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THE ROAD TO
BARCELONA
The way to this moment of great personal tri-
umph was years in the making. Even after a
lifetime of sailing the seas off Europe and West
Africa, studying navigational theories, and
poring over maps had convinced the 41-year-
old mariner that reaching “the Indies” was
possible, Columbus’s dream had been stalled
by years of fruitless pleading with those who
had the power to help. The leaders of Portugal,
France, and England rejected his proposals.
The Spanish monarchs rejected him twice
over a period of eight years before giving him
the meager resources with which he accom-
plished his feat.
At sea he had endured weeks of worry over
restless crews, who could mutiny at any
moment and demand a return to Spain. His
flagship, the Santa Maria,had been wrecked
and abandoned. Violent winter storms nearly
sent his remaining two small ships to the bot-
tom of the Atlantic Ocean on the voyage home.
His men had been arrested and briefly
detained by overzealous Portuguese authori-(^2) B Discovery of the Americas, 1492–1800
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