Events Leading to Columbus’ First Voyage

Greetings, today I will talk about the events that led up to Christopher Columbus’ first voyage of discovery.
In 1469 Spain was still a disunited nation. The Kingdom of Castile was the largest kingdom and occupied the region between Portugal and the Kingdom of Aragon. The Atlantic Ocean lay to the north and the Muslim region of Grenada lay to the south. The Kingdom of Aragon bordered Castile to the west and France to the northeast. The Pyrenees Mountains formed the Aragon/France boundary. The Mediterranean Sea lay to the southeast.

Castile and Aragon were the two most powerful kingdoms on the Iberian peninsula, however they were still weak kingdoms. It would take a marriage born of political intrigue, true love and a royal elopement for Spain to unite and begin its road to world empire.

First I will talk about Isabella I of Castile. Her early years, even though she was second in line to the Castilian throne, she was subjected to poverty-like conditions. Her brother Henry had ascended to the throne in 1454, three years before his sister, Isabella was born. By the time Isabella was 6 years old, Henry began plotting matrimonial schemes for his young sister. Henry to this point had not married. Henry married Blanche II of Navarre in 1540, but the union produced no children, as Henry was unable to consummate the marriage. . Pope Nicholas V annulled the marriage and Henry married Joan of Portugal. Joan did become pregnant. Henry tried to install the daughter, Joanna, as the heir to the throne, however Castilian nobles objected, questioning if Joanna really was his daughter.

Stalemated on this plan, Henry attempted to install his half-brother Alfonso, however this caused a civil war, and Henry once again backed down. At this point, he summoned his sister Isabella to the capital to name her as the heir. He agreed to her terms that she could only marry with his permission; however, he could not force her to marry. Henry had continued to attempt marriages to Isabella; however all of his plans fell through for various reasons. Meanwhile, Isabella had met, and fallen in love with, the young man that would rule the neighboring kingdom of Castile, Ferdinand I.

Ferdinand I of Castile was a dashing young man of 16 when he ascended the throne of Castile in 1468. He and Isabella had made a secret pact to marry and followed through on this promise when Henry donned a disguise and traveled to Argon. Isabella slipped away from the court and the two married on October 19, 1469. When Isabella ascended the throne of Aragon in 1474, they couple ruled their kingdoms with united purpose, even though the kingdoms remained separate. The marriage would last until Isabella died in 1504 and produce 5 children.

Another important rung in what would become Columbus’ ladder to his historic explorations took place on April 29, 1483 when Spain Conquered the Canary Islands. Located about 600 miles southwest of Spain, the Canary Islands would become an important staging area for Columbus. He began the tradition of Spanish fleets visiting the islands while on the way to voyage to their New World possessions.

Two years later, Columbus would have his first meeting with Ferdinand and Isabella on May 1, 1486. He had lobbied for many months before he interested Isabella in his scheme to travel to the Eastern Asiatic realms by traveling west across the Atlantic Ocean.

In the next episode the I will talk about the meeting with the Queen and the reasons a fresh route to Asia was needed. The final event needed that enabled the Spanish monarchy to free up the funds needed for this voyage, the completion of the Reconquista, I will relate, also.

This episode is based upon my book, Colonial American History Stories – 1215 – 1664. The articles in the book relate much more detail in the saga of Ferdinand and Isabella as well as the Spanish conquest of the Canary Islands. The book is the first in a 7-volume series. This book includes contains almost 300 history stories presented in a timeline that begins in 1215 with the signing of the Magna Carta to the printing of the first Bible in Colonial America in 1664. This journal of historical events marks the beginnings of the United States and serve as a wonderful guide of American history. A visit to my web site, http://www.mossyfeetbooks.com, will provide sample chapters excerpted from each of my 130 titles as well as links to purchase the books at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Apple, and many other online book retailers. You can also purchase books direct from me. Residents of southeastern Indiana can find my books in Batesville at the Walnut Street Variety Shoppe on George. Street. This podcast will also appear in video format on You Tube on the Mossy Feet Books channel. Subscribe to the channel for more great content, or subscribe to my Facebook Page, Stories of American History.
I hope you enjoyed this podcast and thank you for listening.