what would happen if the Habsburg Burgundians were the sponsors of the Expedition of Columbus and it starts in Antwerp any suggestions?
Would he land in North America ?what would happen if the Habsburg Burgundians were the sponsors of the Expedition of Columbus and it starts in Antwerp any suggestions?
Given that the Netherlands had competent navigators, he'd be laughed out of court, just like in Portugal.
There's a REASON he sailed for Spain.
But Columbus was selling 'trip to China', not 'rediscover Vinland'.Maybe in an OTL scenario, Spain isn´t available and he knocks on doors in Denmark and tasked to rediscover Vinland. He then sails with a fleet of Holks and Cogs ,manned by German, Norwegian, Islandic and Danish sailors to Island and than to old Markland, where he sets foot on shore.
what would happen if the Habsburg Burgundians were the sponsors of the Expedition of Columbus and it starts in Antwerp any suggestions?
The issue here is the wind and currents. One of the reasons for seeking an Iberian sponsor was that Columbus was enough of a navigator to know in which latitude the winds were favourable for a voyage out. Trying to cross the North Atlantic from the European direction in the Age of Sail was interesting to say the least as Cabot found out. Homeportingin Antwerp would require either longer range vessels than he used OTL or some serious skulduggery in order to avoid suspicion when revictualling in either a Spanish or Portuguese port.