Editing Christopher Columbus (section)

=== Third voyage (1498–1500) ===
[[File:Columbus third voyage.jpg|thumb|upright=1.6|Third voyage]]

On 30 May 1498, Columbus left with six ships from [[Sanlúcar de Barrameda|Sanlúcar]], Spain. The fleet called at Madeira and the Canary Islands, where it divided in two, with three ships heading for Hispaniola and the other three vessels, commanded by Columbus, sailing south to the Cape Verde Islands and then westward across the Atlantic. It is probable that this expedition was intended at least partly to confirm rumors of a large continent south of the Caribbean Sea, that is, South America.<ref name="Saunders2005">{{cite book |last1=Saunders |first1=Nicholas J. |title=The Peoples of the Caribbean: An Encyclopedia of Archaeology and Traditional Culture |year=2005 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1-57607-701-6 |pages=75–76 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XNbqUR_IoOMC&pg=PA75}}</ref>

On 31 July they sighted [[Trinidad]],<ref name="Flint2017">{{cite book |last1=Flint |first1=Valerie Irene Jane |title=The Imaginative Landscape of Christopher Columbus |date=2017 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-1-4008-8717-0 |page=158 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=65srDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA158}}</ref> the most southerly of the Caribbean islands. On 5 August, Columbus sent several small boats ashore on the southern side of the [[Paria Peninsula]] in what is now Venezuela,<ref name="Allen1997">{{cite book |last1=Fuson |first1=Robert H. |editor1-last=Allen |editor1-first=John Logan |title=North American Exploration |chapter=The Columbian Voyages |year=1997 |publisher=University of Nebraska Press |isbn=978-0-8032-1015-8 |pages=180–181 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7RGlz9a4wVYC&pg=PA180}}</ref>{{Sfn|Bergreen|2011|p=249}} near the mouth of the [[Orinoco]] river.<ref name="Saunders2005" /> This was the first recorded landing of Europeans on the mainland of South America,<ref name="Allen1997" /> which Columbus realized must be a continent.<ref name="Zeruvabel2003">{{cite book |title=Terra Cognita: The Mental Discovery of America |last=Zerubavel |first=Eviatar |publisher=Transaction Publishers |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-7658-0987-2 |pages=90–91 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YkLCiKN0x4UC&pg=PA90}}</ref><ref name="Cervantes2021">{{cite book |last1=Cervantes |first1=Fernando |title=Conquistadores: A New History of Spanish Discovery and Conquest |year=2021 |publisher=Penguin |isbn=978-1-101-98128-3 |page=41 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z7LQDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA41}}</ref> The fleet then sailed to the islands of [[Chacachacare]] and [[Margarita Island|Margarita]], reaching the latter on 14 August,{{Sfn|Bergreen|2011|p=258}} and sighted [[Tobago]] and [[Grenada]] from afar, according to some scholars.<ref name="MorisonObregón1964">{{cite book |last1=Morison |first1=Samuel Eliot |last2=Obregón |first2=Mauricio |title=The Caribbean as Columbus Saw it |date=1964 |publisher=Little, Brown |page=11 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BcFkAAAAMAAJ&q=%2214%20August%22}}</ref><ref name="Allen1997" />

On 19 August, Columbus returned to Hispaniola. There he found settlers in rebellion against his rule, and his unfulfilled promises of riches. Columbus had some of the Europeans tried for their disobedience; at least one rebel leader was hanged.{{Sfn|Bergreen|2011|pp=284–285}}

In October 1499, Columbus sent two ships to Spain, asking the Court of Spain to appoint a royal commissioner to help him govern.<ref>{{cite book |last=Brink |first=Christopher |url={{GBurl|T9NoDwAAQBAJ |p=78}} |title=Christopher Columbus: Controversial Explorer of the Americas |page=78 |publisher=Cavendish Square |date=2019}}</ref> By this time, accusations of tyranny and incompetence on the part of Columbus had also reached the Court. The sovereigns sent [[Francisco de Bobadilla]], a relative of Marquesa [[Beatriz de Bobadilla]], a patron of Columbus and a close friend of Queen Isabella,<ref name="Hofman1994">{{cite book |last1=Hofmann |first1=Heinz |editor1-last=Haase |editor1-first=Wolfgang |editor2-last=Meyer |editor2-first=Reinhold |title=The Classical Tradition and the Americas: European Images of the Americas and the Classical Tradition (2 pts.) |year=1994 |publisher=Walter de Gruyter |isbn=978-3-11-011572-7 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I1LEmKPgJ8MC&pg=PA617 |chapter=Columbus in Neo-Latin Epic Poetry}}</ref>{{sfn|Phillips|Phillips|1992|p=125}} to investigate the accusations of brutality made against the Admiral. Arriving in Santo Domingo while Columbus was away, Bobadilla was immediately met with complaints about all three Columbus brothers.{{Sfn|Bergreen|2011|ref=none|pp=276–277}} He moved into Columbus's house and seized his property, took depositions from the Admiral's enemies, and declared himself governor.<ref name="Allen1997" />

Bobadilla reported to Spain that Columbus once punished a man found guilty of stealing corn by having his ears and nose cut off and then selling him into slavery. He claimed that Columbus regularly used [[torture]] and [[mutilation]] to govern Hispaniola.{{efn|Bobadilla's 48-page report, derived from the testimonies of 23 people who had seen or heard about the treatment meted out by Columbus and his brothers—had originally been lost for centuries, but was rediscovered in 2005 in the Spanish archives in [[Valladolid]]. It contained an account of Columbus's seven-year reign as the first governor of the Indies. Consuelo Varela, a Spanish historian, states: "Even those who loved him [Columbus] had to admit the atrocities that had taken place."<ref name="newspaper1" />}} Testimony recorded in the report stated that Columbus congratulated his brother Bartholomew on "defending the family" when the latter ordered for a woman to be paraded naked through the streets and then had her tongue cut because she had "spoken ill of the admiral and his brothers".{{Sfn|Bergreen|2011|pp=283}} The document also describes how Columbus put down native unrest and revolt: he first ordered a brutal suppression of the uprising in which many natives were killed, and then paraded their dismembered bodies through the streets in an attempt to discourage further rebellion.<ref name="A&E">{{cite AV media |title=Columbus Controversy |url=http://www.history.com/topics/exploration/columbus-controversy |access-date=12 August 2013 |publisher=A&E Television Networks}}</ref> Columbus vehemently denied the charges.<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Columbus |first=Christopher |title=Select Letters of Christopher Columbus: With Other Original Documents, Relating to his Four Voyages to the New World |date=2010 |others=Richard Henry Major, Diego Alvarez Chanca |isbn=978-0-511-70808-4 |publisher=Cambridge University Press}}</ref> The neutrality and accuracy of the accusations and investigations of Bobadilla toward Columbus and his brothers have been disputed by historians, given the anti-Italian sentiment of the Spaniards and Bobadilla's desire to take over Columbus's position.<ref>{{cite book |last=[[Felipe Fernández-Armesto]] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W4w8EAAAQBAJ&pg=PA46 |title=Columbus on himself |date=2010 |publisher=Hackett Pub. Co |others=Christopher Columbus |isbn=978-1-60384-317-1 |location=Indianapolis |page=186 |oclc=794493189 |quote=Bobadilla was prejudiced in advance by what he heard, or what the monarchs relayed, from Columbus detractors. HIs brief was to conduct a judicial inquiry into Columbus' conduct, an unjust proceeding, in the Admiral's submission, since Bobadilla had a vested interest in an outcome that would keep him in power. [...] Motivated by self-interest or excessive zeal, Bobadilla clapped Columbus in irons with his brothers, gathered depositions against them, and shipped them back to Spain.}}</ref><ref name="nas.org">{{cite web |title=National Association of Scholars – Remembering Columbus: Blinded by Politics by Robert Carle |url=https://www.nas.org/academic-questions/32/1/rembering_columbus_blinded_by_politics |website=www.nas.org |access-date=18 June 2020}}</ref><ref name="Cervantes202146">{{cite book |last1=Cervantes |first1=Fernando |title=Conquistadores: A New History of Spanish Discovery and Conquest |year=2021 |publisher=Penguin |isbn=978-1-101-98128-3 |pages=46–47 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z7LQDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA41 |location=New York}}</ref>

In early October 1500, Columbus and Diego presented themselves to Bobadilla, and were put in chains aboard ''La Gorda'', the caravel on which Bobadilla had arrived at Santo Domingo.{{Sfn|Bergreen|2011|ref=none|p=276}}<ref name="Gužauskytė2014179">{{cite book |last1=Gužauskytė |first1=Evelina |title=Christopher Columbus's Naming in the 'diarios' of the Four Voyages (1492–1504): A Discourse of Negotiation |year=2014 |publisher=University of Toronto Press |isbn=978-1-4426-6825-6 |page=179 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U0SWAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA179}}</ref> They were returned to Spain, and languished in jail for six weeks before King Ferdinand ordered their release. Not long after, the king and queen summoned the Columbus brothers to the Alhambra palace in Granada. The sovereigns expressed indignation at the actions of Bobadilla, who was then recalled and ordered to make restitutions of the property he had confiscated from Columbus.<ref name=":2">{{cite book |last=Hale |first=Edward Everett |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=40vhDAAAQBAJ |title=The Life of Christopher Columbus |date=2021 |publisher=Prabhat Prakashan}}</ref> The royal couple heard the brothers' pleas; restored their freedom and wealth; and, after much persuasion, agreed to fund Columbus's fourth voyage.<ref>{{cite book |last=Cervantes |first=Fernando |title=Conquistadores: a new history of Spanish discovery and conquest |date=2021 |isbn=978-1-101-98126-9 |location=New York |publisher=Penguin}}</ref> However, [[Nicolás de Ovando]] was to replace Bobadilla and be the new governor of the [[West Indies]].<ref name=":3">Noble, David Cook. "Nicolás de Ovando" in ''Encyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture'', vol. 4, p. 254. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons 1996.</ref>

New light was shed on the seizure of Columbus and his brother Bartholomew, the [[Adelantado]], with the discovery by archivist Isabel Aguirre of an incomplete copy of the testimonies against them gathered by Francisco de Bobadilla at Santo Domingo in 1500. She found a manuscript copy of this {{lang|es|pesquisa}} (inquiry) ‌in the Archive of [[Simancas]], Spain, uncatalogued until she and Consuelo Varela published their book, ''{{lang|es|La caída de Cristóbal Colón: el juicio de Bobadilla}}'' (''The fall of Christopher Colón: the judgement of Bobadilla'') in 2006.<ref name="Leon2012">{{cite journal |last1=Leon |first1=Istvan Szaszdi |title=Castilian Justice and Columbian Injustice. The end of the Columbian Government in Hispaniola |journal=Journal on European History of Law |volume=3 |issue=2 |date=1 January 2012 |page=9 |url=https://www.academia.edu/42882992}}</ref><ref name="VarelaAguirre2006">{{cite book |last1=Varela |first1=Consuelo |last2=Aguirre |first2=Isabel |title=La caída de Cristóbal Colón: el juicio de Bobadilla |year=2006 |publisher=Marcial Pons Historia |isbn=978-84-96467-28-6 |page=175 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SwtMUtesSDEC&pg=PA175 |language=es}}</ref>