La Isabela
La Isabela in
La Isabela was founded by
La Isabela was established to search for precious metals.[2]
La Isabela was struck by the first known epidemic to spread from Europe to the New World in 1493
Hunger and disease led to mutiny, and a group of settlers, led by Bernal de Pisa, attempted to capture and make off with several ships and go back to Spain. La Isabela barely survived until 1496 when Columbus decided to abandon it in favor of a new settlement founded in 1498 called Nueva Isabela, and soon renamed Santo Domingo.
History of the colony
After his first voyage to the New World, Columbus returned to
The first Mass was celebrated on 6 January 1494. The town included 200 thatch huts, a plaza, and Columbus' stone house and arsenal.[1]
The Taíno were local natives living in the mountains near La Isabela. They lived on fish and staples such as pineapple, which they introduced to the Spaniards. The food that they provided was important to the Spaniards. Columbus said that there were no finer people in the world.[4]
In March 1494, Columbus's men began to search, with Taíno Indians, in the mountains of Hispaniola for gold and small amounts were found.[4]
In June 1495, a large storm that the Taíno called a
Caves on the island where the Indians may have sheltered depict pictures of the sun, plants, animals, strange shapes, people, bearded faces, and sailing ships.[4]
In 1975, the Smithsonian concluded that the remains found in La Isabela of two male African skeletons dated back to 1250AD but is dismissed as Afrocentric pseudohistory.[4]
Aftermath
Christopher Columbus was absent from Isabela from 24 April until 29 September 1494, on an exploratory trip to Cuba during which time he also discovered Jamaica. Christopher left his brother Diego Columbus as president of the island, with Fray
Within a year of Christopher Columbus' departure, "with their provisions running short and suffering and sickness growing, they became discontented with their present lot and despaired of the future." The alcalde mayor, Francisco Roldán, formed a secret faction, and "disdaining to be ruled by a foreigner," plotted to kill Christopher's brothers Bartholomew and Diego. First plotting to capture the town and fortress of Concepcion in the province of Cibao, Roldan eventually moved his rebels to Xaragua, where the land was fertile and the women were the "best-looking and best-natured in the country." When Christopher entered Santo Domingo on 30 August 1498, he found many of the people he had left behind two and a half years ago were dead, some 160 were sick, while many more had joined Roldan's rebellion. The two-year rebellion finally ended on 3 August 1499, when Christopher agreed to "restore Roldan to his office of perpetual alcalde mayor," allow 15 to return home to Spain, made grants of houses and land for those who stayed, and then "publicly proclaim that all that had happened was caused by false testimony of a few evil men."[5]: 191–214 [1]: 35–43
The discovery of gold in 1499 within the cordillera central, and the resultant mining boom, meant Isabela was depopulated by 1500.[1]: 44
See also
References
- ^ a b c d Floyd, Troy (1973). The Columbus Dynasty in the Caribbean, 1492-1526. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press. p. 22.
- PMID 17360699
- S2CID 46540669– via JSTOR.
- ^ a b c d e f g National Geographic Television. "Columbus's Cursed Colony." Viewed 2013-01-13.
- ^ a b Columbus, Ferdinand (1959). The Life of the Admiral Christopher Columbus by his son Ferdinand. New Brunswick: Rutgers, The State University. pp. 130–131, 145–149, 169.
Further reading
- Antonio de Herrera y Tordesillas (1601–1615), Historia general de los hechos de los Castellanos en las islas y tierra firme del Mar Oceano [General History of the deeds of the Castilians on the Islands and Mainland of the Ocean Sea], Madrid.
- Chiarelli, B. & Luna Calderón, F. (1987), "The excavations of La Isabela, the first European city of the New World", International Journal of Anthropology, 2 (3): 199–210, S2CID 84911810
- Boscolo, A. (1987), "Christopher Columbus and La Isabela", International Journal of Anthropology, 2 (3): 211–214, S2CID 84015235
- Deagan, Kathleen A. & Cruxent, Jose (2002), Archaeology at La Isabela: America's First European Town, New Haven: Yale University Press
- Deagan, Kathleen A. & Cruxent, Jose (2002), Columbus's Outpost Among the Taínos: Spain and America at La Isabela, 1493-1498, New Haven: Yale University Press
External links
Media related to La Isabela at Wikimedia Commons