Answer:
Keep this little phrase in mind: gold, glory, and God. In that order. The reason the Catholic monarchs Isabella and Ferdinand sponsored Columbus was
- gold. They wanted to get rich off of gold, which would enable them to increase their wealth and trading power as per the economic system of mercantilism.
- glory. They wanted their names to be famous. Two of the islands that Columbus saw were named after the two rulers (Isabela Island and Fernandina).
- God. They were highly Catholic (remember the Spanish Inquisition?) and they wanted to spread that, in theory, to the primitive natives.