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Voyages of Christopher Columbus
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"Discovery of the Americas" and "Discovery of America" redirect here. For other uses, see Discovery of the Americas (disambiguation). Voyages of Christopher Columbus | The Four Voyages of Columbus | Participants | Christopher Columbus and crew | Location | Americas | Date | Between 1492 and 1506 | Result | European exploration of the Americas |
In the early modern period, the voyages of Columbus initiated European exploration and colonization of the American continents, and are thus of great significance in world history. Christopher Columbus was a navigator and an admiral for Castile, a country that later founded modern …show more content…

Columbus traveled from Portugal to both Genoa and Venice, but he received no encouragement from either. Previously he had his brother sound out Henry VII of England, to see if the English monarch might not be more amenable to Columbus' proposal. After much carefully considered hesitation, Henry's invitation came too late. Columbus had already committed himself to the Kingdom of Castile in present day Spain.
Castilian (Spanish) procurement | This section needs additional citations for verification. |
He had sought an audience from the monarchs King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile, who had informally united the largest kingdoms of Spain through marriage, and while ruling their kingdoms independently, their internal and foreign policies were coordinated as one. On May 1, 1489, permission having been granted, Columbus presented his plans to Queen Isabella, who, in turn, referred it to a committee. After the passing of much time, these savants of Castile, like their counterparts in Portugal, reported back that Columbus had judged the distance to Asia much too short. They pronounced the idea impractical, and advised their Royal Highnesses to pass on the proposed venture.[citation needed]
However, to keep Columbus from taking his ideas everywhere, and perhaps to keep their options open, the Queen gave him an annual allowance of 12,000 maravedis and in 1489 furnished him with a letter ordering all Castilian cities and towns to provide him food and

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