It is likely that the king expected him to die and did not care because he had no real ties. If he sent a skilled native explorer, it would be bad for him if he died. This could be why he sent a foreigner to make a profit for his country. There was no risk, little cost, and a very high reward. One way to think about this is to consider the Cold War. America and Russia did not want the risk and cost of a direct battle, so they used other militaries to fight each other in proxy wars in places like Vietnam and Korea. This system made it less risky for the two countries to fight. Compare that to the journey made almost 500 years earlier. Just like how the two superpowers used proxy wars and armies to reduce their potential losses, Spain used Columbus as a proxy explorer for a similar reason- taking the negative impact away from the country. This proxy brought Spain great riches and spread Catholicism and Spain had to pay very
It is likely that the king expected him to die and did not care because he had no real ties. If he sent a skilled native explorer, it would be bad for him if he died. This could be why he sent a foreigner to make a profit for his country. There was no risk, little cost, and a very high reward. One way to think about this is to consider the Cold War. America and Russia did not want the risk and cost of a direct battle, so they used other militaries to fight each other in proxy wars in places like Vietnam and Korea. This system made it less risky for the two countries to fight. Compare that to the journey made almost 500 years earlier. Just like how the two superpowers used proxy wars and armies to reduce their potential losses, Spain used Columbus as a proxy explorer for a similar reason- taking the negative impact away from the country. This proxy brought Spain great riches and spread Catholicism and Spain had to pay very