Publisher's Synopsis
Excerpt from Life of Christopher Columbus
The city of Genoa was still a mighty power in the Mediterranean when the great discoverer, Christopher Columbus, was born, towards the middle of the fifteenth century. Its highest state of prosperity passed away with the fall of Constantinople, when its factories in the Crimea, at Pera, and in the Levant were lost or weakened. But the Republic, though forced to seek protection alternately from France and Milan, continued to be powerful by reason of the enterprise and maritime skill of her sailors, the ability of her merchants, and the credit of her bank of St. George. Less formidable and less independent than in the previous two centuries, the beautiful city was still the chief centre of Mediter ranean trade, and was never more full of intellectual activity. But since 1421 the Republic had been under the protection of the Duke of Milan. The Genoese were thus drawn into the contest for the succession of Naples.
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