1492

1492 was a turning point in world history, marked by developments in the Iberian Peninsula and the Atlantic world that would shape later centuries. In the Iberian Peninsula, the Reconquista concluded with the capture of Granada, the last Muslim stronghold, by the Catholic monarchs Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile on January 2, 1492. Later that year, the Alhambra Decree, issued on March 31, ordered the expulsion of practicing Jews from the kingdoms of Castile and Aragon and their possessions, a policy that prompted substantial demographic and economic changes in Spain.

In the wider Atlantic world, the year is best known for Christopher Columbus’s first voyage, undertaken with support from the Crown of Castile. Columbus departed from Palos de la Frontera in August 1492 with three ships—the Niña, the Pinta, and the Santa María—and sought a westward route to Asia. On October 12, 1492, he landed in the Bahamas, signaling the beginning of sustained European contact with the Americas. Although his aim was not accomplished, the voyage opened a pattern of transatlantic exploration and later colonization.

The events of 1492 contributed to the Columbian Exchange, a broad and lasting transfer of crops, animals, technologies, and diseases between the Old and New Worlds, with profound ecological, social, and economic effects. The year also influenced subsequent European diplomacy and exploration, including the 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas, which divided newly encountered lands between Spain and Portugal. 1492 thus marks a pivotal point in the histories of Europe, the Americas, and global exchange.