If Italian sailors like Emmanual Pessagno and Lanzarote Malocello were accepted by the Portuguese and eventually worked for the kings of Portugal then why was Christopher Columbus dismissed by Portugal ?.
History - 1 Answers
Random Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
1 :
Portugal was sailing all around the Atlantic since at least the 1420's... They knew it was a very big stretch to sail west to reach the Orient (and possibly they knew there was a huge land mass in the way, although without any gold or spices). And, of course, in 1488 Bartolomeu Dias discovered it was possible to sail around Africa to reach India and China, the precious Sea Route to the East was open and was 100% portuguese, there wasn't much need in finding out another route towards the west. But Columbus did sail for Portugal, from 1476 to 1485, he lived there, in the island of Porto Santo and married the daughter of one of Portugal's early explorers, Perestrello. And found out everything there was to know about sailing, charting and exploring in those years.
