Encounters Unforeseen- 1492 Retold

by Andrew Rowen

  Historians disagree about when and where Columbus wrote the “Letter to Santángel”; who edited it in addition to Columbus and when; which version was closest to the original; and its relationship to the drafting of the “Letter to Reyes.” I have considered first the translations of the “Letter to Santángel” contained in Jane (dated February 15, 1493, postscript dated March 4, 1493) and Morison Documents, as well as other Spanish and English texts. The Letter to Reyes has never been found, but purportedly a copy of it is Libro Copiador, Letter I (dated March 4, 1493), which I have considered as presented in the Libro Copiador and Zamora’s translation of the version in Rumeu de Armas Libro Copiador, vol. 2 (“Letter to Reyes”). In particular, many scholars believe the qualification that slaves be taken from the “idolaters” was added by Santángel or another in Barcelona. I suspect and have written otherwise, believing the references in the Journal to “idolaters” (Preamble, 11/12, 11/27/1492) and to “no religion” or “false religion” (10/11–12, 10/16, 11/1, 11/12, 11/27, 12/26/1492) indicate Columbus had an awareness—which his pre-1492 experience provided—of the sovereigns’ concern that enslavement be justified. See Chap. XIII, “Triumph in Barcelona, April 21–May 29, 1493,” below.

  While disease likely was not transmitted from Europeans to Taínos in the Caribbean on the first voyage, the substantial weight of epidimiological opinion is that the crews were infected in the Caribbean with strains of syphilis unknown in Europe and carried those strains back to Spain. See the secondary sources cited under Chap. IX, “East to Baracoa, November 23–December 5, 1492.”

  As for Columbus’s request that his “son” receive a cardinalate, Consuelo Varela argues the reference is to Fernando, as Diego would inherit Columbus’s titles (and I am persuaded), and Antonio Rumeu de Armas argues Diego.

  Violent Storm, Off Azores,

  February 12–15, 1493

  P, prev. cit.: Ferdinand Columbus, chaps. 37, 38. Journal, 1/23/1493; 2/12– 17/1493. LC Synoptic Journal, LC119–122.

  P: Psalm 107:23–30.

  S, prev. cit.: Fernández-Armesto Columbus on Himself, Conquest; Journal Raccolta Notes; Morison Admiral; Phillips.

  The Letter to Santángel widely known to history is dated as done “off the Canary Islands.” Historians generally agree Columbus knew he was off the Azores but disagree whether Columbus made a mistake by writing the Canaries, simply lied, or wrote nothing, and/or whether the reference to the Canaries was added or changed later by the sovereigns’ advisers. Columbus’s lying is eminently possible, but I have followed that Santangel added the reference to the Canaries later. While Columbus knew reason to lie that his discoveries were not south of the Canaries’ latitude, I suspect he was not focused on the desirability of lying that his return voyage coursed on their latitude.

  Santa María, Azores,

  February 15–24, 1493

  P, prev. cit.: Ferdinand Columbus, chaps. 38, 39. Journal, 2/15–24/1493. LC Synoptic Journal, LC122–8.

  S, prev. cit.: Fernández-Armesto Conquest; Journal Raccolta Notes; Morison Admiral.

  To Bayona, Galicia (Castile),

  February 14–Early March 1493

  P, prev. cit.: LC Synoptic Journal, LC101. Oviedo Repertorium, sec. 3.7. Pleitos docs. 8.2, 19.8, 19.11, 19.12, 22.8, 23.1, testimonies of Pedro Enríquez, Diego Fernández Colmenero, Francisco García Vallejo, Arias Pérez Pinzón, Fernán Pérez Camacho, Hernan Pérez Mateos. Zurita Hernando, bk. I, chap. 25.

  S, prev. cit.: Manzano Pinzón.

  Niña,

  Second Storm, February 24–March 4, 1493

  P, prev. cit.: Ferdinand Columbus, chap. 40. Journal, 2/24/1493–3/4/1493. LC Synoptic Journal, LC128–133.

  S, prev. cit.: Journal Raccolta Notes; Morison Admiral; Rumeu de Armas Libro Copiador.

  Alienation, Guarico,

  (Winter 1493)

  Except as added below, the same primary and secondary sources listed under Chap. X, “Meeting with Admiral’s Lieutenants, Guarico.” There is no evidence of this dinnertime or meeting.

  S, prev. cit.: Gould.

  CHAPTER XII: LISBON TO BARCELONA

  Audience with João,

  March 5–13, 1493

  P, prev. cit.: Barros, decade 1, bk. 3, chap. 11 (incl. trans. in Catz). Ferdinand Columbus, Chaps. 40-42. Goís, Braun and Hogenberg map (1598). Journal, 3/5–15/1493. LC Synoptic Journal, LC134–140. Pina, chap. 66. Pleitos docs. 19.12, 23.1, testimonies of Arias Pérez Pinzón, Hernan Pérez Mateos. Resende, chap. CLXV. Zurita Hernando, bk. 1, chap. 25.

  S, prev. cit.: Catz; Gould; Jane, Introduction; Manzano Pinzón; Morison Admiral; Nader, Introduction; Rumeu de Armas Libro Copiador, Tordesillas; Saunders; Weaver.

  S: Symcox, Geoffrey ed. Italian Reports on America 1453–1522 Letters, Dispatches and Papal Bulls. Repertorium Columbainum, Vol. X. Additional editing and translation by Giovanna Rabitti and Peter D. Diehl. Turnhout, Begium: Brepols Publishers, 2001 (“Symcox Italian Texts”).

  S: Thornton, John K. A Cultural History of the Atlantic World, 1250–1820. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2012.

  Historians agree that Columbus dispatched multiple versions of the Letter to Santángel to publicize his voyage. Historians disagree whether Columbus first dispatched the Letter to Reyes and/or the Letter to Santángel together or separately and/or from Lisbon, Palos, or Seville. I have simply followed Ferdinand Columbus as to a dispatch to the sovereigns from Restelo and assumed the dispatch was of versions of both letters. The letters were designed not to reveal important geographic information for fear third parties (such as King John) would open them. Historians generally agree multiple copies of the Letter to Santángel were dispatched from Palos.

  Many historians doubt that the Bartholomew Diaz who meets Columbus was the explorer who rounded South Africa in 1488—with good reason, since neither the Journal nor other primary sources make note of that identity or irony. The historical record is slender regarding Diaz’s occupations after his historic voyage, but it does point to his having served as the Cristóvão’s master. I have found a coincidence that there be two different Bartholomew Diaz’s—one who rounded South Africa and the other who served as the Cristóvão’s master—unlikely and treated them as the same. If Columbus did not meet Diaz the explorer, he nevertheless was haughty to the other.

  Palos, Moguer, and Huelva,

  March 15–End of March, 1493

  P, prev. cit.: Bernáldez Raccolta, chap. 118. Ferdinand Columbus, chap. 42. Las Casas Repertorium, sec. 3.3. Martyr, decade 1, bk. 2. Morison Documents, Letter of the Duke of Medina Celi to the Grand Cardinal of Spain, March 19, 1493. Nader, Letter from Fernando and Isabel inviting the admiral to court at Barcelona, March 30, 1493. Oviedo Repertorium, sec. 3.7. Pleitos docs. 4.4, 7.2, 19.12, 23.1, testimonies of Juan Ferrón de Posada (who relates seeing Columbus and Juan de la Cosa together in Puerto de Santa María), Juan Rodríguez Cabezudo (the muleteer, who relates that he received a sliver of gold when Columbus talked to the inquisitors), Arias Pérez Pinzón, Hernan Pérez Mateos.

  S, prev. cit.: Angel Ortega; Ballesteros; Manzano Pinzón, Siete; Morison Admiral, Documents; Nader, Introduction; Phillips; Raccolta Letters Notes; Symcox Italian Texts.

  With the termination of the Journal on March 15, 1493, the historical record for the period until Columbus’s arrival in Barcelona reverts to minimal. I am not aware of an accounting for Martín’s gold, and speculate as written. There is no contemporaneous record that Columbus or the Taínos resided at La Rábida or how long they remained in Palos.

  To Barcelona,

  April 1493

  P, prev. cit.: Ferdinand Columbus, chap. 42. Las Casas Repertorium, sec. 3.3. Morison Documents, Columbus’s Memorial to the Sovereigns on Colonial Policy, April 9, 1493, Seville. Oviedo Repertorium, sec. 3.7.

  S, prev. cit.: Brigham; Journal Raccolta Notes; Morison Admiral; Rumeu de Armas Tordesillas.

  S: Field, Henry M. Old and New Spain. London: Ward & Downey. British Library Historical Collection Reprint, 1988.
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  S: Friede, Juan and Benjamin Keen, eds. Bartolomé de Las Casas in History: Toward an Understanding of the Man and His Work. DeKalb, [IL]: Northern Illinois University Press, 1971.

  S: Nash, Elizabeth. Seville, Córdoba and Granada: A Cultural History. New York: Oxford University Press, 2008.

  For discussion of Columbus’s relationship with Beatriz, see Chap. XIV, “Córdoba, June 1493.”

  Lawlessness in Guarico

  P: The same primary and secondary sources listed under Chap. X, “Meeting with Admiral’s Lieutenants, Guarico.” There is no evidence of this confrontation.

  CHAPTER XIII: SPRING 1493

  Triumph in Barcelona,

  April–May 1493

  P, prev. cit.: Barros, decade 1, bk. 3, chap. 11 (including trans. in Catz). Benzoni, bk. 1. Bernáldez Raccolta, chap. 118. Davenport, Inter Caetera (May 3, 1493), Eximiae Devotionis (May 3, 1493), Inter Caetera (May 4, 1493). Ferdinand Columbus, chaps. 42–45. Jane, Columbus’s Letter on the Third Voyage, October 18, 1498. Las Casas Repertorium, secs. 3.3, 10.2. Martyr, decade 1, bk. 1. Morison Documents, Instructions of the Sovereings to Columbus for His Second Voyage to the Indies, May 29, 1493. Nader, Warrant to the Admiral and Juan Rodríguez de Fonseca to Outfit the Second Voyage, May 24, 1493; Preface to 1493 Confirmation of the Grenada Capitulations, May 23, 1493; Appendix to 1493 Confirmation of the Capitulations, May 28, 1493. Navarrette, vol. 2, Col. Dipl. 16 (sovereigns’ letter to Duke of Medina Sidonia, May 2, 1493), 20 (sovereigns’ grant of coat of arms, May 20, 1493), 26 (sovereigns’ letter commissioning cavalry, May 23, 1493), 29 (sovereigns’ letter re: Pinelo, May 23, 1493), and 32 (sovereigns’ award of annuity to Colón, May 23, 1493). Oviedo Repertorium, secs. 3.8, 3.9. Pina, chap. 66. Resende, chaps. 165, 166. Letter to Santángel. Zurita Hernando, bk. 1, chap. 25.

  P: I Kings 9:26–28; 10:11.

  S, prev. cit.: Catz; Fernández-Armesto Conquest; Gould; Journal Raccolta Notes; Morison Admiral; Philips; Raccolta Letter Notes; Rumeu de Armas Tordesillas; Symcox Italian Texts (introduction by Geoffrey Symcox); Thomas Rivers; Thomas Slave Trade.

  S: Myers, Kathleen Ann. Fernández de Oviedo’s Chronicle of America: A New History for a New World. Translations by Nina M. Scott. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2007.

  S: Ramos, Demetrio. La Primera Noticia de America. Valladolid, Spain: Casa-Museo de Colón Seminario Americanista de la Universidad de Valladolid, 1986.

  There is no evidence of the conversations involving the Taínos.

  As previously noted, historians do not agree when, how, or by whom Columbus’s public letter was edited. I simply have assumed Santángel made the edits indicated.

  Historians do not agree the sequence of events leading to the issuance of the three papal bulls and the text follows Thomas and Raccolta Letter Notes.

  The primary sources do not discuss what Xamabo, as Guacanagarí’s emissary, did or attempted to achieve in Barcelona other than attend the sovereigns’ reception for Columbus and the baptism, and do not mention any special meeting with Fernando.

  Caciqual Council in Magua

  No primary or secondary sources.

  In the Presence of Christ’s Mother,

  Guadalupe, June 1493

  P, prev. cit.: Las Casas Repertorium, sec. 3.3. Oviedo Repertorium, sec. 3.8. S, prev. cit.: Morison Admiral.

  Chaos in Guarico

  The same primary and secondary sources listed under Chap. X, “Meeting with Admiral’s Lieutenants, Guarico.” The primary sources, written by the European conquerors, portray Guacanagarí as likely too timid to have this confrontation. I suspect otherwise.

  CHAPTER XIV: SUMMER 1493

  Córdoba,

  June 1493

  P, prev. cit.: Ferdinand Columbus, chap. 47, as to Columbus’s promise to name an island Santa María de Guadalupe. See also Libro Copiador, letter 2, January–February 1494.

  S, prev. cit.: Ballesteros; Manzano Siete; Raccolta Letter Notes; Taviani Grand Design; Torre y del Cerro.

  There is no evidence why Columbus and Beatriz separated and the text presents I believe the most plausible simple explanation (i.e., Columbus left Beatriz because her support was no longer necessary to him and her social status was now below his), which is consistent with the guilt about her Columbus expressed in later years. Some historians argue Columbus discovered that Beatriz had been unfaithful (as Columbus had been) and/or that Columbus’ nobility legally precluded marriage.

  Into the Cibao (Summer 1493)

  The same primary and secondary sources listed under Chap. X, “Meeting with Admiral’s Lieutenants.”

  Outfitting the Second Voyage,

  Seville, July and August 1493

  P, prev. cit.: Barros, decade 1, bk. 3, chap. 11 (including trans. in Catz). Benzoni, bk. 1. Bernáldez Raccolta, chap. 118. Clemencín, Illustracion 13, Letter de D. Fr. Hernando de Talavera a la Reina. Davenport, Dudum Siquidem (September 26, 1493). Ferdinand Columbus, chap. 45. Las Casas Repertorium, sec. 4. Martyr, decade 1, bk. 1. Navarrette, vol. 2, Col. Dipl. 21 (financing from Hermandad, May 23, 1493), 25 (instructions to Juanoto Berardi, May 23, 1493), 50 (sovereigns’ instructions to Colón, June 12, 1493), 61 (sovereigns’ instructions to Pinelo, August 4, 1493), 65 (sovereigns’ instructions to Fonseca, August 18, 1493), 67 (sovereigns’ instructions to Colón, August 18, 1493). Oviedo Repertorium, sec. 3.9. Pina, chap. 66. Resende, chaps. 165, 166. Zurita Hernando, bk. 1, chap. 25.

  P: Symcox, Geoffrey, ed. Italian Reports on America 1493–1522 Letters, Dispatches, and Papal Bulls. Vol X, Repertorium Columbianum. Additional editing and translation by Giovanna Rabitti, Peter D. Diehl. Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols Publishers, 2001. Doc. 11, Piis Fidelium (June 25, 1493).

  S, prev. cit.: Deagan; Friede; Manzano Siete; Nader; Raccolta Letter Notes; Taviani Voyages; Thomas; Weaver.

  S: Aymar i Ragolta, Jaume. Fra Ramón Pané l’Univers Simbòlic Taí. Barce lona: Facultat de Teologia de Catalunya, 2009.

  Libro Copiador, Letter II, expressly states that three of the Samánan captives (out of four) died of “viruelas” or “pocks.” As the next volume will relate, the seven Taínos do embark on the second voyage (Chanca) and I doubt the captains of the ships would have permitted a person—European or Taíno— with a visible, deadly communicable disease to board (e.g., smallpox). There is no record of small pox on the second voyage.

  Into Maguana

  (Late Summer 1493)

  The same primary and secondary sources listed under Chap. X. “Meeting with Admiral’s Lieutenants, Guarico.” There is no evidence of these conversations, other than an indication (Ferdinand Columbus, chap. 50) that a Christian told Guacanagarí that “Christian law” was “vain.”

  Final Instructions,

  September 5, 1493

  P, prev. cit.: Nader, Letter from Queen Isabel to Columbus, September 5, 1493. Navarrette, vol. 2, Col. Dipl. 69 (sovereigns’ instructions to Fonseca, September 5, 1493), 71 (sovereigns’ letter to Colón, September 5, 1493).

  S, prev. cit.: Morison Admiral; Rumeu de Armas Tordesillas; Thomas Rivers.

  By a Creek in Maguana

  No primary or secondary sources.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  This book is the result of six years of research in English and Spanish language sources and visits to almost all the Caribbean, European, and Atlantic locations presented, including the archaeological sites or approximate sites where the Taíno chieftains lived in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. It was conceived earlier over many years, on occasional visits to Native American sites or reservations in the United States and Canada or wilderness areas in their close proximity. My inspiration in writing has been to validly depict the encounters of 1492 and 1493 from both Taíno and European viewpoints and to illustrate a civility and tolerance of the society and religion vanquished that are now often lacking in the modern societies and religions we have inherited.

  First and foremost, I’m indebted to my esteemed friend Aron Rodrigue, Professor of History at Stanford University, for reviewing and comme
nting on an early version of the manuscript from the European perspective and, more importantly, for giving me the confidence to explore and interpret history myself. I also thank two Taíno scholars for reviewing portions of a more mature version of the manuscript: William F. Keegan, Professor of Natural History at the University of Florida and Curator of Anthropology at the Florida Museum of Natural History, one of the world’s foremost experts on Taíno society and life; and Lynne Guitar, PhD in colonial Latin America history and formerly resident director of the Council on International Educational Exchange in the Dominican Republic, who accompanied me on visits to Taíno sites in the Dominican Republic. I have benefitted by the insights of these experts, but I haven’t incorporated all of their perspectives or comments, and the book remains solely my responsibility.

  I believe that understanding the physical environment where events took place is quite important to their comprehension and that, while this environment today is significantly altered from five centuries prior, it still provides clues as to what men and women might have thought or felt five centuries prior. Standing at the beaches of Bord de Mer de Limonade, Haiti, or on San Salvador’s west coast; in the open field at the Corral de los Indios in San Juan de la Maguana, Dominican Republic; atop the western cliffs of Porto Santo, Portugal; or on the quay in the tiny harbor at San Sebastián, Gomera, Canary Islands, has shaped my depiction of those thoughts and feelings.

  I thank Richard Weber, the founder of Tours, Trips, Treks & Travel of the Dominican Republic, for arranging and assisting my travels in the Dominican Republic and Haiti. Through Richard, I met Domingo Abreu, the director of speleological studies within the Dominican Republic’s government, who led me on visits to numerous Taíno sites, including caves, within his country, and Tim Schwartz, PhD in social anthropology, who led me around the Cape Haitien area of Haiti and arranged a small boat to visit the reefs offshore. Special thanks to Carlos Mercedes, my guide in the Dominican Republic, who was my constant companion and kindly drove far off the normal tourist routes, as well as Clark Moore, my guide in Haiti.