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\"Cristoforo Colombo\" and \"Admiral of the Ocean Sea\" redirect here. For his direct descendant, see Crist\u00f3bal Col\u00f3n de Carvajal, 18th Duke of Veragua. For other uses, see Christopher Columbus (disambiguation) and Cristoforo Colombo (disambiguation).

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Admiral of the Ocean Sea Christopher Columbus
Posthumous portrait of a man, said to be Christopher Columbus, by Sebastiano del Piombo, 1519^[a]

1st Governor of the Indies
In office 1492\u20131499
Appointed by	Isabella I of Castile
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Francisco de Bobadilla
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Personal details
Born	Between 25 August and 31 October 1451 Genoa, Republic of Genoa
Died	(1506-05-20)20 May 1506 (aged 54) Valladolid, Castile
Resting place	Seville Cathedral, Seville, Spain
Spouse	\n Filipa Moniz Perestrelo \n (m. 1479; died 1484)
Domestic partner	Beatriz Enr\u00edquez de Arana
Children	Diego Ferdinand Diego (adopted Lucayan)
Parents	Domenico Colombo (father) Susanna Fontanarossa (mother)
Relatives	Bartholomew Columbus (brother)
Profession	Maritime explorer
Signature	$\"\"$

Christopher Columbus^[b] (/k\u0259\u02c8l\u028cmb\u0259s/;^[2] between 25 August and 31 October 1451 \u2013 20 May 1506) was an Italian^[3]^[c] explorer and navigator from the Republic of Genoa^[3]^[4] who completed four Spanish-based voyages across the Atlantic Ocean sponsored by the Catholic Monarchs, opening the way for the widespread European exploration and colonization of the Americas. His expeditions were the first known European contact with the Caribbean and Central and South America.\n

The name Christopher Columbus is the anglicization of the Latin Christophorus Columbus. Growing up on the coast of Liguria, he went to sea at a young age and traveled widely, as far north as the British Isles and as far south as what is now Ghana. He married Portuguese noblewoman Filipa Moniz Perestrelo, who bore a son, Diego, and was based in Lisbon for several years. He later took a Castilian mistress, Beatriz Enr\u00edquez de Arana, who bore a son, Ferdinand.^[5]^[6]^[7]\n

Largely self-educated, Columbus was knowledgeable in geography, astronomy, and history. He developed a plan to seek a western sea passage to the East Indies, hoping to profit from the lucrative spice trade. After the Granada War, and Columbus's persistent lobbying in multiple kingdoms, the Catholic Monarchs, Queen Isabella I and King Ferdinand II, agreed to sponsor a journey west. Columbus left Castile in August 1492 with three ships and made landfall in the Americas on 12 October, ending the period of human habitation in the Americas now referred to as the pre-Columbian era. His landing place was an island in the Bahamas, known by its native inhabitants as Guanahani. He then visited the islands now known as Cuba and Hispaniola, establishing a colony in what is now Haiti. Columbus returned to Castile in early 1493, with captured natives. Word of his voyage soon spread throughout Europe.\n

Columbus made three further voyages to the Americas, exploring the Lesser Antilles in 1493, Trinidad and the northern coast of South America in 1498, and the east coast of Central America in 1502. Many of the names given to geographical features by Columbus, particularly the names of islands, are still in use. He gave the name indios ('Indians') to the indigenous peoples he encountered. The extent to which he was aware that the Americas were a wholly separate landmass is uncertain; he never clearly renounced his belief he had reached the Far East. As a colonial governor, Columbus was accused by some of his contemporaries of significant brutality and removed from the post. Columbus's strained relationship with the Crown of Castile and its colonial administrators in America led to his arrest and removal from Hispaniola in 1500, and later to protracted litigation over the privileges he and his heirs claimed were owed to them by the Crown.\n

Columbus's expeditions inaugurated a period of exploration, conquest, and colonization that lasted for centuries, thus bringing the Americas into the European sphere of influence. The transfer of plants, animals, precious metals, culture, human populations, technology, diseases, and ideas between the Old World and New World that followed his first voyage are known as the Columbian exchange, named after him. These events and the effects which persist to the present are often cited as the beginning of the modern era.^[8]^[9] Diseases introduced from the Old World contributed to the depopulation of Hispaniola's indigenous Ta\u00edno people, who were also subject to enslavement and other mistreatments by Columbus's government. Increased public awareness of these interactions has led to Columbus being less celebrated in Western culture, which has historically idealized him as a heroic discoverer. Numerous places have been named for him, as has Columbia, a personification commonly used to represent the United States.\n

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v t e History of the Americas
History	\n North America \n Mesoamerica \n Central America \n Caribbean \n Latin America \n South America \n Andean South America \n Genetics \n
Settlement	\n Indigenous peoples \n Indigenous population \n Pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact theories \n Christopher Columbus \n Exploration \n European colonization\n Spanish colonization \n French colonization \n Portuguese colonization \n British colonization \n Columbian Exchange \n Decolonization \n
Societies	\n Paleo-Indians \n Pre-Columbian era \n Aztec \n Maya \n Muisca \n Inca \n
Related	\n Maps \n Culture \n Geography \n Indigenous languages \n Epidemics \n Slavery \n
Lists	\n Pre-Columbian cultures \n Indigenous peoples \n Population \n Conflicts\n North America \n South America \n
Chronology	\n Archaeology of the Americas \n North America by period \n North American timelines \n Mesoamerica by period \n Mesoamerica timeline \n
\n Era: By period \n By region \n Three-age system \n Ancient history \n Pre-Columbian era \n Classical Antiquity \n Middle Ages \n Modern history \n Future \n

Authority control databases $\"Edit$
International	ISNI VIAF FAST WorldCat
National	Germany United States France BnF data Japan Italy Australia Czech Republic Spain Portugal Netherlands Norway Latvia Croatia Chile Greece Argentina Korea Sweden Poland Vatican Israel Finland Catalonia Belgium
Academics	CiNii zbMATH
Artists	ULAN KulturNav FID
People	Trove Italian People Deutsche Biographie DDB
Other	IdRef NARA SNAC 2 Te Papa (New Zealand)

Early life

Quest for Asia

Background

Geographical considerations

Nautical considerations

Quest for financial support for a voyage

Agreement with the Spanish Crown

Voyages

First voyage (1492\u20131493)

Second voyage (1493\u20131496)

Third voyage (1498\u20131500)

Fourth voyage (1502\u20131504)

Later life, illness, and death

Location of remains

Commemoration

Legacy

Originality of discovery of America

America as a distinct land

Shape of the Earth

Criticism and defense

Brutality

Depopulation

Navigational expertise

Physical appearance

See also

Notes

References

Sources

Further reading

External links

Christopher Columbus

Christopher Columbus

Media collections