i say yes , however i have a friend who says he was from portugal. any comments?
2007-10-08 22:16:27 · 8 answers · asked by ? 4 in Arts & Humanities ➔ History
Both wrong. But you are more right.
There was no Italy back in the 15th century. So Columbus couldn't have been Italian. But he was from Genoa, which is a city in modern Italy. Most of what is now Italy was small areas or cities that only had local governments back then.
Portugal is where Columbus sailed from in 1492. But he was sponsored by the Spanish, not the Portugese.
2007-10-08 22:24:12 · answer #1 · answered by nobodyinparticular 5 · 3⤊ 1⤋
He was Italian, originally from the port city of Genoa. Your friend may be getting confused by the fact that Columbus did live in Portugal for some years, and he also married a Portuguese woman.
2007-10-09 05:23:25 · answer #2 · answered by helloeveryone 3 · 3⤊ 1⤋
Columbus , Colombo, came from a Genoa's Family. When the son of Cristoforo Colombo died there was yet a Cousin living in Cogoleto, Near Genoa, also him Ship's captain (even of local ships), He also tried to have the heredity but was not successfull in receiving, as he made confusion with another Colombo, from Asti, who gave him the money for going to plead to Spanish Court.....
He Travelled a lot before leaving from Porto Palos... He lived in Spain , Portugal, and sailed Atlantic ocean and Canary Islands
2007-10-09 06:52:43 · answer #3 · answered by lugfabio 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
"officially"... Columbus is said to be a weaver's son from Genoa.... none of this is substantiated as Columbus has never written or let known where he was from.... That letter that is said to prove that he is from Genoa never mentions that... IT'S ALL CRAP..
everything that is written about Columbus in our history books is nothing more than speculation.. nothing of what is said about Columbus makes sense...
First of all... everything that Columbus wrote, was written in Spanish...not "Italian".
next:.... if he was a weaver's son, that would mean that he was poor and most likely would be illiterate....
he married a Portuguese woman of Royal blood... " A poor man or woman would never marry into Royalty... it is rare.. even today..
My guess...
he was probably from Catalan... Modern day Barcelona..... more evidence points to him either being from Catalan Royal blood or Portuguese Royal blood than it does of him being from Genoa...
just remember that all we read in history books is not necessary facts... ultimately we need to look into the logic behind the story...
2007-10-09 15:12:30 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
nobodyinparticular has most of it. But it's also worth noting that the LANGUAGE of 15th century Genoa was NOT Italian. Genoa is part of Liguria, a region bordering the French Riviera, and Genovese was a dialect of the "Ligurian" language a Romance language related to Italian but sounding more like French.
(Be careful if you are researching the Ligurian language, because the term is ALSO used to refer to the language of the ancient people who gave their name to this region --but is now long extinct.)
More on the language and region
http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=lij
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ligurian_language_(Romance)
http://encyclopedia.farlex.com/Liguria
2007-10-09 14:20:25 · answer #5 · answered by bruhaha 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, he`s italian, born in the city of Genoa. Meet his statue there.
2007-10-09 05:33:57 · answer #6 · answered by Stepanov F 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Yes. But he sailed from Porto Palos (Portugal)
2007-10-09 05:20:34 · answer #7 · answered by The Rugby Player 7 · 0⤊ 2⤋
He was Spanish.
2007-10-09 05:19:02 · answer #8 · answered by wheeliebin 6 · 0⤊ 5⤋