Changes

==Early career==

==Early career==

Columbus (Cristoforo Colombo in Italian;  Cristobal Colon in Spanish) was born in [[Genoa]] (then an independent republic), on the [[Italy|Italian penninsula]], in 1451.  His father was a weaver, tavern keeper, and political appointee. Christopher was uneducated; he learned to read and write as an adult. Then he read widely.  Genoa was a great seaport for the Mediterranean.  He became a [[sailor]] and traveled widely in the Mediterranean and Atlantic. Sometime in the mid-1470s, he settled in Portugal, joining the colony of Italian merchants in Lisbon, a [[cosmopolitan]] city at the center of Portuguese maritime activity in the Atlantic. He married into a prominent family in Lisbon, but his wife died soon after their son, Diego, was born in 1480. Columbus was a master mariner and adventurer, and a devout Catholic who saw religious goals in converting the Asians. He now had connections to the Portuguese court, important ties to Madeira and Porto Santo islands, and at least some wealth.  

Columbus (Cristoforo Colombo in Italian;  Cristobal Colon in Spanish) was born in [[Genoa]] (then an independent republic), on the [[Italy|Italian peninsula]], in 1451.  His father was a weaver, tavern keeper, and political appointee. Christopher was uneducated; he learned to read and write as an adult. Then he read widely.  Genoa was a great seaport for the Mediterranean.  He became a [[sailor]] and traveled widely in the Mediterranean and Atlantic. Sometime in the mid-1470s, he settled in Portugal, joining the colony of Italian merchants in Lisbon, a [[cosmopolitan]] city at the center of Portuguese maritime activity in the Atlantic. He married into a prominent family in Lisbon, but his wife died soon after their son, Diego, was born in 1480. Columbus was a master mariner and adventurer, and a devout Catholic who saw religious goals in converting the Asians. He now had connections to the Portuguese court, important ties to Madeira and Porto Santo islands, and at least some wealth.  

For centuries, Asia's lucrative commodities, such as spices, had brought European traders overland. That route was now closed and by the 1480s Portugal took the lead in opening ocean routes to Asia, sailing south around Africa into the Indian Ocean, using superb navigational aids they had invented, maps they kept secret, and excellent ships.  products directly.  

For centuries, Asia's lucrative commodities, such as spices, had brought European traders overland. That route was now closed and by the 1480s Portugal took the lead in opening ocean routes to Asia, sailing south around Africa into the Indian Ocean, using superb navigational aids they had invented, maps they kept secret, and excellent ships.  products directly.