On this expedition, Magellan would suffer a wound that would make him limp for the rest of his life. After returning to Portugal from Morocco, Magellan sought the support of King Manuel 1 for a voyage to the Spice Islands. The best maps available had convinced Magellan that he could reach the Spice Islands by sailing south of South America. Magellan beleived such a route would be shorter than the eastward voyage around the southern tip of Africa and across the Indian Ocean. However, Manuel disliked Magellan and refused to support the proposed voyage.
His stop at Puerto Rico is the closest he came to setting foot on land that would later form part of the United States, the main foundation for the claim that Columbus “discovered America.” When Columbus returned to Queen Isabella on September 29, he found that serious conflicts had developed among the colonists, a number of whom were already on the route to Spain to press their grievances. One of the major problems confronting Columbus was the hostility of the natives, whose initial friendliness had been alienated by the cruelty of the Europeans. Columbus defeated the natives in battle in March 1495 and shipped a large number of them to Spain to sell as slaves. Queen Isabella objected, however, and the survivors were returned. A royal investigating commission arrived at Isabella in October 1495.
Both his parents died when Ferdinand was only ten years old. At the age of twelve, he was sent to live at the court of Queen Leonora and John II of Portugal. His older brother, Diago, had gone to court two years earlier. His cousin, named Francisco Serrano also twelve years old, came at the same time as Ferdinand did. At court Ferdinand learned music, dance, horsemanship and how to handle weapons, in addition to academic subjects such as reading, writing and religion.
In 1517 Ferdinand Magellan proposed to King Charles I of Spain for a fully funded expedition to find a western sea route to the Molaccan Islands. If Magellan could find an easy way through or around South America it would enable the Spanish to set up a profitable trade route with the Molaccans, known for its abundance of spices. On May 22,1518 King Charles I granted Magellan enough money to buy five ships. Over 250 men were divided up amongst the Trinidad, the San Antonio, the Conception, the Victoria, and the Santiago. The ships set sail on their journey on September 20, 1519 from a port in Sanlucar de Barrameda, Spain.
Christopher Columbus' Motivations to Sail West for the Indies Christopher Columbus lived in an age of Moslem expansion in the east. With the fall of Constantinople in 1453, direct land routes to the Indies were closed to European merchants and traders, thus creating the need to find a sea route to the Indies. Portugal had spent years sailing the coast of Africa to reach the Indies, but Columbus thought he had a better way: sailing west. With the defeat of the Moors in 1492 Queen Isabella of Spain was willing to consider to Columbus' proposal to sail west. The motivations of Columbus sailing west to the Indies, whether economic, spiritual or personal, were all based on ancient authorities, writings and personal beliefs.
Hernan (also Hernando or Fernando) Cortes was born in Medellin, Estramadura, in Spain in 1485 to a family of minor nobility. Cortes was sent to study law at the University of Salamanca. In 1501 He left school to fight in a military expedition but became ill and was forced to stay behind. In 1504 he left to seek fortune in the West Indies, eventually joining Diego Velazquez in the conquest of Cuba. Velazquez was a Spanish soldier and administrator who would later become governor of Cuba.
The admiral arrived at Hispaniola to find the first colony destroyed by Native Americans. He founded a new colony nearby, and then sailed off in the summer of 1494 to explore the southern coast of Cuba. After discovering Jamaica he returned to Hispaniola and found the colonists, interested only in finding gold, completely disorderly; his attempts to enforce strict discipline led some to seize vessels and return to Spain to complain of his administration. Leaving his brother Bartholomew in charge at Hispaniola, Columbus also returned to Spain in 1496. On his third expedition, in 1498, Columbus was forced to transport convicts as colonists, because of the bad reports on conditions in Hispaniola and because the novelty of the New World was wearing off.
The task to lead a crew to India was originally Vasco Da Gama’s father’s job, but he died before the journey began, so then, the task was given to Vasco Da Gama. He set sail from Lisbon, Portugal on July 8, 1497 with four ships, São Gabriel, São Rafael, Berrio, and the fourth ship did not have a name, but was only used for storage, and 170 men. Vasco Da Gama managed to finish the journey of going to India and back, but with 55 men and only two ships back. He returned back to Lisbon almost a year later when he left. When he returned he was given a hero’s welcome.
Isabella died on November 26, 1504 in the Castle La Mota. This still stands at Madina del Campo (Amadó). Ferdinand died on January 23, 1516 in Madrigalejo, Spain (Ferdinand II). Ferdinand and Isabella became royalty in two very different ways. When Isabella’s brother died, she had to fight for the crown of Castile.
His proposal was rejected by a royal maritime commission because of his miscalculations and because Portuguese ships were already rounding Africa. Soon after, Columbus moved to Spain, where his plans won the support of several influential persons, and he secured an introduction, in 1486, to Isabella I, queen of Castile. About this time, Columbus, then a widower, met Beatriz Enriquez, who became his mistress and the mother of his second son, Ferdinand Columbus. In Spain, as in Portugal, a royal commission rejected his plan. Columbus continued to seek support, however, and in April 1492 his persistence was rewarded: Ferdinand V, king of Castile, and Queen Isabella agreed to sponsor the expedition.