WI no Castillian backing for Columbus

For whatever reason, Ferdinand and Isabella don't back Columbus. Does he find a government somewhere else to take on his project, or does someone else wind up making the voyage, and if so who?
 
As other threads have pointed out, the new world was very likely to be discovered soon after that point anyway due to ships heading south around Africa getting increasingly close to Brazil and fishermen in Newfoundland in the north. I can see a scenario where Brazil is discovered first by the Portuguese and exploration of the Americas begins from there. As our history showed, once the landmass is known there was significant interest by multiple crowns to send expeditions even before the masses of precious metals are discovered.

Columbus spent most of his time petitioning the Spanish court but had also reached out to several other countries. If Spain gives him a definitive "no" I'm sure he'd look elsewhere. As to whether he gets what he wants, I think that's a question of timing and everybody's mood but I don't know of anybody that was petitioning to do something similar (I may be wrong about that). Interestingly his first voyage didn't actually cost the Spanish Crown very much and Columbus put up a quarter of the money himself.
 
As other threads have pointed out, the new world was very likely to be discovered soon after that point anyway due to ships heading south around Africa getting increasingly close to Brazil and fishermen in Newfoundland in the north. I can see a scenario where Brazil is discovered first by the Portuguese and exploration of the Americas begins from there. As our history showed, once the landmass is known there was significant interest by multiple crowns to send expeditions even before the masses of precious metals are discovered.

Columbus spent most of his time petitioning the Spanish court but had also reached out to several other countries. If Spain gives him a definitive "no" I'm sure he'd look elsewhere. As to whether he gets what he wants, I think that's a question of timing and everybody's mood but I don't know of anybody that was petitioning to do something similar (I may be wrong about that). Interestingly his first voyage didn't actually cost the Spanish Crown very much and Columbus put up a quarter of the money himself.
I’m not sure who else he can turn to—given everyone else has said no and that most experts of the time correctly called him out on his claims.
 
I’m not sure who else he can turn to—given everyone else has said no and that most experts of the time correctly called him out on his claims.

Actually, only Portugal and Castile would've turned him down. Colombus was on his way to France (Castile had kept him dangling for nearly a decade) when the rider sent by the Castilian court caught up with him and turned him back. And if France were to say no, there's Burgundy or England (in theory)
 
Actually, only Portugal and Castile would've turned him down. Colombus was on his way to France (Castile had kept him dangling for nearly a decade) when the rider sent by the Castilian court caught up with him and turned him back. And if France were to say no, there's Burgundy or England (in theory)
Henry VII and Charles VIII both turned him down.
 
Don't forget, the Portuguese didn't care for him much for two reasons:
- Colombus was wrong. He miscalculated the size of the Earth, which had more or less already been calculated by then. If America didn't exist, Colombus and his fleet would have died of starvation and thirst on the sea. The Portuguese were correct: Colombus was never going to reach India on a westwards route, ever.
- It is very likely that the Portuguese already knew about America before Colombus' expedition.
 
An initial Portuguese "discovery" of the Americas, by arriving at the OTC Northeastern Brazilian coast leads to a very interesting POD: how the Americas' occupation and colonization would take place with the "India-oriented" Portuguese arriving first in a land devoid of gold or other precious metals.

At OTC, the Portuguese colonization of Brazil was sparse and limited until 1550, when the Indian trade was already in decline and France was seriously trying to gain a footstep on the Brazilian coast. By the same period, the Spanish colonial Empire was already stretching from Northern Mexico to Chile / Rio de la Plata, with deep hinterland garrisons like Asuncion and Potosí fully established.

Would the Americas be seen as a jungle wasteland? Would Portugal change its "India strategy" and contact the Aztecs or Incas, leading to a "Maxi-Portuguese America"? How would Spain react? England or France could end up finding Mexico? The native civilizations could have gained an extra 100-200 years of existence or more limited contact with the Europeans?

A lot of potential changes if the Americas colonization is initiated in Brazil and not near the Caribbean / Mexico....
 
As Miguel Lanius alluded to, there is some evidence, mostly circumstantial but some direct evidence as well, that Portugal had known of the existence of at least South American by 1492 and kept quiet about it. Portugal didn't have the manpower to exploit the discovery, was close to getting to trade with India by going around Africa which was the most practical option, and keeping quiet about it would at least keep the other European countries away for awhile. They announced the "accidental" discovery of Brazil pretty quickly after Columbus got back and claimed as much of South America as they could practically colonize.
 
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