Marco Polo's Influence on Christopher Columbus...

Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue in fourteen-hundred-ninty-two. He came over from Spain in three ships, the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria and discovered America, or at least that was what I was taught in elementary school. Since then there has been much controversy going on over the issue of weather or not Christopher Columbus really “discovered” America because when he landed in San Salvador he was not alone. Native Americans already inhabited the land and they had been there long before Columbus, but this doesn’t mean that he should be atacked stripped of his dignity.

The 15th century was a prosperous time for trade and travel for the whole world round, even if some believed the world was flat. Columbus came from this time period in which he was born in Italy to a poor family. Despite living in such an impoverished lifestyle, the young Columbus was flourished in rich learnings of the times and languages. From these beginnings he grew to be a mariner in his twenties. Columbus was in his thirties when he first began his trials to find an Atlantic path to Asia. His only predicament was that he needed a way to finance such a journey to Asia via the Atlantic ocean. Any merchant would be in awe of the idea of an easier path to Asia, but the most notable problem was, was it possible to find such a path within a range that a ship

The introduction of the spanish discoverers revealed how the native americans’ lives would be changed due to enslavement, forced religion, and the destruction of their homes. If it wasn’t for the story of Marco Polo “visiting” the Indies describing the place as a heaven on earth, the place were incredible riches are stored, where there are villages of gold, then there would never have been an interest in finding a new trade route. Which never would have brought about the discovery of the Americas by Christopher Columbus, it also would have never brought the hardships, tragedy, and utter genocide of the native americans.

It is thought by many that Christopher Columbus was a skilled sailor on a mission of greed. Many think that he in fact did it all for the money, honor and the status that comes with an explorer, but this is not the case entirely. Columbus was an adventurer and was enthused by the thrill of the quest of the unknown. “Columbus had a firm religious faith and a scientific curiosity, a zest for life, the felling for beauty and the striving for novelty that we associate with the advancement of learning”. He had heard of the legendary Atlantic voyages and sailors reports of land to the west of Madeira and the Azores. He believed that Japan was about 4,800 km to the west of Portugal. In 1484, Columbus wanted support for an exploratory

Using basic knowledge of geography Christopher Columbus proposed a voyage to Asian trading posts by traveling west. The Spanish monarchy decidedly financed this mission in hopes of expanding Spanish influence in the Asian trading community. Thus, in 1492 Columbus set off on his mission to the West Indies. However, his journey did not lead to the West Indies, but rather to the Americas. This is considered to be a blessing in disguise for the Spanish because, not only were they able to discover other tradable goods but also fertile land for the

1. Marco Polo- A Venetian merchant and adventurer who traveled from Europe to Asia from 1271 to 1295. He traveled from Europe to Asia from 1271 to 1295 and remained in China for 17 years until he left to guide a Mongol princess to Persia. These travels are recorded in Il Milione, known in English as The Travels of Marco Polo that has influenced later merchants and travelers.

For my compare and contrast paper I decide to write about Christopher Columbus because he is big in geography and his name is known throughout the world, and not only in the United States, and he did a lot in his lifetime. And I know every student will learn about him in schools. Christopher Columbus is mentioned in Davis’ book; however, I also decide to do my own research as well.

Marco Polo and Charlemagne have a few similarities and many differences on their expertise and achievements during the medieval period. Both figures have different perspectives of life because of their role in society because Marco is a traveler from Venice, Italy that has had journeys everywhere throughout Europe to Asia. Whereas, Charlemagne (Charles the Great) is a conqueror that established the Carolingian empire and attempted to rebuild the “Roman” empire. Even though both figures had different perspectives because of their role in society they both spread their ideas to others that they met either in their journeys or when they were conquering the land. Charlemagne tried to convert people to the idea of Christianity when he conquered

During the Crusades, Europeans brought luxury good from Italian merchants, who got them from Arab traders; Europeans taste for luxury items greatly increased. During the 13th and 14th explorers like Marco Polo claimed that Asia had the luxury goods the Europeans desired. This began the race towards finding a trade route to Asia. Christopher Columbus and many other explorer seek funds from Kings,Queens, and wealthy businessman to fund their explorations. After gaining funds from the King and Queen of Spain .Columbus set sail off on August 3, 1492 from Spain to investigate this a all-water route to Asia. This letter written by Columbus foreshadows the clash of two completely different cultures.

In 1492 Columbus set out to find a shorter route to Asia by sailing west to get east.

This essay will be examining the literary work of Columbus, De Las Casas, and Villagra to understand the individual viewpoints and the true motives of the Spanish Conquistadors. Christopher Columbus attempted to hide his desire for wealth and power behind the idea that all his actions were justified because he was acting out God’s will. Additionally, Gaspar Perez De Villagra thought that his mission of establishing a colony in New Mexico and converting the Native Americans would be successful because God was on the Conquistadors’ side. At first, Bartolome De Las Casas accepted the horrible behavior of the Conquistadors, but he began to realize that the Conquistadors were doing the opposite of God’s work. Bartolome De Las Casas rejected the

Many children, including myself, have once played the game Marco Polo. Although, I have always been curious, who exactly is Marco Polo? My fascination of Marco Polo warped into a fixation of his travels. Marco Polo was born in Venice in the year 1254. His father, Nicolo, and his uncle, Maffeo, were merchants who had seats in the great nobleman council of Venice (Polo IV). According to his records, he had traveled thousands of miles with his father and uncle.

Christopher Columbus’s life was filled with adventures and new beginnings that would leave a remarkable impression throughout history. Born in 1451 in Genoa, Columbus from an early age would become well acclimated to sailing as he began his career aboard a merchant ship and later study mathematics, astronomy, cartography, and navigation. Growing up and experiencing new thing Columbus began to come up with a plan different from all others to set sail across the Atlantic instead of going around the African continent. With his ideas being turned away from both Portugal and England it was Ferdinand and Isabella who took sympathy upon him and financial back his voyage as they both had hopes of gaining fame and fortune. In 1942, Columbus began his voyages and would carefully document each experience in the form of letters that would have a lasting impact on the world. I believe with the dramatic change in tones we see between the first and fourth letters it gives us the reader a true insight into Columbus’s mental and physical emotions over the years. Furthermore, these letters allow us to explore a part of history that is considered monumental while gaining information of what took place over a ten-year journey.

Christopher Columbus set out on his expedition with the hopes of discovering a shorter and faster route to Asia in order to make the trade of silk, spice, and porcelain more efficient. In addition to this, he sailed in order to colonize new territories and spread Catholicism. The first document regarding Christopher Columbus’s travels states, “ … determine to send me, Christopher Columbus … to learn their disposition and the proper method of converting them to our holy faith”. With conversion and Catholicism being high on Christopher’s list of priorities, it seemed to impact the way he saw and treated the indigenous people in which he encountered. Later on in the document, the text described Christopher’s first encounter with native people. Christopher

“I have not told half of what I saw” were the final words of the great Venetian explorer Marco Polo; however, in recent times, Marco Polo’s exploits have been doubted more and more. (Pedriali, 161) Most often cited as evidence that Marco Polo’s travels may not have been as truthful as reported is the 1998 book Did Marco Polo go to china? by Dr. Frances Wood. Through new research done by Dr. Hans Ulrich Vogel of University of Tübingen in Germany, it has been shown that Marco Polo was mostly truthful in his memoirs, but it has also proven that some things were exaggerated thanks to his ghostwriter Rustichello da Pisa, Marco Polo himself, or later copyists.