Columbus After 1493

The Hero
Future Expeditions
The Final Voyage and the Death of Columbus
Today

The Hero

Christopher Columbus returned to Spain a hero. His letter to the King and Queen regarding his discovery had been printed and dispersed among the population:

The sierras and the mountains, the plains, the champaigns, are so lovely and so rich for planting and sowing, for breeding cattle of every kind, for building towns and villages. The harbours of the sea here are such as cannot be believed to exist

	Columbus's return to Spain

unless they have been seen, and so with the rivers, many and great, and of good water, the majority of which contain gold. In the trees, fruits and plants, there is a great difference from those of Juana. In this island, there are many spices and great mines of gold and of other metals. . . .

I have taken possession of all for their Highnesses, and all are more richly endowed than I know how or am able to say, and I hold all for their Highnesses, so that they may dispose of them as they do of the kingdoms of Castile and as absolutely. . . .

In conclusion, to speak only of what has been accomplished on this voyage, which was so hasty, their Highnesses can see that I will give them as much gold as they may need,

	Columbus's Coat of Arms - Granted in 1493 as a reward for the success of his journey

if their Highnesses will render me very slight assistance; presently, I will give them spices and cotton, as much as their Highnesses shall command; and mastic, as much as they shall order to be shipped and which, up to now, has only been found in Greece, in the island of Chios, and the Seignory sells it for what it pleases; and aloe, as much as they shall order to be shipped; and slaves, as many as they shall order, and who will be from the idolaters. I believe also that I have found rhubarb and cinnamon, and I shall find a thousand other things of value, which the people whom I have left there will have discovered, for I have not delayed at any point, so far as the wind allowed me to set sail. . . .

This is an account of the facts, thus abridged.

Done in the caravel, off the Canary Islands, on the fifteenth day of February, in the year one thousand four hundred and ninety-three.

These tales of riches and wonders were more than enough to get the Spanish government excited about a continued presence in the New World.

At this point, and indeed well past Columbus’s death, it was assumed that the islands discovered in 1492 were part of the great Asian continent which Columbus had set out to find. Not until Ferdinand Magellan's circumnavigation in 1521 was the idea refuted by hard evidence. There were skeptics during Columbus’s lifetime, but none whose voices were heard above the cheers of victory which resounded when the explorer returned to Spain in 1493.

Future Expeditions

All told, Columbus voyaged to the New World on four separate occasions. His second and third journeys were mildly successful and helped to set up more permanent Spanish colonies in the New World. During this time, however, Columbus seems to have often been ill. A lack of riches and wealth to be found on the Caribbean islands weakened his influence in Spain and abroad. Word of terrible conditions among the colonies reached the royal court of Ferdinand and Isabella and they sent Francisco de Bobadilla to the New World to straighten things out. Bobadilla used his power, and the freedom of being thousands of miles from the King and Queen, to take control of the islands and colonies. He supplanted Columbus as leader of the newly found land. Wars with natives, a lack of control within the colonies, and insufficient organization of the sailors and soldiers led Bobadilla to take complete control. He locked Columbus and his brother Diego in chains and jailed them until they could be returned to Spain to stand trial. The conclusion of Columbus’s third voyage, October 1500, saw the former hero in shackles, being forced aboard a ship which was headed back to Spain. Columbus saw no validity in the charges against him and expressed his anger at Bobadilla in a letter to a friend of Queen Isabella in Spain.

They judge me there as a governor who had gone to Sicily or to a city or town under a regular government, where the laws can be observed in toto without fear of losing all, and I am suffering grave injury. I should be judged as a captain who went from Spain to the Indies to conquer a people numerous and warlike, whose manners and religion are very different from ours, who live in sierras and mountains, without fixed settlements, and where by divine will I have placed under the sovereignty of the King and Queen our lords, an Other World, whereby Spain, which was reckoned poor, is become richest of countries. . . .

In seven years I, by the divine will, made that conquest. At a time when I was entitled to expect rewards and retirement, I was incontinently arrested and sent home loaded with chains, to my great dishonour and with slight service to their Highnesses.

The accusation was brought out of malice, on the basis of charges made by civilians who had revolted and wished to take possession of the land. And he who did it had the order to remain as governor if the testimony was grave. By whom and where would this be considered just? I have lost in this enterprise my youth, my proper share in these things, and my honor; but my deeds will not be judged outside Castille. . . .

I beg your graces, with the zeal of faithful Christians in whom their Highnesses have confidence, to read all my papers, and to consider how I who came from so far to serve these princes, . . . now at the end of my days have been despoiled of my honor and my property without cause, wherein is neither justice nor mercy.

The Final Voyage and the Death of Columbus

The combination of his frail health and failing spirits could not deter Columbus. Even being shackled, with a trial and possible punishment looming, did not stop him from pursuing his goal. Columbus was returned to Spain by the end of October 1500. He was brought into the country in chains, a sad sight which sparked pity and compassion from those around him. After nearly six weeks the King and Queen ordered his release and called him before the royal court. This final meeting between the explorer and his royal benefactors was an emotional one, filled with apologies and tears from both sides. Columbus, mostly with the Queen’s insistence, was restored to his former position and glory and given monetary compensation for his incarceration. He was, however, still relieved of his position as ruler of the colonies in the New World.

The death of Columbus

On March 14, 1502, after much pleading and begging, the King and Queen consented to allow Columbus one more journey to the Indies. They also confirmed for him that he and his family would be taken care of thereafter. Even after Columbus’s death his children and children’s children would reap the rewards of the explorer’s discovery. With the backing of the royal court, Columbus set out on his final voyage.

He did not return to Spain until two and a half years later, on November 7, 1504. He was fifty-three years old, sick, frail, and dying. His voyage, spent primarily in what is now Central America, had been terribly unsuccessful.

Less than two weeks after Columbus’s return to Spain his greatest champion and benefactor, Queen Isabella, passed away. Her support and dedication to the explorer had almost single-handedly kept Columbus’s expeditions afloat for the last ten years. After her death, the court looked much less favorably upon the famous explorer. Columbus had been given riches, titles, and honors which most men would have envied, but he still felt that he deserved much more for his discovery. With the death of Isabella, however, his hopes of gaining anything more from the royal court were dashed.

Columbus was rapidly succumbing to his illness. By 1506 his family and friends could see that the end was near. On May 19, 1506, he wrote out his will, leaving his money and property to his sons and his immediate family. He passed away quietly on the night of May 20, 1506.

Today

Columbus statue, Washington, D.C.

Christopher Columbus was, at one time, credited with the discovery of an unknown world of riches, a paradise on earth. His legacy lives on through statues, buildings, names, and ceremonies. Every year Columbus Day is celebrated throughout the world in order to honor a man who brought two worlds together.

Recent information has caused some to look past the glorious image of Columbus the Explorer and to create a picture of a man who brought death, violence, and horrors to the New World. While the loss of history and culture which almost entirely vanished with the extermination of the Tainos and their neighbors cannot be ignored, at the same time, Columbus’s fortitude, which brought him to the sandy beaches of San Salvador so long ago, should not be overlooked. Though he was not the first to land on those beaches, or the first to suggest that the world was not flat, he was the first European of his era to follow his beliefs through to the end. He held on to his ideas even after repeated rejection, and succeeded in finding a land which no European knew about. Christopher Columbus should be honored as a man who followed his ideas through to the end and never gave up on his dreams of exploration.

	A replica of the Santa Maria in Columbus, Ohio