Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- BOOK I GEOGRAPHY OF THE ANCIENTS
- BOOK II GEOGRAPHY OF THE MIDDLE AGES
- BOOK III PROGRESS OF GEOGRAPHY IN THE MIDDLE AGES
- CHAP. I DISCOVERIES OF THE NORTHMEN
- CHAP. II MAPS OF THE MIDDLE AGES
- CHAP. III JOURNEY OF CARPINI INTO TATARY
- CHAP. IV TRAVELS OF RUBRUQUIS
- CHAP. V TRAVELS OP MARCO POLO
- CHAP. VI TRAVELS OF MARCO POLO CONTINUED
- CHAP. VII ODERIC OF PORTENAU
- CHAP. VIII EMBASSY OF CLAVIJO
- CHAP. IX EARLY DISCOVERIES OF THE PORTUGUESE
- CHAP. X THE PASSAGE BY THE CAPE DISCOVERED
CHAP. XI - COLUMBUS
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 July 2011
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- BOOK I GEOGRAPHY OF THE ANCIENTS
- BOOK II GEOGRAPHY OF THE MIDDLE AGES
- BOOK III PROGRESS OF GEOGRAPHY IN THE MIDDLE AGES
- CHAP. I DISCOVERIES OF THE NORTHMEN
- CHAP. II MAPS OF THE MIDDLE AGES
- CHAP. III JOURNEY OF CARPINI INTO TATARY
- CHAP. IV TRAVELS OF RUBRUQUIS
- CHAP. V TRAVELS OP MARCO POLO
- CHAP. VI TRAVELS OF MARCO POLO CONTINUED
- CHAP. VII ODERIC OF PORTENAU
- CHAP. VIII EMBASSY OF CLAVIJO
- CHAP. IX EARLY DISCOVERIES OF THE PORTUGUESE
- CHAP. X THE PASSAGE BY THE CAPE DISCOVERED
Summary
The discovery made by Vasco de Gama of a passage to India by the Cape of Good Hope had been preceded a few years by one of a far more novel and brilliant description in the opposite hemisphere. The Portuguese navigator had crowned by his success the persevering efforts of his nation, unremittingly continued during the course of seventy years: he had found out a new communication with that quarter of the world towards which the eyes of Europeans were always eagerly directed. Columbus on the other hand discovered a new world; not prompted by the encouragement of monarchs, nor continuing the track of previous voyagers, but by the sole force of his individual genius and enthusiasm, he at once effected an achievement, superior in boldness of design and in its important consequences to any other that occurs in the history of man.
Little is known of the early life of Columbus. Historians are generally agreed that he was born in the state of Genoa in the year 1441. The little villages of Cogoreo and Nervi dispute with the cities of Genoa and Savona the honour of having given him birth. His family, though reduced to indigence by misfortunes, had been originally ranked among the most illustrious nobility of Placenza.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The History of Maritime and Inland Discovery , pp. 381 - 398Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2010First published in: 1830