Who was alive at the same time as Christopher Columbus?

Italian navigator, explorer, and colonist

Christopher Columbus lived 1451–1506. Here are the famous people whose lives overlapped with theirs.

Lived: 1451–1506
Lifespan: about 55 years
Born in, as it was then: GenoaRepublic of Genoa
On today’s map: Italy

Explore Christopher Columbus’s world on the timeline →

Did you know?

When Christopher Columbus was born, Johannes Gutenberg was already about 51 years old.
Christopher Columbus was about 1 when Leonardo da Vinci was born.
Christopher Columbus and Michelangelo (Italian artist and architect) shared about 31 years on Earth, one born in the Republic of Genoa and the other in the Republic of Florence.
Martin Luther outlived Christopher Columbus by about 40 years.

Famous contemporaries of Christopher Columbus

Rulers and commanders

Henry VIII 1491–1546 · 15 yrs shared
Suleiman the Magnificent 1494–1566 · 12 yrs shared
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor 1500–1558 · 6 yrs shared
Vlad the Impaler c. 1431–1476 · 25 yrs shared
Mehmed II 1432–1481 · 30 yrs shared
Francis I of France 1494–1547 · 12 yrs shared

Philosophers and scientists

Leonardo da Vinci 1452–1519 · 54 yrs shared
Niccolò Machiavelli 1469–1527 · 37 yrs shared
Johannes Gutenberg c. 1400–1468 · 17 yrs shared
Thomas More c. 1478–1535 · 28 yrs shared
Erasmus 1466–1536 · 40 yrs shared
Nicolaus Copernicus 1473–1543 · 33 yrs shared

Religion

Martin Luther 1483–1546 · 23 yrs shared
Ignatius of Loyola c. 1491–1556 · 15 yrs shared
Pope Alexander VI c. 1430–1503 · 52 yrs shared
Girolamo Savonarola 1452–1498 · 46 yrs shared
Pope Julius II 1443–1513 · 55 yrs shared
Pope Leo X 1475–1521 · 31 yrs shared

Writers and artists

Michelangelo 1475–1564 · 31 yrs shared
Raphael 1483–1520 · 23 yrs shared
Albrecht Dürer 1471–1528 · 35 yrs shared
Sandro Botticelli c. 1445–1510 · 55 yrs shared
Nostradamus 1503–1566 · 3 yrs shared
Donatello c. 1386–1466 · 15 yrs shared

Explorers and others

Vasco da Gama c. 1460–1524 · 46 yrs shared
Anne Boleyn 1501–1536 · 5 yrs shared
Ferdinand Magellan c. 1480–1521 · 26 yrs shared
Hernán Cortés 1485–1547 · 21 yrs shared
Amerigo Vespucci 1454–1512 · 52 yrs shared
Francisco Pizarro c. 1478–1541 · 28 yrs shared

Born within five years of Christopher Columbus

Leonardo da Vinci (1452) · Hieronymus Bosch (1450) · Amerigo Vespucci (1454) · Girolamo Savonarola (1452) · Lorenzo de' Medici (1448) · Isabella I of Castile (1451) · Ferdinand II of Aragon (1452) · Domenico Ghirlandaio (1448)

About Christopher Columbus

Christopher Columbus was an Italian explorer and navigator from the Republic of Genoa who completed four transatlantic voyages in the name of the Spanish Catholic Monarchs, opening the way for the widespread European exploration and colonization of the Americas. His expeditions were the first known European contact with the Caribbean and Central and South America.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

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