Diego Columbus

Diego Columbus
Diego Columbus
4th Governor of the Indies
In office 1509–1518
Preceded by	Nicolás de Ovando y Cáceres
Succeeded by	Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar
Personal details
Born	1479/80 Portugal
Died	February 23, 1526 (aged 45) Montalbán, Spain
Spouse(s)	María de Toledo y Rojas
Occupation	Navigator Explorer

Diego Columbus (Portuguese: Diogo Colombo; Spanish: Diego Colón; also, in Italian: Diego Colombo) (1479/80-1526)^[2] was a Portuguese navigator and explorer under the Kings of Castile and Aragón. He served as the 2nd Admiral of the Indies, 2nd Viceroy of the Indies and 4th Governor of the Indies as a vassal to the Kings of Castile and Aragón. He was the eldest son of Christopher Columbus and wife Filipa Moniz Perestrelo.

He was born in Portugal, either in Porto Santo in 1479/1480, or in Lisbon in 1474. He spent most of his adult life trying to regain the titles and privileges granted to his father for his explorations and then denied him in 1500. He was greatly aided in this goal by his marriage to María de Toledo y Rojas, niece of the 2nd Duke of Alba, who was the cousin of King Ferdinand.

Life

Tierra Firme (1513) - Castilla de Oro

Diego was made a page at the Spanish court in 1492, the year his father embarked on his first voyage. Diego had a younger half-brother, Fernando, by Beatriz Enriquez de Arana.

El Alcázar de Colón

In 1509, he was named Governor of the Indies, the post his father had held. He established his home (El Alcázar de Colón), which still stands, in Santo Domingo in what is now the Dominican Republic. He was made Viceroy of the Indies in May 1511, remaining in charge until 1518. He continued to fight encroachments on his power and for the remainder of his father's privileges and titles. He also made trips to Spain in 1515 and 1523 to plead his case, without success. After his death, a compromise was reached in 1536 in which his son Luis Colón de Toledo was named Admiral of the Indies and renounced all other rights for a perpetual annuity of 10,000 ducats, the island of Jamaica as a fief, an estate of 25 square leagues on the Isthmus of Panama, then called Veragua, and the titles of Duke of Veragua and Marquess of Jamaica.

The first major slave revolt in the Americas occurred in Santo Domingo during 1522, when enslaved Muslims of the Wolof nation led an uprising in the sugar plantation of admiral Don Diego Colon. Many of these insurgents managed to escape to the mountains where they formed independent maroon communities among the Tainos.

After Columbus' death on February 23, 1526 in Spain, the rents, offices and titles in the New World went into dispute by his descendants.

Marriage and children

Initially planned to marry Mencia de Guzman, daughter of the Duke of Medina Sidonia^[3] but was forced by King Fernando to marry the king's cousin María de Toledo y Rojas (c. 1490 – May 11, 1549), who secured the transportation and burial of her father–in–law, Christopher Columbus, in Santo Domingo. She was the daughter of Fernando Alvarez de Toledo, 1st Lord of Villoria, son of García Álvarez de Toledo, 1st Duke of Alba, and his first wife María de Rojas, and had:^[4]

• María Colón de Toledo (c. 1510 –), married to Sancho Folch de Cardona, 1st Marquess of Guadalest
• Luis Colón, 1st Duke of Veragua
• Cristóbal Colón de Toledo (c. 1510 – 1571), married firstly to María Leonor Lerma de Zuazo, without issue; married secondly to Ana de Pravia, and had one son (Diego Colon y Pravia [c. 1551 - Jan 27, 1578]) and one daughter (Francisca Colon y Pravia, [c. 1552 - April 1616]; and married thirdly to María Magadalena de Guzmán y Anaya, and had:
  • Diego Colón de Toledo, father of Diego the 4th Admiral of the Indies.
  • Francisca Colón de Toledo y Pravia (c. 1550 – April, 1616), married Diego de Ortegón (c. 1550 –), and had four children: Guiomar de Ortegon y Colon [d. 1621]; Jacoba de Oretgon y Colon [d. 1618]; Ana de Ortegon y Colon; and Josefa de Ortegon y Colon^[5]
  • María Colón de Toledo y Guzmán (c. 1550 –), married to Luis de Avila, and had:
    • Cristóbal de Avila y Colón (1579 –), unmarried and without issue
• Juana Colón de Toledo (died c. 1592), married her cousin Luis de La Cueva y Toledo; their only child was María Colón de la Cueva (c. 1548-c.1600) who claimed the duchy of Veragua and died in New Spain (México).^[6]
• Isabel Colón de Toledo (c. 1515 –), married Dom Jorge Alberto de Portugal y Melo (1470 –), 1st Count of Gelves (who married secondly; his 1st marriage to Dona Guiomar de Ataíde remained childless), son of Dom Álvaro de Bragança, Lord of Tentúgal, Póvoa, Buarcos and Cadaval and Chancellor-Major of the Realm of Portugal. Their grandson, D. Nuno Alvares Pereira Colón y Portugal, Duke of Veragua and Admiral of the Indies became regent of the Kingdom of Portugal from 1621 until his death.

See also

• List of Viceroys of New Spain
• Viceroyalty of New Spain

References

1.  Gilman, D. C.; Thurston, H. T.; Colby, F. M., eds. (1905). "Columbus, Diego. The youngest brother of Christopher Columbus". New International Encyclopedia (1st ed.). New York: Dodd, Mead.
2. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/126154/Diego-Columbus
3. https://books.google.com/books?id=BR6Ek48GgzEC&lpg=PA49&ots=oM8Ylr7Esn&dq=diego%20columbus%20marriage%20to%20medina%20sidonia's%20daughter&pg=PA49#v=onepage&q=diego%20columbus%20marriage%20to%20medina%20sidonia's%20daughter&f=false
4. "GeneAll.net - Diego Colón, 1. duque de Veragua".
5. Inclan, John D. "The Descendants of Christopher Columbus, Admiral of the Ocean Seas".
6. Winsor, Justin (1891), Christopher Columbus and how He Received and Imparted the Spirit of Discovery, Chadwyck-Healey Ltd., pp. 526–527

External links

•  "Columbus, Diego. Eldest son of Christopher Columbus". New International Encyclopedia. 1905.