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Who sponsored Christopher Columbus’s first voyage across the Atlantic?

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Map showing the transatlantic and global routes of major early voyages of discovery and exploration by Spain, Portugal, England, and France during the 15th and 16th centuries. The map traces the journeys of explorers such as Columbus, Cabot, Magellan, da Gama, and others, with labeled paths crossing the Atlantic and encircling Africa and South America, as well as lines of demarcation dividing Spanish and Portuguese exploration zones. — European exploration Map depicting the European exploration of the New World in the 15th and 16th centuries, including the voyages made by Christopher Columbus, John Cabot, Alonso de Ojeda and Amerigo Vespucci, Pedro Álvares Cabral, Ferdinand Magellan and Juan Sebastián del Cano, Giovanni da Verrazzano, Jacques Cartier, Sir Francis Drake, and others. The lines of demarcation represent an early division between the territory of Spain (to the west) and Portugal (to the east).

Christopher Columbus’s first voyage across the Atlantic was sponsored by the Spanish monarchs, King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile.12

After Columbus was denied support by King John II of Portugal in 1484, he turned to the Spanish court. Following several years of negotiation and multiple rejections, he finally secured royal patronage in January 1492, largely due to the intervention of the Spanish treasurer, Luis de Santángel, and Franciscan friars from La Rábida.1

Ferdinand and Isabella viewed the expedition as a strategic opportunity to expand Spain’s commercial reach, strengthen the country's position against Portugal, and advance Christian interests. The formal agreement for the voyage was finalized on April 17, 1492, and the resulting discoveries were annexed to the crown of Castile.12