POD (Columbus Sails for England)

There are several points of departure for this alt. the Major ones are:

* When Christopher Columbus was seeking a backer for his voyage across the ocean, he first approached the King of Portugal, who declined to sponsor him. Visits to both Genoa and Venice were equally unfruitful. However, Columbus' brother Bartholomew had better success when he approached the English King Henry VII in 1486, who agreed to the proposal. Henry funded a voyage of three ships (the Prince Arthur, the Tudor Rose and the Cornwall) and promised that, if successful in discovering land which could be claimed for England, Columbus' would be named Viceroy of those lands. Duly furnished with ships, men, and equipment, Columbus sailed from Portsmouth. After a stop in the Azores, for a brief resupply, he and his fleet arrived, in October of 1492, in what is now Virginia, where they established a settlement which they dubbed Elizabethtown (OTL Virginia Beach) in honour of Henry's Queen.

* The Viking settlements in Greenland (established in 980) and Vinland (established in 1004) survived and expanded. After initial clashes with the natives, peaceful and cooperative relations were established, and Viking settlements were established from Greenland, and along the coasts and interiors of OTL Quebec, Newfoundland and Labrador. However, as the Vikings were more interested in raiding within Europe than they were in trading, word of these settlements hadn't gotten out to the rest of Europe.