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In the late 1400's, Portuguese mariners were anxious to find a direct sea route to the East to compete with the Italian cities of Venice and Genoa, which had a monopoly of the spice trade with the Arabs. Columbus's experience as a sailor and his study of charts and maps convinced him that by sailing west across the Atlantic he could reach the East more easily than by the dangerous route around Africa. He calculated that the Indies (India, China, Japan, and the East Indies) lay only about 3,900 miles (6,300 km) away from Portugal. (That was actually the distance to the Americas, about one-third of the way to Asia.)

Columbus spent many years trying to gain support for his project. He sent Bartholomew to England and France to seek financing for an expedition from the rulers of those countries. Columbus, meanwhile, stayed in Portugal. His petitions to King John II in 1484 were unsuccessful, and in 1485 he went to Spain. At first rejected by a royal commission, he appealed personally to the Spanish monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabella, in 1486. He was promised that his petition would be considered as soon as Spain's war with the Moors was ended.

For nearly seven years, Columbus waited. After peace arrived in early 1492, the Spanish rulers agreed that he should be granted three ships built and maintained at the crown's expense. After any discoveries and claims were made, he would be given noble rank, the title of admiral, the posts of viceroy and governor-general of all lands he claimed for the crown, and one-tenth of any profits from the exploitation of his discoveries.