Andreane neofitou biography of christopher columbus
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Columbus Day is observed on 12 October in Spain and across the Americas. On later voyages, he transported cargoes of enslaved Africans to work in Spanish settlements in the Americas and Indians to bondage in Europe, and thus initiated the transatlantic slave trade. The queen was horrified—she believed that any people Columbus “discovered” were Spanish subjects who could not be enslaved—and she promptly and sternly returned the explorer’s gift.
In May 1498, Columbus sailed west across the Atlantic for the third time.
He was trying to find a sea route to India, so he called the inhabitants "Indians". After several weeks in jail, Columbus and his brothers were released, but Columbus was not allowed to be governor of Hispaniola anymore.
Towards the end of his life, Columbus became increasingly religious. Empty-handed, the explorer returned to Spain, where he died in 1506.
Legacy of Christopher Columbus
Andreane Neofitou
Costume Designer
Andy Neofitou’s highly acclaimed work for the Royal Shakespeare Company over many years led to her outstanding success with LES MISERABLES directed by Trevor Nunn and John Caird and her beautifully researched and detailed period costumes won her a coveted Tony Award Nomination on Broadway.
Yet, whilst he was pious in some regards, he also shared the view, common at the time, that European Christians had a moral superiority due to their following the one true faith. Towards the end of his life, he was frequently in physical pain from his journeys.
Columbus is venerated by many European Americans as the man who helped put America on the map.
What is Columbus's legacy--discovery and progress or slavery, disease, and racial antagonism? In these voyages, Columbus transported more than 1000 Spanish men and hundreds of domesticated animals. Although he was not the first European explorer to reach the Americas, Columbus' voyages led to general European awareness of the hemisphere and the successful establishment of European cultures in the New World.
“Biography of Christopher Columbus”, Oxford, UK. biographyonline.net, 13th May. 2009. All that was left to me and my brothers has been taken away and sold, even to the cloak that I wore, without hearing or trial, to my great dishonor.” – Lettera Rarissima to the Sovereigns, Fourth Voyage (7 July 1503)
Columbus died in 1506, aged 54 from a heart attack related to reactive arthritis.
He visited Trinidad and the South American mainland before returning to the ill-fated Hispaniola settlement, where the colonists had staged a bloody revolt against the Columbus brothers’ mismanagement and brutality.
This time, Columbus made it all the way to Panama—just miles from the Pacific Ocean—where he had to abandon two of his four ships after damage from storms and hostile natives. Or should he be condemned as a man responsible for an "American Holocaust," a man who brought devastating European and Asian diseases to unprotected native peoples, who disrupted the American ecosystem, and who initiated the Atlantic slave trade?
(Columbus, a devout Catholic, was equally enthusiastic about this possibility.)
Columbus’ contract with the Spanish rulers promised that he could keep 10 percent of whatever riches he found, along with a noble title and the governorship of any lands he should encounter.
Where Did Columbus' Ships, Niña, Pinta and Santa Maria, Land?
On August 3, 1492, Columbus and his crew set sail from Spain in three ships: the Niña, the Pinta and the Santa Maria.
Columbus learnt to sail from an early age and later worked as a business agent, travelling around Europe to England, Ireland and later along the West coast of Africa. However, Columbus was the first to travel to America and establish permanent settlements.