Columbus’ four voyages to America

Columbus set sail for the Indies for the first time on 3 August 1492 from the port of Palos de la Frontera (Huelva) with his three caravels, previously passing through the Canary Islands. The company set foot on dry land on 12 October on the island of the Bahamas, which was christened San Salvador, and then travelled through the Caribbean islands to build the Fort of Navidad, the first Spanish settlement in the Americas. Columbus was then received by the Catholic Monarchs in Badalona to explain his voyage. The second voyage took place in September 1493, and this time the Genoese admiral set sail from Cadiz with the aim of exploring and colonising, so the expedition was larger. He returned from the New World with the India, the first ship to be built in the new Castilian territories. The third voyage took place in May 1498, departing from Sanlúcar de Barrameda, on which voyage Bartolomé de las Casas travelled. Columbus suffered the consequences of his misrule, as the Catholic Monarchs sent Francisco de Bobadilla to the island of Hispaniola in 1500 to arrest him and his brothers. When he returned to Castile he regained his freedom, despite losing his prestige and powers. His last voyage, in 1502, was from Seville thanks to the financing of Genoese merchants. After a series of storms that caused him to run aground in Jamaica for eight months, he managed to return to Hispaniola and from there to Sanlúcar de Barrameda without achieving his goals. The result of these four voyages was a considerable territorial expansion in the Americas.

Collection: Images

Project: 0. What is Europe? The European Spaces in the history of Europe., 9. Travels and travelers: economic, social and cultural connections.

Chronology: XV, XVI

Scope: Secondary Education

Link: http://ceres.mcu.es/pages/Viewer?accion=4&AMuseo=MAM&Ninv=11602

Resource type: Image

Format: Map

Source: Red Digital de Colecciones de Museos de España

Language: Spanish

Date: ca. 1500

Owner: Álvaro Romero González (Modernalia)