Christopher Columbus: The Journey to the New World, Part 1 of 3

“It was the Lord who put into my mind (I could feel His hand upon me) the fact that it would be possible to sail from here to the Indies. All who heard of my project rejected it with laughter, ridiculing me. There is no question that the inspiration was from the Holy Spirit, because He comforted me with rays of marvelous illumination, from the Holy Scriptures... encouraging me continually to press forward, and without ceasing for a moment they now encourage me to make haste.”

Numerous cities, universities, streets, and even regions or countries have been named in honor of Christopher Columbus. The country of Colombia and the Canadian province of British Columbia bear his name. In the United States, the capital, Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia, includes “Columbia” in its name, a poetic reference to Columbus and the New World.

Christopher Columbus was a famous explorer from Italy. In 1492, he received support from the Spanish King and Queen, His Majesty Ferdinand II, and Her Majesty Isabella I, for his first far-reaching trip. Setting off with three ships – the Santa Maria, Pinta, and Niña – he hoped to sail to Asia by going west. Instead, he ended up finding islands in the Caribbean.

The term “Old World” refers to the continents of Europe, Asia, and Africa, which were familiar to Europeans before Christopher Columbus’s voyages. In contrast, the “New World” refers to the newly discovered lands of North, Central, and South America, which were previously unknown to Europeans.

During his years in Portugal, Christopher Columbus ventured as far north as Iceland (known then as Thule or Tile). He wrote, “In the month of February 1477, I sailed 100 leagues beyond the island of Tile [Iceland]… which is as big as England… When I was there, the sea was not frozen, but the tides were so great that in some places they rose 26 fathoms and fell as much in depth.”

Christopher Columbus also went as far west as the Madeira Islands, and as far south as the African Gold Coast (present-day Ghana). These journeys made him one of the most extensively traveled sailors of his time.

Spanish historian Bartolomé de las Casas later wrote of him: “Columbus was the most outstanding sailor in the world, versed like no other in the art of navigation, for which divine Providence chose him to accomplish the most outstanding feat ever accomplished in the world until now.”