I. Christopher Columbus: Christopher Columbus was born in Genoa in 1451. He was inspired by merchants and sailors. As a teenager, he joined the crew of a merchant ship. In his twenties, he moved to Lisbon with his brother, making cards to earn a living. He later married a woman whose father had connections with the captains of Henry the Navigator's ship. The couple settled in Madeira while Columbus visited several trading posts on the west coast of Africa. During his sailing voyages, Columbus read books that stimulated his curiosity, such as Natural History, written by Pliny. He also owned copies of Marco Polo and D'Ailly. One of the major influences during Columbus's time was Paolo Dal Pozzo Toscanelli, who believed that the westward voyage was only a third of the globe. He had a map made in Lisbon. When Columbus heard about this map, he requested a copy and began planning a voyage so he could prove theoretical geography. A) Columbus Discovers America: As soon as Columbus began thinking about a voyage west, he proposed it to the Portuguese court. , who ended up refusing the proposal, explaining that such a trip would be too long, not to mention too expensive. He then tried before the Spanish court. For several years the idea was rejected for the same reasons until finally, in 1492, the Spaniards Isabella and Ferdinand approved this trip. First expedition: On August 3 of the same year, he took off from the Spanish port of Paolos with three ships: the Niña, the Pinta and the Santa Maria-, with almost 90 crew members. This journey, never attempted before, needed God alongside the sailors on board: Columbus himself, Amerigo Vespucci and Verrazzano… After six days, he landed in the Canary Islands, where he rested his ships. Columbus sailed southwest, and... middle of paper ... and after sixty-four days of seamanship, the ships advanced toward what is now Cape San Rocco, on August 16, 1501, on the Brazilian coast. . Vespucci described it as heaven on Earth. From August 1501 to June 1502, Amerigo had traveled the southern hemisphere and traveled more than 3,300 miles. He then thought that all these lands he was crossing could only be a continent (terra ferma) and not a simple river of islands. He returned to Lisbon and landed in July 1502 with a triumphant expedition. Works Cited Vespucci was “initiated into the vibrant Florentine cultural societies of the Renaissance” (Masini, 1998, p. 5). Vespucci was “initiated into the vibrant Florentine cultural societies of the Renaissance.” renaissance” (Masini, 1998, p. 5), that the distance between Europe and the eastern coast of Asia was short, and that Spain was closer to China to the west than to the east » (Morgan, October 1998). 2009)