Christopher Columbus

Four Voyages to the New World shows the mythic figure of Christopher Columbus in a variety of lights, leading to a more complex view of his character. An Italian of humble origins, Columbus had asked many other European sovereigns for sponsorship before he found backing from the Spanish sovereigns. Though he was not much liked by his men, who revolted several times and mutinied on him more than once, he was a leader who worried extensively about the rations people would receive and the well-being of the natives of the lands he conquered (though only those he could convert to Christianity; the rest were 'infidels.') A religious man, Columbus prayed during strenuous times and often thanked God though, as his letters were bound for the extremely religious Spanish sovereigns, it is unclear how much he actually believed in what he wrote. Queen Isabel clearly favored him...