Christopher Columbus was born in 1451 in Genoa, Italy, the oldest of five children. Not much is known about his earlier years, but we know that his father was a weaver. He lived along the coast, and most certainly took short rides on boats.
When he was 15, he left home to work in trading ships sailing on the Mediterranean Sea.
In 1476, when he was 25, Columbus was sailing on a fleet of ships from Genoa carrying valuable stuff to England, when pirates attacked his ship. Christopher was flung into the sea just before his ship exploded, and swam six miles to Portuguese coast. He knew God had saved him.
Columbus’ brother Bartholomeo, was a mapmaker, and lived in Portugal. Columbus went to live with this brother, and spent the next eight years learning to make maps, and running the shop.
While Columbus was in Portugal, he married a woman named Dona Felipa. They had a son, Diego.
Portugal was offering rewards to anybody that could find a way to the Indies by water. Christopher thought that the route everyone was trying to take was all wrong. They were trying to sail down the west coast of Africa, and find a way east around it. Columbus thought if he could sail west, he would go around and land on the east coast of the Indies. He was pretty sure that Japan was 2,400 miles across the Atlantic Ocean, and the Canary Islands were 60 more miles. China should be 1,500 miles further on. Everyone thought he was crazy.
Columbus went to King John II of Portugal, and tried to convince him to finance his voyage. He showed charts, mathematical figures, and even quotes from the Bible to prove that he could do it. King John thought he was just a big talker, and said no.
Columbus was still determined to find another way to the Indies. His wife had died, so he packed his belongings, and with his five-year-old son, sailed to Spain.
When he arrived in Spain, he sent his son to a monastery, and went to see the King and Queen. Queen Isabella liked his plan, but said he should wait until the war against the Moors was won. So Columbus waited.
After three years, Columbus was tired of waiting, and sailed back to Portugal to try to talk to King John again. He still thought Columbus was crazy, and said no. Columbus again went to Spain and waited three more years. Finally, in 1491, Queen Isabella said she could help him. Columbus said that if he found the Indies, he wanted to be titled the Admiral of the Ocean Sea, be made viceroy and governer-general of all the land he discovered, and get ten percent of all the riches found. King Ferdinand flatly refused, and Queen Isabella tried to get him to change his mind. Columbus left to see the king of France.
Meanwhile on March 30, 1492, the Edict of Expulsion was signed in Spain by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella. This gave Jews to the first of August to vacate Spain. They were not allowed to take any gold or silver out of the country, nor could they own any property in the country after that date. This forced the Jewish people there to have to either give away their assets or sell them at ridiculously low prices. It is estimated that 300,000 people were expelled.
This edict followed a purging of the land done by Tomas de Torquemada, the Inquisitor General. If a person would not accept Baptism into the Roman Church, they were killed. Jews were slaughtered by the thousands. This was only the beginning of a long list of horror stories against the Jewish citizens. Jewish people died in shipwrecks, suffered piracy, starvation, slavery, and every kind of evil imaginable.
The King’s coffers were filled with money from this atrocity. It was at this time that Cristobal Colon (Christopher Columbus), a mapmaker, appeared begging for money, and he got it, largely because of the sacrifice the Jewish people of Spain!
Queen Isabella called Columbus back. On April 14, 1492, the contract was signed.
Three ships were chosen. The Nina was the smallest at 65 feet long. The Pinta was the fastest, and the Santa Maria the largest (80 feet long), and well as the slowest. Columbus made the Santa Maria his headquarters.
He had a hard time getting a crew together. Many sailors were scared of the unknown sea. They were sure that there were serpents so big they could swallow ships, whirlpools that sucked ships to the bottom of the sea, and many other horrors. Also, they believed that since the world was round, they would easily be able to sail west, because that would be down hill. They thought they would not be able to come back because they would not be able to sail uphill to Spain.
Martin Pinzon, one of the first navigators in Spain was the first to sign up. He got 90 sailors rounded up. He was the captain of the Pinta, and his brother, Vincente, was captain of the Nina. Columbus took along an Arabic interpreter, think that Arabic was so foreign sounding, that the Indians must speak it.
Now, Columbus needed supplies. Each ship needed firewood, compasses, time-keeping devices, spare sails and spars, water, sea biscuits, salt meats, cheese, beans, rice, almonds, sardines, etc. He took along muskets, cannons and crossbows in case the natives were hostile. If they weren’t, he brought scissors, knives, coins, glass beads, needles, and mirrors. He also brought cats to kill the rats that were always unwanted passengers.
After three months of preparation, Columbus led his men to a church to pray for a safe voyage.
At sunrise on August 3, 1492, Christopher Columbus stood on the poop of the Santa Maria and shouted “Hoist anchor!” They were off.
Columbus wrote a book where he set a date for the final judgment of the earth to be 1656.
Sources
Miss Macomber's sources were lost.
Stanley Stein. “The Cross Becomes a Sword.” Israel My Glory: Volume 50 Issue 1. Bellmawr, NJ: The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry, Inc., 1999.
