In the film we viewed Columbus going before a group of, what we assumed, was higher nobles and church officials. They listened to his ideas and told him that he was wrong and they didn’t want to waste resources. After Columbus was disapproved by this council a man approached him to tell him to go before the Queen. Queen Isabella I allowed him to meet with her. She at first shunned his idea and told him to leave and she would speak with him further on the matter. She then spoke an un-identified noble to get his opinion. He shunned and laughed at the idea also saying it was a waste of resource but, the Queen then stated “If he is right we have so much to gain compared to how little we have to lose if he is wrong.” He then went before the Queen to be told he had full approval to take his ships, The Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria, to set sail for a western route to Asia.
After doing research I then discovered this small ten minute section of the movie was actually much less than the true story. He first went before King John II of Portugal and he took this under careful consideration but when he presented it to his council they turned the idea away. Stating Columbus’ ideas were wrong that he judged the distance far too short. Columbus then went to Genoa and Venice but both cut him short and denied him assistance. His brother then tried to encourage him to ask King Henry the VII of England and after much careful consideration and hesitation he agreed but his invitation came too late. Columbus had already committed himself to Spain. He had gone before Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile. On May 1, 1486, the Queen presented his ideas before his council and Columbus got permission to set sail for the new route, but shortly after the council did their own measurements and also found the distance to short. He was allowed to live in the city for free and paid an annual salary until he tried negotiating again and after two more years of debate, Columbus got his approval to set sail for the new western route to Asia.
Although the movie did prove correct about him getting approval from the Queen of Spain to sail it did not cover all these key important points. Hollywood History was right in this film but left out many true facts and details about Columbus’ trying to get approval.