Success in Spain

In 1485, partly it seems in order to escape his debts, Columbus moved permanently to Spain. Here he attempted to win over the Spanish crown to support his adventurous project of sailing ever westwards to arrive in the East. Columbus found some kindred spirits in Spain, among them the astronomer, Antonio de Marchena, and the Dominican scholar, Diego de Deza.

In 1486, Columbus was granted an audience with Isabella I, the monarch of Castile. But, as in Portugal, a royal commission rejected Columbus’ plan. During the time Columbus was endeavouring to find royal support for his expedition, his wife, Felipa, had died. Columbus then met Beatriz Enriquez and she became the mother of his second son, Fernando, in 1488.

Columbus refused to give up his dream and, in April 1492, his persistence was rewarded. Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand II of Castile and Aragon announced that they would finance the proposed expedition and put three vessels at Columbus’s disposal. Under an agreement signed on 17th April 1492, Columbus was to become Viceroy and Governor of all territories of which he took possession on behalf of Spain. The agreement also elevated him to the aristocracy, with the rank of a Grand Admiral and a share in the expected trading profits.

Columbus set sail for the Indies across the Atlantic on 3rd August 1492. He arrived on the coast of what we now know as the Bahamas ten weeks later, on 12th October. He returned to Spain in triumph and, over the next six years, he completed three more voyages for the Spanish crown.

Columbus was more of an explorer than an administrator, however, and his voyages weren’t without their complications and defeats. In 1506, suffering from serious health problems, Columbus was stripped of the position of Viceroy and Governor of the Indies. But he had been awarded a tenth of the one-fifth share that the monarchy drew from the proceeds of their new trade and was a wealthy man. Suffering wretchedly from gout, Columbus followed the Spanish court to Salamanca and then to Valladolid, where he died on 20th May 1506.