerigo Vespucci, truly speaking, informed mankind about this more widely." The authors of the supplement were sure that Amerigo first set foot on a new continent in 1497. Therefore, it was proposed to name the open land "after the name of the wise man who discovered it."
Quite fantastic contours of the New World were drawn on the world map with the inscription: "America". The sound of the word has proven appealing to many people. It was readily put on maps. The opinion about Amerigo as the discoverer of the New World spread - spontaneously. And among the specialists, the image of a clever rogue, an ambitious swindler, who appropriated his name to an entire continent, was more and more definitely formed.
Thus, Las Casas, a sincere fighter for justice, angrily denounced Amerigo in his writings. But not a single document was found to support this kind of accusation. Vespucci himself never offered to name open land your name. He quite definitely wrote: "These countries should be called the New World" and referred to the facts obtained in travel and research.
The Austrian writer Stefan Zweig said well about Vespucci: “And if, in spite of everything, a shining ray of glory fell on him, then it happened not because of his special merits or special guilt, but because of a peculiar combination of circumstances, mistakes, accidents, misunderstandings ... A person who talks about a heroic deed and explains it can become more significant for posterity than the one who accomplished it. And in the unpredictable play of historical forces, the slightest impulse can often have dramatic consequences ...
America should not be ashamed of its name. This is the name of an honest and courageous man who, already at the age of fifty, set sail three times on a small boat across the unknown ocean, as one of those “unknown sailors”, hundreds of whom at that time risked their lives in dangerous adventures ... This mortal name has been transferred to immortality not by the will of one person - it was the will of fate, which is always right, even if it may seem that she is acting unfairly ... And today we use this word, which was invented by the will of blind chance, in a fun game, as a matter of course, the only conceivable and the only correct - sonorous, light-winged word America. "
True, there is reason to believe that the New World was named after the Bristol philanthropist Richard of America (England), who financed the second transatlantic voyage of John Cabot in 1497, and Amerigo Vespucci after that took the nickname in honor of the continent named so. To prove this version, the researchers cite the facts that Cabot reached the coast of Labrador two years earlier, and therefore became the officially registered first European to set foot on a new land.
Navigators such as John Davis, Alexander Mackenzie, Henry Hudson and William Baffin continued to explore the continent of North America. And thanks to their research, a new continent was explored all the way to the Pacific coast. But history knows many other names of seafarers who visited the new land even before Amerigo Vespucci and Columbus. They are Hui Shen - a Thai monk who visited there in the 5th century, Abubakar - the Sultan of Mali, who sailed to the American coast in the 14th century, Count of Orkney de Saint-Clair, Chinese explorer Zhee He, Portuguese Juan Corterial, etc.
V. Markin
Christopher Columbus (1451-1506) - navigator. Born in Genoa. In the years 1492-1493. led the Spanish naval expedition to find the shortest sea route to India. In the XV century. there were many sea expeditions, but the campaign of X. Columbus is considered the most outstanding. In 1492, the members of the expedition sailed from the Iberian Peninsula in three caravels in search of a sea route to India, rich in gold and spices.
Genoese by origin, Columbus entered service in the Genoese fleet in 1465 and sailed on merchant and merchant ships. At the same time, he was engaged in self-education and mapping. It is not known when he came up with the project of the shortest western sea route to India from Europe. It is believed that he used the knowledge of ancient scientists about the sphericity of the Earth, as well as incorrect calculations of scientists of the 15th century. Confident that the Earth was in the shape of a ball, Columbus believed that it was possible to swim to the shores of Asia across the Atlantic Ocean, moving west. For the first time, he proposed his project to the Portuguese king and asked for support. But the monarch refused him this. Then Christopher Columbus was forced to move to Castile, where, with the help of Andalusian merchants and bankers, he was able to get the king to organize a sea expedition, promising him great benefits, which, if successful, would bring the Castilian crown to India.
In 1492, the first expedition of 90 people on three caravels "Saita Maria", "Pinta" and "Niña" left Palos in the direction of the Canary Islands.
Heading west, the expedition crossed the Atlantic Ocean, where they discovered the Sargasso Sea. After a two-month voyage, the ships approached Central America, to one of the islands in the Bahamas archipelago, which Columbus called San Salvador. On October 12, he landed on the island (since then, this day is considered the official date of the discovery of America).
From October to December of the same year, Columbus visited several more Bahamas and discovered part of the northeastern coast of Cuba. Having reached the island of Haiti, he sailed along its northern coast. On the night of December 25, the Santa Maria caravel unexpectedly landed on the reef, but all the crew members managed to escape. In 1499 the expedition returned to Castile.
Then Columbus made three more trips to America, but until the end of his life he was sure that he had visited India, therefore open islands he gave the name West Indies (West Indian), and local population still called Indians. During one of his travels, he discovered Bahamas, Cuba Island, Haiti, Greater Antilles, part of the Lesser Antilles, part of the coast of South and Central America, Caribbean Sea.
In 1496, the navigator completed his second voyage, returned to Castile and announced the opening of a new route to Asia. The colonization of new lands by free settlers soon began. This enterprise was very expensive for the Spanish state, and Columbus proposed to settle them with criminals.
The third expedition (1498-1500) consisted of six ships. On July 31, 1498, Columbus discovered the island of Trinidad, entered the Gulf of Paria, discovered the mouth of the western branch of the Orinoco and the Paria peninsula. Out in the Caribbean Sea, on the approach to the Araya Peninsula, he discovered the island of Margarita and sailed to Haiti in August.
In 1500, Columbus was arrested on a denunciation, shackled and sent to Castile. After his release, he began to seek permission to continue searching for a western route to India. During the fourth expedition (1502-1504), Columbus reached the island of Martinique. On July 30 of the same year, he entered the Gulf of Honduras, where he first met representatives ancient civilization Mayan.
At first, the discovery of America brought some disappointment: the land found was not India or even Japan. But when caravans laden with gold and jewels pulled out from the Maya and Aztec states, disappointment gradually began to give way to joy. This circumstance saved the honor of Columbus, who suffered a fiasco as "Admiral of the Atlantic". Over time, his journey began to be called heroic. It brought glory to the brave navigator.
Columbus was not a discoverer: several hundred years before him, the islands and coasts of North America were visited by the Normans. The fact that he discovered a new part of the world was proved only by the voyage of Magellan. Columbus's name is today: a state in South America, a province of Canada, Federal district and a river in the USA, the capital of Sri Lanka, several rivers, mountains, lakes, waterfalls, capes, cities, parks, squares, streets and bridges in different countries... A monument to Columbus was erected in Barcelona (1882-1888, architect K. Buichas, sculptors H. Llimona and A. Vilanova).
