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1451
Birth
He was born in the Republic of Genoa, now a part of modern Italy. -
Period: 1451 to May 20, 1506
Christopher Columbus’ Life
Events of Christopher Columbus’ life. -
1477
Hired
Christopher Columbus was hired as a mariner for the king of Portugal, King John. -
1479
Marriage
Christopher Columbus marries his first wife, Felipa Perestrello e Moniz. -
1480
Rejection
In order to obtain riches and fame, Christopher Columbus wanted to find a route between Europe and Asia- a goal that was rapidly spreading. He would achieve this by sailing across the sea. In order to do this, however, he required funds which he did not have. He requested backing from the Portuguese monarchy, French monarchy, English monarchy and Spanish monarchy, all of which were denied. -
1480
Diego
Columbus and Felipa have a child they name Diego. -
1485
Tragedy
Felipa meets her tragic, premature demise. -
1486
Success
Six years after the rejection, the Spanish monarchy, Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand, accepted his request, seeing him as an oppurtunity to contest with Portugal’s rapid development. -
1487
Fernando
He has a child with Beatriz Enriquez de Arana, a woman whom he wasn’t married to. The child was a boy named Fernando. -
Aug 3, 1492
The First Voyage
The three ships set sail, in hopes of arriving in Asia, eventually stopping at Haiti and the Dominican Republic. They met the people of Taino and quickly began trading. He realised they did not have the promised wealth and riches of Asia, and was desperate to return gold to Spain. He wondered around in search of the fabled gold until he landed in a place called Hispaniola. He left some of his men there and sailed back to Spain, promising he would return. -
Sep 24, 1493
The Second Voyage
Upon his arrival to Spain, he presented the goods as well as enslaved Taino people he had obtained on his journey. Isabella and Ferdinand were disappointed with the lack of gold he had obtained and provided seventeen ships to retrieve more. He sailed back to Hispaniola as he had promised, only to discover the local chieftain had his men slaughtered. Gold was also discovered to be on the island, which Columbus and his crew rushed to collect. This angered the chieftain and soon a conflict arose. -
1498
The Third Voyage
During his second voyage, Christopher Columbus had sent a large number of Taino people to Spain to be enslaved to make up for his lack of gold. He began to force the natives to get gold for him, or they would face horrific consequences. In 1496 he sailed back to Spain, leaving his brothers in charge of the developing colony, to explain the situation to the Spanish monarchy. He was allowed to return in 1498. Columbus’ brothers were terrible at administering, were arrested and brought to Spain. -
May 11, 1502
The Fourth and Final Voyage
The Spanish Monarchy forbade him from returning to Hispaniola and was tasked with exploring uncharted areas of the Carribean, as well as the original task of finding a route to Asia. However, his ships had been wrecked but natural disasters and he and his crew were stranded in Jamaica, until a rescue group arrived to bring them back, after a year. The arrived back to Spain in 1504. -
May 20, 1506
Death
Christopher Columbus passes away from disease.
