Bartholomew Columbus

Bartholomew Columbus (Genoese dialect: Bertomê Corombo; Spanish: Bartolomé Colón; Italian: Bartolomeo Colombo) (c. 1461 – 1515) was an Italian explorer from Genoa and the younger brother of Christopher Columbus.

Born in the Republic of Genoa, in the 1470s Bartholomew was a mapmaker in Lisbon, the principal center of cartography of the time, and conceived with his brother the "Enterprise of the Indies", a scheme to reach the Orient and its lucrative spice trade by a western rather than an eastern route. In 1489 he went to England to seek assistance from Henry VII for the execution of the scheme. He was taken by pirates and landed in England in a destitute condition, and on presenting himself at Court was unfavorably received. He then sought help at the court of Charles VIII in France, again without success.

Meanwhile, his brother Christopher was in Castile trying to persuade Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon to back the scheme. When word arrived in 1493 that his brother had succeeded, Bartholomew returned to Spain, where he missed Christopher, who had already left on the second voyage of his four to the "New World".

Funded by the crown, Bartholomew Columbus traveled to Hispaniola in 1494 to meet his brother, where he was given the title of governor, Adelantado, during his brother's absences. He founded the city of Santo Domingo on Hispaniola between 1496 and 1498, which is now the capital of the Dominican Republic. He was imprisoned together with Christopher and another brother, Giacomo (also called Diego), by Francisco de Bobadilla and returned to Spain in December 1500.

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