Route of Christopher Columbus 1 sailing on the map. Four expeditions of Columbus or how Europeans began to colonize America

"The history and significance of geographical discoveries" - Portuguese navigator. Ancient Greek scientist Australia is an independent continent. Robert Peary. Russian sailors. Englishman. Mainland. The routes of which travelers are shown on the map. Russian travelers. The route of which polar explorer is shown on the map. Routes of four expeditions.

"The Age of Discovery" - Vehicles used in geographical discoveries. Directions of geographical discoveries. Interaction with other countries. A fragment of a lesson on the topic "The Age of Discovery" (7th grade). First round-the-world trip. Sailing vessel. Silver coins.

"Great geographical discoveries of modern times" - - Europeans got acquainted with new ... Map of Magellan's travel route. New time. A letter from a barrel. 3. Motherland Olympic Games-. The new century is the age of technical inventions. Discovery of Australia. Key words: geography, cultivated plants, continents, globe. Mikhail Petrovich Lazarev. Appreciated - Enterprise. - The desire to find application for their knowledge and talents.

"Great geographical discoveries" - The ships of the expedition of Christopher Columbus. Drawing 1523. The discoveries of Columbus forced the Portuguese to hurry up. Great geographical discoveries laid the foundation for the creation of a colonial system (see Christopher Columbus. At the same time, the Spaniards also rushed to search for new trade routes. Life is wonderful! .. - -what a surprise!

"The Age of Discovery" - James Cook 1768 Normans (Vikings) 10th century. Routes of the most important travels. Vasco da Gama May 20, 1498 Vasco Balboa 1513 The era of the great geographical discoveries. Ferdinand Magellan 1520 What prerequisites contributed to the Great geographical discoveries? What travel books have you read? Marco Polo 13th century.

"History of the Great Geographical Discoveries" - The Spanish conquistador who conquered Mexico. Great geographical discoveries. Vasco da Gama. General conclusion. Italian traveler. Fernando Cortes. If Christopher Columbus had not discovered America, no one would have discovered it. Francisco Pizarro. Christopher Columbus. Amerigo Vespucci. Ferdinand Magellan. Portuguese navigator.

In total there are 6 presentations in the topic

Christopher Columbus had an unshakable conviction that it was possible to sail to East Asia and India by heading west from Europe. It was based not on the dark, semi-fabulous news about the discovery of Vinland by the Normans, but on the considerations of the brilliant mind of Columbus. The warm sea current from the Gulf of Mexico to the western coast of Europe gave evidence that a large land existed in the west. The Portuguese helmsman (skipper) Vincente caught in the sea at the height of the Azores a block of wood on which figures were carved. The carving was skillful, but it was clear that it was made not with iron, but with some other chisel. The same piece of carved wood was seen by Christopher Columbus at Pedro Carrei, his relative by wife, who was the ruler of the island of Porto Santo. The King of Portugal, John II, showed Columbus pieces of reed brought by the western sea current so thick and high that three azumbras (more than half a bucket) of water were placed in segments from one knot to another. They reminded Columbus of the words of Ptolemy about the enormous size of Indian plants. The inhabitants of the islands of Faial and Graciosa told Columbus that the sea brings to them from the west pine trees of a species that is not found in Europe and on their islands. There were several cases that the western current brought to the shores of the Azores boats with dead people of a race that was neither in Europe nor in Africa.

Portrait of Christopher Columbus. Artist S. del Piombo, 1519

Treaty of Columbus with Queen Isabella

After living for some time in Portugal, Columbus left to propose a plan for sailing to India by the western route. Castilian government. The Andalusian nobleman Luis de la Cerda, Duke of Medina Celi, became interested in Columbus's project, which promised enormous benefits to the state, and recommended him Queen Isabella. She accepted Christopher Columbus into her service, gave him a salary and submitted his project to the University of Salamanca for consideration. The commission, to which the queen entrusted the final decision of the case, consisted almost exclusively of persons of the clergy; the most influential person in it was the confessor of Isabella, Fernando Talavera. After much deliberation, she came to the conclusion that the foundations of the westward sailing project were weak and that it was unlikely to be carried out. But not everyone was of this opinion. Cardinal Mendoza, a very intelligent man, and the Dominican Diego Desa, later Archbishop of Seville and Grand Inquisitor, became patrons of Christopher Columbus; at their request, Isabella left him in her service.

In 1487 Columbus lived in Cordoba. It seems that he settled in this city, in fact, because Doña Beatriz Enriquez Avana lived there, with whom he had a connection. She had a son, Fernando, from him. The war with the Muslims of Granada absorbed all the attention of Isabella. Columbus lost hope of getting funds from the queen to sail west and decided to go to France to offer his project to the French government. He and his son Diego came to Palos to sail from there to France and stayed at the Franciscan monastery of Ravide. The monk Juan Perez Marchena, who was Isabella's confessor, who lived there at the time, spoke to the visitor. Columbus began to tell him his project; he invited the doctor Garcia Hernandez, who knew astronomy and geography, to his conversation with Columbus. The confidence with which Columbus spoke made a strong impression on Marchena and Hernandez. Marchena persuaded Columbus to postpone his departure and immediately went to Santa Fe (to the camp near Granada) to talk with Isabella about the project of Christopher Columbus. Some courtiers supported Marchena.

Isabella sent Columbus money and invited him to come to Santa Fe. He arrived shortly before the capture of Granada. Isabella listened attentively to Columbus, who eloquently outlined to her his plan to sail to East Asia Western way and explaining what glory she would gain by conquering rich pagan lands and spreading Christianity in them. Isabella promised to equip a squadron for the voyage of Columbus, she said that if there was no money for this in the treasury, depleted by military spending, then she would pawn her diamonds. But when it came to defining the terms of the contract, difficulties arose. Columbus demanded that he be given the nobility, the rank of admiral, the rank of viceroy of all the lands and islands that he discovers in his voyage, a tenth of the income that the government will receive from them, so that he owns the right to appoint to some positions there and were some trading privileges are granted, so that the power granted to him remains hereditary in his posterity. The Castilian dignitaries who negotiated with Christopher Columbus considered these demands too great, urged him to reduce them; but he remained adamant. The negotiations were interrupted, and he again got ready to go to France. The state treasurer of Castile, Luis de San Angel, ardently urged the queen to agree to Columbus' demands; some other courtiers spoke to her in the same vein, and she agreed. On April 17, 1492, an agreement was concluded in Santa Fe by the Castilian government with Christopher Columbus on the terms that he demanded. The treasury was exhausted by the war. San Angel said that he would give his money to equip three ships, and Columbus went to the Andalusian coast to prepare for his first voyage to America.

Beginning of the first voyage of Columbus

The small port city of Palos had shortly before incurred the wrath of the government, and for this he was obliged to maintain two ships for a year for public service. Isabella told Palos to place these ships at the disposal of Christopher Columbus; the third ship he equipped himself with money given to him by friends. In Palos, the Pinson family, which was engaged in maritime trade, enjoyed great influence. With the assistance of the Pinsons, Columbus dispelled the fear of sailors to embark on a long voyage to the west and recruited about a hundred good sailors. Three months later, the equipment of the squadron was over, and on August 3, 1492, two caravels sailed from the harbor of Palos, Pinta and Nina, captained by Alonso Pinson and his brother Vincente Yanes, and a third ship of a slightly larger size, the Santa Maria ”, captained by Christopher Columbus himself.

Replica of Columbus' Santa Maria

Sailing from Palos, Columbus constantly kept the direction to the west under the degrees of latitude of the Canary Islands. The path along these degrees was longer than along latitudes more northerly or more southerly, but it represented the benefit that the wind was constantly favourable. The squadron stopped at one of the Azores to repair the damaged Pint; it took a month. Then the first voyage of Columbus continued further west. In order not to arouse concern in the sailors, Columbus hid from them the true magnitude of the distance traveled. In the tables that he showed to his companions, he put up numbers that were smaller than the actual ones, and noted the real numbers only in his journal, which he did not show to anyone. The weather was good, the wind was fair; the air temperature was reminiscent of the fresh and warm morning hours of April days in Andalusia. The squadron sailed for 34 days, seeing nothing but the sea and the sky. The sailors began to worry. The magnetic needle changed its direction, began to deviate from the pole further to the west than in parts of the sea not far from Europe and Africa. This increased the fear of the sailors; the voyage seemed to lead them to places dominated by influences unknown to them. Columbus tried to reassure them, explaining that the change in the direction of the magnetic needle is created by a change in the position of the ships relative to the polar star.

A fair east wind carried the ships in the second half of September along a calm sea, in some places covered with green sea plants. The invariance in the direction of the wind increased the anxiety of the sailors: they began to think that there was never any other wind in those places, and that they would not be able to sail the opposite way, but these fears disappeared when strong sea currents from the southwest became noticeable: they made it possible to return to Europe. The squadron of Christopher Columbus sailed on that part of the ocean, which later became known as the Grass Sea; this continuous vegetative shell of water seemed to be a sign of the proximity of the earth. A flock of birds circling over the ships reinforced the hope that land was near. Seeing on September 25 at sunset a cloud on the edge of the horizon in a northwesterly direction, the participants in the first voyage of Columbus mistook him for an island; but the next morning it turned out that they were mistaken. There are stories from earlier historians that the sailors plotted to force Columbus to return, that they even threatened his life, that they made him promise to turn back if no land appeared in the next three days. But now it has been proven that these stories are fictions that arose several decades after the time of Christopher Columbus. The fears of the sailors, very natural, were turned into a mutiny by the imagination of the next generation. Columbus calmed his sailors with promises, threats, reminders of the power given to him by the queen, kept himself firmly and calmly; this was enough for the sailors not to disobey him. He promised a lifetime pension of 30 gold coins to the first person to see the land. Therefore, the sailors who were on Mars gave signals several times that the land was visible, and when it turned out that the signals were erroneous, the crews of the ships were overcome with despondency. To stop these disappointments, Columbus said that whoever gives the wrong signal about the land on the horizon loses the right to receive a pension, even after actually seeing the first land.

Discovery of America by Columbus

In early October, signs of the proximity of the land intensified. Flocks of small, colorful birds circled over the ships and flew southwest; plants floated on the water, obviously not marine, but terrestrial, but still retaining their freshness, showing that they had recently been washed away from the earth by waves; a plank and a carved stick were caught. The navigators took a direction somewhat to the south; the air was fragrant, like Andalusian spring. On a clear night on October 11, Columbus noticed a moving light in the distance, so he ordered the sailors to look carefully and promised, in addition to the previous reward, a silk camisole to the one who first sees the land. At 2 o'clock in the morning on October 12, the sailor of Pinta Juan Rodriguez Vermejo, a native of the town of Molinos, neighboring Seville, saw the outline of the cape in the moonlight and with a joyful cry: “Land! Earth!" rushed to the cannon to make a signal shot. But then the award for the discovery was awarded to Columbus himself, who had seen the light earlier. At dawn, the ships sailed to the shore, and Christopher Columbus in the scarlet clothes of an admiral, with a Castilian banner in his hand, went out to the land he had discovered. It was an island that the natives called Guanagani, and Columbus named San Salvador to the glory of the Savior (later it was called Watling). The island was covered with beautiful meadows and forests, and there were inhabitants, naked, of a dark copper color; their hair was straight, not curly; their body was painted in bright colors. They met the foreigners timidly, respectfully, imagined that they were the children of the sun descended from the sky, and, understanding nothing, watched and listened to the ceremony by which Columbus took possession of the Castilian crown of their island. They gave expensive things for beads, bells, foil. Thus began the discovery of America.

AT next days voyage Christopher Columbus discovered several more small islands belonging to the Bahamas archipelago. He called one of them the island of the Immaculate Conception (Santa Maria de la Concepcion), the other Fernandina (this is the current island of Ehuma), the third Isabella; gave others new names in this genus. He believed that the archipelago discovered by him in this first voyage lies in front of the eastern coast of Asia, that from there it is not far to Jipangu (Japan) and Katai (China), described Marco Polo and drawn on the map by Paolo Toscanelli. He took several natives on his ships to learn Spanish and serve as interpreters. Traveling further southwest, Columbus discovered the large island of Cuba on October 26, and on December 6, a beautiful island that resembled Andalusia with its forests, mountains and fertile plains. For this resemblance, Columbus named it Hispaniola (or, in the Latin form of the word, Hispaniola). The natives called it Haiti. Luxurious vegetation of Cuba and Haiti approved in the Spaniards the belief that this is an archipelago neighboring India. No one then suspected the existence of the great continent of America. The participants in the first voyage of Christopher Columbus admired the charm of the meadows and forests on these islands, their excellent climate, bright feathers and the sonorous singing of birds in the forests, the aroma of herbs and flowers, which was so strong that it was felt far from the coast; admired the brightness of the stars in the tropical sky.

The vegetation of the islands was then, after the autumn rains, in the full freshness of its splendor. Columbus, endowed with a lively love of nature, describes in the ship's log of his first voyage the beauty of the islands and the sky above them with graceful simplicity. Humboldt says: “In his voyage along the coast of Cuba between the small islands of the Bahamas and the Hardinel group, Christopher Columbus admired the density of forests in which the branches of the trees intertwined so that it is difficult to make out which flowers belong to this or that tree. He admired the luxurious meadows of the wet coast, the pink flamingos standing along the banks of the rivers; each new land seems to Columbus even more beautiful than the one described before it; he complains that he lacks words to convey the pleasure he experiences. - Peschel says: “Fascinated by his success, Columbus imagines that mastic trees grow in these forests, that the sea is replete with pearl shells, that there is a lot of gold in the sand of the rivers; he sees the fulfillment of all the tales of rich India.”

But the Spaniards did not find as much gold, expensive stones and pearls on the islands they discovered as they wished. The natives wore small jewelry made of gold, willingly exchanged them for beads and other trinkets. But this gold did not satisfy the greed of the Spaniards, but only kindled in them the hope of the proximity of lands in which there is a lot of gold; they questioned the natives who came to their ships in canoes. Columbus treated these savages kindly; they ceased to be afraid of foreigners and answered questions about gold that further south there was a land in which there was a lot of it. But in his first journey, Christopher Columbus did not reach the mainland of America; he did not sail further than Hispaniola, whose inhabitants received the Spaniards gullibly. The most important of their princelings, the cacique Guacanagari, showed Columbus sincere friendship and filial piety. Columbus considered it necessary to stop sailing and return from the coast of Cuba to Europe, because Alonso Pinzon, the head of one of the caravels, secretly sailed away from the admiral's ship. He was a proud and quick-tempered man, he was burdened by his submission to Christopher Columbus, he wanted to acquire the merit of discovering a land rich in gold, and use its treasures alone. On November 20, his caravel sailed away from the ship of Columbus and never returned. Columbus suggested that he sailed to Spain to claim the fame and reward for the discovery.

A month later (December 24), the ship "Santa Maria" fell through the negligence of a young helmsman on a sandbar and was wrecked by waves. Columbus had only one caravel left; he saw himself in the necessity of hastening his return to Spain. Cacique and all the inhabitants of Hispaniola showed the most friendly disposition towards the Spaniards, tried to do everything they could for them. But Columbus was afraid that his only ship might crash on unfamiliar shores, and did not dare to continue discoveries. He decided to leave some of his companions on Hispaniola, so that they would continue to acquire gold from the natives for trifles that the savages liked. With the help of the natives, the participants in the first voyage of Columbus built a fortification from the wreckage of a crashed ship, circled it with a moat, transferred part of the food supplies into it, and placed several cannons there; sailors vying one before another volunteered to stay in this fortification. Columbus selected 40 of them, among whom were several carpenters and other artisans, and left them in Hispaniola under the command of Diego Arana, Pedro Gutierrez and Rodrigo Escovedo. The fort was named after the Christmas holiday La Navidad.

Before Christopher Columbus sailed to Europe, Alonso Pinson returned to him. Having sailed away from Columbus, he went further along the coast of Hispaniola, went to land, received from the natives in exchange for trinkets several pieces of gold two fingers thick, went inland, heard about the island of Jamaia (Jamaica), on which there is a lot of gold and from which ten days you can swim to the mainland, where people who wear clothes live. Pinzón had strong kinship and powerful friends in Spain, so Columbus hid his displeasure at him, pretended to believe in the fictions that he explains his act with. Together they sailed along the coast of Hispaniola and in the Gulf of Saman found the warlike Siguayo tribe, which entered into battle with them. This was the first hostile encounter between the Spaniards and the natives. From the shores of Hispaniola, Columbus and Pinson sailed to Europe on January 16, 1493.

Return of Columbus from the first voyage

On the way back from the first voyage, happiness was less favorable to Christopher Columbus and his companions than on the way to America. In the middle of February, they were subjected to a violent storm, which their ships, already quite badly damaged, could hardly withstand. The Pint was swept north by the storm. Columbus and other travelers who sailed on the Nina lost sight of her. Columbus felt great anxiety at the thought that the Pinta had sunk; his ship, too, could easily have perished, in which case information about his discoveries would not have reached Europe. He made a promise to God that if his ship survived, pilgrimage trips would be made to three of the most famous Spanish holy places. He and his companions cast lots to see which of them would go to these holy places. Of the three trips, two fell to the lot of Christopher Columbus himself; he took over the costs of the third. The storm was still going on, and Columbus came up with a means for the news of his discovery to reach Europe in the event of the death of the Nina. He wrote on parchment a short story about his voyage and about the lands he found, folded the parchment, covered it with a wax shell to protect it from water, put the package in a barrel, made an inscription on the barrel that whoever finds it and delivers it to the Queen of Castile will receive 1000 ducats rewards, and threw him into the sea.

A few days later, when the storm stopped and the sea calmed down, the sailor saw land from the main mast's top; the joy of Columbus and his companions was as great as at the discovery earlier during the voyage of the first island in the west. But no one except Columbus could figure out which coast was in front of them. Only he correctly conducted observations and calculations; all the others got mixed up in them, partly because he deliberately introduced them into errors, wanting one to have the information needed for the second voyage to America. He realized that the land in front of the ship was one of the Azores. But the waves were still so great and the wind so strong that the caravel of Christopher Columbus cruised for three days in sight of the land before it could land on Santa Maria (the very south island Azores archipelago).

The Spaniards went ashore on February 17, 1493. The Portuguese, who owned the Azores, met them unfriendly. Castanjeda, the ruler of the island, an insidious man, wanted to capture Columbus and his ship for fear that these Spaniards were rivals of the Portuguese in trade with Guinea, or at the desire to find out about the discoveries they made on the voyage, Columbus sent half of his sailors to the chapel to thank God for salvation from the storm. The Portuguese arrested them; they wanted to take possession of the ship later, but this failed because Columbus was careful. Having failed, the Portuguese ruler of the island released the arrested, excusing his hostile actions by the fact that he did not know whether the ship of Columbus was really in the service of the Queen of Castile. Columbus sailed to Spain; but near the Portuguese coast was subjected to a new storm; she was very dangerous. Columbus and his companions made a promise of a fourth pilgrimage; by lot, it fell to the lot of Columbus himself. The inhabitants of Cascaes, who saw from the shore the danger that the ship was in, went to church to pray for its salvation. Finally, on March 4, 1493, the ship of Christopher Columbus reached Cape Sintra and entered the mouth of the Tagus River. The sailors of the Belem harbor, where Columbus landed, said that his salvation was a miracle, that in the memory of people there had never been such a strong storm that it sank 25 large merchant ships sailing from Flanders.

Happiness favored Christopher Columbus on his first voyage, saving him from dangers. They threatened him in Portugal. Its king, John II, envied the amazing discovery that eclipsed all the discoveries of the Portuguese and, as it seemed then, robbed them of the benefits of trade with India, which they wanted to achieve thanks to the discovery Vasco da Gama way around Africa. The king received Columbus in his western palace of Valparaiso, listened to his story about the discoveries. Some nobles wanted to irritate Columbus, challenge him to some insolence and, using it, kill him. But John II rejected this shameful thought, and Columbus survived. John showed respect for him and took care to ensure his safety on the way back. On March 15, Christopher Columbus sailed to Palos; the inhabitants of the city greeted him with delight. His first voyage lasted seven and a half months.

In the evening of the same day, Alonso Pinzon sailed to Palos. He went ashore in Galicia, sent a notice of his discoveries to Isabella and Ferdinand, who were then in Barcelona, ​​and asked for an audience with them. They answered that he should come to them in the retinue of Columbus. This disfavor of the queen and king grieved him; saddened him and the coldness with which he was received in his hometown Palos. He grieved so much that he died a few weeks later. By his cunning towards Columbus, he brought contempt upon himself, so that his contemporaries did not want to appreciate the services rendered by him to the discovery of the New World. Only descendants did justice to his brave participation in the first voyage of Christopher Columbus.

Columbus reception in Spain

In Seville, Columbus received an invitation from the Queen and King of Spain to visit them in Barcelona; he went, taking with him several savages brought from the islands discovered by navigation, and products found there. The people gathered in a huge crowd to see him enter Barcelona. Queen Isabella and the King Ferdinand they received him with such honors as only the most distinguished people received. The king met Columbus in the square, seated him next to him, and then several times rode next to him on horseback around the city. The most famous Spanish nobles gave feasts in honor of Columbus and, as they say, at the feast given in his honor by Cardinal Mendoza, there was a famous anecdote with the “Columbian egg”.

Columbus before Kings Ferdinand and Isabella. Painting by E. Leutse, 1843

Columbus remained firmly convinced that the islands he discovered during his voyage lay off the eastern coast of Asia, not far from the rich lands of Jipangu and Cathay; almost everyone shared his opinion; only a few doubted its thoroughness.

Continued - see article

Surely every student can easily answer the question of what Christopher Columbus discovered. Well, of course, America! However, let's think about whether this knowledge is too scarce, because most of us do not even know where this famous discoverer comes from, what was his life path And what era did he live in?

This article is aimed at telling in detail about the discoveries of Christopher Columbus. In addition, the reader will have a unique opportunity to get acquainted with interesting data and the chronology of events that took place several centuries ago.

What did the great navigator discover?

Christopher Columbus, a traveler now known to the whole planet, was originally an ordinary Spanish navigator who worked both on a ship and in a port and, in fact, was practically no different from the same eternally busy hard workers.

It was later, in 1492, that he would become a celebrity - the man who discovered America, the first European to cross the Atlantic Ocean, to visit the Caribbean Sea.

By the way, not everyone knows that it was Christopher Columbus who laid the foundation for a detailed study of not only America itself, but also almost all the nearby archipelagos.

Although here I would like to make an amendment. The Spanish navigator was far from the only traveler who set off to conquer unknown worlds. In fact, even in the Middle Ages, there were already inquisitive Icelandic Vikings in America. But at a time of such widespread this information did not receive, therefore the whole world believes that it was the expedition of Christopher Columbus that was able to popularize information about American lands and initiate the colonization of the whole continent by Europeans.

History of Christopher Columbus. Secrets and mysteries of his biography

This man was and remains one of the most mysterious historical figures on the planet. Unfortunately, not many facts have been preserved that tell about his origin and occupation before the first expedition. In those days, Christopher Columbus, we briefly note, was practically nobody, that is, he did not differ significantly from the usual average sailor, and therefore it is practically impossible to single him out from the general mass.

By the way, that is why, being lost in conjectures and trying to surprise the readership, historians have written hundreds of books about him. Almost all such manuscripts are full of assumptions and unverified claims. But in fact, even the original ship's log of the first expedition of Columbus has not been preserved.

It is believed that Christopher Columbus was born in 1451 (according to another, unverified version - in 1446), between August 25 and October 31, in the Italian city of Genoa.

To date, a number of Spanish and Italian cities ascribe to themselves the honor of being called the small homeland of the discoverer. As for his social position, it is only known that the Columbus family was not at all of noble origin, none of his ancestors was a navigator.

Modern researchers believe that Columbus Sr. earned a living by hard work and was either a weaver or a wool comber. Although there is also a version that the navigator's father served as a senior guard at the city gates.

Of course, the journey of Christopher Columbus did not begin immediately. Probably, from early childhood, the boy began to earn extra money, helping the elders to support the family. Perhaps he was a cabin boy on ships and that is why he fell in love with the sea so much. Unfortunately, there are no more detailed records of how the childhood and youth of this famous person passed.

As for education, there is a version that H. Columbus studied at the University of Pavia, but there is no documentary evidence of this fact. Therefore, it is quite possible that he was educated at home as well. Be that as it may, this man had excellent knowledge in the field of navigation, which provides for far from superficial knowledge in mathematics, geometry, cosmography and geography.

It is also known that at an older age, Christopher Columbus worked as a cartographer, and then moved to serve in a local printing house. He spoke not only his native Portuguese, but also Italian and Spanish. A good command of Latin helped him in deciphering maps and annals. There is evidence that the navigator could write a little in Hebrew.

It is also known that Columbus was a prominent man who was constantly looked at by ladies. So, while serving in Portugal in some Genoese trading house, the future discoverer of America met his future wife, Doña Felipe Moniz de Palestrello. They got married in 1478. Soon the couple had a son, Diego. The wife's family was also not rich, but it was the wife's noble origin that allowed Christopher to establish contacts, establish useful contacts in the circles of the nobility of Portugal

As for the nationality of the traveler, there are even more mysteries. Some researchers prove the Jewish origin of Columbus, but there are also versions of Spanish, German and Portuguese roots.

The official religion of Christopher was Catholic. Why can you say that? The fact is that, according to the rules of that era, otherwise he would simply not have been allowed into the same Spain. Although, it is quite possible that he hid his true religion.

Apparently, many mysteries of the navigator's biography will remain unsolved for all of us.

Pre-Columbian America or what the discoverer saw when he arrived on the mainland

America, until its discovery, was a land where certain groups of people lived, who for centuries remained in some kind of natural isolation. All of them, by the will of fate, were cut off from the rest of the planet. However, despite all this, they were able to create high culture, demonstrating unlimited possibilities and skill.

The uniqueness of these civilizations lies in the fact that they are considered natural and ecological in nature, and not man-made, like ours. The local natives, the Indians, did not seek to transform the environment, on the contrary, their settlements blended harmoniously with nature as much as possible.

Experts say that all civilizations that arose in North Africa, Asia, and Europe developed approximately the same way. In pre-Columbian America, this development took a different path, so, for example, the contrast between the population of the city and the countryside was minimal. The cities of the ancient Indians also contained extensive agricultural lands. The only significant difference between the city and the countryside was the area occupied by the territory.

At the same time, the civilizations of pre-Columbian America did not make much progress in what Europe and Asia could rise on. For example, the Indians were not very eager to improve metal processing technologies. If in the Old World bronze was considered the main metal and new lands were conquered for it, then in pre-Columbian America this material was used exclusively as decoration.

But the civilizations of the New World are interesting for their unique structures, sculptures and paintings, which were characterized by a completely different style.

The beginning of the way

In 1485, after the categorical refusal of the King of Portugal to invest in a project to find the shortest sea route to India, Columbus moved to permanent place residence in Castile. There, with the help of Andalusian merchants and bankers, he nevertheless managed to achieve the organization of a government sea expedition.

For the first time, the ship of Christopher Columbus went on a year-long voyage in 1492. 90 people took part in the expedition.

By the way, contrary to a fairly common misconception, there were three ships, and they were called "Santa Maria", "Pinta" and "Nina".

The expedition left Palos at the very beginning of the sultry August 1492. From the Canary Islands, the flotilla headed west, where it crossed the Atlantic Ocean without any problems.

Along the way, the navigator's team discovered the Sargasso Sea and successfully reached the Bahamas, where they landed on land on October 12, 1492. Since then, this very date has become the official day of the discovery of America.

In 1986, the US geographer J. Judge carefully processed all the available materials about this expedition on a computer and came to the conclusion that the first land that Christopher saw was Fr. Samana. From about October 14, for ten days, the expedition approached several more Bahamas, and by December 5 opened part of the coast of Cuba. On December 6, the team reached Fr. Haiti.

Then the ships moved along the northern coast, and then luck changed the pioneers. On the night of December 25, the Santa Maria suddenly landed on a reef. True, this time the crew was lucky - all the sailors survived.

Second Voyage of Columbus

The second expedition took place in 1493-1496, it was led by Columbus already in the official position of Viceroy of the lands he discovered.

It is worth noting that the team has increased significantly - the expedition already consisted of 17 ships. According to various sources, 1.5-2.5 thousand people participated in the expedition.

At the beginning of November 1493, the islands of Dominica, Guadeloupe and twenty Lesser Antilles were discovered, and on November 19, Fr. Puerto Rico. In March 1494, Columbus, in search of gold, decided to make a military campaign on about. Haiti, then in the summer opened about. Khuventud and about. Jamaica.

For 40 days, the famous navigator carefully explored the south of Haiti, but in the spring of 1496 he nevertheless sailed home, completing his second voyage on June 11 in Castile.

By the way, it was then that H. Columbus informed the public about the discovery of a new route to Asia.

Third expedition

The third trip took place in 1498-1500 and was not as numerous as the previous one. Only 6 ships participated in it, and the navigator himself led three of them across the Atlantic.

On July 31, in the first year of the trip, Fr. Trinidad, the ships entered the Gulf of Paria, as a result, the peninsula of the same name was discovered. This is how South America was discovered.

On August 31, Columbus landed in the Caribbean Sea in Haiti. Already in 1499, the monopoly right of Christopher Columbus to new lands was canceled, the royal couple sent their representative F. Bobadilla to the destination, who in 1500 arrested Columbus along with his brothers on a denunciation.

The navigator, shackled, was sent to Castile, where local financiers persuaded the royal family to release him.

Fourth voyage to American shores

What continued to excite such a restless person as Columbus? Christopher, for whom America was already a practically passed stage, wanted to find a new way from there to South Asia. The traveler believed that such a route existed, for he observed off the coast of about. Cuba is a strong current that went west through the Caribbean Sea. As a result, he was able to convince the king to give permission for a new expedition.

On his fourth trip, Columbus went along with his brother Bartolomeo and his 13-year-old son Hernando. He was lucky to discover the mainland south of about. Cuba is the coast of Central America. And Columbus was the first to inform Spain about the Indian peoples inhabiting the coast of the South Sea.

But, unfortunately, he never found the strait into the South Sea. I had to return home with almost nothing.

Unexplained facts, the study of which continues

The distance from Palos to the Canaries is 1600 km, the ships participating in the Columbus expedition covered this distance in 6 days, that is, they covered 250-270 km per day. The way to the Canary Islands was well known, it did not present any difficulties. But it was on this site that on August 6 (possibly 7) a strange breakdown occurred on the Pinta ship. According to some reports, the steering wheel broke, according to others, there was a leak. This circumstance aroused suspicion, because then the Pint crossed the Atlantic twice. Before that, she quite successfully covered about 13 thousand km, visited terrible storms and arrived in Palos without damage. Therefore, there is a version that the crew members arranged the accident at the request of the co-owner of the ship K. Quintero. It is possible that the sailors received part of the salary in their hands and spent it. They didn’t see any more sense in risking their lives, and the owner himself had already received a lot of money for renting the Pint. So it was logical to simulate a breakdown and stay safe in the Canary Islands. It seems that the captain of the "Pinta" Martin Pinzon nevertheless saw through the conspirators and stopped them.

Already on the second trip of Columbus, intentional colonists set sail with him, loaded cattle, equipment, seeds, etc. on ships. The colonists laid their city somewhere in the vicinity of the modern city of Santo Domingo. The same expedition discovered Fr. Lesser Antilles, Virginia, Puerto Rico, Jamaica. But Christopher Columbus to the last remained of the opinion that he had discovered western India, and not a new land.

Interesting data from the life of the discoverer

Of course, there is a lot of unique and very informative information. But in this article we would like to give as an example the most entertaining facts.

• When Christopher lived in Seville, he was friends with the brilliant Amerigo Vespucci.
• King Juan II at first refused Columbus to organize an expedition, but then sent his sailors to sail along the route proposed by Christopher. True, due to a strong storm, the Portuguese had to return home with nothing.
• After Columbus was shackled during his third expedition, he decided to keep the chains as a talisman for the rest of his life.
• By order of Christopher Columbus, for the first time in the history of navigation, Indian hammocks were used as sailor berths.
• It was Columbus who proposed to the Spanish king to populate new lands with criminals to save money.

The historical significance of the expeditions

Everything that Christopher Columbus discovered was appreciated only half a century later. Why so late? The thing is that only after this period, from the colonized Mexico and Peru, they began to deliver whole galleons stuffed with gold and silver to the Old World.

The Spanish royal treasury spent only 10 kg of gold on the preparation of the expedition, and over three hundred years Spain managed to export precious metals from America, the value of which was at least 3 million kg of pure gold.

Alas, crazy gold did not benefit Spain, it did not stimulate the development of industry or the economy. And as a result, the country still hopelessly lagged behind many European states.

To date, not only numerous ships and vessels, cities, rivers and mountains are named after Christopher Columbus, but also, for example, currency unit El Salvador, the state of Colombia, located in South America, and also a well-known state in the USA.

In his study, Oleg Ivanov considers one of the most famous personalities in history - Christopher Columbus. It turns out that Columbus was a Jew, lived on fake documents and really sailed to China, hoping to pass through the Panama Canal.

The real Christopher Columbus and his brother Bartolomeo of Genoa were killed at an early age for their documents, which were needed by the man who discovered America and whose name we do not know. The next parts will be even more interesting.

Origin of Columbus

"Let me not be in eternal error » - Columbus' motto on a tomb in Seville

There are some truly great discoveries and inventions that have advanced humanity to a new level, changing our understanding of the world around us. The most significant of them, in my opinion, are the invention of the wheel, gunpowder, printing, the discovery of America and the landing of a man on the moon. All of them are fundamental, without them the face of the Earth and the very life of people would be different. And if there is an opportunity to shed more light on any of these events, then you need to use this chance, because this is precisely the point of science - to know the depth of God's plan, never reaching a complete solution, because this plan is infinite, like the Universe itself. . All doubts and ambiguities, especially concerning fundamental things, should be eliminated as far as possible by all available means, because this is precisely what is called the process of cognition. For this, man is endowed with intelligence, which makes us masters of the planet and masters of all the rest. existing species. And the elimination of ambiguities in the facts, which are considered to be well-known, serves only one thing - the continuation of the process of studying history and, in the end, a deeper knowledge of oneself.

The purpose of science is to know the depth of God's plan, never reaching a complete solution, because this plan is infinite, like the Universe itself. All doubts and ambiguities, especially concerning fundamental things, should be eliminated, if possible, by all available means, because this is precisely what is called the process of cognition. For this, man is endowed with intelligence, which makes us masters of the planet and masters of all other existing species. And the elimination of ambiguities in the facts, which are considered to be well-known, serves only one thing - the continuation of the process of studying history and, in the end, a deeper knowledge of oneself.

It is unlikely that the father of Columbus thought that, calling his son Christopher (translated from Greek - carrying Christ), he looked into the water, and that in 500 years people would study the life of his son almost as scrupulously as the life and deeds of the Savior himself . However, there are a number of studies on the life of the great navigator, some of which have not yet been completed. Italy, Spain, France, Portugal and even America tried to declare themselves the birthplace of Columbus, six Italian cities still dispute the right to be considered his hometown, and American scientists are still analyzing the DNA of the traveler's remains in order to shed light on his origin and, accordingly, for the entire opening.

Some facts are considered absolutely proven, have passed through forensic examinations, have been carefully studied by generations of scientists, and a number of commissions have compiled an official biography based on them. Here are the data that are not yet in doubt: the admiral was an Italian, originally from Genoa, where he was born on October 30, 1451 in a poor family of Domenico Colombo. He studied at the University of Pavia, which was under the patronage of the Milanese dukes, in 1470 he lived in Portugal, where he married Philip Moniz, the daughter of a Portuguese navigator with a title of nobility. In 1492 he discovered America, having made four trips to the American continent until 1504. The admiral wrote all letters and documents only in Castilian, which he was fluent in, as well as in Latin. He died in 1506 in Valladolid, the grave is currently in Seville.

However, the connection between even well-known data paints a completely different picture, and therefore it would be nice to understand why such a fuss was raised around the origin of the great traveler, who benefits from this confusion, and whether Columbus had a map of America long before his first trip.

Origin of Columbus

Domenico Colombo was a "lanerio", that is, a wool comber - this was the name of the profession common in Genoa. His family could hardly be called rich: the father of the navigator had to earn extra money as a porter of the city gates, sell cheese, wine and do anything to make ends meet. That is, Columbus was not distinguished by a high origin and a wealthy family, and education for such people in the fifteenth century did not shine at all. However, the future admiral studied at an Italian university, spoke two languages ​​perfectly, including the language of science - Latin, had extensive knowledge in mathematics, astronomy, cartography and theology. He wrote poetry, even theological ones. He spoke an elevated Castilian (now called Spanish) language, his turns of speech were characteristic of people of noble birth. Even in our time, this is called a brilliant education, and even in the fifteenth century, when there were few who simply knew how to read, and even more so.

But here is the first oddity - Columbus did not write a single letter or document in Italian. Strange, for someone who studied at an Italian university. Moreover, all letters to compatriots - Italians, relatives, trade and financial partners - are also written in Castilian. Most likely, he did not know how to write in Italian at all. And his sons also wrote all their memoirs and books in Castilian. However, the fact of birth in Genoa was established and proved as a result of 26 litigations and after the presentation of irrefutable papers.

In addition to his education, before his marriage, Columbus was already an excellent sailor. Evidence of this is a letter from the admiral himself to the king and queen of Spain, written in 1501: “From a young age I went to sea and continue to swim to this day. The art of navigation pushes those who practice it to the knowledge and secrets of this world. 40 years have passed, and I have been everywhere where you can swim ... It turned out that our Lord is supportive of my desires ... He gave me the knowledge of navigation, armed me with the sciences - astronomy, geometry, arithmetic. That is, he sailed from 1461, from the age of nine, and participated in battles, piracy and, most likely, was engaged in the slave trade - they simply did not swim to Africa at that time.

At the age of 19, he appears in Portugal, being an experienced navigator and cartographer, and even with a university education. There, in 1470, he marries Filipe Moniz (Moniz in Portuguese), a noblewoman who bore him a son, Diego, from a family of famous sailors who went on campaigns with Henry the Navigator. But marriage to a noblewoman at that time was impossible for a commoner, and even a foreigner, which was Columbus. And this marriage opened for him the doors to the palace of the Portuguese king, who soon became the first to know about travel plans to unknown lands, and the first to refuse funds for the campaign. That is, the future great traveler even then, at a young age, talked with the kings and offered them joint projects.

After Columbus became famous, he never went to his homeland in Genoa, did not send content to his parents, did not write letters to them, even in Spanish, did not show any concern for the Columbus family from Genoa, despite the fact that he was a very pious person , kept the commandments and, until his dying breath, worried and took care of all his children, wives (cohabitants) and the sailors who went on campaigns with him, sometimes paying them out of his pocket the salary underpaid by the crown. In addition, Columbus himself never considered himself a Genoese and even fought against Genoa at sea.

In order to fake nationality, there must be a motive, and a powerful one. For example, if suddenly for your nationality you, say, are killed. And in Spain, the Inquisition raged and the persecution of the Jews began, ending in their vile expulsion from the country in 1492. Just in the same year that Columbus set out on his first voyage to the West. For reading the Torah, for refusing to work on Saturday, for circumcising their children, Jews were easily sent to the stake, and all those who remained were ordered to emigrate, without even being allowed to take their property with them.

True, at that time in Spain they also fought with Muslims, but the fact that the wife of Columbus was also Jewish will not let us get away from the right track. This is also an established fact that does not cause any controversy now. The second son of Columbus - Fernando, who compiled a biography of his father, wrote that he came from "the royal house in Jerusalem." In letters to his first son Diego, in the left upper corner Columbus always wrote the Hebrew letters for the Hebrew blessing "Ba Ezrat HaShem" ("God help you"). Columbus himself spoke vaguely about his origin, but at the same time, as almost all historians will tell him, "claimed to belong to the family of King David." In addition, in one of his later letters, Columbus admitted that if he has enough treasures acquired as a result of his campaigns, then his main dream is to restore the second Jewish temple of King Solomon in Jerusalem, which is the main dream of the Jews to this day.

Toward the end of his life, Columbus wrote: “In order to complete the voyage to India, I did not need arguments of reason, mathematics or geographical maps in anything. It was a simple fulfillment of the prophecy of the prophet Isaiah.” Here it is, the prophecy to which the admiral referred - Isaiah 11:10-12: “And it will be in that day: the Gentiles will turn to the root of Jesse, which will become like a banner for the nations, - and his rest will be glory. And it will be in that day: the Lord will again stretch out His hand to restore to Himself the remnant of His people ... And He will raise a standard for the Gentiles, and will gather the exiles of Israel, and will call the scattered Jews from the four corners of the earth.

Jews also gave money for the first trip to Columbus, and this is a historical fact. True, this was a tax offset to the treasury, but at that time everyone already understood that persecution would not allow them to stay in Spain, at least not alive, so the fact of paying taxes was no longer obligatory and financing of a very dubious trip of some foreigner looks, at least, implausible. But if Columbus was his own, then the conversation is completely different. Columbus' advisers and patrons were the most senior Jews of Spain and Portugal, advisers to the king, scientists, financiers, judges and aristocrats. Of the historical characters who gave Columbus huge funds for the campaign, L. De Santangel is mentioned, baptized jew, financier, treasurer and secretary of economic affairs in Aragon, apparently hoping that in the newly discovered lands his compatriots would get rid of the persecution of the Spanish kings. And at the same time and taxes credited.

The story of how Queen Isabella I of Castile promised to pawn her jewelry for the campaign if her husband Ferdinand II of Aragon did not find the necessary funds is a historical anecdote. The fact is that Isabella didn’t have any jewelry for a long time, the Reconquista - the war with the Moors, which lasted almost 700 years, exhausted the entire Spanish budget, and by 1492 the queen’s jewelry had already been pledged to usurers from Valencia for three years. The famous trip did not cost the royal court a penny - there were sponsors, so to speak.

The conclusions are as follows: the great navigator was definitely a Jew, judging by the language - from Spain, moreover, of noble blood, and, given his education and experience in maritime affairs, he was somewhat older than the age declared by biographers. With the scientifically proven facts of the birth of Christopher Columbus in Genoa, one has to admit that this Christopher had nothing to do with the famous navigator. On the side of this statement is logic, mathematics and history.

The simplest assumption as to how to arrange such a forgery is the following - the future admiral had documents in the name of Christopher Columbus, who by that time, most likely, had died, otherwise it would be dangerous to use such documents, given the upcoming event and the level of interlocutors and opponents-inquisitors . Most likely, the brother of Christopher, Bartolomeo, also died, because Columbus the traveler had his own brother, who was needed to help in the campaign.

To understand the causes and consequences of such an intrigue around the origin of the great traveler, it is necessary to turn to the time of the first and most famous campaign.

1492

This year is absolutely wonderful, because the events that took place at this time forever changed the history of our planet, and they all took place in Spain. Subsequently, Queen Isabella and her husband Ferdinand, later called the Catholic kings, whose marriage created Spain in the form in which it exists to this day, no longer became famous for anything. But 1492 began bravo - already on January 2, the capture of Granada took place, the Reconquista was finally completed, and, despite 700 years of hostilities, this was the most insignificant event.

On the image - the Catholic kings Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon

Three great decisions of the Catholic kings of this year reshaped the entire geopolitics and, in principle, served as the beginning of the creation of the world in which we live now:

3 August 1492- Columbus brought his ships on the first campaign from the Spanish city of Palos de la Frontera, with a crew, the lion's share of which were Jews.

If the Reconquista had not ended, then Columbus would not have had money for the campaign, as a result of which a new planet was discovered for Europeans, from the depths of which 85 percent of all world gold was mined over the years and on which the most powerful state in the world is now located. If there had not been an exodus of Jews from Spain, then Columbus would not have had money for the campaign either, because apart from the Spaniards, no one else talked to him about financing the campaign, and the kings were not going to invest their money. The Jews, financing Columbus, hoped that in the new colonies it would be possible to hide from the persecution of all the kings, which eventually happened. That is, all these events were connected.

The campaign of Columbus was the second most important event of this year.

In 1492, the Catholic kings did two clever things and one incredibly stupid thing, and the subsequent redivision of the world was the result of these events.

The first and most influential event in world history was the expulsion of the Jews from Spain, a terrible historical mistake that led to fundamental changes in all geopolitics and, ultimately, to the ruin of Spain, removing it from the forefront of world politics.

On the image - the expulsion of the Jews

And this despite the fact that the Spaniards ended up with almost all the gold in the world: a fortune that was lowered in the most mediocre and even stupid way. The fortune, in fact, was sniffed out, spent on nothing. Some kind of cinnamon, ridiculous spices, useless disposable silks and, of course, porcelain. That is, rags, spices, dishes - all this was exchanged for a gold reserve brought from America. The choice of goods is not accidental - it’s just that nothing more valuable was produced in the East, and gold had to be seized from the careless Spaniards. History has never known a more absurd waste of such fortunes, either before or since. It was a well-planned action, executed with precision and ruthlessness, in response to the decisions of the Catholic kings. In fact, all the gold, for the extraction of which the Spaniards had to destroy civilizations, massacre and enslave entire nations, maintain an entire fleet that had been carrying treasures to Seville for centuries - all this gold was given to those who needed it. And the Spaniards simply worked, and when they lost everything, having lost their position, colonies, and money, they completely left the forefront of world politics.

How did it happen?

The Jews after the expulsion did not disappear into thin air. In addition to the fact that in Spain an entire class of merchants, artisans, usurers, in fact, bankers, was destroyed overnight, there was also a mighty outflow Money. During the exodus, three main directions of emigration were formed. The first led to the formation by Jews in Amsterdam of the world diamond trading center. This business is already five hundred years old and it is not going to rot.

The second direction prepared the industrial revolution in England, which then made her the leading power in the world and the ruler of the seas. Created by the exiled diaspora, the Bank of England from the seventeenth century until 1947 remained in private hands, being, in fact, the Central Bank of the country. The Bank of England was created in exchange for financing the English royal court, which was left without money at all after the troubled times and the devastation of the treasury by Cromwell.

And the third stream of the Jewish diaspora settled in Turkey, paving the way for new expansions. The unprecedented strengthening of the country, the enslavement of half of Europe, control over all goods "necessary" for the washing out of Spanish gold - this is the consequence of the exodus in former Byzantium, a historical fact, which is bashfully silent, or completely forgotten.

To carry out the idea of ​​pumping out the largest fortune from Spain, a serious influence on the world economy was necessary. The easiest way to do this is to control trade routes without producing any goods (and shipping and still remain the main ones. Turkey was not chosen by chance - the Bosphorus and Dardanelles tightly connected the two main European trade seas, the Black and the Mediterranean. Over time, two even more important straits, Gibraltar and Suez, moved to England, which put all European trade under control. And all this was the result of a systematic policy. Since then, England has always supported Turkey, fought even with Russia because of it (remember the Crimean campaign of 1853, which Russia lost outright), and England has become an implacable enemy of Spain, which she subsequently defeated in all respects. And on the lands discovered by Columbus, the same British formed a state, which later became the most powerful in the world, concentrating the bulk of the world's reserves of the same gold. A country that controls the world economy, currency, oil and these levers that controls the whole world. All this is a consequence of the decisions of the Catholic kings in 1492, which really redrawn the map of the world, and the entire history of the planet.

And in the light of the events described, it is not at all accidental that the Piri Reis map appeared in Turkey in 1513 - the very map that Columbus followed.

Piri Reis Map

There are such people, they do not seem to believe in God, and they are not atheists. They believe in aliens, and these people are called in a special way: supporters of paleocontact. This is not a religion, and not a sect, but just people who, not explained by science, strange facts and coincidences from the history of the Earth, a number of biblical and other religious texts are considered from the side of the fact that our planet in the recent past was visited by various extraterrestrial life forms that left after themselves a large number of references in the legends and beliefs of different peoples, as well as quite material traces of their presence. The construction of the pyramids different parts lights, drawings in the Nazca desert, interpreted as runways for alien ships, references to various supernatural forces and the flights of divine beings - all this is considered confirmation of the presence of alien aliens. And if all the above arguments of the supporters of paleocontact can cause controversy among scientists to this day, then the Piri Reis map is the most important and most irrefutable proof of such a contact for scientists. More than an absence technical capabilities ancient people for the construction of pyramids, even the civilizations of the Incas and Mayans, that is, the Indians, who did not know the wheel before the arrival of Columbus and built such monumental structures. More than any rock paintings of astronauts, references to extraterrestrial aliens in the texts of the Ramayana, Viking beliefs and information about the unprecedented abilities of biblical characters.

The Piri Reis map is something that cannot be and cannot be explained without the presence of highly developed alien life forms on Earth. Most likely, Columbus saw this map and, perhaps, even made a copy of it, at least in part related to his journey. One can brush aside the assumption that the pyramids were impossible to create without the proper technique, one can overlook crop circles, rock carvings of creatures in flying boats, and airstrips in the Nazca desert. But the release of the Piri Reis map is an indisputable historical fact that took place at least in 1513. Nine years before the first circumnavigation of Magellan, hundreds of years before the discovery of Antarctica and Australia, two centuries before the invention of spherical trigonometry, without which it was impossible to make such a map. Scientists cannot and hardly can refute this argument of paleocontact supporters. This map is amazing in that without the use of aerial photography, its production is simply impossible. Not only that, it meticulously painted lands where people had not yet been. And, of course, the Turkish Admiral Piri Reis did not and could not visit these lands. The whole point is that coastline of all the islands and lands is written out on a map with the accuracy that only aerial photography can give, and from a great height.

Skeptic scientists and even the commander of the US Air Force were forced to admit the lack of scientific explanations for the origin of such accurate outlines, as well as the fact that the map was created from aerial photography data only in an older time, when Antarctica was still connected to South America and was without ice cover, and in the middle of Spain there was a great lake. This is how the Earth looked before, when this map was drawn, perhaps even millions of years ago. There was neither the Strait of Magellan nor the Drake Strait, but there was the Panama Canal, or rather the strait in the place of Panama, and Columbus knew about it. That is why the legend was born that he was mistakenly looking for a way to India, this way was really on the map of Columbus, and until his fourth trip he was looking for a passage to the Pacific Ocean. Of course, no map of Columbus has been preserved. Most likely, it was either destroyed or even reproduced by the great traveler from memory. Therefore, Columbus was so confident when, on the first voyage, in response to the rebellion of the crew and the demand to sail back to Spain, he asked for only three days to discover new land, otherwise the admiral agreed to hang his own ship on the yardarm. On the third day, the earth appeared, this story is told even at school and shown in films. Therefore, he was so confident in the success of his expedition that he easily talked with the kings, without revealing, despite all their requests, his secrets.

Moreover, a special commission of scientists, sailors and theologians met in Spain for four years before the first campaign in order to decide on the advisability of the campaign. Columbus did not give them his secrets either, but his confidence was so strong that the commission could not conclude that the campaign was inappropriate. He did not tell anything to the king of Spain, or Portugal, and in general - to no one. No children, no brother, no wife. But he skillfully told everyone fairy tales. About how to get to India, about what China discovered, divided by two all the data in the ship's logs, confusing the tracks, composed legends about his origin. And that if he was given more money, then in the Orinoco River he would find a real paradise. In fact, Columbus immediately ended up in paradise. Medieval cities presented a sad sight: epidemics, diseases, unsanitary conditions, lack of roads, impoverished population, practically slaves ready for any work, dirt everywhere - Columbus brought such a civilization to America. And when I arrived, I saw the most beautiful coasts in the world - there is no such nature anywhere in Europe, and from the hassle - sit and wait until the locals themselves come and give you the gold. Here, on the beach, you don't have to go anywhere. If you want, take any woman, or several. The rest will still bring gold themselves and exchange them, say, for glass from bottles. If only I could live like this for a day, why not heaven?

Of course, he liked to travel around all the islands and collect jewelry from the natives. This admiral was happy to do the first three trips, forgetting about the main goal. But, apparently, someone reminded him, and the already aged and all sick admiral gathered for his most mysterious, but, from our point of view, the most important fourth campaign. Columbus did not know whether he would return or not, he had already sued the Spanish king for revoked privileges, sat in chains in a dungeon, and was already a very wealthy and famous person. But some force lifted him out of bed and reminded him of the main goal of the journey, the one that was mentioned at the very beginning. The goal was to find the Panama Canal by any means. Because it was marked on an ancient map, and in order to influence the entire subsequent world economy, it was obvious that the Panama Canal also needed to be controlled. And the one who showed the Piri Reis map to Columbus understood this very well.

And now the sick and old admiral sets off on his most difficult and unsuccessful journey, the channel has not yet been found, despite the fact that hundreds of Spanish ships plowed the Caribbean Sea. For 33 days he walked to America through uncharted waters on his first journey, and for two years Columbus could not get out of the hardships of the fourth campaign. Despite the fact that new cities had already been built on the new lands, Spanish governors were everywhere, and there were plenty of ships in the Caribbean Sea in 1503. The admiral was no longer interested in gold and views on this expedition, he had to be the first to find the place where the passage to the Pacific Ocean began, the last thing in his life that he had to do in time. And, of course, the channel was found.

In November 1502, the ships of Columbus, with great difficulty, but stubbornly, move along the coast of Panama, and in December, the navigator finally finds a bay from which to Pacific Ocean only 65 kilometers. But in the place marked on the map as a strait, there are mountains. Something has happened to the landscape over the years. Columbus understands that even if he collects millions of Indians from all over America, he simply won’t have time to restore the connection with the ocean, which means he has not completed the main task. The admiral orders to stop in the bay, which in 400 years will become the northern entrance to the Panama Canal, spends a couple of months there, celebrates the new year 1503 and, realizing that the most interesting thing in his life has already happened, returns with great difficulty to his homeland, to Spain, where he soon dies.

However, before dying, he gives detailed instructions sons, where he orders them to do the main thing - to secure the rights to the channel. Everything else is not so important. And after the death of the great navigator, his descendants have been suing the Spanish crown for the rights to Veragua for 30 years. Everything else was simply turned a blind eye, although the viceroy of all the new open lands was given many promises that were never fulfilled. And the land of Veragua is today the state of Panama.

This unthinkable long-term trial with the most powerful crown in the world at that time ended in the refusal of the ancestors of Columbus from the claim, in exchange for huge money, titles and privileges. The most unsuccessful fourth expedition turned out to be just golden: without bringing a penny from it, Columbus provided a rich life for all his descendants for hundreds of years. For hundreds of years, the descendants of Columbus proudly bore the title of the Dukes of Veragua, leaving no hope of being reminded of themselves at the moment when the canal was finally dug. As a result, the canal was built and taken over by the Americans, which in the light of all the facts does not seem surprising at all. And, together with the Suez, Gibraltar and Bosphorus canals, it is still the main sea gate. All goods will become incredibly expensive if suddenly someone closes these gates. But as long as the whole world pays the owners, it seems inappropriate to close them. Only because of geopolitics.

A huge number of coincidences and the behavior of the admiral on the fourth expedition, not to mention the very idea of ​​​​discovering new lands, allows us to say with confidence that Columbus was familiar with the map that went down in history under the name "Piri Reis Map".

After the opening of the map, the American authorities asked Turkey to find the "Map of Columbus", and they meant, of course, not the map compiled by Columbus during the expeditions, but the very map on which the admiral sailed on his first trip, and which he mentions in his letters Piri-reis himself, calling it "Christopher's map". Of course, they haven't found anything yet, or they just haven't told anyone yet. The original card itself is stored in Istanbul and is not issued to individuals for review. Considering the arguments about the third, not advertised wave of the exodus of 1492 from Spain to Turkey, the origin of the map in Istanbul does not seem surprising. And the map was opened in 1929, when the original plan had already been implemented. She was safely hidden in the Sultan's palace.

Was the Spanish persecution of the Jews of 1492 just an unwise decision, or was someone prompted to do so? If in someone's plans it was the forces of Spain to mine and then seize gold, then when the Spaniards would have discovered the loss of their entire gold reserve and would have understood everything, at that moment the fires of 1492 would have seemed like just candles. For those who came up with all this. That is, the Jews could not stay in this country and the kings could be prompted with the idea to start persecution. To implement such combinations stretched over the centuries, a team of reliable people is needed, those who can achieve their goal for 2,000 years and never back down. The Jews had such a team. And there are still.

But if Columbus saw a map of Piri Reis, then someone had to at least save and show it. If you exclude mysticism, conspiracy theory and other unscientific things, then you should turn to history and find out if there are any blank spots right in front of your eyes.

Version

This is just a version. But chronologically, the closest white spots to Columbian times, even gaping holes, appear behind the consequences of October 13, 1307. That Friday the thirteenth. The destruction of the Knights Templar by the French king Philip IV.

The Templars were the most powerful and richest order in Europe. Once upon a time, the knights of the order, which included only eight beggars, received a site for use on the territory of the temple of King Solomon in Jerusalem. For several years they excavated there behind tightly closed doors to everyone, and then they left their mines and silently galloped to Rome. There, overnight, they received from the pope privileges that no one had received before or since: freely cross any borders, never pay taxes to anyone, with submission only to the pope. No kings decree. Apparently they knew a secret. All this led to an unprecedented increase in power and enrichment of the order, and as a result, the monks took up financial activities, in fact, banking. They invented checks. There were practically no roads in Europe, but it was possible to transport money through the Templar canals along a whole network of roads specially built for this purpose, which were reliably guarded. Churches, cathedrals and castles were built ... And all the kings owed them. In 1307, the French king, deeply in debt to the Templars, decided not to repay the debt, exterminating them all. And at the same time also cash in, capturing the treasures accumulated over many years. On Friday the thirteenth in France, all the leaders of the order were taken prisoner, the rest were killed. The main leader of the order, Jacques de Molay, was terribly tortured for seven years, and then savagely burned at the stake, without achieving anything.

Except for the anathema to the king and the pope, which was fulfilled with amazing accuracy. They tried to find out where the treasure was, because nothing at all was found. Not a single coin. Where these treasures are unknown to this day, nowhere in the world they unexpectedly surfaced for 700 years and no one found them.

Pictured is Jacques de Molay, 23rd and last Grand Master of the Knights Templar.

In historical terms, the treasure is the very secret, for the safety of which the Templars received unprecedented privileges from the pope, and in material terms, these are really very large treasures, among which should be those that the knights found in the temple of King Solomon. Secrets are still being debated. Someone says that they found the descendants of the Savior from Mary Magdalene, who was his wife. Others that they worshiped the head of John the Baptist, whom they considered the true messiah. Still others believe they have learned something about the resurrection of the Lord. There is even an opinion that modern Masonic lodges are continuations of this order, but it is already easy to move down to a conspiracy theory, which we have already agreed to consider not scientific, at least. They say that both Newton and da Vinci were secret masters of this order. Various rumors are circulating, nothing has been proven.

But as for the disappeared material treasures, then the story is more fun. Firstly, the Templars had their own fleet, neither more nor less. Secondly, they were warned about the persecution, and for almost three weeks at night loaded carts left the castles, which then disappeared into the air. It's only from Paris. There are no traces of treasure anywhere in Europe. But there is evidence that the Templars buried everything in America, or rather in Canada, where they swam after the events of 1307 on their ships. Until now, all seekers of this treasure are looking for treasures in mines in Canada and only there. But if they swam across the ocean, then they most likely had a map. The one that was later called the Piri Reis map. There could not be others with the image of America in 1307. It remains to find a connection with the Jews. Everything is simple here, if some treasures of King Solomon were found in the temple, then the Jews themselves would have found the Templars, there is no doubt about this. Banking activities throughout Europe could not be carried out without the participation of Jewish communities, which from ancient times were engaged in usury. An unexpected urgent export of capital could require a number of services from their business partners, for which the Templars could show a map found in Jerusalem. Only they did not know what to do with it, except to make themselves a hut there and protect the money in a country where there was no money yet. But to carry treasures along unexplored sea roads, it is not known to which country, so that no one will ever find anything without a plan or at least a map - this is not done with money, especially reasonable people.

And the Jews also thought for two hundred years what to do with this card, until the opportunity turned up and a plan was worked out. Columbus could have learned about the map in his youth, in Portugal, where the Knights Templar was not only allowed, but even flourished, albeit under a different name. Yosef Diego Mendes Vizinho - Portuguese Jew, scientist and astronomer, head of the committee of experts on sea travel at the Portuguese royal court, he was the patron of Columbus from his youth. With such a position, it was easy for him to find the right candidates for such a difficult mission. And already in 1483 Columbus first reported to the Portuguese king about his project, and even then he asked for money for the expedition. If Columbus did not have a map, then asking for funds for campaigns, not being completely sure of success, meant securing a one-way trip - it was impossible to return, for such fun with the money of kings without stroking the head, but they would immediately cut it off.

So, according to this version, the map of Piri Reis could be among the treasures of the temple of King Solomon, where there should have been things as valuable to humanity as the tablets. The Jews could have had the map for a long time, just waiting in the wings, but the Templars could find it and sell it to the Jews in a difficult moment, having agreed on guarantees for the future. After all, it is not by chance that red square Templar crosses are painted on the sails on all images of the flagship of Columbus "Santa Maria".

Conclusion

And what do we know about the man who made one of the greatest discoveries of mankind, along with the invention of the wheel and the flight to the moon? Nationality, year of birth, origin of Columbus remain a big question.

Who came up with this journey, why exactly at this time, for what purpose and why Columbus was chosen to perform this difficult task - we do not know. We don't even know his real name. But there were so many clues along the way that, despite using only facts verified by scientists for research, the following logical conclusions suggest themselves: Columbus was a Jew born in Spain in a noble family. As a young man, he was introduced to a secret, but completely accurate, ancient map of the earth, on which the Panama Canal was marked, and Antarctica was connected to South America. He was prepared for the journey - he was introduced to various European royal courts, a legend about his origin was composed, and then the first expedition was financed. Columbus's goal was not so much America as the opening and securing of the rights to the Panama Canal, as well as preparing a springboard for a difficult but successful experiment. The persecution of the Jews in Spain in 1492 is closely related to the journey of Columbus. Most likely, it was a multi-move chess game, where the clock stood for hundreds of years. This game was brilliantly won by a player unknown to history.

Such conclusions can be drawn due to the fact that the official version contains many inaccuracies. But if we want to know the Creator's intention even more precisely and do not want to believe in chance, then all ambiguities must be eliminated. The fewer white spots left in history, the clearer our future will be. This is especially true for spots on key events. After all, the discovery of Columbus was just a step for one person, but at the same time a huge leap for all mankind.

Oleg Ivanov