Okla-homey
8/3/2007, 05:37 AM
August 3, 1492 : Columbus sets sail
http://aycu04.webshots.com/image/23083/2002769576275056229_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002769576275056229)
515 years ago today, from the Spanish port of Palos, Italian explorer Cristobal Colombo (a/k/a Christopher Columbus) sets sail in command of three ships--the Santa Maria, the Pinta, and the NiÑa--on a journey to find a western sea route to China, India, and the fabled gold and spice islands of Asia.
http://aycu30.webshots.com/image/23549/2002749565005353462_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002749565005353462)
The little flotilla was not particularly impressive by later ocean going ship standards
Unable to find backers for his expedition among any of the Italian city states, Columbus sailed under sponsorship and on behalf of the Spanish Crown -- specifically King Ferdinand of Aragon (Leon) and Queen Isabella of Castile.
Incidentally, despite what you may have been taught in the second grade, Columbus was not the first guy who beleived the Earth was round. He was just the first guy who was able to talk a couple of rich royals into backing an expedition based on that notion.
http://aycu18.webshots.com/image/24217/2002747845874252860_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002747845874252860)
Ferdinand and Isabella's marriage of over thirty-five years, as well as their practice of 15th monarchical power is interesting in its own right. married as teenagers, Ferdinand and Isabella struggled to establish their joint regime, and then worked out an elaborate reform program of the Spanish Church and State. They fought a ‘total war’, by fifteenth-century standards, against Muslim Granada, leading to that kingdom’s conquest. They fought an equally ‘total’ war, through the Inquisition and the Church in general, to convert Spanish Jews and Muslims to Christianity. But I digress...
http://aycu03.webshots.com/image/25202/2002773489907722371_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002773489907722371)
Columbus and other early Spanish explorers to the New World brought with them the castle-and-lion flag incorporating the arms of Castile and León. Technically, in the 15th century, Spain was not a single country but rather a collection of kingdoms. The largest and most important was the combined kingdom of Castile and León, which since 1248 had been identified by a banner incorporating the arms of Castile (a castle) and León (a lion).
http://aycu30.webshots.com/image/23549/2002793973950375730_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002793973950375730)
Columbus' personal expedition banner. It featured the initials of his patrons.
Two months later, on October 12, the expedition sighted land, probably Watling Island in the Bahamas, and went ashore the same day, claiming it for Spain. Later that month, Columbus sighted Cuba, which he thought was mainland China, and in December the expedition landed on Hispaniola, which Columbus thought might be Japan.
http://aycu30.webshots.com/image/24189/2002765680687174708_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002765680687174708)
A repop of the 100 ton Santa Maria. She had been purpose built to haul barrels of wine and thus was squarish and squat.
Columbus established a small colony there with 39 of his men. The explorer returned to Spain with gold, spices, and "Indian" captives in March 1493 and was received with the highest honors by the Spanish court. He was the first white guy to explore the Americas since the Vikings set up colonies in Greenland and Newfoundland in the 10th century.
During his lifetime, Columbus led a total of four expeditions to the New World, discovering various Caribbean islands, the Gulf of Mexico, and the South and Central American mainland, but never accomplished his original goal--a western ocean route to the great cities of Asia.
http://aycu13.webshots.com/image/22692/2002729266580382848_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002729266580382848)
Four voyages total
Columbus died in Spain in 1506 without realizing the great scope of what he did achieve: He had discovered for Europe the New World, whose riches over the next century would help make Spain the wealthiest and most powerful nation on earth.
http://aycu28.webshots.com/image/25187/2002794339580205520_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002794339580205520)
http://aycu04.webshots.com/image/23083/2002769576275056229_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002769576275056229)
515 years ago today, from the Spanish port of Palos, Italian explorer Cristobal Colombo (a/k/a Christopher Columbus) sets sail in command of three ships--the Santa Maria, the Pinta, and the NiÑa--on a journey to find a western sea route to China, India, and the fabled gold and spice islands of Asia.
http://aycu30.webshots.com/image/23549/2002749565005353462_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002749565005353462)
The little flotilla was not particularly impressive by later ocean going ship standards
Unable to find backers for his expedition among any of the Italian city states, Columbus sailed under sponsorship and on behalf of the Spanish Crown -- specifically King Ferdinand of Aragon (Leon) and Queen Isabella of Castile.
Incidentally, despite what you may have been taught in the second grade, Columbus was not the first guy who beleived the Earth was round. He was just the first guy who was able to talk a couple of rich royals into backing an expedition based on that notion.
http://aycu18.webshots.com/image/24217/2002747845874252860_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002747845874252860)
Ferdinand and Isabella's marriage of over thirty-five years, as well as their practice of 15th monarchical power is interesting in its own right. married as teenagers, Ferdinand and Isabella struggled to establish their joint regime, and then worked out an elaborate reform program of the Spanish Church and State. They fought a ‘total war’, by fifteenth-century standards, against Muslim Granada, leading to that kingdom’s conquest. They fought an equally ‘total’ war, through the Inquisition and the Church in general, to convert Spanish Jews and Muslims to Christianity. But I digress...
http://aycu03.webshots.com/image/25202/2002773489907722371_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002773489907722371)
Columbus and other early Spanish explorers to the New World brought with them the castle-and-lion flag incorporating the arms of Castile and León. Technically, in the 15th century, Spain was not a single country but rather a collection of kingdoms. The largest and most important was the combined kingdom of Castile and León, which since 1248 had been identified by a banner incorporating the arms of Castile (a castle) and León (a lion).
http://aycu30.webshots.com/image/23549/2002793973950375730_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002793973950375730)
Columbus' personal expedition banner. It featured the initials of his patrons.
Two months later, on October 12, the expedition sighted land, probably Watling Island in the Bahamas, and went ashore the same day, claiming it for Spain. Later that month, Columbus sighted Cuba, which he thought was mainland China, and in December the expedition landed on Hispaniola, which Columbus thought might be Japan.
http://aycu30.webshots.com/image/24189/2002765680687174708_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002765680687174708)
A repop of the 100 ton Santa Maria. She had been purpose built to haul barrels of wine and thus was squarish and squat.
Columbus established a small colony there with 39 of his men. The explorer returned to Spain with gold, spices, and "Indian" captives in March 1493 and was received with the highest honors by the Spanish court. He was the first white guy to explore the Americas since the Vikings set up colonies in Greenland and Newfoundland in the 10th century.
During his lifetime, Columbus led a total of four expeditions to the New World, discovering various Caribbean islands, the Gulf of Mexico, and the South and Central American mainland, but never accomplished his original goal--a western ocean route to the great cities of Asia.
http://aycu13.webshots.com/image/22692/2002729266580382848_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002729266580382848)
Four voyages total
Columbus died in Spain in 1506 without realizing the great scope of what he did achieve: He had discovered for Europe the New World, whose riches over the next century would help make Spain the wealthiest and most powerful nation on earth.
http://aycu28.webshots.com/image/25187/2002794339580205520_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002794339580205520)