What Christopher Columbus did, you will learn from this article.

What did Christopher Columbus opened? Opening Christopher Columbus

The navigator is the most mysterious personality of the era of great geographical discoveries and travels. His life is full of mysteries, dark spots, inexplicable coincidences and actions. And all because humanity became interested in the navigator 150 years after his death - important documents were already lost, and the life of Columbus remained overdue conversion and gossip. Plus, Columbus himself hid his origin (for incomprehensible reasons), the motives of their actions and thoughts. The only thing that is known is 1451 - a year of his birth and the place of appearance on the light is the Genoese Republic.

He made 4 expeditions, which were provided by the Spanish King:

• The first expedition - 1492-1493.
• Second Expedition - 1493-1496.
• The third expedition - 1498 - 1500 years.
• Fourth Expedition - 1502 - 1504 years.

During the four expeditions, many new territories and two seas were opened by the navigator - Sargassovo and Caribbean.

Earth open by Christopher Columbus

Interestingly, all the time the navigator thought that he opened India, and behind her he would find rich Japan and China. But it was not. He belongs to the opening and study of the new light. The islands are open by Christopher Columbus. This is the Bahamas and Antilles, Saman, Haiti and Dominica, Small Antilles, Cuba and Trinidad, Jamaica and Puerto Rico, Guadeloupe and Margarita. He is the discoverer of the land of Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, as well as the northern shores of South America and the Caribbean part of Central America.

Opening of America Christofore Columbus

But the most important thing is that during his expedition Christopher Columbus opened America. It happened on October 12, 1492, when he landed on the island of San Salvador.

And it all started: on August 3, 1492, the expedition of the European navigator in the composition of the ships "Santa Maria", Ninya and Pinta entered the long way. Sargassovo Sea was opened in September. They walked three weeks. On October 7, 1492, the Columbus team changes their course to the southwest, believing that they did the Japan, which they so wanted to open. After 5 days, the expedition stumbled upon the island called Christopher Columbus in honor of the San Salvador Savior. This date - October 12, 1492 is considered the official day of the opening of America.

During the day later, Columbus carried out disembarking ashore and hoisted the Castilian banner. So he formally began to own the island. Using the nearby islands, the navigator sincerely believed that this is the surroundings of Japan, India and China. The first time open lands were called West India. Christopher Columbus returned to Spain on March 15, 1493 on the Ninya ship. As a gift, King Ferdinand II Aragon, he brought gold, natives, unprecedented by Europeans plants - potatoes, corn, tobacco, and bird feathers and fruits.

We hope that you learned from this article, what the discovery of Christopher Columbus became famous for the whole world.

«- Okay, take care of him! With this suitcase, many memories are connected.
- What memories? Not a single trip ...
- About all the trips to which we never went to…»
Jack and Gill: Love on the suitcases

Nowadays, everyone has a hearing that the opening of America belongs to Mr. by the name of Christopher Columbus. On this, the school program on the coverage of such a grand event is usually ends, and interested in the independently search for the necessary information in the library and the Internet. At this moment, the most interesting thing comes: a person finds out that with a visit to the Columbus of America is not so unequivocal. There are evidence that he was completely there, and not the first thing that for many years before his first steps on the shores of the new light there were already frustrated by the Scandinavian Vikings, Biscay fishermen and other travelers.

Today we will try to go through all the stages of the opening of America, who are known to us from reliable sources and establish who the first officially stepped as the coast of the new mainland and declared it with a new light.

Columbus Expedition, 1492

End of the XV century, there are still many unexplored places on Earth, where a person's leg has never stepped. Obviously with great plans for the conquest of all and all the Spaniards are solved on the creation of a great expedition to the Canary Islands consisting of three high-speed Karavel, one of which was "Santa Maria" - the ship, whose admiral was Christopher Columbus. Ahead of him was waiting for months of travel and one of the main achievements in the history of mankind. On August 3, 1492, the ship was shot from the anchor and went on the road.

Admiral of all seas and oceans

In the spring of 1492, a few months before the expedition, Christopher Columbus, or, as the Spaniards called him, Don Cristoval Colon, was on the audience from the Royal couple, Raissed Spain. Isabella Castille and Ferdinand Aragon offered a researcher to conclude a contract according to which Christopher Columbus is recognized as the admiral of all seas and oceans, as well as the high-ranking governor of all lands and islands that he can open during the journey. It would be unforgivable to refuse such a proposal.

An additional stimulus in the proposal of the kings was the fact that one tenth of all wealth, treasures and goods that Columbus will be able to change or find on new lands, the traveler can pick up, the rest of the nine tenths will affect the royal treasury. It was a truly generous proposal that Columbus could make one of the richest people in Europe.

Together with the title and wealth, Don I cristovalov column offered guarantees that his title would be inherited forever. He will also be able to save his privileges in life on the lands unknown in advance. All travel participants were convinced that, going to the west sailing, Columbus will reach the eastern shores of India, but they were waiting for a surprise.

« Admiral decided to count the share of the path less than they were in fact, in the event that the swimming was long enough for people to capture fear and confusion»

True goals of Christopher Columbus

Despite all the royal backs, the true motives and the submission of Columbus about the land of that time remain the subject of disputes to this day. Historians recognize the significant contribution of the Great Traveler to the history of mankind and its influence on the era of great geographical discoveries. However, this does not cancel the fact that Columbus was moving more mercantile interests than the research spirit.

A generous proposal from the royal couple, as well as the opportunity to discover new trading paths and the unpretentious wealth of the East represented a much greater interest, rather than to kill in the middle of a storm or die from an unknown illness on unfamiliar shores. It is thirst for money and became the main stimulus for the accuracy of the most vivid geographical discoveries of travelers of those times.

However, if Columbus was calculated, then he was also not borrowed. Many scholars of modern historians suggest that the discoverer knew in advance where he was sailing. That behind the Atlantic Ocean is there any India, there is a new land, beless and uninhabited. There were even rumors that Columbus had a certain card, on which researchers noted not only already discovered islands in the Atlantic Ocean, but also the east coast of the mainland, which will be called South America subsequently.

AT 1474 The Florentine scientist Paolo Dahl Pozzo Toskanjelli, who dedicated his life astronomy, geography and mathematics, sent a letter to the Portuguese king, in which the conclusions about the geography of our planet, given that she is a ball. Tuscangelli claimed that in this way until India could be reached much faster if sailing through the Atlantic Ocean. There are evidence that Columbus somehow got this letter, or his copy, with the attached map, on which new lands were noted. However, it was not possible to prove it.

A conspiracy theory around the opening of America

Like any other loud scientific discovery, the columbus journey quickly acquired its theories of the conspiracy from unfriendly and simply due to lack of information. Check the events that took place in the 15th century, we do not have the opportunity, so the speculation and theories will continue to exist. They can be attributed to those rumors that Columbus himself was looking for the opportunity to go on a travel to the West, for he knew that there was a new earth, so I tried to persuade the expedition to evaporate to him.

According to some theories, Columbus simply went on the "Putted Walkway" from other navigators who opened this route long before him. Indeed, commit such a desperate journey through the unfriendly Atlantic Ocean for ships of those times seemed to be possible, then deadly.

Despite the fact that the main part of historians adheres to the opinion that it was Columbus who opened America, many people appeared, including those respected in the scientific community, which suggest that the mainland was opened long before the historic travel of Columbus in 1492. One of the main supporters of this theory was the British named Gavin Menzis, who wrote a book called "1421, or a year when China opened the world."

The public loves the theory of conspiracy, so the book of Menzis caused anxiety in the masses. At the same time, the scientific community is not in a hurry to take seriously all of what has been said in this book.

« Thursday, October 11th. Swang to the West South West. For all the time the swimming has not yet been such an empty of the sea. Seen "Pardelas" and green reed from the ship itself. People from Karavella "Pint" have noticed the Costinka and bitches and caught trough, possibly iron, wand and debris, and other herbs, which will cause on Earth, and one skip. People at Karavella "Ninya" saw other signs of the Earth and the twig, destroyed by rosehip berries. Everyone was inspired and delighted, seeing these signs.»

First Travel Diary, Christopher Columbus

Great travel Chinese

Despite the fact that the names of almost all great travelers have European origins, the desire to explore the world was inherent to everyone on Earth.

In the spring of 1421, when the famous Christopher Columbus was not even born, in one of the Chinese cities called Tangua was preparing for the departure of the ships of the Fleet of the Great Emperor. The fleet commander was the venerable Zheng He. More than a hundred huge unique ships went to the open sea. Similar vessels did not have any powers of the world: these were real autonomous floating giants who could calmly experience any incoulded in the open sea.

At that time, the Great Holiday of the Forbidden City was held in China, after which the emperor instructed his admiral Zheng He to fulfill the role of a kind of taxi driver, and dilute of high-ranking guests at their homes that came from all the ends of the world. When the admiral completes the task, the emperor ordered him not to rush to return home, and instead, look at the edge of the earth and collect tribute from all the barbarians, which will meet on the way, and also wrap them in Confucianism in order to make civilized people.

This journey of the Golden Fleet has become the largest of all those taken by China. For three years, the sailors investigated our planet, and in her book Gavin Menzis suggested that it was the Chinese travelers who were able to draw up an approximate map of the globe, applying all six mainland on it, and also bypassed all the oceans.

Obsessed with its idea dispel the influence of Columbus, Menzis has collected many years the facts of the great Chinese journey along the grains, who remained from those times. His task complicated the fact that all the diaries and ship magazines Zheng HE were destroyed or lost.

Some Menzis efforts were crowned with success. For example, he established the fact that the wreckage of giant Chinese ships, the so-called "junok", were found off the coast of almost all the mainland. Despite the fact that historians prefer to believe that the fragments of Jonok could bring to Australia and America to the current, the research of Gavin Menzis should not be taken into account within the framework of modern history. Also, archaeologists found Chinese maps to which all the continents were applied, including America. Menzis is confident that these cards are much older than Columbus himself.

Amerigo Vespucci and famous confusion

In school, we often told us that at least Christopher Columbus and opened America, she received her name in honor of another researcher. The fact is that Columbus never realized, where he sailed. Until the last researcher was confident that these are the eastern shores of India and the Eurasian mainland.

The studies of the traveler inspired the Italian Amerigo Vespucci, who later shared his thoughts about the opening of Columbus with his mentor Francesco del Medici. In them, he suggested that new lands that Columbus told in Spain is not an eastern part of India, and this is a completely new mainland. These letters, as well as the thoughts of Vespucci regarding other travel, were published in a large collection in 1507, which for some reason called "new light and new countries, open Amerigo Vespucci from Florence".

The significance of the opening of America by Columbus was lost in writing, and in the same year the German cartographer Waldzemuller based on Vespucci letters proposed to call the new part of America's world in honor of the name of Amerigo. He reflected all this in his book "Introduction to Cosmography". It is noteworthy that at least Vespucci and wrote about Columbus, but Valdzemüller did not give it meaning.

The syllable of a young German scientist liked the public, and several years later, in 1520, during the scientific meeting of the greatest minds of those times, the name of America was applied to the overall geographical map of the planet.

Since then, disputes have not subscribe. If Columbus did not understand that he found a new light, and this did it for him with Vespucci, is it possible to attach the last opening of the mainland?
However, there are evidence that new continents people conventionally opened long before the travel of the Chinese, Columbus and Vespucci's assumptions.

Ambitious vikings

At the end of the 10th century, when Europe also did not think about the domination of the whole world, a large boat with Nordami was despair from the shores of Iceland. Commanded by Bjorni Hyorlfiss, Norwegian harsh Viking, who motivated the thirst for adventure and profit.

Bjorhi Hjorlfson went to the sea to walk to Greenland, where the Wiking Colony was already settled, who led trading with Scandinavia. That's just Hyorlfson got off the way because of the storm, and a few days later came to the shores of an unknown land, which were devoted to thick impassable forests. Bjoreni decided not to risk and not fall on an unfamiliar coast, but simply sailed along it, passing the memorial, everything he sees. After a few days, Viking still managed to get to Greenland, where he told about what he saw.

Hjorfson's stories inspired the other settler of Greenland, Leif Erikson, the Son of the very Eric of Redhead, which was famous among the peoples of Vikings by their heroic character. The spirit of adventure took Leif along with his comrades over the behavior of the Björni route. At first, their rooks fell to the rocky shore, which is now called buffin ground. The terrain here seemed lifeless, everything around was covered with glaciers. Deciding that there is no life and nothing good on this land, the Vikings went on, along the way, giving the stone ground - Hellouland, Country of Valun.

Further travelers got to the Canadian coast covered with vegetation and forests. This land Vikings also gave name - Marcland, Forest Earth. On this young and hoochie, people did not stop down, so they went further south. A few days later they were anchored in one of the coastal bays. Having taken ashore, the friends found real wild grapes among other vegetation, so we called this area Wellands. Modern historians found out that this bay is now located in Massachusetts.

Returning after a protracted journey along the unfamiliar lands of Nordes did not want to miss the opportunity to settle them, so two years later they equipped a new expedition. Brother Leif, the famous Torvald, went to the shores of America and threw anchor at the place of the last parking lot of his brother - in Winland. Here they unexpectedly met the locals - the Indians who appeared in the bay on their pies. Everyone knows that the Vikings were not a timid ten and do not mind to fight, so the Norwegians just killed several Indians, the rest were captured. On the same night, the Indians came to revenge for the dead fellows, and hare arrived arrows at the Viking camp. One of them got into Torvald, and he died a few days later.

In 1003, Vikings came again on the shores of America, now with serious intentions to settle on non-hedied lands. Almost two hundred people sailed here on three delicates, set up relations with the local population and even built the village here. However, the Indians soon changed their attitude towards uninvited guests, and flatly refused to share lands with them. A bloody war was unleashed between people, and the traces of Scandinavians soon completely disappeared from the shores of America.

The question of who opened America usually does not cause many questions. But here is not enough - when? Previously, I, for example, simply assumed that somewhere in the middle of the past millennium. I am ashamed ... such things, of course, you need to know. In this story, I discuss this. :)

When they opened America

The opening of America by Europeans can be considered literally the most significant event in history. After all, after that, a huge number of Europeans rushed to the new continent, with the result that for many years success in trade was ensured. After all, there were many useful natural resources on this mainland.

And now a little digits - 1492 year. This year is the official year of the opening of America. And this great event happened completely by chance, because Christopher Columbus was going to get into India. He studied his geography almost all his life and was going to find the Western way to India, he believed that he could be significantly shorter than Eastern.

Few know, but on this journey and the discoveries of Columbus did not end. From 1493, he was led by several more expeditions, during which many nearby islands were discovered, for example.

However, then it was not yet clear where the navigators got. There were versions that this is the eastern shore of India. Some argued that it was. And only Amerigo Vespucci, examining the coast of Brazil, came to uniquely conclusion - this is a new continent. It was in honor of him that this mainland was named, although he did not open him at all.

I prepared a small selection of interesting facts about the opening of America:

• Few people know that Columbus barely managed to get permission to travel through the ocean. He decided to arrange an expedition back in 1485.
• On the ships of the expedition, Columbus were not sailors, but all sorts of rare. Ordinary sailors and residents of Spain did not want to go on a journey through the ocean, no one knew what it would turn. Columbus had to be recruited from criminals in prison.

• Columbus had three small ships, where they would go on a journey through the ocean was a real suicide. But Columbus, apparently, drank champagne, as they say. :)

The opening of America is one of the greatest events in the history of mankind. The history of the opening of a huge continent pays many interesting and amazing facts. To this day, disputes are being conducted about who opened America in fact. Everyone knows that the name of the discoverer is Christopher Columbus, why land is named after Amerigo Vespucci, and who else visited the continent to Columbus ... about this and many other things - further in the article.

At the end of the fifteenth century, the Spanish navigator Christopher Columbus with his expedition reached the shores of North America, mistakenly believing that he arrived in India. It is from this moment that the era of the opening of America and began its development and research begins. However, there are researchers who consider this date inaccurate, insisting that the new continent has been discovered much earlier.

The first information about the existence of a new continent called by America later appeared in the prehistoric period. These events happened by chance. Motifs for discoveries served, as a rule, the search for lifestyles (striving for survival), search for gold and large shopping cities.

The first were Paleo Indians

The first, settled in America about 15 thousand years ago, were people from Asia. In the era of Pleistocene as a result of the melting of ice shields (Lavrentian and Cordillersky) between Russia and Alaska, a narrow corridor was formed. The so-called land bridge between the Western coast of Alaska and Siberia, or the Ringgov of the experiencing, connected the continents of Asia and North America as a result of the fall of the ocean level.

Paleoinders, the ancient settlers of America, arrived from Asia to America through the beerings of the experiencies following the movement of production - large animals. Migrations took place before the closure of the corridor, that is, the closure of the Lavrentian and Cordillery glaciers. In the future, the settlement of America has already happened by sea either on ice. When the glacial period is over, and the glacial plates melted, the settlers arrived in America were isolated from other continents.

It turns out that for the first time the American continents were found by nomadic Asian tribes, originally populated North America, then taking the Central and South America. They subsequently became indigenous American nations.

Legend of Irish Monks

As the popular Irish legend says, in the 6th century, a group of Irish monks, headed by the Holy Brandan, went on a boat to the West in search of new lands. Seven years later, the monks returned home and told that they found the land covered with lush vegetation, which was the current Newfoundland.

However, accurate evidence confirming the fact that the Irish monks were not just seen, but also visited the coast of North America, there are no. In 1976, the British traveler Tim Severin decided to prove that such a journey is possible. He made an accurate copy of the monastic vessel and went from Ireland to North America, following the route that once described traveling Inaks. As a result, the researcher reached Canada.

Vikings and Winland

In 984, as a result of the study of ancient nautical routes, the Scandinavian navigator Eric Kras discovered Greenland. In 999, his son, Leif Ericsson, gathering a carriage of 35 people, went on the same ship from Greenland to Norway. At about 1000, Leif Ericceson on a journey through the Atlantic Ocean reached North America. There, on the territory of the modern Canadian Island of Newfoundland, he founded the Norwegian settlement.

Because of the abundance of vineyards on this land, Vikings called the settlement "Winland", which means translated from the English "grape ground". But for a long time Erickson and his team were not detained there. Due to hostile relations with indigenous North American, they stayed just a few years before returning to Greenland.

In the sagas of the Vikings, who were settled in America, are referred to indigenous Americans - "Skřeling". The source of most sag is the Scandinavian folklore, but in 1960, Helge Ingstad, the Norwegian archaeologist, found in the northern tip of Newfownland (Canada) the first European settlement of the Vikings of the late XI century, which is identical to settlements in Scandinavian countries. This historical and archaeological object called the name "L" Ans-O-Meduse ", scientists recognize as evidence of transokani contacts that took place before the discovery made by Columbus.

Sailors from China

In the disputes of "who opened America" \u200b\u200beven the facts about visiting America by the Chinese. Gevin Menzis, the Naval Officer of Great Britain, put forward the theory of colonization of South America by the Chinese. According to his statements, the Chinese researcher named Zheng He, who commanded the wooden sailing ships at the beginning of the 15th century, found a continent in 1421. According to the officer, Zheng HE with the help of advanced navigation methods explored such territories as Southeast Asia, India and the East Coast of Africa.

In his book "1421 - a year, when China opened the world," Geevin Menzis wrote that Zheng He was sent to the east coast of the United States and, allegedly, established settlements in South America. The theory of Menzis is based on the evidence of long-standing shipwrecks, data of Chinese and European maps and reports, which were composed of seaflors of those times. Nevertheless, the theory is subject to doubt.

Random discovery Columbus

1942 is considered the year of the opening of America, although some historians consider this data rather approximate. Columbus opened America by chance. Opening new lands and islands over four expeditions, Columbus did not even assume that this is a completely different mainland, which will later be called "new light." Each time, arriving on new and new lands, the traveler believed that it was the lands of Western India.

Thus thought by the whole of Europe for quite a long time, while the other navocanner of Vasco da Gama did not declare Columbus to a deceiver, because it was Gamma who found a direct path to India, visited local gifts and spices. There are assumptions that Columbus died that he was convinced that he had opened a new way to India, and not a new one, unfamiliar to the side of the world.

Mysterious name Continent

Why was the new continent called none in honor of the columbus discovered by him, and in honor of the Mariety Amerigo Vespucci? A visit to this part of the "New World" by the Vespucci traveler is the first widespread and fixed fact. In 1503, he sent a letter to his friend Medici with the following text "These countries should be called new light ... Most of the ancient authors say that in the south of the equator there is no mainland, but there is only the sea, and if some of them recognized the existence of the mainland there, They did not consider him inhabited. But my last journey proved that such an opinion is mistakenly and completely disgusting to the facts, since in the southern regions I found the mainland, more densely inhabited by people and animals than our Europe, Asia or Africa, and, in addition, the climate is more moderate and pleasant than in any of the countries known to us ... "

It was he who put forward the first to the assumption that the lands discovered is not India or China, but a new unknown mainland. A quote from his letter, washing the world, became a good reason for the decision to call a new mainland in honor of an unknown at that time of the sales representative, and not in honor of the famous discoverer. The name of America first appeared in 1507 in writing Martin Waldzemuller "Introduction to Cosmography". Under the same name is a new mainland and on the first globe of Johanna Schen (1511).

Interesting the fact that no mention of the initiative of Vespucci assigning his name open overseas lands was found.

For curious

There are sufficient grounds for assumptions that the continent was named after the English patron of Bristol - Richard America, who financed the second transatlantic expedition to John Cabota in 1497. Vespucci took himself a nickname in honor of the already named continent. Cabot became the first officially registered European, which stepped into the North American continent, reaching the shores of Labrador in May 1497. It was he who made a map of the coast of North America - from New Scotland to Newfoundland. In his calendar, Bristol delivered the following entries: "... on the day of St. John the Baptist found the Earth America merchants from Bristol, arriving on a ship from Bristol with the name "Matthew".