Christopher Columbus!! according to wikipidia he was born in Italy! but some of my Portuguese friends..?

Question

are saying he was born in Portugal. I am bit confused and I want to know whether there is any proper texts explaining his birth and his country.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Columbus

Answer 1

Christopher Columbus was Italian!!!! Here is a link to a website all about explorers. He did sail for the Queen and King of Spain.

Answer 2

you're right don't listen to those Ports, they get confused. Yes Italy.
O by the way Genoa is in Italy.

Christopher Columbus (1451? – May 20, 1506) was a navigator and maritime explorer credited as the discoverer of the Americas. Born in Italy, his birth name was Cristoforo Colombo, though he is commonly more associated with Spain because he was sponsored by the Catholic Monarchs. He eventually became an admiral for the Crown of Castillo. The name Christopher Columbus is the anglicization of the Latin Christophorus Columbus. Also well known are his name's rendering in modern Italian as Cristoforo Colombo and in Castillian Spanish as Cristóbal Colón, although his native language was Genoese.

Answer 3

Christopher Columbus was born in Genoa,Italy in 1451 but settled in Portugal in 1478.

Answer 4

Italian-born Spanish navigator who sailed west across the Atlantic Ocean in search of a route to Asia but achieved fame by making landfall in the Americas instead.

On October 12, 1492, two worlds unknown to each other met for the first time on a small island in the Caribbean Sea. While on a voyage for Spain in search of a direct sea route from Europe to Asia, Christopher Columbus unintentionally discovered the Americas. However, in four separate voyages to the Caribbean from 1492 to 1504, he remained convinced that he had found the lands that Marco Polo reached in his overland travels to China at the end of the 13th century. To Columbus it was only a matter of time before a passage was found through the Caribbean islands to the fabled cities of Asia.

Columbus was not the first European to reach the Americas—Vikings from Scandinavia had briefly settled on the North American coast, in what is now Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, in the late 10th or early 11th century. However, Columbus’s explorations had a profound impact on the world. They led directly to the opening of the western hemisphere to European colonization; to large-scale exchanges of plants, animals, cultures, and ideas between the two worlds; and, on a darker note, to the deaths of millions of indigenous American peoples from war, forced labor, and disease.So he was born in Italy

Answer 5

Well, you say " he was originally born in Italy"........ This is not accepted, one of the theories says this, but there are others....... Catalan ( the surname COLOMA is normal in Cataluña, and means 'pigeon'), Portugal, Jewish, etc.... The theory of Italy , It's not proved. This theroy is maintained in Italy (obviously... : ) ) and in USA...., well in the case of USA, with all respect, the citizens of USA, don't have a lot of knowledge about outside of their country and sometimes, neither..... Cristobal Colón (for you Christopher Columbus) sailed from Spain because: The history says: He wanted to find another way to arrive to Asia..... In that age, Spain was the powerest country in the world and he decides going to speak with the king and queen. Other theories: 1. He knew for basque fishers or other sources (Portugal, sailors or people of Azores Islands), that to another side of the ocean, there was other continents.... 2. He was an illegitimate son of the King, and not recognized for him, then he wanted to become an important man, with power 3. He was jewish (dangerous in that age in Spain), and he was looking for one land for the jewish people....., he had the information of other lands..... Between others

Answer 6

Columbus was born in Genoa, Italy

In order to pay for his voyage, and to gain the fame and power he desired, Columbus needed to find support from the royal court of a European nation. In 1483, Columbus approached the royal court of Portugal and presented his idea to King John II. King John rejected Columbus, having conferred with other explorers and mariners who claimed that the idea was unthinkable and unrealistic. Thus dismissed, Columbus sought out the King and Queen of Spain. His first attempt to convince Ferdinand and Isabella of his intended journey left them with many questions. They did not, however, reject his proposal. Queen Isabella was quite impressed with Columbus and his presentation. The King and Queen strongly desired a chance to catch up with the power and influence of their Portuguese neighbors, and Columbus’s plan—if it succeeded—offered this chance. They soon agreed to finance and support his expedition. After many years at many courts, Christopher Columbus had finally convinced a nation to support his journey across the Atlantic.

The Portuguese language is a mix of Spanish(not the "mexican" spanish, but the true spanish language of Spain) and Italian.

Answer 7

christopher columbus was born in genoa italy. he proposed his idea of sailing west to get to india to the king of portugal, but was rejected the funds and ships he needed, he then proposed it to queen isabella of spain who granted him what he needed to make his voyage. other than that, he did not have much of an assosciation with portugal

Answer 8

the problem is his last name translates easily between italian portuguese and spanish. apparently columbus admitted to be genoese but was perhaps hiding his actual origins.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Origin_theories_of_Christopher_Columbus

Answer 9

I think they are getting confused with that other great explorer Ferdinand (Hernando) Magellan, although Portuguese, his voyage was funded by Spain. He found the spice islands.

Answer 10

He was born in Genoa, which at the time was an independent city-state.