voyages of explorers christopher columbus

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The voyages of Columbus . Columbus set sail with three small ships and a crew of eighty‐seven men on August 2, 1492, and made landfall on October 12 on an island in the Bahamas that he called San Salvador. Over the next several months, he explored the island that is now Cuba and another island he named Hispaniola (Santo Domingo), where he came across the first significant amount of gold. Ferdinand and Isabella financed a much larger expedition with seventeen ships and more than twelve hundred men soon after his return to Spain. During his second voyage, Columbus explored the islands that are now called Puerto Rico and Jamaica and established the first permanent Spanish settlement on Hispaniola. He made two additional voyages: between 1498 and 1500 to the Caribbean and the northern coast of South America, and between 1502 and 1504 to the coast of Central America.

Columbus's success created the potential for conflict between Spain and Portugal. Ferdinand and Isabella were anxious to protect their claims to the new lands. In May 1493, very soon after Columbus returned from his first voyage, they persuaded Pope Alexander VI to issue an edict giving Spain all lands west of an imaginary line through the Atlantic. Portugal was not satisfied. Through the Treaty of Tordesillas (1494), the two countries agreed to move the line further west and give Portugal exclusive right to the territory to the east. Although the result of the shift was unknown at the time, the change put the eastern quarter of South America (Brazil) in the Portuguese sphere; Pedro Cabral reached the Brazilian coast in 1500.

Columbus referred to the lands he discovered as “the Indies” and the people he encountered as “Indians” ( Indios , in Spanish). He never wavered from the belief that he had reached the outlying islands off the Asian mainland. Amerigo Vespucci, another Italian navigator, sailed extensively along the coast of South America as a member of both Spanish and Portuguese expeditions and is considered to be the first to realize that the Indies were in fact a “New World” and not part of Asia. The first map that identified known parts of the Western Hemisphere as “America,” after Vespucci, was published in 1507.

The Spanish conquests of Central and South America . In the half century after Columbus's death, Spain established an extensive empire in the Western Hemisphere that stretched from the region of Mexico to the tip of South America and out into the Pacific Ocean. Ferdinand Magellan's voyage around the world (1519–22), in addition to demonstrating the true circumference of the earth, was the basis for a Spanish colony in the Philippines. In the same year Magellan set sail, Hernan Cortés and about six hundred men landed on the Gulf Coast of Mexico and marched inland to Tenochtitlán (modern Mexico City), the capital of the Aztec empire. He was able to take advantage of the Aztec belief that the Europeans might be returning gods, make strategic alliances with disaffected local tribes, and use his horses and superior firepower to capture the city in 1521. The Spaniards conquered the other native cultures in Central and South America in quick succession. The Toltec‐Mayans of the Yucatan Peninsula and Guatemala fell between 1522 and 1528. Francisco Pizarro, benefiting from internal strife in the Inca empire, took Peru (1531–33) with an army that numbered less than two hundred. From there, Spanish forces moved south down the west side of the continent and east into what would become Columbia.

The early Spanish explorer‐adventurers, the conquistadors , were more interested in finding gold and silver than in colonization, and they relied on the native peoples to work the sugarcane fields of the Caribbean and the mines of Mexico and Peru. While the exploitation of the native peoples had its critics, most notably in the Catholic priest Bartolomé de Las Casas, it was disease rather than harsh treatment at the hands of the Spaniards that devastated the indigenous population. First on Hispaniola and then on the mainland, millions died from smallpox, measles, and other infections. African slaves were brought to the West Indies as early as 1503 because of a critical labor shortage.

Spain in North America . Stories and legends about incredible wealth stimulated the Spanish exploration of North America. The earliest expedition brought Juan Ponce de León to the Florida peninsula in search of the mythical “Fountain of Youth” (1513). In 1528, Panfilo de Narváez sailed along the Gulf Coast of the United States, but was shipwrecked off what is now Texas. A small group of survivors under Álvaro Núñez Cabeza de Vaca made its way across Texas and the Southwest region to Mexico. Between 1539 and 1543, Hernando de Soto led a large force from western Florida to the Appalachian Mountains and then west across the Mississippi River with the major consequence of spreading smallpox throughout the lower Mississippi Valley. The search for the fabled riches of the “Seven Golden Cities of Cibola,” which de Vaca had mentioned in his account, took Francisco Vasquez de Coronado from northern Mexico as far northeast as present‐day Kansas between 1541 and 1543; smaller groups from the main expedition discovered the Grand Canyon and the Colorado River. Meanwhile, Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo sailed up the west coast and claimed the California area for Spain. The founding of the two oldest cities in the United States—St. Augustine, Florida, (1565) and Santa Fe, New Mexico (1609)—was the chief result of almost a century of Spanish exploration.

Previous Western Hemisphere's First Inhabitants

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• Christopher Columbus

• Occupation: Explorer
• Born: 1451 in Genoa, Italy
• Died: May 20, 1506
• Best known for: Discovering America

• Columbus was first buried in Spain, however his remains were later moved to Santo Domingo in the new world and then back, again, to Spain.
• Columbus brought horses to the new world on his second voyage.
• In his original calculations, he thought that Asia would be 2,400 miles from Portugal. He was way off. It is actually 10,000 miles away! Not to mention the huge continent in between.
• You can remember the date Columbus discovered America by using this rhyme "In 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue".
• The sailor who was first to spot land on the voyage would receive a reward. The winner was Rodrigo de Triana who spotted land from the crow's nest of the Pinta.
• Listen to a recorded reading of this page:
• Roald Amundsen
• Neil Armstrong
• Daniel Boone
• Captain James Cook
• Hernan Cortes
• Vasco da Gama
• Sir Francis Drake
• Edmund Hillary
• Henry Hudson
• Lewis and Clark
• Ferdinand Magellan
• Francisco Pizarro
• Juan Ponce de Leon
• Spanish Conquistadores

Christopher Columbus and Early European Exploration

This research guide will focus on primary and secondary sources in the collection of the New York Public Library pertinent to the four voyages made by Columbus. It will also cover other Spanish explorations, Native American reactions, and the methodology for researching the Library's catalogs for material on other relevant explorers and countries.

Christopher Columbus undertook his first voyage across the Atlantic over 500 years ago. Since then, the course of history for both the civilizations he encountered and those he represented has been irrevocably altered. This research guide will focus on primary and secondary sources in the collection of the New York Public Library pertinent to the four voyages made by Columbus. It will also cover other Spanish explorations, Native American reactions, and the methodology for researching the Library's catalogs for material on other relevant explorers and countries.

If you need further assistance, visit our reference desk, or e-mail us at  [email protected] .

Using the Library’s Catalogs

General instructions for locating materials are given in the Research Guide, How Do I Find a Book? . Specific methods for locating additional materials on this topic are located at the end of each section.

Primary Documentation

The four voyages of Columbus (1492-93; 1493-96; 1498-1500; 1502-04) opened the way for the exploration, exploitation, and colonization of the Americas by Europe. There are no surviving manuscripts in Columbus' own hand describing these voyages. Instead, historians have relied upon the following documents:

Letters Journals

The term "Columbus letter" usually refers to one of the fifteenth-century printed editions of a letter from his first voyage announcing his "discovery" of America. A traditional view holds that Columbus wrote three letters: one addressed to Luis de Santangel, Keeper of Accounts of Aragon, dated February 15th, 1493; a second addressed to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, of which no copy has survived; a third sent to Gabriel Sanchez, Treasurer of Aragon, dated March 15th, 1493. Recent thinking on the subject is that all three letters were derived from a single manuscript sent to Ferdinand and Isabella from which copies were then made and endorsed to several court officials.

The New York Public Library has facsimile copies of all seventeen surviving editions known to have been published before 1501 in Spanish, Latin, Italian, and German. While the Library is in actual possession of unique copies of both the Santangel and Sanchez letters, these, for obvious reasons, are not offered for public viewing or access. A copy of the Santangel Letter is kept at the Information Desk in Room 315. Ask a librarian there for assistance.

The following list of books includes translations and analyses of these letters which are suitable for most research needs.

Columbus, Christopher, The Letter of Columbus on His Discovery of the New World (Los Angeles: USC Fine Arts Press, 1989). HAN 89-21486.

Major, Richard Henry, The Bibliography of the First Letter of Christopher Columbus Describing His Discovery of the New World (London: Ellis & White, 1872). HAM.

A New and Fresh English Translation of the Letter of Columbus Announcing the Discovery of America (by) Samuel Eliot Morison (Madrid: Graficas Yagues, 1959). JAX B-2175.

Columbo, Cristoforo, The Spanish Letter of Columbus to Luis de Sant' Angel, Escribano de Racion of the Kingdom of Aragon, Dated 15 February, 1493 (London: G. Norman and Son, Printers, 1893). *ZH-654.

In the Dictionary Catalog, further items can be found under the relevant subject headings:

• Columbus, Christopher. Letters. Columbus, Christopher. Letter to Sanchez. Columbus, Christopher. Letter to Santagel.

In CATNYP, use a subject or keyword search on:

Columbus Christopher correspondence

The journal that Columbus kept of his first voyage to America and presented to Ferdinand and Isabella upon his return to Spain has not survived in its original form. The journal is known to us today only in the abridgement of Bartolome de las Casas, a partly quoted and partly summarized version of the original. The following are scholarly transcriptions and translations of this document.

Columbus, Christopher, The Diario of Christopher Columbus's First Voyage to America, 1492-1493, abstracted by Fray Bartolome de las Casas, Oliver Dunn and James E. Kelley, Jr., trs. (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1989). HAN 89-4493.

Columbus, Christopher, The Journal of Christopher Columbus, Cecil Jane, tr. (L.A. Vigneras, reviser and annotator) (London: The Hakluyt Society, 1960). HAN 1960.

Columbus, Christopher, Journal of the First Voyage of Christopher Columbus, B.W. Ife, ed./tr. (Westminster, England: Aris & Phillips, Ltd., 1990). HAN 91-5853.

Columbus, Christopher, The Log of Christopher Columbus, Robert H. Fuson, tr. (Camden, ME: International Marine Publishing Co., 1987). HAN 88-288.

Columbus, Christopher, Select Documents Illustrating the Four Voyages of Columbus, Including Those Contained in R.H. Major's Select Letters of Christopher Columbus (Reprint: Hakluyt Society, Works, Second Series) (Nendeln, Liechtenstein: Kraus Reprint, 1967). JFL 75-29 / 2nd Series, nos. 65 & 70.

Henige, David, In Search of Columbus: The Sources for the First Voyage (Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1991). HAN 91-8063.

In the Dictionary Catalog, subject headings for additional items are:

• Columbus, Christopher. Journal
• Columbus Christopher diaries

Secondary/Biographical Sources

There are as many books about Columbus as there are viewpoints about the man and his accomplishments. The following is just a sampling of these divergent perspectives.

Adams, Herbert Baxter, and Henry Wood, Columbus and His Discovery of America (New York: AMS Press, 1971). HAM 72-2082.

Bradford, Ernle Dusgate Selby, Christopher Columbus (New York: Viking Press, 1973). HAM 74-1511; HAM 75-1334.

The Christopher Columbus Encyclopedia, Silvia A. Bedini, ed. (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1992). *R-HAM 91-9569.

Collis, John Stewart, Christopher Columbus (London: Macdonald and Jane's, Ltd., 1976). JFD 77-953; HAM 90-5225.

Columbus, Ferdinand, The Life of the Admiral Christopher Columbus by His Son Ferdinand, Benjamin Keen, tr. (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1959). HAM.

Columbus and His World: Proceedings of the First San Salvador Conference, Donald T. Gerace, ed. (Fort Lauderdale: Bahamian Field Station, 1987). HAM 90-8696.

Fernandez-Armesto, Felipe, Columbus (Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 1991). *R-HAM 91-8489.

Fernandez-Armesto, Felipe, Columbus and the Conquest of the Impossible (London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1974). HAM 76-937.

Floyd, Troy S., The Columbus Dynasty in the Caribbean, 1492-1526 (Albuquerque, NM: University of New Mexico Press, 1973). HNB 74-1175.

In the Wake of Columbus: Islands and Controversy, Louis De Vorsey, Jr. and John Parker, eds. (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1985). HAM 85-3309.

Koningsberger, Hans, Columbus: His Enterprise (New York: Monthly Review Press, 1976). HAM 76-1910.

Litvinoff, Barnet, Fourteen Ninety-Two: The Year and the Era (London: Constable, 1991). JFE 91-7068.

McKee, Alexander, A World Too Vast: The Four Voyages of Columbus (London: Souvenir Press, 1990). HAM 90-9819.

Morison, Samuel Eliot, Admiral of the Ocean Sea: A Life of Christopher Columbus (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1942). HAM 1942.

Morison, Samuel Eliot, Christopher Columbus, Mariner (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1955). HAM.

Morison, Samuel Eliot, The Second Voyage of Christopher Columbus (London: Oxford University Press, 1939). HAM 1939.

Morison, Samuel Eliot, and Mauricio Obregon, The Caribbean as Columbus Saw It (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1964). HAI 1964.

Provost, Foster, Columbus: An Annotated Guide to the Study On His Life and Writings, 1750-1988 (Detroit, MI: Published for the John Carter Brown Library by Omnigraphics, Inc., 1991). *RS-HAM 91-5358; available at the South Hall Desk.

Sale, Kirkpatrick, The Conquest of Paradise: Christopher Columbus and the Columbia Legacy (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1990). HAM 90-13326.

Taviani, Paolo Emilio, Christopher Columbus: The Grand Design (London: Orbis, 1985). HAM 87-738.

Taviani, Paolo Emilio, Columbus, The Great Adventure: His Life, His Times, and His Voyages (New York: Orion Books, 1991). JFE 91-8810.

United States. Library of Congress. Division of Bibliography. Christopher Columbus: A Selected List of Books and Articles, Donald H. Mugridge, ed. (Washington, D.C., 1950). HAE p.v. 305.

Wilford, John Noble, The Mysterious History of Columbus: An Exploration of the Man, The Myth, The Legacy (New York: Knopf: Distributed by Random House, 1991). HAM 91-9629.

Look under Columbus, Christopher in the catalogs to find further biographies. Similarly, look under the names of any other specific explorers to find works written about, or by, them.

Post-Columbus: Conquest And Colonization

Subsequent voyages to the Americas by the major European sea powers followed rapidly after Columbus's initial expedition. Following is a brief sampling of the many items in the Library's collection relevant to these travels.

Spain Other European

First Encounters: Spanish Explorations in the Caribbean and the United States, 1492-1570

MDNM¯, Jerald T. Milanich and Susan Milbrath, eds. (Gainesville: University of Florida Press: Florida Museum of Natural History, 1989).

HAI 90-4586.

Gordon, Thomas Francis, The History of America: Containing the History of the Spanish Discoveries Prior to 1520 (Philadelphia: Carey & Lea, 1831). *Z-5583 no. 1.

Hoffman, Paul E., A New Andalucia and a Way to the Orient: The American Southeast During the Sixteenth Century (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1990). HAI 90-12962.

Kirkpatrick, Frederick Alexander, The Spanish Conquistadores (London: The Cresset Library, 1988). HAI 89-17074.

Nebenzahl, Kenneth, Atlas of Columbus and the Great Discoveries (Chicago: Rand McNally, 1990). Map Division 91-7246.

New American World: A Documentary History of North America to 1612 in Five Volumes, David B. Quinn, Alison M. Quinn, Susan Hillier, eds. (New York: Arno Press, 1979). HV 79-1250.

The Spanish in America: 1513-1979: A Chronology and Fact Book, Arthur A. Natella, Jr., ed. (Dobbs Ferry, NY: Oceana Publications, 1980). HAI 80-3036.

Spanish Colonial Frontier Research, Henry F. Dobyns, ed. (Albuquerque, NM: Center for Anthropological Studies, 1980). IT 88-1041.

Spanish Exploration in the Southwest, 1542-1706 (Original Narratives of Early American History), Herbert Eugene Bolton, ed. (New York: C. Scribner's Sons, 1930). *Z-5572 no.2.

Spanish Explorers in the Southern United States, 1526-1543 (Original Narratives of Early American History) (Austin, TX: Texas State Historical Society, 1990). HAI 90-11356.

Weddle, Robert S., Spanish Sea: The Gulf of Mexico in North American Discovery, 1500-1685 (College Station, TX: Texas A&M University Press, 1985). HAI 85-2619.

Other European

Discovery, An Exhibition of Books Relating to the Age of Geographical Discovery and Exploration

(Bloomington, Indiana: Lilly Library, 1965).

The Hakluyt Handbook, David Beers Quinn, ed. (London: The Hakluyt Society, 1974). *R-KBC 76-3402 and JFL 75-29 2nd Series, nos. 144-145. Lists all the works published by the Society, established in 1846 and renowned for its scholarly editions of records of voyages, travels, and other geographical material.

Pioneers and Explorers in North America: Summaries of Biographical Articles in History Journals, Pamela R. Byrne and Susan K. Kinnell, eds. (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-Clio, 1988). JFE 88-1948.

Morison, Samuel Eliot, The European Discovery of America (New York: Oxford University Press, 1971-1974). HAI 71-450.

Morison, Samuel Eliot, The Great Explorers: The European Discovery of America (New York: Oxford University Press, 1978). *R-KH 79-4650.

Quinn, David Beers, England and the Discovery of America, 1481-1620 (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1974). HAI 75-216.

Quinn, David Beers, North America From the Earliest Discovery to First Settlements: The Norse Voyages to 1612 (New York: Harper & Row, 1977). HAI 77-2442.

Tomlinson, Regina Johnson, The Struggle for Brazil: Portugal and "The French Interlopers" (1500-1550) (New York: Las Americas Publishing Co., 1970). HFB 72-795.

The following list encompasses the subject headings used to search for further items:

In the Dictionary Catalog:

• America - Description and Travel, to 1800 America - Discovery America - Discovery, Pre-Columbian America - Discovery, Post-Columbian Voyages and Travels, to 1500 Voyages and Travels, 1500-1600 Voyages and Travels, 1600-1700 Voyages and Travels, History (By Century)

(Note: See also names of individual explorers)

• America - Discovery and Exploration Explorers

(Note: these can be geographically subdivided: -Spain; -France; -England; -Portugal; see also names of individual explorers)

The Clash of Cultures

The civilizations and cultures of Native Americans were irrevocably altered after the events of 1492. The resulting clash of cultures continues to the present day.

Berhofer, Robert F., The White Man's Indian: The History of an Idea From Columbus to the Present (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1978). HBC 78-1802.

Casas, Bartolome de las, Historia de las Indias (Mexico: Fondo de Cultura Economica, 1951). HBC.

Chamberlin. J.E., The Harrowing of Eden: White Attitudes Toward Native Americans (New York: Seabury Press, 1975). HBC 76-216.

Cultures in Contact: The Impact of European Contacts on Native American Cultural Institutions A.D. 1000-1800, William W. Fitzhugh, ed. (Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1985). HBC 86-1574.

Garcilaso de la Vega, el Inca, Comentarios Reales de los Incas (Lima: Libreria Internacional del Peru, 1959). HHH.

Hanke, Lewis, The First Social Experiments in America: A Study in the Development of Spanish Indian Policy in the Sixteenth Century (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1935). HNB.

Hecht, Robert, Continents in Collision: The Impact of Europe on the North American Indian Societies (Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1980). HBC 81-981 and HBC 81-981 Suppl.

Huddleston, Lee E., Origins of the American Indians: European Concepts, 1492-1729 (Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, 1967). HBC.

Jennings, Francis, The Invasion of America: Indians, Colonialism, and the Cant of Conquest (Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 1975). IQ 79-525.

Sale, Kirkpatrick, The Conquest of Paradise: Christopher Columbus and the Columbian Legacy (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1990). HAM 90-13326.

Thornton, Russell, American Indian Holocaust and Survival: A Population History Since 1492 (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1987). HBC 88-564.

Tyler, S. Lyman, Two Worlds: The Indian Encounter With the European, 1492-1509 (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1988). HBC 88-2810.

Additional items can be found under these subject headings:

• Indians, American Indians, N.A. Indians, S.A.
• Indians of North America - First Contact With Occidental Civilization

(Note: see also Research Guide, Native North America )

Journals And Periodical Literature

Journals and periodicals are a sometimes overlooked source of scholarly research. The following indexes provide citations to a broad array of journals dealing with the field of history, in general, and Columbus and the Quincentennial, in particular.

America: History and Life, Vol. 0 (1954-1963)- (Santa Barbara, CA: American Bibliographical Center: Clio Press, 1972- ). *R-IAA+ (America History and Life).

C.R.I.S.: The Combined Retrospective Index to Journals in History, 1838-1974, Annadel N. Wile and Deborah Purcell, eds. (Washington: Carrollton Press, 1977-78). *RS-BAA 77-4040.

Hispanic American Periodical Index (HAPI) (Los Angeles: University of California Latin American Center Publications, 1970- ). *R-*D 78-578.

Historical Abstracts (the series splits after Vol. 17; beginning with Vol. 18 use only Part A: Modern History Abstracts 1450-1914) (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-Clio, 1955- ). *RB-BAA 74-867.

Humanities Index (New York: H.W. Wilson, 1974- ). *R-*D 75-1125 (online from February, 1984- ).

Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature (New York: H.W. Wilson, 1900- ). *R-*D (online from 1983- ).

In addition, there are numerous journals chronicling the events and issues related to the Quincentennial. Recent issues (i.e., past year) are available in Current Periodicals, located in Room 108 of the Library.

America 92: Boletin Informativo de la Comision Nacional del V Centenario del Descubrimiento de America (Madrid: La Comision, 1984- ). Available in Room 108.

Cultural Survival Quarterly (Cambridge, MA: Cultural Survival, Inc., 1982- ). JFM 85-121.

Encounters: A Quincentenary Review (Albuquerque, NM: Latin American Institute of the University of New Mexico, 1989- ). JFM 90-214.

(See also Research Guide, How to Find Periodicals .)

Biography of Christopher Columbus, Italian Explorer

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• M.A., Geography, California State University - East Bay
• B.A., English and Geography, California State University - Sacramento

Christopher Columbus (c. October 31, 1451–May 20, 1506) was an Italian explorer who led voyages to the Caribbean, Central America, and South America. His exploration of these areas paved the way for European colonization. Since his death, Columbus has been criticized for the crimes he committed against Indigenous peoples in the New World.

Fast Facts: Christopher Columbus

• Known For : Columbus completed four voyages to the New World on behalf of Spain, preparing the way for European colonization.
• Born : October 31, 1451 in Genoa, Italy
• Died : May 20, 1506 in Castile, Spain

Christopher Columbus was born in Genoa (now Italy) in 1451 to Domenico Colombo, a middle-class wool weaver, and Susanna Fontanarossa. Though little is known about his childhood, it is assumed that he was well-educated because he was able to speak several languages as an adult and had considerable knowledge of classical literature. He is known to have studied the works of Ptolemy and Marinus, among others.

Columbus first took to the sea when he was 14 years old, and he continued to sail throughout the rest of his youth. During the 1470s, he went on numerous trading trips that took him to the Aegean Sea, Northern Europe, and possibly Iceland. In 1479, he met his brother Bartolomeo, a mapmaker, in Lisbon. He later married Filipa Moniz Perestrello, and in 1480 his son Diego was born.

The family stayed in Lisbon until 1485, when Columbus' wife Filipa died. From there, Columbus and Diego moved to Spain, where Columbus began trying to obtain a grant to explore western trade routes. He believed that because the earth was a sphere, a ship could reach the Far East and set up trading routes in Asia by sailing west.

For years, Columbus proposed his plans to the Portuguese and Spanish kings, but he was turned down each time. Finally, after the Moors were expelled from Spain in 1492, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella reconsidered his requests. Columbus promised to bring back gold, spices, and silk from Asia, to spread Christianity, and to explore China. In return, he asked to be made admiral of the seas and governor of discovered lands.

First Voyage

After receiving significant funding from the Spanish monarchs, Columbus set sail on August 3, 1492, with three ships—the Pinta, Nina, and Santa Maria—and 104 men. After a short stop at the Canary Islands to resupply and make minor repairs, the ships set out across the Atlantic. This voyage took five weeks—longer than Columbus had expected, as he believed the world was much smaller than it is. During this time, many of the crew members became ill and some died from diseases, hunger, and thirst.

Finally, at 2 a.m. on October 12, 1492, sailor Rodrigo de Triana sighted land in the area of what is now the Bahamas. When Columbus reached the land, he believed it was an Asian island and named it San Salvador. Because he did not find any riches here, Columbus decided to continue sailing in search of China. Instead, he ended up visiting Cuba and Hispaniola.

On November 21, 1492, the Pinta and its crew left to explore on its own. On Christmas Day, the Santa Maria wrecked off the coast of Hispaniola. Because there was limited space on the lone Nina, Columbus had to leave about 40 men behind at a fort they named Navidad. Soon after, Columbus set sail for Spain, where he arrived on March 15, 1493, completing his first voyage west.

Second Voyage

After the success of finding this new land, Columbus set sail west again on September 23, 1493, with 17 ships and 1,200 men. The purpose of this second journey was to establish colonies in the name of Spain, check on the crew at Navidad, and continue the search for riches in what Columbus still thought was the Far East.

On November 3, the crew members sighted land and found three more islands: Dominica, Guadeloupe, and Jamaica, which Columbus thought were islands off of Japan. Because there were still no riches to be found, the crew went on to Hispaniola, only to discover that the fort of Navidad had been destroyed and the crew killed after they mistreated the Indigenous population.

At the site of the fort, Columbus established the colony of Santo Domingo, and after a battle in 1495 he conquered the entire island of Hispaniola. He then set sail for Spain in March 1496 and arrived in Cadiz on July 31.

Third Voyage

Columbus’s third voyage began on May 30, 1498, and took a more southern route than the previous two. Still searching for China, Columbus found Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada, and Margarita on July 31. He also reached the mainland of South America. On August 31, he returned to Hispaniola and found the colony of Santo Domingo there in shambles. After a government representative was sent to investigate the problems in 1500, Columbus was arrested and sent back to Spain. He arrived in October and was able to successfully defend himself against the charges of treating both the locals and the Spaniards poorly.

Fourth and Final Voyage

Columbus' final voyage began on May 9, 1502, and he arrived in Hispaniola in June. He was forbidden from entering the colony, so he continued to explore areas nearby. On July 4, he set sail again and later found Central America. In January 1503, he reached Panama and found a small amount of gold but was forced out of the area by those who lived there. After encountering numerous problems, Columbus set sail for Spain on November 7, 1504. After he arrived there, he settled with his son in Seville.

After Queen Isabella died on November 26, 1504, Columbus tried to regain his governorship of Hispaniola. In 1505, the king allowed him to petition but did nothing. One year later, Columbus became ill, and he died on May 20, 1506.

Because of his discoveries, Columbus is often venerated, notably in the Americas where places such as the District of Columbia bear his name and where many people celebrate Columbus Day . Despite this fame, however, Columbus was not the first to visit the Americas. Long before Columbus, various Indigenous peoples had settled and explored different areas of the Americas. In addition, Norse explorers had already visited portions of North America. Leif Ericson is believed to have been the first European to visit the area and set up a settlement in the northern portion of Canada's Newfoundland some 500 years before the arrival of Columbus.

Columbus's major contribution to geography is that he was the first to visit and settle in these new lands, effectively bringing a new area of the world to the forefront of the popular imagination.

• Morison, Samuel Eliot. "The Great Explorers: the European Discovery of America." Oxford University Press, 1986.
• Phillips, William D., and Carla Rahn Phillips. "The Worlds of Christopher Columbus." Cambridge University Press, 2002.
• Biography of Christopher Columbus
• The Second Voyage of Christopher Columbus
• The Fourth Voyage of Christopher Columbus
• 10 Facts About Christopher Columbus
• The Third Voyage of Christopher Columbus
• The First New World Voyage of Christopher Columbus (1492)
• The Truth About Christopher Columbus
• Where Are the Remains of Christopher Columbus?
• La Navidad: First European Settlement in the Americas
• The Controversy Over Columbus Day Celebrations
• Biography of Juan Ponce de León, Conquistador
• Biography of Bartolomé de Las Casas, Spanish Colonist
• Amerigo Vespucci, Italian Explorer and Cartographer
• The History of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
• A Timeline of North American Exploration: 1492–1585

Voyages of Columbus

• 1 Understand
• 2 First voyage
• 3 Second voyage
• 4 Third voyage
• 5 Fourth voyage

Christopher Columbus ( Italian : Cristoforo Colombo ; Spanish : Cristóbal Colón ) made four voyages from Spain to the Caribbean from 1492 to 1503. Though he neither discovered the Americas (as they were already inhabited by indigenous peoples) nor made the first crossing of the Atlantic (the Vikings reached North America 500 years earlier), his voyages had an enormous impact on world history, and started the so-called " Age of Discovery " and European colonialism. He also started the Transatlantic slave trade .

In any case, different forms of the name Columbus (such as his Spanish name Colón ) are used for several places in the Americas, including the nation of Colombia . The currency of Costa Rica (and of El Salvador from 1892 to 2001) is the "colón".

Columbus and his men also committed genocides of the indigenous peoples, and forced many indigenous women into sexual slavery. Long overlooked in mainstream Western historical chronicles, the dark side of his legacy is beginning to come to light again and be further explored since the early 2010s.

Understand [ edit ]

In the Middle Ages, trade between Europe and Asia followed the Silk Road through the Byzantine Empire and Mongolian lands. As the Mongol Empire crumbled, and the Ottoman Empire seized the Byzantine capital Constantinople in 1453, European Christians were encouraged to find new ways of commerce.

Columbus was born in Genoa (see Medieval and Renaissance Italy ). He toured Europe for seven years to find a sponsor for his voyage, and was turned down by many royal courts, until Spain backed him up. A modern misconception says that the skepticism was based in a belief that Earth was flat. However, scholars of the 15th century were well aware that Earth was round; the disagreement was about its size. Since Ancient Greece , there were accurate estimates that Earth's circumference was about 40,000 kilometres, correctly stating that the voyage westwards to India would be too long to be practical; let alone that the Americas were unknown to Europeans back then. Columbus, however, incorrectly believed that Earth was smaller, which he thought would allow a simple voyage westwards towards Asia.

Though Columbus never reached Asia, contemporary explorers found the Cape Route around Africa . Vasco da Gama reached India in 1498. Ferdinand Magellan launched an expedition that rounded South America, and reached Asia from the Pacific Ocean in 1521, thereby fulfilling Columbus' ambition. His denial of having reached an unknown continent survives in the terms West Indies for the Caribbean, and Indians for the indigenous peoples of the Americas.

Columbus paved the way for the Magellan-Elcano circumnavigation , which was completed in 1522.

First voyage [ edit ]

• Palos de la Frontera , Spain
• Canary Islands
• Bahamas : The island where Columbus made his first landfall was called Guanahani by the indigenous people, and named San Salvador by Columbus. While the exact location was forgotten, it was probably Samana Cay or Plana Cays .

Second voyage [ edit ]

• Marie-Galante
• Saint Martin
• Saint Croix
• Virgin Islands
• Puerto Rico

Third voyage [ edit ]

• Trinidad and Tobago

Fourth voyage [ edit ]

• Cayman Islands

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Internet Resources

• Christopher Columbus: History.com Christopher Columbus was an Italian explorer who stumbled upon the Americas and whose journeys marked the beginning of centuries of transatlantic colonization.
• Podcast- Christopher Columbus In 1492, Genoese mariner Christopher Columbus – sailing for Spain – became the first European to reach the Americas since the Vikings 500 years earlier. It is one of the most significant events in world history. Columbus would go on to make four voyages to the New World in his lifetime, and our 7-part series on him covers all his exploits. He is, arguably, the most famous explorer in history.

Christopher Columbus Reading List

Research & Reference

• Christopher Columbus: Credo Reference Christopher Columbus, whose voyages to the New World greatly changed the world's history, was born in Genoa, Italy, in 1451, the son of a middle-class merchant. As a young man, he apprenticed as a business agent for a trading company, and his travels took him as far as Ireland. Europe had long been interested in asea passage to the Far East because the longoverland trip was not very economical

Discovering Columbus

This segment of Sunday Morning is about Christopher Columbus. Mo Rocca embarks on a journey to discover more about the explorer we honor each year.

Source: AVON

Christopher Columbus: Explorer of the New World

Christopher Columbus set out to find a new route to Asia, but instead became the first Spaniard to set foot in the New World. Evidence now proves that the Vikings reached North America long before him, yet even in his own time, other explorers usurped his glory. From the dream that led him across the horizon to the fortunes that deserted him and the ongoing controversy over his true place in history, this episode of  Biography  sheds light on the life of Christopher Columbus—the man, not the legend. Period accounts, rare art and artifacts, and interviews with world-renowned historians are featured. Distributed by A&E Television Networks. (48 minutes) Distributed by A&E Television Networks.

Source: Films on Demand

Books & Films: Check Out at McKee Library

From the author of the Magellan biography, Over the Edge of the World, a mesmerizing new account of the great explorer. Christopher Columbus's 1492 voyage across the Atlantic Ocean in search of a trading route to China, and his unexpected landfall in the Americas, is a watershed event in world history. Yet Columbus made three more voyages within the span of only a decade, each designed to demonstrate that he could sail to China within a matter of weeks and convert those he found there to Christianity. These later voyages were even more adventurous, violent, and ambiguous, but they revealed Columbus's uncanny sense of the sea, his mingled brilliance and delusion, and his superb navigational skills. In all these exploits he almost never lost a sailor. By their conclusion, however, Columbus was broken in body and spirit. If the first voyage illustrates the rewards of exploration, the latter voyages illustrate the tragic costs- political, moral, and economic. In rich detail Laurence Bergreen re-creates each of these adventures as well as the historical background of Columbus's celebrated, controversial career. Written from the participants' vivid perspectives, this breathtakingly dramatic account will be embraced by readers of Bergreen's previous biographies of Marco Polo and Magellan and by fans of Nathaniel Philbrick, Simon Winchester, and Tony Horwitz.

The Catalogue of Shipwrecked Books

"Like a Renaissance wonder cabinet, full of surprises and opening up into a lost world." --Stephen Greenblatt "A captivating adventure...For lovers of history, Wilson-Lee offers a thrill on almost every page...Magnificent." --The New York Times Book Review Named a Best Book of the Year by: * Financial Times * New Statesman * History Today * The Spectator * The impeccably researched and vividly rendered account of the quest by Christopher Columbus's illegitimate son to create the greatest library in the world--"a perfectly pitched poetic drama" (Financial Times) and an amazing tour through sixteenth-century Europe. In this innovative work of history, Edward Wilson-Lee tells the extraordinary story of Hernando Colón, a singular visionary of the printing press-age who also happened to be Christopher Columbus's illegitimate son. At the peak of the Age of Exploration, Hernando traveled with Columbus on his final voyage to the New World, a journey that ended in disaster, bloody mutiny, and shipwreck. After Columbus's death in 1506, the eighteen-year-old Hernando sought to continue--and surpass--his father's campaign to explore the boundaries of the known world by building a library that would collect everything ever printed: a vast holding organized by summaries and catalogues, the first ever search engine for the exploding diversity of written matter as the printing press proliferated across Europe. 

Columbus and the World Around Him

This series meets National Curriculum Standards for: Social Studies: Civic Ideals & Practices Individuals, Groups, & Institutions Power, Authority, & Goverance Time, Continuity, & Change

A deeply engaging new history of how European settlements in the post-Colombian Americas shaped the world, from the bestselling author of 1491. Presenting the latest research by biologists, anthropologists, archaeologists, and historians, Mann shows how the post-Columbian network of ecological and economic exchange fostered the rise of Europe, devastated imperial China, convulsed Africa, and for two centuries made Mexico City--where Asia, Europe, and the new frontier of the Americas dynamically interacted--the center of the world. In this history, Mann uncovers the germ of today's fiercest political disputes, from immigration to trade policy to culture wars. In 1493, Mann has again given readers an eye-opening scientific interpretation of our past, unequaled in its authority and fascination.

Manifest Destinies

A sweeping history of the 1840s, Manifest Destinies captures the enormous sense of possibility that inspired America’s growth and shows how the acquisition of western territories forced the nation to come to grips with the deep fault line that would bring war in the near future. Steven E. Woodworth gives us a portrait of America at its most vibrant and expansive. It was a decade in which the nation significantly enlarged its boundaries, taking Texas, New Mexico, California, and the Pacific Northwest; William Henry Harrison ran the first modern populist campaign, focusing on entertaining voters rather than on discussing issues; prospectors headed west to search for gold; Joseph Smith founded a new religion; railroads and telegraph lines connected the country’s disparate populations as never before. When the 1840s dawned, Americans were feeling optimistic about the future: the population was growing, economic conditions were improving, and peace had reigned for nearly thirty years. A hopeful nation looked to the West, where vast areas of unsettled land seemed to promise prosperity to anyone resourceful enough to take advantage. And yet political tensions roiled below the surface; as the country took on new lands, slavery emerged as an irreconcilable source of disagreement between North and South, and secession reared its head for the first time. Rich in detail and full of dramatic events and fascinating characters, Manifest Destinies is an absorbing and highly entertaining account of a crucial decade that forged a young nation’s character and destiny.

Christopher Columbus and the Enterprise of the Indies

Focused on Columbus' voyages and their impact on Europe and the indigenous peoples of the Caribbean, Christopher Columbus and the Enterprise of the Indies presents the voyager as a significant historical actor who improvised responses to a changed world while helping link Africa, Europe, and the Americas in a conflicted economic and cultural symbiosis.

The Worlds of Christopher Columbus

When Columbus was born in the mid-fifteenth century, Europe was isolated in many ways from the rest of the Old World and Europeans did not even know that the world of the Western Hemisphere existed. The voyages of Christopher Columbus opened a period of European exploration and empire building that breached the boundaries of those isolated worlds and changed the course of human history. This book describes the life and times of Christopher Columbus. The story is not just of one man's rise and fall. Seen in its broader context, his life becomes a prism reflecting the broad range of human experience for the past five hundred years.

YouTube Videos

Many people in the United States and Latin America have grown up celebrating the anniversary of Christopher Columbus’s voyage. But was he an intrepid explorer who brought two worlds together or a ruthless exploiter who brought colonialism and slavery? And did he even discover America at all? Alex Gendler puts Columbus on the stand in History vs. Christopher Columbus.

Secrets & Mysteries Of Christopher Columbus

Was Christopher Columbus born in Genoa, Italy? An unlikely collection of experts from European royalty, DNA science, university scholars, even Columbus's own living family so he definitely was not.

Source: Kanopy

The Real Life Of Christopher Columbus | The Secrets And Lies Of Columbus | Timeline

Was Christopher Columbus born in Genoa, Italy? Most definitely not, say an unlikely collection of experts from European royalty, DNA science, university scholars, even Columbus's own living family. This ground breaking documentary follows a trail of proof to show he might have been much more than we know.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0yoVsZfypQ

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The Voyages of Christopher Columbus

Did you know....

The exploration process was too slow for Christopher Columbus, who was born in the Italian seaside city of Genoa in 1451 to a family of weavers.  Learning to sail from Portuguese seamen, Columbus sailed for many years before moving to Lisbon, Portugal, to try to gain support for a voyage to find a route to India, China, and Japan by sailing west across the Atlantic.  Unsuccessful finding funding in Portugal, Columbus moved to Spain. In 1492, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabell, the joint monarchs of Spain, agreed to finance Columbus’s voyage in return for the gold, spices, and riches that he might find. 

The Voyage of 1492

While historians disagree about Columbus’s intended destination, most assume he was seeking Japan and the East Indies. While his destination is disputed, his goals were apparent.  He intended to explore and trade, as well as conquer and exploit.

Columbus left Spain with ninety men aboard three vessels:  the Niña, Pinta, and Santa Maria. Both the Niña and the Pinta were caravels.  The Santa Maria was a larger, slower rig. After several weeks at sea, the expedition finally landed in October of 1492 on an island off the Bahamas, and named it San Salvador, meaning “blessed savior.” Columbus’s next stop was Cuba. The expedition then continued to present-day Haiti, a part of an island that Columbus called Hispaniola. Columbus promptly claimed the area for the Spanish crown. The expedition was met with friendly natives bearing gifts for the newcomers. Columbus’ group immediately began interacting with los indios , as he called them, claiming in his journal that they were friendly people and willing allies.

Finding the land beautiful and the people agreeable, Columbus left about forty men behind and sailed home with news of success. Believing that he had reached Asia, Columbus was eager to return to Europe with samples of the people and treasure to be had. On this first voyage, Columbus seized about twenty natives and took them back to Spain. Only seven or eight survived the trip. Click on the following map to see the route Christopher Columbus traveled. 

Amerigo Vespucci

The Americas are named quite accidentally not for Columbus but for another early Italian explorer, Amerigo Vespucci , who first sailed near the mainland of America in 1497. Vespucci’s accounts of his explorations were widely distributed, including his acknowledgement that an unknown continent had been discovered.

Columbus’s Return Trip to Americañ

Columbus reached Spain in March 1493, immediately receiving titles and riches. The published report of his successful voyage made him a hero throughout Europe. He was made Admiral of the Ocean Sea and Governor of the Indies. The success of the voyage was immediately recognized, and Columbus was quickly outfitted for a second voyage with seventeen ships, more than 1,200 men, and instructions from the King and Queen to treat the natives well.  While Columbus had been gone, the forty men he had left on Hispaniola had raped and murdered the natives and pillaged their villages.  The natives struck back, killing ten Spaniards.  Columbus counterattacked with crossbows, guns, and ferocious dogs and loaded five hundred natives on a ship bound for the slave market in Spain. These events set a trend of savage exploitation for the rest of Columbus’s explorations in the Americas.

Conjecture of Columbus’s image by Sebastiano del Piombo in the Gallery of Illustrious Men, Uffizi, Florence

Columbus made two more trips to the Americas (four total), each time becoming more greedy for gold and treating the natives more savagely. To the end, he refused to believe that he had discovered anything other than the outlying lands of Asia.  Eventually he was charged with mismanagement of lands in the New World, arrested, and taken back to Spain in chains.

Columbus is celebrated yearly in the United States as the man who “discovered America,” but he never actually set foot on the mainland of North America. Columbus’ “discovery” of the Americas is significant because it initiated the trans-Atlantic exchange of slaves, diseases, goods, crops, and immigrants that characterized the future relationship between the Old and New Worlds.

History of Spain

Voyages of Christopher Columbus

Between 1492 and 1504, Italian explorer Christopher Columbus led four Spanish transatlantic maritime expeditions of discovery to the Americas. These voyages led to the widespread knowledge of the New World. This breakthrough inaugurated the period known as the Age of Discovery, which saw the colonization of the Americas, a related biological exchange, and trans-Atlantic trade. These events, the effects and consequences of which persist to the present, are often cited as the beginning of the modern era.

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10 Famous Explorers Whose Discoveries Connected the World

From Christopher Columbus to Marco Polo, these celebrated—and controversial—explorers made groundbreaking journeys across the globe.

Some of these explorers, like Christopher Columbus , are both celebrated and vilified today. Others, like Ferdinand Magellan and Francisco Pizarro , were met with violent and untimely deaths. And some, like Marco Polo , failed to received recognition in their lifetime, only to have their discoveries confirmed centuries later.

Learn more about some of the history’s most famous explorers and what they are remembered for today.

Time Period: Late 13 th century Destination: Asia

Marco Polo was a Venetian explorer known for the book The Travels of Marco Polo , which describes his voyage to and experiences in Asia. Polo traveled extensively with his family, journeying from Europe to Asia from 1271 to 1295, remaining in China for 17 of those years. As the years wore on, Polo rose through the ranks, serving as governor of a Chinese city. Later, Kublai Khan appointed him as an official of the Privy Council. At one point, he was the tax inspector in the city of Yanzhou.

Around 1292, he left China, acting as consort along the way to a Mongol princess who was being sent to Persia. In the centuries since his death, Polo has received the recognition that failed to come his way during his lifetime. So much of what he claimed to have seen has been verified by researchers, academics, and other explorers. Even if his accounts came from other travelers he met along the way, Polo’s story has inspired countless other adventurers to set off and see the world.

Christopher Columbus

Time Period: Turn of the 16 th century Destination: Caribbean and South America

Christopher Columbus was an Italian explorer and navigator. Columbus first went to sea as a teenager, participating in several trading voyages in the Mediterranean and Aegean seas. One such voyage, to the island of Khios, in modern-day Greece, brought him the closest he would ever come to Asia.

In 1492, he sailed across the Atlantic Ocean from Spain in the Santa Maria , with the Pinta and the Niña ships alongside, hoping to find a new route to India. Between that year and 1504, he made a total of four voyages to the Caribbean and South America and has been credited—and blamed —for opening up the Americas to European colonization. Columbus died in May 1506, probably from severe arthritis following an infection, still believing he had discovered a shorter route to Asia.

More about Christopher Columbus

Amerigo Vespucci

Time period: turn of the 16 th century destination: south america.

America was named after Amerigo Vespucci , a Florentine navigator and explorer who played a prominent role in exploring the New World.

On May 10, 1497, Vespucci embarked on his first voyage, departing from Cadiz with a fleet of Spanish ships. In May 1499, sailing under the Spanish flag, Vespucci embarked on his next expedition, as a navigator under the command of Alonzo de Ojeda. Crossing the equator, they traveled to the coast of what is now Guyana, where it’s believed that Vespucci left Ojeda and went on to explore the coast of Brazil. During this journey, Vespucci is said to have discovered the Amazon River and Cape St. Augustine.

On his third and most successful voyage, he discovered present-day Rio de Janeiro and Rio de la Plata. Believing he had discovered a new continent, he called South America the New World. In 1507, America was named after him . He died of malaria in Seville, Spain, in February 1512.

More about Amerigo Vespucci

Time Period: Late 15 th century Destination: Canada

John Cabot was a Venetian explorer and navigator known for his 1497 voyage to North America, where he made a British claim to land in Canada, mistaking it for Asia . The precise location of Cabot’s landing is subject to controversy. Some historians believe that Cabot landed at Cape Breton Island or mainland Nova Scotia. Others believe he might have landed at Newfoundland, Labrador, or even Maine.

In February 1498, Cabot was given permission to make a new voyage to North America. The May, he departed from Bristol, England, with five ships and a crew of 300 men. En route, one ship became disabled and sailed to Ireland, while the other four ships continued on. On the journey, Cabot disappeared, and his final days remain a mystery. It’s believed Cabot died sometime in 1499 or 1500, but his fate remains a mystery.

More about John Cabot

Ferdinand Magellan

Time Period: Early 16 th century Destination: Global circumnavigation

While in the service of Spain, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan led the first European voyage of discovery to circumnavigate the globe. As a boy, Magellan studied mapmaking and navigation. In 1505, when Magellan was in his mid-20s, he joined a Portuguese fleet that was sailing to East Africa. By 1509, he found himself at the Battle of Diu, in which the Portuguese destroyed Egyptian ships in the Arabian Sea. Two years later, he explored Malacca, located in present-day Malaysia, and participated in the conquest of Malacca’s port.

In 1519, with the support of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V (also known as Spain’s King Charles I), Magellan set out to find a better route to the Spice Islands. In March 1521, Magellan’s fleet reached Homonhom Island on the edge of the Philippines with less than 150 of the 270 men who started the expedition. Magellan traded with the island’s king Rajah Humabon, and their bond quickly formed. The Spanish crew soon became involved in a war between Humabon and another rival leader, and Magellan was killed in battle in April 1521.

More about Ferdinand Magellan

Hernán Cortés

Time period: 16 th century destination: central america.

Hernán Cortés was a Spanish conquistador who explored Central America, overthrew Montezuma and his vast Aztec empire, and won Mexico for the crown of Spain. He first set sail to the New World at the age of 19. Cortés later joined an expedition to Cuba.

In 1518, he set off to explore Mexico. Cortés became allies with some of the Indigenous peoples he encountered there, but with others, he used deadly force to conquer Mexico . He fought Tlaxacan and Cholula warriors and then set his sights on taking over the Aztec empire. In their bloody battles for domination over the Aztecs, Cortés and his men are estimated to have killed as many as 100,000 Indigenous peoples. In his role as the Spanish king, Emperor Charles V appointed him the governor of New Spain in 1522.

More about Hernán Cortés

Sir Francis Drake

Time period: late 16 th century destination: global circumnavigation.

English admiral Sir Francis Drake was the second person to circumnavigated the globe and was the most renowned seaman of the Elizabethan era. In 1577, Drake was chosen as the leader of an expedition intended to pass around South America, through the Strait of Magellan, and explore the coast that lay beyond. Drake successfully completed the journey and was knighted by Queen Elizabeth I upon his triumphant return in 1580.

In 1588, Drake saw action in the English defeat of the Spanish Armada , though he died in 1596 from dysentery after undertaking an unsuccessful raiding mission.

More about Francis Drake

Sir Walter Raleigh

Time Period: Late 16 th century Destination: United States

Sir Walter Raleigh was an English explorer, soldier, and writer. At age 17, he fought with the French Huguenots and later studied at Oxford. He became a favorite of Queen Elizabeth I after serving in her army in Ireland. He was knighted in 1585 and, within two years, became captain of the Queen’s Guard.

An early supporter of colonizing North America, Raleigh sought to establish a colony, but the queen initially forbade him to leave her service. Between 1585 to 1588, he invested in a number of expeditions across the Atlantic, attempting to establish a colony near Roanoke, on the coast of what is now North Carolina, and name it “Virginia” in honor of the virgin queen, Elizabeth. Accused of treason by King James I, Raleigh was imprisoned and eventually put to death.

More about Walter Raleigh

Time Period: Late 18 th century Destination: New Zealand and Australia

James Cook was a naval captain, navigator, and explorer. After serving as an apprentice, Cook eventually joined the British Navy and, at age 29, was promoted to ship’s master. During the Seven Years War that began in 1756, he commanded a captured ship for the Royal Navy. Then, in 1768, he took command of the first scientific expedition to the Pacific.

In 1770, on his ship the HMB Endeavour , Cook charted New Zealand and the Great Barrier Reef of Australia. This area has since been credited as one of the world’s most dangerous areas to navigate . He later disproved the existence of Terra Australis, a fabled southern continent. Cook’s voyages helped guide generations of explorers and provided the first accurate map of the Pacific.

More about James Cook

Francisco Pizarro

Time period: early 16 th century destination: central and south america.

In 1513, Spanish explorer and conquistador Francisco Pizarro joined Vasco Núñez de Balboa in his march to the “South Sea,” across the Isthmus of Panama. During their journey, Balboa and Pizarro discovered what is now known as the Pacific Ocean, though Balboa allegedly spied it first and was therefore credited with the ocean’s first European discovery.

In 1528, Pizarro went back to Spain and managed to procure a commission from Emperor Charles V. Pizarro was to conquer the southern territory and establish a new Spanish province there. In 1532, accompanied by his brothers, Pizarro overthrew the Inca leader Atahualpa and conquered Peru. Three years later, he founded the new capital city of Lima. Over time, tensions increasingly built up between the conquistadors who had originally conquered Peru and those who arrived later to stake some claim in the new Spanish province. This conflict eventually led to Pizarro’s assassination in 1541.

More about Francisco Pizarro

European Explorers

Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo

Leif Eriksson

Vasco da Gama

Bartolomeu Dias

Giovanni da Verrazzano

Jacques Marquette

René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle

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The History Hit Miscellany of Facts, Figures and Fascinating Finds

• Early Modern

15 Famous Explorers Who Changed the World

The age of exploration, or age of discovery, saw a huge increase in human discovery, and marked the beginning of globalisation. it also saw the rise of some of the most famous explorers in history..

Léonie Chao-Fong

03 mar 2023.

Beginning from the early 15th century until the middle of the 17th century, European explorers took to the seas in search of trade, knowledge, and power.

The story of human exploration is as old as the story of civilisation, and many of the stories of these explorers have become legends over the centuries.

Here are 15 of the most famous explorers during the Age of Exploration, before and after.

1. Marco Polo (1254-1324)

A Venetian merchant and adventurer, Marco Polo travelled along the Silk Road from Europe to Asia between 1271 and 1295.

Originally invited to the court of Kublai Khan (1215-1294) with his father and uncle, he remained in China for 17 years where the Mongol ruler sent him on fact-finding missions to distant parts of the empire.

Polo wearing a Tartar outfit, print from the 18th century

Image Credit: Grevembrock, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Upon his return to Venice, Polo was imprisoned in Genoa alongside the writer Rustichello da Pisa. The result of their encounter was Il milione (“The Million”) or ‘The Travels of Marco Polo’, which described his voyage to and experiences in Asia.

Polo was not the first European to reach China, but his travelogue inspired many explorers – among them, Christopher Columbus.

His writings also had a significant influence on European cartography, ultimately leading to the Age of Discovery a century later.

2. Zheng He (c. 1371-1433)

Known as the Three-Jewel Eunuch Admiral, Zheng He was China’s greatest explorer.

Commanding the world’s mightiest fleet of 300 ships and as many as 30,000 troops, Admiral Zheng made 7 epic voyages to southeast Asia, south Asia, the Middle East and Africa between 1405 and 1433.

Setting sail aboard his “treasure ships”, he would exchange valuable goods such as gold, porcelain and silk for ivory, myrrh and even China’s first giraffe.

Despite being instrumental in extending the influence and power of the Ming dynasty China, Zheng’s legacy went overlooked after China entered a long period of isolation.

3. Henry the Navigator (1394-1460)

The Portuguese prince has a legendary status in the early stages of European exploration – despite never having embarked on an exploratory voyage himself.

His patronage of Portuguese exploration led to expeditions across the Atlantic Ocean and along the western coast of Africa, and the colonising of the Azores and Madeira islands.

Although he did not earn the title ‘”the Navigator” until three centuries after his death, Henry was considered the main initiator of the Age of Discovery and the Atlantic slave trade.

4. Christopher Columbus (1451-1506)

Often called the “discoverer” of the New World, Christopher Columbus embarked on 4 voyages across the Atlantic Ocean between 1492 and 1504.

Under the sponsorship of Ferdinand II and Isabella I of Spain, he had originally set sail hoping to find a westward route to the Far East.

Posthumous portrait of Columbus by Sebastiano del Piombo, 1519. There are no known authentic portraits of Columbus

Image Credit: Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Instead, the Italian navigator found himself on an island that later became known as the Bahamas. Believing he had reached the Indies, he dubbed the natives there “Indians”.

Columbus’ voyages were the first European expeditions to the Caribbean, Central America and South America, and opened the way for the European exploration and permanent colonisation of the Americas.

5. Vasco da Gama (c. 1460-1524)

In 1497, the Portuguese explorer set sail from Lisbon towards India. His voyage made him the first European to reach India by sea, and opened up the first sea route connecting Europe to Asia.

Da Gama’s discovery of the Cape Route opened the way for an age of Portuguese exploration and colonialism in Asia.

It would take another century for other European powers to challenge Portugal’s naval supremacy and commercial monopoly of commodities such as pepper and cinnamon.

The Portuguese national epic poem, Os Lusiadas (“The Lusiads”), was written in his honour by Luís Vaz de Camões (c. 1524-1580), Portugal’s greatest ever poet.

6. John Cabot (c. 1450-1498)

Born Giovanni Caboto, the Venetian explorer became known for his 1497 voyage to North America under the commission of Henry VII of England.

Upon landing in what he called “New-found-land” in present-day Canada – which he mistook for being Asia – Cabot claimed land for England.

Cabot’s expedition was the first European exploration of coastal North America since the 11th century , making him the first early modern European to “discover” North America.

It is not known if he died in a storm during his final voyage in 1498, or if he returned safely to London and died shortly after.

7. Pedro Álvares Cabral (c. 1467-1520)

Regarded as the “discoverer” of Brazil, the Portuguese navigator was the first European to reach the Brazilian coast, in 1500.

While on a voyage to India Cabral accidentally sailed too far south west, and found himself at present-day Porto Seguro on the coast of Bahia.

After staying mere days, Cabral sailed back across the Atlantic, leaving two degredados , exiled criminals, who would father the first of Brazil’s mestizo population. Several years after, the Portuguese began colonising the area.

The name “Brazil” originated from the brazilwood tree, which the settlers made great profit from. Today, with over 200 million people, Brazil is the world’s largest Portuguese-speaking nation.

8. Amerigo Vespucci (1454-1512)

Around 1501-1502, the Florentine navigator Amerigo Vespucci embarked on a follow-up expedition to Cabral’s, exploring the Brazilian coast.

‘Allegory of the New World’ by Stradanus, depicting Vespucci that awakens the sleeping America (cropped)

Image Credit: Stradanus, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

As a result of this voyage, Vespucci demonstrated that Brazil and the West Indies were not the eastern outskirts of Asia – as Columbus had thought – but a separate continent, which became described as the “New World”.

The German geographer Martin Waldseemüller was so impressed that he coined the name “America”, after the Latin version of Vespucci’s first name, in a 1507 map.

Waldseemüller later changed his mind and removed the name in 1513, believing that it was Columbus who discovered the New World. However it was too late, and the name stuck.

9. Ferdinand Magellan (1480-1521)

The Portuguese explorer was the first European to cross the Pacific Ocean, and organised the Spanish expedition to the East Indies from 1519 to 1522.

Despite rough weather, and a mutinous and starving crew riddled with scurvy, Magellan and his ships managed to reach an island – probably Guam – in the western Pacific.

In 1521, Magellan was killed after reaching the Philippines, when he was caught in a battle between two rival chieftains.

The expedition, begun by Magellan but completed by Juan Sebastián Elcano, resulted in the first circumnavigation of the earth.

10. Juan Sebastián Elcano (c. 1476-1526)

Following Magellan’s death, the Basque explorer Juan Sebastián Elcano took command of the expedition.

His ship ‘the Victoria’ reached Spanish shores in September 1522, completing the navigation. Of the 270 men who left with the Mangellan-Elcano expedition, only 18 Europeans returned alive.

Magellan has historically received more credit than Elcano for commanding the world’s first circumnavigation.

This was in part because Portugal wanted to recognise a Portuguese explorer, and because of Spanish fears of Basque nationalism.

11. Hernán Cortés (1485-1547)

A Spanish conquistador (soldier and explorer), Hernán Cortés was best known for leading an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire in 1521 and for winning Mexico for the Spanish crown.

Upon landing in the southeastern Mexican coast in 1519, Cortés did what no explorer had done – he disciplined his army and trained them to act as a cohesive force.

He then set out for the Mexican interior, heading for the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan where he took hostage its ruler: Montezuma II.

Having captured the capital and subdued neighbouring territories, Cortés became the absolute ruler of a territory extending from the Caribbean Sea to the Pacific Ocean.

In 1521, a new settlement – Mexico City – was built on Tenochtitlan and became the centre of Spanish America. During his rule, Cortés inflicted great cruelty on the indigenous population.

12. Sir Francis Drake (c.1540-1596)

Drake was the first Englishman to circumnavigate the globe in a single expedition from 1577 to 1580.

In his youth, he commanded a ship as part of a fleet bringing African slaves to the “New World”, making one of the first English slaving voyages.

Portrait by Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger, 1591

Image Credit: Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Later, he was secretly commissioned by Elizabeth I to set off an expedition against the colonies of the Spanish empire – the most powerful in the world at the time.

Aboard his flagship ‘the Pelican’ – later renamed ‘the Golden Hind’ – Drake made his way into the Pacific, up the coast of South America, across the Indian Ocean and back into the Atlantic.

After two years of plundering, pirating and adventuring, he sailed his ship into Plymouth Harbour on 26 September 1580. He was knighted by the Queen personally aboard his ship 7 months later.

13. Sir Walter Raleigh (1552-1618)

A key figure of the Elizabethan era, Sir Walter Raleigh carried out several expeditions to the Americas between 1578 and 1618.

He was instrumental in the English colonisation of North America, having been granted a royal charter that allowed him to organise the first English colonies in Virginia.

Although these colonial experiments were a disaster, resulting in the so-called “Lost Colony” of Roanoke Island , it paved the way for future English settlements.

A former favourite of Elizabeth I, he was imprisoned in the Tower of London after she discovered his secret marriage to Elizabeth Throckmorton, her maid of honour.

Upon his release, Raleigh set off on two unsuccessful expeditions in search of the legendary “ El Dorado “, or “City of Gold”. He was executed on his return to England for treason by James I.

14. James Cook (1728-1779)

A British Royal Navy captain, James Cook embarked on ground-breaking expeditions that helped map the Pacific, New Zealand and Australia.

In 1770, he made the first European contact with the eastern coast of Australia, and chartered several islands in the Pacific.

Using a combination of seamanship, navigation and cartographic skills, Cook radically expanded and changed European perceptions of world geography.

15. Roald Amundsen (1872-1928)

The Norwegian polar explorer Roald Amundsen was the first to reach the South Pole, during an Antarctic expedition of 1910-1912.

He was also the first to sail through the Arctic’s treacherous Northwest Passage, from 1903 to 1906.

Amundsen c. 1923

Amundsen had planned to be the first man to the North Pole. On hearing that the American Robert Peary had achieved the feat, Amundsen decided to change course and instead set sail for Antarctica.

On 14 December 1911 and with the help of sleigh dogs, Amundsen reached the South Pole, beating his British rival Robert Falcon Scott.

In 1926, he led the first flight over the North Pole in a dirigible. He died two years later trying to rescue a fellow explorer who had crashed at sea near Spitsbergen, Norway.

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1.2: Explorers and Oceanographers

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Prince Henry the Navigator (1394 - 1460)

Henry the Navigator lived from 1394 to 1460. Prince Henry of Portugal was interested in sailing and commerce, and studied navigation and mapmaking. He established a naval observatory for the teaching of navigation, astronomy, and cartography around 1450. From 1419 to his death, Prince Henry made many expeditions south along the west coast of Africa to secure trade routes and establish colonies.

Prince Henry of Portugal organized and financed many voyages that went south from Portugal and eventually rounded the African continent. His goals were to create maps of the West African coastline, establish trade routes, and spread Christianity. He encouraged voyages of expeditions and the scientific study of navigation. Furthermore, he ran an observatory and school of navigation. Prince Henry played a vital role in the development of more accurate maps and the engineering of a new ship that was more ideal for exploring rough seas.

Prince Henry the Navigator, a key figure in Portuguese exploration. ( Wikipedia )

Zheng He (1371 - 1433)

Zheng He [pronounced as JUNG HUH] lived from 1371 to 1433. He was born in Yunnan at the foothills of the Himalaya Mountains. As a child, his name was Ma He. He grew up a Hui, a Chinese Muslim. When he was only 10 years old, Chinese soldiers, under the orders of the Ming Dynasty, invaded Yunnan in effort to overtake one of the last Mongol holds. They killed his father and he was captured. Along with many other boys who were taken, he was castrated and forced to serve for a Chinese prince known as Zhu Di. In 1402, Zhu Di took the throne as Emperor Yongle. He made Ma He the chief of staff for all the servants and changed his name to Zheng He. The Yongle Emperor proved to be one of the most ambitious emperors of his time and chose Zheng He to be the commander in chief of a series of missions across the Indian Ocean in order to increase China's influence.

From 1405 to 1433, Zheng He led seven naval expeditions throughout the Chinese Seas and the Indian Ocean, and he reached locations from Taiwan, the Persian Gulf, and Africa. He saw the commission of 3,500 ships and commanded at least 62 ships and 27,800 men (more than half of London’s population at the time). Zheng He’s led nine-masted flagships that measured about 400 feet long (Christopher Columbus’s Santa Maria was only 85 feet long). These were some of the largest wooden ships ever built in this time period. These naval expeditions did not serve the purpose to colonize or conquer but rather served as “treasure hunts” that brought back items of great value as tribute to the Yongle Emperor. Zheng He brought back gold, jewelry, and other delicacies. He even brought Zebras, Rhinos, and Giraffes. In 1424, the Yongle emperor died and his successor suspended all naval expeditions abroad. Zheng He went on his seventh and final voyage from 1431 to 1433. He died at sea and was buried off the coast of India.

Zheng He and his naval voyages had a great impact on the status of China at the time. These voyages increased maritime and commercial influence of China throughout the Indian ocean up until the 19th century. Foreign goods, medicines, and geological knowledge flowed through China at an unprecedented rate even though these ships only served as treasure ships. Many historians argue that China could have become a great colonial power many years before the age of great exploration if the leadership had decided to use their technology for outreach rather than for isolation.

Here is a good map of the travels of Zheng He: https://cdn.kastatic.org/KA-share/BigHistory/KU8.1.8-4_Zheng_He-Map.pdf

A statue of Zheng He in Stadthuys, Melaka. ( Wikipedia )

Christopher Columbus (1451 - 1506)

Christopher Columbus lived from 1451 to 1506. He made four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean in an effort to find a new route to the East Indies by traveling west rather than east. Having inaccurate estimates of Earth’s magnitude, he underestimated the distances necessary for the voyage and believed he had found islands off the coast of Asia when, in reality, he had reached the “New World.”

Christopher Columbus believed sailing west would be a faster way to get to India and to all the spices and riches it held. When his idea was rejected by Portugal, Columbus went to Spain where the King and Queen agreed to sponsor him. Columbus was granted three ships (the Niña, Pinta, and Santa Maria) and funds to finance his voyage across the ocean. After two months of sailing, Columbus and his crew arrived in the present-day Bahamas. Due to his excellent navigation records, he was able to sail back to Spain with proof, in the form of gold and other materials, of his success. However, the rest of Columbus’ voyages were unsuccessful. Although he died bitter and believing he had found Asia, Columbus’ discovery opened up a whole new world for his successors to explore.

Ferdinand Magellan

Ferdinand Magellan lived from 1480 to 1521. He left Spain in September 1519 with 270 men and five vessels in search of a westward passage to the Spice Islands. The expedition eventually lost two ships even before finally discovering and passing through the Strait of Magellan and rounding the tip of South America in November 1520. Magellan crossed the Pacific Ocean and arrived in the Philippines in March 1521, where he was killed in a battle with the natives on April 27, 1521. Magellan’s skill as a navigator makes his voyage probably the most outstanding single contribution to the early charting of the oceans.

Magellan had the idea to sail west across the ocean to get to Asia. Contrary to his expectations, Magellan sailed past modern-day Argentina and found a route to the Pacific Ocean. He was the first person to sail across the Pacific Ocean. It took him six long months to arrive in Asia though he had been looking for a shorter route. Eventually, Magellan and his crew sailed into charted waters in East Asia. Unfortunately, Magellan was killed in battle in the Philippines. His crew continued without him and reached Spain a total of three years after they had first set out on their voyage. Though Magellan perished during the voyage, his belief that the Earth is round was proven to be true. This important discovery altered the way people thought about the world and had a significant impact on future voyages.

Brown, Cynthia Stokes. “Zheng He.” Khan Academy , Khan Academy, www.khanacademy.org/partner-content/big-history-project/expansion-interconnection/exploration-interconnection/a/zheng-he

CrashCourse. “Columbus, De Gama, and Zheng He! 15th Century Mariners. Crash Course: World History #21.” YouTube, YouTube, 14 June 2012, www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjEGncridoQ

Levathes, Louise. When China Ruled the Seas : The Treasure Fleet of the Dragon Throne 1400-1433. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1994. ebookcentral.proquest.com/li...?docID=4457744

Lo, Jung-pang. “Zheng He.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 21 June 2019, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Zheng-He

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The Viking Explorer Who Beat Columbus to America

By: Christopher Klein

Updated: May 25, 2023 | Original: October 8, 2013

Nearly 500 years before the birth of Christopher Columbus , a band of European sailors left their homeland behind in search of a new world. Their high-prowed Viking ship sliced through the cobalt waters of the Atlantic Ocean as winds billowed the boat’s enormous single sail. After traversing unfamiliar waters, the Norsemen aboard the wooden ship spied a new land, dropped anchor and went ashore. 

Half a millennium before Columbus reached America, those Viking feet may have been the first European ones to ever have touched North American soil.

Exploration was a family business for the expedition’s leader, Leif Eriksson (variations of his last name include Erickson, Ericson, Erikson, Ericsson and Eiriksson). His father, Erik the Red, founded the first European settlement of Greenland after being expelled from Iceland around A.D. 985 for killing a neighbor. (Erik the Red’s father, himself, had been banished from Norway for committing manslaughter.) 

Eriksson, who is believed to have been born in Iceland around A.D. 970, spent his formative years in desolate Greenland. Around A.D. 1000, Eriksson sailed east to his ancestral homeland of Norway. There, King Olaf I Tryggvason converted him to Christianity and charged him with proselytizing the religion to the pagan settlers of Greenland. Eriksson converted his mother, who built Greenland’s first Christian church, but not his outlaw father.

Icelandic legends called sagas recounted Eriksson’s exploits in the New World around A.D. 1000. These Norse stories were spread by word of mouth before becoming recorded in the 12th and 13th centuries. Two sagas give differing accounts as to how Eriksson arrived in North America. 

According to the “Saga of Erik the Red,” Eriksson crossed the Atlantic by accident after sailing off course on his return voyage from Norway after his conversion to Christianity. The “Saga of the Greenlanders,” however, recounts that Eriksson’s voyage to North America was no fluke. Instead, the Viking explorer had heard of a strange land to the west from Icelandic trader Bjarni Herjolfsson, who more than a decade earlier had overshot Greenland and sailed by the shores of North America without setting foot upon it. Eriksson bought the trader’s ship, raised a crew of 35 men and retraced the route in reverse.

After crossing the Atlantic, the Vikings encountered a rocky, barren land in present-day Canada. Eriksson bestowed upon the land a name as boring as the surroundings—Helluland, Old Norse for “Stone Slab Land.” Researchers believe this location could possibly have been Baffin Island. The Norsemen then voyaged south to a timber-rich location they called Markland (Forestland), most likely in present-day Labrador, before finally setting up a base camp likely on the northern tip of the island of Newfoundland.

The Vikings spent an entire winter there and benefitted from the milder weather compared to their homeland. They explored the surrounding region abounding with lush meadows, rivers teeming with salmon, and wild grapes so suitable for wine that Eriksson called the region Vinland (Wineland).

After spending the winter in Vinland, Eriksson and his crew sailed home to windswept Greenland with badly needed timber and plentiful portions of grapes. Eriksson, who would succeed Erik the Red as chief of the Greenland settlement after his father’s death, never returned to North America, but other Vikings continued to sail west to Vinland for at least the ensuing decade. In spite of North America’s more bountiful resources, the Viking settlers remained in desolate Greenland. This was perhaps due to the violent encounters—including the slaying of Eriksson’s brother Thorwald–they had with the indigenous population of North America.

Archaeologists have unearthed evidence that supports the sagas’ stories of the Norse expeditions to America. In 1960, Norwegian explorer Helge Ingstad scoured the coasts of Labrador and Newfoundland for signs of a possible settlement, and he found it on the northernmost tip of Newfoundland at L’Anse aux Meadows. An international team of archaeologists that included Ingstad’s wife, Anne, excavated artifacts of Viking origin dating from around A.D. 1000, and the remains of the Norse village are now part of a UNESCO World Heritage site .

While Columbus is honored with a federal holiday , the man considered to be the leader of the first European expedition to North America has not been totally forgotten on the calendar. In 1964, President Lyndon Johnson signed a proclamation that declared October 9 to be Leif Eriksson Day in honor of the Viking explorer, his crew and the country’s Nordic-American heritage. 

The proximity of the days honoring Eriksson and Columbus is a coincidence. October 9 was chosen because it is the anniversary of the 1825 arrival in New York of the ship Restauration, which carried the first organized band of Norwegian immigrants to the United States.

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Ferdinand Magellan

(1480 – 1521)

In search of fame and fortune, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan (c. 1480-1521) set out from Spain in 1519 with a fleet of five ships to discover a western sea route to the Spice Islands. En route he discovered what is now known as the Strait of Magellan and became the first European to cross the Pacific Ocean. The voyage was long and dangerous, and only one ship returned home three years later. Although it was laden with valuable spices from the East, only 18 of the fleet’s original crew of 270 returned with the ship. Magellan himself was killed in battle on the voyage, but his ambitious expedition proved that the globe could be circled by sea and that the world was much larger than had previously been imagined.

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Appeals court keeps alive challenge to Pittsburgh’s efforts to remove Columbus statue

FILE - A person walks by the statue of Christopher Columbus at Marconi Plaza in Philadelphia, Monday, Dec. 12, 2022. A Pennsylvania appeals court has kept alive an Italian heritage group’s challenge to efforts by the city of Pittsburgh to remove a statue of Christopher Columbus from a city park. Disputes over Columbus statues have roiled other cities across the nation, including Philadelphia, where supporters in a city with a deep Italian heritage say they consider Columbus an emblem of that heritage. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

FILE - This is a statue of Christopher Columbus in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, that was wrapped to protect it from vandalism, Thursday, Nov. 26, 2020. A Pennsylvania appeals court has kept alive an Italian heritage group’s challenge to efforts by the city of Pittsburgh to remove a statue of Christopher Columbus from a city park. The Commonwealth Court on Friday, April 19, 2024, sent the dispute over the Schenley Park statue back to Allegheny County Common Pleas Court for further consideration of issues raised by opponents of the removal. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)

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PITTSBURGH (AP) — A Pennsylvania appeals court has kept alive an Italian heritage group’s challenge to efforts by the city of Pittsburgh to remove a statue of Christopher Columbus from a city park.

The Commonwealth Court on Friday sent the dispute over the 13-foot bronze and granite Schenley Park statue back to Allegheny County Common Pleas Court for further consideration of issues raised by opponents of the removal.

The Italian Sons and Daughters of America filed suit in October 2020 after the Pittsburgh Art Commission voted to remove the statue and then-mayor Bill Peduto also recommended its removal. The group argued that the mayor could not override a 1955 city council ordinance that cleared the way for installation of the 800-pound statue. City attorneys argued that the legislation was more akin to a resolution accepting a gift and no council action to rescind it was needed.

Common Pleas Judge John McVay Jr., after urging both sides for two years to work out a solution such as relocation, ruled in 2022 that because the statue is in a city-owned park, it represents government speech. But the Commonwealth Court wrote Friday that McVay erred in concluding that the group’s claims “are barred in their entirety,” rejecting what it called the idea that claims of violations of the city’s charter, code and ordinance were “irrelevant procedural quibbles.”

The appellate court did reject the group’s challenge to McVay’s refusal to remove himself from the case.

Philadelphia attorney George Bochetto, who filed the lawsuit and subsequent appeal on behalf of the group, hailed the ruling and called on the new mayor to “sit down with me to reach a resolution without further costly litigation.” A message seeking comment was sent Sunday to a spokesperson for the Pittsburgh mayor.

The Schenley Park statue, vandalized several times, was wrapped in plastic in 2020, but local news reports indicate that much of the covering has since worn away or perhaps been removed, although the head remains covered.

Disputes over Columbus statues have roiled other cities across the nation, including Philadelphia on the other side of the state, where supporters in a city with a deep Italian heritage say they consider Columbus an emblem of that heritage. Former Mayor Jim Kenney, however, said Columbus, venerated for centuries as an explorer, had a “much more infamous” history, enslaving Indigenous people and imposing harsh punishments.

After 2020 protests about racial injustice and the statue, Kenney ordered the 1876 statue’s removal, calling it a matter of public safety. But a judge reversed that decision, saying the city had failed to provide evidence of a public safety need for removal. In December 2022, a plywood box covering the statue was removed by judicial order. The group that fought for retention of the statue and removal of the covering filed suit last year alleging that officials conspired to abuse the legal process in trying to remove the statue, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

Columbus statues have been removed in nearby Camden, New Jersey, and Wilmington, Delaware. In Richmond, Virginia, a statue of Christopher Columbus was torn down, set on fire and thrown into a lake. In Columbia, South Carolina, the first U.S. city named for Columbus, a statue of the explorer was removed after it was vandalized several times. Another vandalized statue in Boston also was removed from its pedestal.